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Polar Express, The
Warner Bros.


7.2

based on 36 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 74 votes
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Rate this movie

FILM:

GAMES:

Polar Express (PS2)

MPAA RATING: G for General Audiences

Starring Tom Hanks, Leslie Harter Zemeckis, Eddie Deezen, Nona M. Gaye, Peter Scolari, Brendan King, Mark Mendonca, and Gregory Gast

When a doubting young boy takes an extraordinary train ride to the North Pole, he embarks on a journey of self-discovery that shows him that the wonder of life never fades for those who believe. (Warner Bros.)

GENRE(S):	Animation \| Family/Kids \| Fantasy
WRITTEN BY:	Robert Zemeckis William Broyles Jr. Chris Van Allsburg (book)
DIRECTED BY:	Robert Zemeckis
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: November 22, 2005 Video: November 22, 2005 Theatrical: November 10, 2004
RUNNING TIME:	100 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

The Hollywood Reporter Duane Byrge

A story that soars with breakneck pace but slows in all the tender moments. Visually, this train ride is both majestic and edge-of-your-seat.

100

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

An enchanting, beautiful and brilliantly imagined film.

100

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

A movie for more than one season; it will become a perennial, shared by the generations. It has a haunting, magical quality because it has imagined its world freshly and played true to it,

Washington Post Jennifer Frey

Every detail of the beloved children's classic is meticulously reconstructed in the film, with visuals that can only be described as wondrous.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

A truly satisfying holiday picture, the kind everyone can enjoy.

Film Threat Rory L. Aronsky

Just like “It’s A Wonderful Life” is shown on TV every year, The Polar Express should appear in IMAX theaters that traditionally.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen

So delightful it should come with a parental advisory: "Jaded adults, beware. Viewing this may pierce your shell of cynicism and spark a renewed belief in the magic of movie-making."

Miami Herald Peter Debruge

It's a good, old-fashioned North Pole adventure.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

It's a sensation - both a milestone in computer-animation and a likely Christmas classic.

New York Post Megan Lehmann

Devoid of 21st-century irony, this visually stunning, action-packed yuletide treat is sweet and, yes, magical in a way that will enchant kids and give older viewers a twinge of nostalgia.

Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach

Like the coolest train set a kid ever had. It's not real and the faces on the toy people don't look human, but it has bells and whistles galore and will take you as far as your imagination allows.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

Cinematic magic.

Dallas Observer Luke Y. Thompson

If you have a chance to see the 3-D IMAX version of the movie ignore any objections. But if your only choice is a regular 2-D screen, The Polar Express is still three-fourths of a great movie.

Chicago Reader Andrea Gronvall

The story offers lessons in faith and self-esteem; the darker passages of the child's journey are countered by shimmering, cascading beacons of light; and fine period detail adds to the nostalgic glow.

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

This movie, which aspires to be a Christmas movie classic on the "It's a Wonderful Life" level, is overwhelming, enjoyable and impressive, without being really entrancing.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

For most of the way, it's indeed quite a ride: a cumulatively exhilarating, visually mouth-dropping, somberly stylish odyssey crammed full of virtuoso animation sequences.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

It's hard not to wish this film were more of a piece and less like loud music at the wrong party.

Time Richard Schickel

Tom Hanks doesn't turn Polar Express into much of a thrill ride. For that you need 3-D goggles.

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

A genuinely handsome film, and it tells a story that is well worth knowing. It's a kind, gentle and sweet holiday confection. But my Christmas wish is that the DVD comes packaged with the book.

Premiere Jessica Letkemann

The Hanks overload feels like The Polar Express is "Being John Malkovich" transmuted into a computer-generated 21st-century children's Christmas film.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

Visually, taking its cues (mostly) from Van Allsburg's Hopperesque art, The Polar Express is eye-popping. Storywise, however, it can be eyelid-drooping.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

While the 29 pages of his (Van Allsburg's) mini-classic would have made a superb half-hour TV special, Zemeckis and writer William Broyles Jr. have created a steroidal monster with a heart about one size too small.

USA Today Claudia Puig

Simple and evocative, yet teeming with intriguing visual effects.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

The screenplay, by Zemeckis and William Broyles Jr., plumps Van Allsburg's simple fable about the purity of childhood faith in what can't be seen with all sorts of wholly invented characters, complications, and declarations.

