Thomas And The Magic Railroad (DVD)
My family are big lovers of Thomas the Tank Engine, my kids and grandkids have grown up with the wonderful books by the Rev W.V. Awdrey, books that were written way back in the 1940's but have stood the test of time well.
In 1979 Britt Allcroft mortgaged ... Read review
Thomas, as anyone familiar with the eponymous, wildly popular TV series knows, is a very ... more
useful engine, and never more so than in his first theatrical release, which was a modest box-office success. On a tank filled with little more than pluck, determi...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
For as long as anyone can remember the island of Sodor land of talking trains has been ... more
a realm of magic and innocence. But now Thomas the Tank Engine and his friends on the magic railroad are being threatened by diesel engines like the surly Diesel 10 and his sidekicks Dodge and Splatter. Even the magical Mr. Conductor (Alec Baldwin) who has always traveled between the train world and the human world of Shining Time Station is losing his powers and sparkle. In the middle of this crisis Lily (Mara Wilson) a resourceful 12-year-old meets up with Mr. Conductor on the way to visit her lonely grandfather Burnett Stone (Peter Fonda). With a host of whimsical witty and wise characters they embark on an adventure in the Island of Sodor with Thomas the Tank Engine to preserve that wonderful world that exists just beyond the limits of the imagination. Brave Thomas reminds them all that "even little engines can do big things.
Postage & Packaging:£0.00 Availability:3-5 working days
Alec Baldwin, Peter Fonda and Mara Wilson (Matilda) star in thiscombination ... more
live-action/animation feature film version of the hitTV series, Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends. Special Features: Theatrical trailers Talent files Interactive menus Scene selections
Advantages: Erm Thomas was in it Disadvantages: The children just didn't 'get' it at all - nor did I !!
== Thomas And The Magic Railroad (DVD) ==
My family are big lovers of Thomas the Tank Engine, my kids and grandkids have grown up with the wonderful books by the Rev W.V. Awdrey, books that were written way back in the 1940's but have stood the test of time well.
In 1979 Britt Allcroft mortgaged her house to bring us the wonderful television programmes, programmes that my two youngest children and all my grandchildren ... ...my grandchildren have had the Thomas railway sets etc etc
So when I saw a DVD of a film created, produced and directed by Ms Allcroft - Thomas and the Magic Railroad - I had no hesitation in buying it for my grandchildren to watch.
Now we all now Thomas is a British institution, but for this 2000 film he gets an American makeover that includes upping the PC element - thus the Fat Controller is fat no more- he is now ... more
Thomas And The Magic Railroad (DVD)
My family are big lovers of Thomas the Tank Engine, my kids and grandkids have grown up with the wonderful books by the Rev W.V. Awdrey, books that were written way back in the 1940's but have stood the test of time well.
In 1979 Britt Allcroft mortgaged her house to bring us the wonderful television programmes, programmes that my two youngest children and all my grandchildren adored. We have visited and travelled on'Thomas' at Llangollen and Haverthwaite railways, my son and my grandchildren have had the Thomas railway sets etc etc
So when I saw a DVD of a film created, produced and directed by Ms Allcroft - Thomas and the Magic Railroad - I had no hesitation in buying it for my grandchildren to watch.
Now we all now Thomas is a British institution, but for this 2000 film he gets an American makeover that includes upping the PC element - thus the Fat Controller is fat no more- he is now Mr Controller. Some of the engines, most of the cast and even the narrator have American accents. And 'that' theme tune's gone.
The film tells the story of two places - the Isle of Sodor and the happy town of Shining Time - and the magic railroad that connects them. The island is populated by talking trains (the steam engines, painted in cheerful colours, are the good guys; the diesels are the baddies, faithful to Awdry's creation), while Shining Time and the nearby Muffle Mountain are inhabited by people.
Once, long ago, it was possible to travel back and forth between Sodor and Shining Town, but that was before the train that made the passage was lost. Now, the only ones who can make the trip are Mr. Conductor (Alec Baldwin), and his cousin, Junior (Michael Rodgers). But the supply of magic gold dust they need is dwindling just as the diesels are preparing to move against Thomas, James, and the other steam engines.
Help is needed from the outside world, and it comes in the form of Burnett Stone (Peter Fonda) and his 11-year old granddaughter, Lily (Mara Wilson).
We start the film in Shining Time nestled deep in the Indian Valley; a town of magic that is somewhere in a universe that looks a lot like ours. The colours are bright and shiny and the people smile a lot. It is at Shining Town that we first meet Mr. Conductor, played by Alex Baldwin. He's only about a foot and a half tall when he's in Shining Time. This makes him the perfect size, though, when he uses his magic gold dust to travel to the Island of Sodor.
