How horrible! - The Polar Express Reviews

How can you turn a children's classic book into such a truly horrible, scary movie. It had so much potential. This is not for the very young and shouldn't be rated G. Very disappointing.

The polar express nightmare... - The Polar Express Reviews

was like a bad dream after eating too much spicy food! It was dark, creepy, kids out in the cold in their pajamas,the conductor acted weird, and had strange expressions. It went on like a nightmare you couldn't wake yourself up from. There was always disasters, and falling, and getting lost,and a creepy train! Then the kids walk into a cold dark empty house when they arrive home. Where is that warm fuzzy feeling???? A very cold,dark movie. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone,at any age!!

Great graphics, boring story - The Polar Express Reviews

Initially, I was engaged by the great graphics of this movie, especially of the train itself. But once that novelty wears off, after the first 10 minutes, this movie is BORING. Even my 7-year old nephew couldn't wait for the closing credits to come up, so he could run out the door! There's just nothing to look forward to, or hope for, except seeing Santa himself, who turns out to be a regular, old, disappointing-looking fellow that computer graphics do nothing for. P.S. People who think this movie is too scary for kids are wimps. I was surrounded by 3 and 4 year olds, and they did seem to enjoy this movie. NO ONE was scared!

Christmas with aliens?? no it's just an idiot. - The Polar Express Reviews

Trust me, this is a horrible ego trip by Tom Hanks shoving his asinine impression of Christmas on us. I would rather watch the John Kerry impressions on Leno (i.e. hey John, why the long face?). A kid is questioning christmas, then a cheap train pulls up in his yard and takes him on worthless adventures to further fill his mind with junk. Be careful with all of the added characters. there's a hobo who doesn't fit in in any way. Basically, you just get sick of listening to Tom Hank's voice doing multiple characters. If you waste your time and money, try to figure out what "lessons" are punched into the tickets given to the children. that didn't make any sense. I would rather have seen aliens. The Forgotten had aliens, but they apparently travel the universe with wallpaper in their ship. Then to get Hanks' gestapo mentality, you have to explore the difference between what can be proved and what you have to believe without proof. The lame conductor says, "Sometimes the most real things in the world are the things we can't see". What the heck is he talking about? I have to wait now for Easter to enjoy a holiday.

Great for children - The Polar Express Reviews

My son is 3 and he loved this movie, although the story is one of his favorites throughout the year. We will probably be seeing it again this holiday season. Great for the whole family.

Dark - The Polar Express Reviews

They call this a Christmas movie? If I had wanted to see a horror movie, I would have taken my grandson to see Seed of Chucky. It was one long, scary roller coaster ride. Creepy, down-right scary characters and animation. Even Santa was scary. I thought I was going to have nightmares myself. I couldn't wait for the film to end. It is not a movie for small children. I recommend you watch Polar Express before taking your youngsters to see it.

The creepy express - The Polar Express Reviews

Read the reviews....the operative word is CREEPY! There really is no other word for it. Google "Polar Express" and "Creepy" and read the results. What can you say? The technology was not ready for prime time.

I love polar express!!! - The Polar Express Reviews

I took my nephew to see this movie for his birthday, and I think I enjoyed it as much, if not more than he did. It was so nice to see a movie that did not include a single dirty word. No one was shot, there were no lewd suggestive remarks, that are so often found,even, in childrens movies. It was a story about friendship, and having faith in something. I loved that this was not a story about a kid getting exactly what he wanted for Christmas, it was a story about a kid getting what he really needed for Christmas. The "animation" was perfect, I honestly forgot a few times that they were not real characters. The train ride was very intense and exciting.Only a true Scrooge will not enjoy this movie. Tom Hanks is wonderful, as usual.I will most certainly buy this one when it comes out.

A wonderful film - The Polar Express Reviews

I cannot find words to tell you how much I enjoyed this film. I saw this with a friend and the whole time we sat there going "It looks so real!" and it really did. The animation is done amazingly well, if I had not known that I was animated, I would have wondered if some of the characters, such as the mom, were real. The storyline stays true to the book. It is full of adventure and it has really gotten me into the Christmas mood. I would definitely recommend this movie to anyone, no matter what age.