Boston Globe Ty Burr

Zemeckis and Hanks really seem to think they’re giving us a Christmas movie for the ages and a technology that will change cinema forever. They’re wrong on both counts. The Polar Express is merely a marvelous toy that has somehow become convinced it has a soul.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

The film's characters, computer-animated over motion-caputure footage of flesh-and-blood performers, are as blank-eyed and rubbery-looking as moving mannequins -- the stuff of nightmares, not dreams.

Variety David Rooney

This visually impressive yet emotional frigid fable could perhaps more accurately be tagged "The Bipolar Express."

The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps

As a spectacle, The Polar Express looks remarkable. As a film, however, it's the equivalent of an elaborately wrapped Christmas present containing a nice new pair of socks.

Village Voice Ed Park

When it comes to the "humans," the atmosphere collapses. Unnervingly smooth, mouths moving in strange, even frightening formations, the Polar people are the least convincing things on-screen, glaring impostors amid the otherwise painstakingly rendered scenery.

LA Weekly Ella Taylor

The result is another powerful children's story dulled into mediocrity by the worship of technology.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

Many moviegoers may find its colors and effects delightful enough to make the experience a thrill. Look beyond the tinsel, though, and you may be disappointed.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

In a word, it’s soulless.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

A train wreck of mind-numbing proportions.

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

Actually, the wonder The Polar Express induces feels something like a coma.

The New York Times Manohla Dargis

A grave and disappointing failure, as much of imagination as of technology.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

The result is a failed and lifeless experiment in which everything goes wrong.

The average user rating for this movie is 7.2 (out of 10) based on 74 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

What was that? gave it a1:
Bad, Bad, Bad! I agree with those that say, don't take kids. It was mean, ugly and hearltless, with a sicko message that hope is found in believing that a made up person will give you the material objects that your family can't. I agree with Nancy. The cruel joke that the movie plays on the poor boy who is finally learning that his life is not a fairy tale and that he is poor and that that is OK as long as he accepts it. But no! the movie says he is wrong to be realistic and sensible. He should "believe" more in a lie that will stunt his emotional growth for a few more years and make him resent his poor family for not giving him big presents. So santa is "god" and material objects are the reason christmas exists. This movie insults all religions and spiritual orientations equally. But it is not just the message of greed and delusion that makes it bad, it is that it is randon and mean-spirited. Like so many readers noted, there was no story. The boy gets on, the train goes north, random unrelated things happen that make no sense and do not make you care at all about the people and then the train gets there, the boy gets a present, and then he comes home. So what happens next christmas? Does he go again? Does santa have to give him a bigger gift or he will think he got dissed? What if the boy went to meet Marilyn Manson and got a gift, would we all want him to "believe" in MM for the rest of his life. So when a kid loses his "believe" in the idea that he gets free things from a fictional character, we should all be sad for that person? Good christmas movies are about human values and choices and recognizing what is important. This movie was a creapy effort to sell a sick and harmful message.

John gave it a2:
Horrible movie that looks great. It was soleless and boring. Why so dark? Why so random?What was the point. To literally believe in something that is not true? UUUggghhh!!!!

Chad O gave it a10:
This movie is simply incredible. I loved everything about it, the characters, the storyline, the music. The thing I loved most of all was the incredible visuals. I would definently recommend this movie to anyone who has not seen it.

[Anonymous] gave it an8:
It is my favorite christmas film next to National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. This is an amazing film. Yes it does have some overreacting when it comes to the girl's love for Christmas. Yes their eyes make them look like zombies. But it was great and it is for you.

[Anonymous] gave it an8:
It is my favorite Christmas film next to National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. This is an amazing film. Yes it does have some overreacting when it comes to the girl's love for Christmas. Yes their eyes make them look like zombies. But it was great and it is for you

Ena B. gave it a10:
Wonderful. Magical. A Holidays classic.

Matt gave it a1:
I couldn't even watch the first 20 minutes. It was so bad. I quit watching after the part with the train over the frozen lake sliding part/finding the ticket. When were those parts ever in the book? The book was awesome. This movie is nothing like the book. Not even close. I had a great childhood and I remember growing up as a kid I used to read the book with my parents. After watching this garbage movie it made me want to throw up. If you want to see a good film with excellent animation go and see the Incredibles or Monsters inc.

Polar Express, The Warner Bros.

Polar Express, The
Warner Bros.