I thought that the problem with the film is that it never really decides what it wants to do or how its characters will act. Mr. Conductor starts out awkward and comic, and is later serious and pessimistic.
We're told that Burnett never smiles, but Peter Fonda smiles with everything but his mouth when he is talking to the children.
Diesel 10 alternates between being frighteningly evil and bumbling evil. Most of all though, for all that Thomas gets name billing in the film, he's really just one more train on the Island of Sodor.
After the start of the film, it doesn't live up to the promise of the sweet idyllic feel of the introduction, and it becomes rather boring. This is made worse by the generally flat acting. Mara Wilson is shocking and her young friend, played by Cody McMains, is worse, and the stiff dialogue doesn't help matters.
Despite this criticism, there are some effective things about this film. There is a certain charm to it and there is absolutely nothing in it that is objectionable to parents The children in the film are well-behaved, the engines try to teach each other respectfulness and there is an emphasis on the three R's: Responsibility, Reliability, and Real Usefulness.
It is also faithful to the original TV series in many ways. The same characters make appearances (though, Sir Toppham Hat ( the Fat Controller) is only heard through the phone and seen on posters and pictures.
As in the books the steam engines have a tendency to grumble and complain about silly things, and they are all very proud of their coats of paint. Everyone's goal is to be "really useful."
The film also continues to use the model animation that the television show does. It seems primitive compared to what animation can do these days.
For example, Thomas the Tank Engine and another locomotive are having a conversation. Their eyes roll and we hear their voices--but their mouths do not move. This is such an odd effect that I could think of little else during their conversation. In an era where so much can be achieved in the cinema, is it too much to ask a tank engine to move its lips while speaking? Either their mouths should move, or their eyes should not roll.
I can imagine what you're thinking, ah but you're reviewing this through an adult's eyes and this is a kids film, but after fifteen minutes one by one the 13, 7, 5 and 3 year olds watching it with me, voted with their feet and left me to suffer it on my own.
DETAILS
The film was shot in several locations Toronto, Canada Pennsylvania, USA Shepperton Studios, , England Isle of Man
· · Peter Fonda · Mara Wilson · Alec Baldwin · Didi Conn · Russell Means · Michael Rodgers · Cody McMains · John Bellis
WITH THE VOICES OF
Eddie Glen (Thomas) Neil Crone (Diesel 10, Splatter and Gordon) Colm Feore (Toby) Linda Ballantyne (Percy) Kevin Frank (Dodge, Henry, Bertie and Harold).
DVD
Details
· Format: PAL · Language English · Region: Region 2 · Number of discs: 1 · Classification: U · Studio: Icon Home Entertainment · DVD Release Date: 16 Jul 2007 · Run Time: 85 minutes · ASIN: B000TQLJ6Y
Basically you are just buying the film with this DVD.
On top of the film is only a variety of trailers of other children's films, one deleted scene ( that lasts about 15 seconds), and talent files containing a sparse coverage of the main actors and director.
Advantages: A fun lovable film surrounding some well loved characters. Disadvantages: A bit too American for Thomas!
...as it starts off with Thomas and his friends on the Island of Sodor, where you see Thomas, Gordon, James etc. (Yes I do know all the names but that's another story!) and then it skips to a little village called Shining Time, which of course has a station and an old steam train which runs along this line.
Shining Time is a very strange place where everyone is very nice to each other and the trains all run on time ( not set in this country or day ... ...to keep an eye on Thomas and his friends for the Fat Controller or Sir Topham Hat as he likes to be called. This is even more important because of a nasty Diesel train called Diesel 10, so Mr. Conductor travels to the Island of Sodor by the use of magic gold dust.
Diesel 10 also has two followers by the names of Splatter and Dodge, but instead of using their full names Diesel 10 calls them Splodge. Now these three are nothing but troublemakers and ...
princesssoapy 27.08.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Thomas And The Magic Railroad (DVD)
Advantages: Easy storyline for children, bright and colourful. Disadvantages: none
...is an avid fan of Thomas the Tank Engine, I couldn't wait for this film to come out, I took my son Oliver to see the film at our local pics, costing me £7 it was his first outing to the cinema and it was a special treat for his third birthday. We sat waiting for thomas to come on admist other over excited children, and when the film started my son was hooked.