The true meaing of christmas! - The Polar Express Reviews

I was woried that this movie wouldn't be top notch, but I am astonished to admit that this is the most amazing Christmas/ computer animated film I have ever seen. The Incredibles was...incredible. But this film shines like the light in front of the Polar Express. First off, do not listen to the critics, especially Manohla Dargis. Listen to Roger Ebert, because he knows what he is talking about (at least with this movie) The music is dazzling, the animation world-class, and the only thing that drove me nuts at all was the fact that the colored girl looked sort of strange sometimes (its that realistic, cartoony thing that kinda clashes in some points) but the feature is still brilliantly animated. This movie has a very creative flair, which is the North Pole, and the ending is magnificent. It's five golden rings for Tom Hank's The Polar Express!

A+ - The Polar Express Reviews

Being 25 and not really into kid's flicks I didn't think I would like this film...but it was amazing! The animation, or what ever it was, was so life like, I mean it was REALLY life like. There were scenes when I felt I was in the train, my stomach did some pretty big turns. The only problem I had with the film was the director trying to force laughs, from the train operators and the kid with the fowel glasses. All in all though it was an A+ film, and will go down in the history books, trust me.

I believe - The Polar Express Reviews

This is a wonderful holiday movie for both adults and children. It is not a sappy story but one showing that growing up can cause us to lose the magic of childhood. One of the saddest parts of childhood is losing faith in Santa. It is heartbreaking when we lose it, and in many ways harder to watch our children lose it. This film allows us to believe in the magic of Santa and Christmas forever. I do believe this will be a holiday classic, it is fun and entertaining. I especially liked the friendship that the kids, Nice to see boys and girls getting along nicely. I do not like nasty holiday movies, especially mean Christmas ones, it is always nice to see magic during this season, this movie is magic. I highly recommend this film especially for parents and children. I believe, and once you see it--you will believe in the magic of Christmas!

Holiday drivel at its worst - The Polar Express Reviews

(Sigh...) Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse, the holiday "feel-good" syrup pours all over this wholly sugary, recycled emotional claptrap sundae of a movie. The book was mildly entertaining, but you can get the same feeling and thoughtfulness from "Miracle on 34th Street" and "It's a Wonderful Life" - classics in their own right. The animation and storyboarding are simply atrocious - second-rate design and poor motion geometry make this thing look like a bad video game. Need I say more? For God's sake, pass this movie by (at least until it's shown on TBS next year for three weeks straight).

Heart-warming - The Polar Express Reviews

I just got home from seeing The Polar Express with my 13 and 18 year old. What fun it was to see it with them! When they were children I would sit them on the couch every Christmas season and read the book to them. Fond memories! We loved the story in print, and it was fantastic how the art and story came to "life" on the screen. If you "believe", you will truly hear the bell and understand the magic! It is a movie like this that takes your worries away for an hour and a half. Enjoy the fantasy!

Christmas classic - The Polar Express Reviews

A Christmas Classic!I loved the book and now I love the movie!The new technology is a look into the future of animation in films. I undewrstand the movie is available in 3D IMAX also.

I love christmas - if you do - avoid this bomb - The Polar Express Reviews

This really, really is bad. To start the animation seems like something from the 70's. The story is palin weird and unrelatable. The characters are weird and unbelievable. Go save your money and time and rent something with more substance like The Grinch. sarcasm.

