Thomas and the Magic Railroad (2000) Reviews

• Bland little film that forgets to include the most important element of a kids film - fun

  bob the moo2004-01-01

  With evil engine Diesel back on the track and looking to get rid of the old steam engines. Mr Conductor is put in charge of using his gold dust to jump around the area and keep an eye on Diesel - but his supply runs out and he finds himself stuck. Meanwhile Diesel is looking for the steam engine that got away from him in the past - the same engine that was repaired and hidden by Grandpa Burnett many years ago. Being a reasonable fan of Thomas in my youth I decided to watch this film to see what it was like. The first problem of the film is that it doesn't resemble the UK version, with characters and sentiments added for the American audience. This isn't a major problem - only that it affects what I remember from the original series. The plot is very fragmented and is far too hard for very young children to follow; the basic is good but the addition of various characters and such just complicates things. The issue I had with the story was the fact that it is almost totally lacking in any sense of fun or wonder; I don't mean it should have been hilarious but it should have been at least enjoyable. Instead, there is no sense of fun here - it is very plodding and makes it nigh on impossible to stay with. The animation is basic but is more or less true to the original series; downside of that is that the trains all look rubbish - with the eyes being the only bits that move (constantly). However the film straw is the fact that the cast are pretty poor. The voice work on the trains is very simplistic and it just made all of them sound the same. Peter Fonda is awful and can't even muster the energy to deliver the most basic of lines (when his granddaughter returns he says `Oh Lily. I'm so glad you're back' with all the emotion of a man reading out his shopping list). It's like he got drunk and woke up to find himself contractually obliged to do this film and decided to not even put in a little bit of effort. Baldwin tries hard and is actually OK because he is at least putting in effort; more than that, considering his tough guy image, this was a strange role for him to play and he does do it pretty well although I would have liked his character to insert more of the wonder and fun that he hints at rather than delivers. Overall this is a pretty poor film that never really goes anywhere. The plot is weak - too complex for tots and too convoluted for adults to bother with. The acting is roundly poor and the film manages to be totally missing any sense of fun. It's easy to tire of kids films that are full of knowing humour but this is one film that was crying out for a bit of silliness or tongue in cheek humour.

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• A wasted opportunity!

  TrickTaylor2006-05-17

  It is stunning that in this day and age of movie tie-ins, that the creators (or better said owners) of the Thomas the Tank Engine franchise couldn't find a better major movie outlet for their goldmine. Face it, if they would have put 2 seconds of thought into this clunker it would have been huge. Basing it on the Shining Time Station theme was the first mistake. Why not have a nice little movie about the Island of Sodor and its engines? Why insult the audience by creating human characters that are DREADFULLY acted? Again, a simple little movie would have made a mint. It has been 6-7 years since this movie came out and I wonder why another attempt at a Thomas movie hasn't been made. This is the most popular character for children ages 2-6. Parents (like myself) would kill for a decent big screen adaptation to take children to. Seems like somebody is missing the boat here. As for this movie, it has all been said within the previous comments. The acting by Peter Fonda is downright embarrassing, and the storyline is confusing. More focus should have been put on the engines and less on wooden human characters. It gets a 3 from me because despite all its flaws, my 3 year old loves it, therefore giving daddy a much needed rest from time to time. Time for another try at a Thomas movie. Anybody up for it?

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• The best Thomas film to date