The Island of Sodor is a very colourfull place, very different from the original programs, ... ...Sodor where he looks after Thomas and his friends.
Diesel 10 is out to destroy all steam engines with his two sidekicks Splatter and Dodge, he is trying to find the lost engine lady, who's voice is done by Britt Allcroft herself.
Anyway I won't give anymore of the story away, but their is lots for Children to enjoy in this film, with the familiar Thomas theme tune played in the film, and the big chase at the end, it keeps in line with the programs ...
sarah14 08.03.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Thomas And The Magic Railroad (DVD)
Advantages: True to the old Cartoon, Great for both children and parents Disadvantages: None
...cult kids series. But squeaky-clean Thomas the Tank has always resisted scrutiny, and Thomas’s first chug into the cinema keeps its cleanness. The action is split between the island of sodor (the trains' home) and the real world. Some bad bad diesel trains arrive in Sodor. You will not be sorry if you take your kids to see this film, and you will enjoy it too, its a feel good movie, and it still has that catchy starting jingle. !Poo Poo! ...
mhatherall 02.09.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Thomas And The Magic Railroad (DVD)
Advantages: great fun adventure movie Disadvantages: none
...its tomas the tank engine.
Thomas is a talking train who works on the island of Sodor.
Ths island is the relm of all magic and innocence that is until the deisel trains show up to cause trouble.
The conductor travels between two world by using a magic sparkle dust which he seem to be running out of.
The conductor is in the human world called Shining time when he runs into a girl called Lily he takes her to the magical island of sodor where she ... ...The conductor tells lily and Thomas about a magic portal that leads to a tunnel and to the real human world.
Thomas and lily decide to try and find the portal and save shiny town but hot on there trail are the deisel trains as they also want to find the portal but their reasons for this are totally different to that of thomas the deisels want to destroy the portal so that the magic will be lost forever.
Thomas finds the portal and goes through ...
yabbis21 21.03.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Thomas And The Magic Railroad (DVD)
...old.
The Magic of Thomas the Tank Engine is something we started to experience only this spring. My son picked out one of the videos from our local library, and he was hooked. He watched them all! When we took vacation earlier in the summer we scheduled a ride on The Real Full-Size Thomas at the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railway near Cleveland, OH. My children still talk about it daily. It was the time of their lives to this point. For such simple ...
ros145 11.08.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Thomas And The Magic Railroad (DVD)
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Advantages: Its a must Disadvantages: Better seen with a friend, so you can discuss it after
This review is like the film, its worth reading again after you've seen it. I promise I have not revealed the twist. I can honestly say I haven't enjoyed a film so much in ages. We used to go to the cinema twice a week. Used to see every film going it felt. Then the kids arrived and the cinema stopped. I have in the past two years been to the cinema 3 times, Toy Story 2, The Tigger Movie and Thomas and The MagicRailroad. Then came the wonders of DVD and of all the films I've seen The Sixth Sense rates the best. Why I hear you ask. Two reasons, its a great film which literally made the hair on my neck stand on end. Bits of it reminded me of the kid on the bike in the Shining. Then comes the end, I got the twist seconds before the reveal. The second reason are the extras. I documentary which shows the story ...
Mr Conductor's travels are limited as his supply of magic gold dust is critically low. Only help from his cousin Lilly and her grandfather will get more of the vital dust...
Release details
DVD Region
DVD
Studio(s)
Icon Home Entertainment; Warner Home Video, ICON HOME ENTERTAINMENT
Edward Glen, Michael Rodgers, Russell Means, Cody McMains, Didi Conn
Editor
Ron Wisman
Languages
Main Language
English
Hearing Impaired Language
English
Technical information
Special Features
Interactive Menus, Scene Access, Trailer, Weblink
Aspect Ratio
1.33 Full Screen
Sound
Dolby Stereo, Dolby Digital
Dubbing Sound
Dolby Stereo English
Professional reviews
Review
"...Baldwin's brio makes him as big as the smiling trains in the fantasy railroad yard..." (New York Times, p.E3, 26/07/2000)
DVD Description
Based on the television show THOMAS THE TANK ENGINE & FRIENDS, this directorial film debut from writer and producer Britt Allcroft features new animation techniques that combine talking trains with live-action actors. THOMAS AND THE MAGIC RAILROAD is about a young girl named Lily (Mara Wilson) who takes it upon herself to save the tank trains such as Thomas (Edward Glen), who live on a magical island, from bully trains like Diesel 10, Splotch, and Splatter. Alec Baldwin stars as Mr. Conductor.
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