Details about what i like and don't about it - The Polar Express Reviews

I liked it a lot, but there's not much to the story. It's very symbolic, but I think it's the graphics and the animation that brought the movie to live. I also think it's very realistic. Not that much in the graphics.. i mean the texture, hair, even freckles, snow, ice, and all the details, all that are more realistic than Shrek. I was pretty impressed with the improvements of hair movement in this movie. No longer do all the strans of hair move altogether in 1 direct path, now the strans of hair are grouped into many groups, and move in wavy motion. For example, Fiona's hair in Shrek, when she is frozen in air fighting the people in the forest, her hair shakes, but they all move together, like anime hair, where hair is not in strans but a whole chunk. In Polar Express, when the boy is sticking his head out the train, the wind blows and the hair doesn't all move the same way, but rather grouped in to many groups (no more big chunks but rather many many smaller chunks) that move differently. This makes it a whole lot more realistic. I was also impressed with the level of details of the ice frozen on the bottom of the train. However, there's one thing that i think the 3d animations need to work on.. If you've noticed with all the 3D animations, the movements (of the body/arm legs/facial expressions) are all very stiff. By this i mean for example, when the boy is chasing after the train, his body moves forward, and so do the arms. basically the arms follow the body movement. However, in real life, this is not quite the case, at least not like that. Think of it as... on a bus. When the bus moves forward, the people in the bus follows, but not immediately... there's a backward movement on the passengers before they follow the foreward movement on the bus. This is the hierarchy of movements where there's a main force of movement and the secondary movement does not follow the primary immediately. Or else it becomes a very stiff movement. This also happens in facial expressions... have you noticed that the top lips, nose area of the 3D animations are also very stiff? They need to study facial muscles more. When the characters are saying something with "M" like "mom" you notice their lips close, but do not compress. Try saying mom, your lips not only touch each other but rather pressed together, your top lip actually moves up a little because of the compression. Well, what bothered me about the movie is that the top lips of the characters looks like they're chapped... not much movement. I mean they know to compress the ball when it bounces and hits a surface. it's the same way with lips..... so my point is... well, it was a good movie over all :) Filled with Christmas Spirit. Another thing that impressed me was the imagination... All the high-tech stuff involved in the movie with the elves, it's really amazing. The humor in the movie is also not the stupid humor like Shrek (I do like Shrek a lot), it's serious humor. Another scene I really adore is the part where the elves are trying to let go of the baloon on the top of the aircraft, it's very creative! although it was like a 2 second scene.... I would definitly buy this movie when it comes out on DVD. I like the irony at the end, but I thought it could be more powerful than that.. since it's the end of the story

A realistic very great movie - The Polar Express Reviews

This was perhaps the bestest animation movie i have ever seen in my whole life.I mean,how could they make Tom Hanks very real in this movie?Tom Hanks played six characters in this movie.At end of the movie i kind of saw Tom Hanks real face when he was the father.That was real!!!I have seen this tonight and it was perfect!!!

A definite must see!!! - The Polar Express Reviews

Wow,what great animation! I have never seen anything like it. Tom Hanks was superb. This movie is sure to become a classic!

The 3-d movie is nothing short of incredible! - The Polar Express Reviews

I know I would be dissapointed if I went and saw it in the regular theatre, now. At the beginning of the movie, you feel as if you are right in the room with the boy. In the next moment, you are outside catching snowflakes. I have heard many comments of how the characters may seem a little rigid, but I think they would change their mind if they saw the 3D movie. There are times where you feel as though you are in the movie, as though the enviroment is real, and the characters really come to life, albeit in an animated way. The dancing waiter sequence is spectacular, you feel as if you are one of the children being served. And if you liked the lost ticket scene on the regular screen, just wait til you see it in 3D! The whole movie is just one visual feast after another, and in many ways is better than any real life because of the camera angles that could be achieved. One thing that I came away with that really struck me is how many of the scenes and situations seem to be made specifically for the 3D enviroment. For example, the snow, the steam coming off the train that seems to float int the air, the visuals inside the book and the ice looking out are remarkable, the "roller coaster" ride, the visual depth of the elves and their hats being thrown, and the elk herd. There are so many situations that just come to life in 3D. I will end with this: I was afraid my 5 year old daughter would not be able to watch this movie with us, because we had went to many of the 3D movies at Disney World and she was unable to watch most of them (too afraid). I myself am not a big fan of the Imax format because it tends to make me dizzy, but I was very pleased and satisfied with this version of 3D. As for my daughter, she could not remove her eyes from the screeen and I was constantly trying to get her to be quiet because she could not contain her excitement. Proof enough for me!