  breakdownthatfilm-blogspot-com2013-01-03

  Thomas the Tank Engine is a precious memory that many young adults and older parents hold dear to their youthful days. Either if it was narrated by Beatles' drummer, Ringo Starr in the U.K. version, or by comedian, George Carlin in the American version, the show was, and still continues to be a wide success among aging toddlers. So it is of no surprise that at the beginning of the 21rst century that the cheeky steam engine was given a theatrically released film. Sadly, Not many people have found it appealing; however, I am one of those few people who actually did. Shocking to me, I don't understand why so many people hate this movie. Yes there are a couple of areas that were not perfect before the filming began, but don't all great projects have their setbacks. And really, there are only a couple issues. But I'm going to forgive it because this film should not be trashed for such small errors. The movie is also partially narrated Mr. Conductor, Alec Baldwin, the third most recognized conductor to tell of Thomas' adventures from the TV show. The problem is that Mr. Conductor starts losing the magic in his gold dust and he must find it quickly. The gold dust is what keeps him from traveling between his world and the Island of Sodor (Thomas' world). And the only people who can help him uncover this secret is a girl and her grandfather. The little girl, Lily is played by the no more in showbizz actress Mara Wilson. Her grandfather, Burnett is played by veteran actor Peter Fonda. And let's not forget that Mr. Conductor has a relative, Jr. (Michael E. Rogers), who joins the crew as well. Even Didi Conn from the original Shining Time Station (1989) TV show, which aired the Thomas and Friends adventures, reprised her role for this movie. There are other actors like Russell Means who doesn't have a big role but do add to the nostalgia of the film. What ticks people off about this film is the acting and characterization. And that's just the human part of the film. I didn't find it out of place at all. Baldwin is considered to be at his worst but I found him fairly entertaining. Fonda is bashed for being to down in the dumps, but I found his performance quite emotional because some people become depressed when losing a family member; it happens. I sympathized with him. Lily and Jr. were thought to be of no importance to the story at hand either. But to me, I found Lily a character that children could connect to. And Jr. may not have been the most convincing character but he did have a number of funny moments. The other thing viewers and professional critics alike did not enjoy were the trains themselves. Apparently audience wanted to see moving mouths. But why do that? The TV show wasn't like that. Why would you want to change something that's classic to bad? Ever hear of "If it ain't broke don't fix it"? It's good that they kept it that way, otherwise it probably would have done worse. Of course, NOW the new series of Thomas and Friends have moving mouths so I hope all of you mopes are happy. The reason why the mouths did not move was that Britt Allcroft, who also happened to be the director of the popular TV show, also directed this movie. I mean, what more could a fan ask for? I give credit to Allcroft, I believe she put in the most effort into making this film as good as it was. She even provided a voice to one of the trains. Speaking of which, this is the last thing people were not happy with; one of the Thomas' friends does not show in this film because his physical train model was not available and the trains all have different voices instead being narrated by Mr. Conductor. Guess what? Not everything's perfect. Actually, the voice actors do a swell job being the trains. Edward Glen as Thomas was a good match. His voice didn't sound too old or too young. Neil Crone as Diesel 10 was a good match too. In fact, Crone's voice made Diesel a very comical villain. Kudos to them! And the film score by composer Hummie Mann was done brilliantly. Mann is able to combine all the right tones with each scene and it even includes The Shining Time theme song in his tracks as a reoccurring theme. It helps the movie a lot. As the only theatrically released film of Thomas the Tank Engine, it should be respected for its good performances and storyline. The characters a very likable and the music excels it to the max.

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• nice pleasant diversion for the adults and fun for the kids,

  disdressed122009-08-03

  at least i thought so.it's a magical fantasy adventure which for about 86 minutes should make you forget about you problems.and most kids should eat it up.there's certainly nothing objectionable here.while i was viewing it,it kept m,y attention and sort of brought me back to the days when i was a kid.this show wasn't around back then of course.all we had were Saturday morning cartoons.but if you try and view this with a child's perspective,you might appreciate it more.and if you do drift off,at least the young ones are watching something that won't pollute their minds.for entertainment aimed at children,you really can't go wrong with this movie.from that perspective,it's a 10/10

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• It's Thomas the Tank Engine!!!!! And he's in a movie!!!!!

  sethn1722006-07-25

  Okay, this movie is getting close to Bottom 100 status, so let's give this an early analysis, shall we? Okay. "Thomas and the Magic Railroad" is a feel-good, happy-go-lucky children's film that is based on the long-loved "Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends" (now simply "Thomas and Friends") series of shorts. When my little twin brothers started watching my old Thomas VHSs at age two, I thought to myself, "Wouldn't it be great if there was a movie version of Thomas?" A year later, my wish had come true!!!!! So, in summer 2000, not only did Nick Jr. bring back my old PBS favorite "Shining Time Station," but this movie came out in theaters. This was my little brothers' first movie. Yes, it was so good, that heck, even I loved it!!!!! For the years after, we have seen this on the two home mediums of VHS and DVD, and it was even great then!!!!! The only bad thing about this movie are the many negative reviews it had received. My first movie was Disney's "Beauty and the Beast," and it was one of the greatest films ever made. Sadly, my brothers' first film, this, was one of the worst films ever made, but I won't let that count! It's England, It's Thomas the Tank Engine, and It's A "Really Useful Movie!!!!!"

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