Destined to become a holiday perennial, The Polar Express also heralded a brave new world of all-digital filmmaking. Critics and audiences were divided between those who hailed it as an instant classic that captures the visual splendor and evocative innocence of Chris Van Allsburg's popular children's book, and those who felt that the innovative use of "performance capture"--to accurately translate live performances into all-digital characters--was an eerie and not-quite-lifelike distraction from the story's epic-scale North Pole adventure. In any case it's a benign, kind-hearted celebration of the yuletide spirit, especially for kids who have almost grown out of their need to believe in Santa Claus. Tom Hanks is the nominal "star" who performs five different computer-generated characters, but it's the visuals that steal this show, as director Robert Zemeckis indulges his tireless pursuit of technological innovation. No matter how you respond to the many wonders on display, it's clear that The Polar Express represents a significant milestone in the digital revolution of cinema. If it also fills you with the joy of Christmas (in spite of its Nuremberg-like rally of frantic elves), so much the better. --Jeff Shannon

DVD features
The most intriguing feature on the two-disc DVD is probably the six-minute sequence featuring a new song performed by the two engine-room characters, Smokey and Steamer. The animation is crude and the song is nothing special, but it does preserve the dual performances of Michael Jeter (he played both characters), who passed away during filming. One of the striking aspects of The Polar Express is its use of motion-capture technology to turn real actors into animated characters, and that is examined in a significant portion of the five-part 11-minute featurette, in the "look at" Tom Hanks's multiple performances, and in an Easter egg that offers a side-by-side comparison of the actors in their motion-capture suits with the finished film in the "Hot Chocolate" number. There's also a live performance of Josh Groban singing "Believe" followed by an interview segment with him and composer Alan Silvestri, author Chris Van Allsburg providing a five-minute capsulization of his career, a PC game demo, and a kids' set-top game. The version of the film on DVD is the standard theatrical version, not the 3-D version seen in IMAX theaters. --David Horiuchi

The World of The Polar Express

The book by Chris Van Allsburg

The Soundtrack

The Magic Journey (Polar Express the Movie) (book)

Stills from Polar Express (click for larger image)

The ending spoiled it for me.

I won't get into the details of the movie as there are plenty of others for you to read.

The idea is that a train takes children who do not believe in Santa Claus to the North Pole.

My son absolutely loves this movie and I admit that I enjoyed it when I watched it as well.

What I did not like, however, is the fact that the North Pole looks so industrial. It's not hard to imagine that hundreds of thousands (however many--there were a lot!) could build a toy for every kid that believed in Santa in one year. And the North Pole looked more like a large city than what I imagined as a kid.

For me, part of the magic of believing in Santa was that it seemed impossible. A smallish group of elves in a quaint little Christmas-like village making toys for all the boys and girls. The North Pole just seemed cold (no pun intended) and not very friendly in this movie. Also, Tom Hanks had quite an attitude and I really didn't care for that the second time I watched it either. I could also really do without his singing in the Hot Chocolate number.

Overall, it's great for kids, but honestly the way the North Pole is depicted in "Elf" and regular classics is the way I picture it and this just left a weird taste in my mouth.

Missed Chance To Be A Classic

This frantically manic madcap would-be disaster epic was not what I expected or wanted The Polar Express to be. I'd go so far as to say this was not all that good of a movie, despite its novel animation and occasional visual brilliance. What frustrates me here is how great this movie could have been and should have been.

All ABOARD!!!!!!!

They are now showing this feature on The Family Channel, courtesy of your local cable company, so I doubt there are many people out there who haven't seen Polar Express at least once. To each his own.
You know, offhand, I think it would be very dreary if classic Christmas features began to resemble each other, or imitated each other, simply because there was an isolated working formula that pleased the mass audience. So I am really open to newness and fresh material, because great new features don't really take away from those beloved Christmas classics, but actually keeps the home fires burning.
So is with The Polar Express. I don't expect any Christmas fantasy or calamity to embrace all the possible angles of Christmas, but I do expect a heartfelt experiance.
Animation films are never required to be logical, and quite frankly, that is the extreme attractiveness of animation in the first place. You can get away with alot. If we demanded animation to be on the planes of logical procedures, Bugs Bunny would have been boiled in a stew in a heartbeat, but he always manages to get out of the most difficult situations, simply by kissing the most hardened foe. . . on the lips. THAT'S COMEDY! So I don't expect features like Polar Express to be entirely logical, just fairly to the point of speculation that IT COULD HAVE HAPPENED LIKE THIS on Christmas Eve.
The premise of children even leaving there warm homes into the stone cold with just a bathrobe in itself defies reality comprehension. So as long as I'm in the comfort of my own home watching children baring the winter Christmas Eve cosmos in jamies, is their problem.
Now I admit, that having a lone man luring children on to an unknown midnight vehicle is a bit suspicious, especially without talk of consent from their parents to do so, it is a well known fact that Peter Pan himself has used this same sort of scheme with Michael, John, and Wendy.
What else is new?
For the most part, it is also likely this could have been somewhat of a dream, but like The Wizard Of Oz, it is supposedly not because unlike poor Dorothy who only had Toto as a living witness, our main childhood focus here has a bit of hardcore evidence.
My main concern is that throughout all the angles of what if, and why did it happen this way blah, blah, blah. . . I liked this movie. ALOT!
It's beautiful to look at like a 3D Christmas traditional card opening up it's telltale magic for all those who want to (yes I'll say it) "Believe".
And what more do we need from the land of Christmas anyway?