The Polar Express (DVD)

...sleep on Christmas Eve, despite the fact he no longer believes in Santa Claus. Suddenly a train pulls up outside his house and the train conductor tells him to board, because they are on their way to the North Pole. Our hero does, and finds a train filled with other children, all of whom are given hot chocolate. He makes friends with two of the children - a nameless young girl and a lonely little boy called Billy. The train, meanwhile, makes its ...
...and the conductor come across Santa Claus. There, they wait for him to decide who is going to receive 'The First Gift of Christmas'. Who will that be? And will our hero find his way home safely?
.
I've always been rather intrigued by this film, because what looked to me like an animated film was frequently talked about as if it had real actors (rather than just voice actors). And at first glance, it does indeed seem to be animated. Some ... more

Our unnamed hero is finding it hard to sleep on Christmas Eve, despite the fact he no longer believes in Santa Claus. Suddenly a train pulls up outside his house and the train conductor tells him to board, because they are on their way to the North Pole. Our hero does, and finds a train filled with other children, all of whom are given hot chocolate. He makes friends with two of the children - a nameless young girl and a lonely little boy called Billy. The train, meanwhile, makes its sometimes precarious way to the North Pole, where the children and the conductor come across Santa Claus. There, they wait for him to decide who is going to receive 'The First Gift of Christmas'. Who will that be? And will our hero find his way home safely?
.
I've always been rather intrigued by this film, because what looked to me like an animated film was frequently talked about as if it had real actors (rather than just voice actors). And at first glance, it does indeed seem to be animated. Some research on wikipedia explained it all (sort of) - apparently the film is made using performance capture technology, which basically means that the action was filmed with real actors, and the result was then animated. It sounds complicated and probably is, but the final outcome is rather stunning. What we are left with is animation that looks so incredibly life-like, it is a little bit creepy to start with, but once I had got used to it, it really is a pleasure to watch.
.
There is no doubt that the look of the film is the best part. Everything is crystal clear and detailed, right down to the expressions on the children's faces. There is one scene on the train when it suddenly plunges down a steep hill, just like on a roller coaster, and I really felt as if I was on a roller coaster myself. And details like the crunching of snow underfoot and the condensation on the train windows are just incredible. Undoubtedly a real feast for the eyes. After this, watching plain old Disney, despite all the wonderful things they can do these days, is just a little bit boring. Then again, the film apparently cost $170 million to make, so it darned well ought to have been good.
.
Despite all this wonderment, I didn't really take to any of the main characters. The hero, and that is exactly how he is referred to in the credits, isn't all that heroic - he just goes along for the ride really - and there is no background to his character, so it is hard to feel all that much for him. That's no fault of the actor, Daryl Sabara, it's just the way that the story is written. I wasn't much more impressed by Nona Gaye, who plays the hero's friend, or Jimmy Bennett, who plays Billy. I just didn't find myself drawn to them at all, so in the end, I didn't really care what happened to them all that much.
.
Tom Hanks had a large part to play in the film. For starters, he was one of the producers. Then he had a number of roles in the film, all of them small ones, but crucial nevertheless - including the train conductor and Santa Claus. I thought he was good as the train conductor, but wasn't so keen on the other roles, all of which were a bit strange. Santa isn't very jolly - I thought he was overly austere, and the other roles, including a 'hobo' were very odd. Then there is the most annoying character of the film - a boy known as 'Know-it All', played by Eddie Deezen, who has a voice that constantly grates.
.
The story is really quite an odd one. Based on the novel by Chris Van Allsburg (which I haven't read), I found it all a bit creepy and not very Christmassy - although it is obviously supposed to be. Santa Claus and the elves gave me the willies and they are supposed to be part of the whole spirit of Christmas theme. Santa does give a few 'ho ho ho's, but that wasn't enough to save him. All in all, I just didn't 'get' the story and it really didn't do anything much for me. Perhaps I'm too traditional, preferring the virtually technology-free alternatives, but I thought the film was a feast for the eyes with very little other substance. However, I'm not the target audience, so hopefully children will enjoy it more than I did.
.
For those who like music with their films, there is plenty of that, including a beautiful song sang by our heroine and Billy on the train. Many of the songs were written and produced by Glen Ballard and Alan Silvestri, and I'm sure that the soundtrack would make a lovely gift for anyone who likes Christmassy-type music.
.
There is just one extra with my DVD - the theatrical trailer. However, there is a two-disc version available for four times the price if you want to find out more about how the film was made.
.
This is a film that I'll probably watch if someone else wanted to, but I certainly wouldn't go out of my way to watch it again - it just didn't capture my imagination as I had expected it to. There is no doubt that director Robert Zemeckis has done a superb job of making the film a visual delight, but that just isn't quite enough for me. Still, I'm sure it will go down as a classic in a few more year's time, and hopefully the children in your life will like it a lot more than I did. Three stars out of five.
.
The DVD is available from play.com for £5.99.
.
Classification: U
.
Running time: 99 minutes
 

...less