The Polar Express
Warner Bros. Pictures | Release Date: November 10, 2004
6.8
USER SCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 273 Ratings
USER RATING DISTRIBUTION
Positive:
173
Mixed:
61
Negative:
39
Watch Now
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Expand
Review this movie
VOTE NOW
 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Check box if your review contains spoilers 0 characters (5000 max)

User Reviews

User scoreBy dateMost helpful
6
RayzorMooseNov 13, 2013
The Polar Express rides to victory.
A magical, beautifully animated holiday tale of Christmas spirit. The Polar Express mystifies with its realism, enjoy.
2 of 2 users found this helpful20
All this user's reviews
6
Trev29Dec 20, 2014
The Polar Express is mostly enjoyable to watch and look at except for the creepy human animation. It also feels like one long unnecessary scene after another that could have been easily condensed.
0 of 3 users found this helpful03
All this user's reviews
6
F-XTDec 19, 2005
It could have been better for a child movie even more that it's a pretty short movie. I think that the wors where the animation that somtimes was not realistic.
0 of 0 users found this helpful
5
drlowdonJun 15, 2013
On Christmas Eve a young boy sees a mysterious train bound for the North Pole stop outside his window and, invited aboard by its conductor, he sets out on a journey to visit Santa Claus preparing for Christmas. The CGI is certainly veryOn Christmas Eve a young boy sees a mysterious train bound for the North Pole stop outside his window and, invited aboard by its conductor, he sets out on a journey to visit Santa Claus preparing for Christmas. The CGI is certainly very impressive but overall The Polar Express is just rather dull. This certainly won’t join the list of Christmas movies I’ll dig out every year.… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
All this user's reviews
6
TyranianJan 9, 2020
Just does enough to receive pass marks but has a lot of sickly sweetness. Animation has its moments.
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
All this user's reviews
4
Nobilis1984Dec 24, 2016
An interesting children's film from the year 2004. At the time the CGI was not yet as far as today but it would look great.
Still a nice movie for the little ones.
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
All this user's reviews
6
CineAutoctonoDec 8, 2015
A really good movie for the holidays, in fact almost abuurida , but the plot is magnificent , spectacular animation of Robert Zemeckis is able to devise.
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
All this user's reviews
5
FilmClubMar 27, 2016
Robert Zemeckis and Tom Hanks appear to have taken an ambitious misstep. Straining with all the elaborate new-fangled wizardry at its disposal to become an instant Christmas classic steeped in old-fashioned storybook charm. Warner release isRobert Zemeckis and Tom Hanks appear to have taken an ambitious misstep. Straining with all the elaborate new-fangled wizardry at its disposal to become an instant Christmas classic steeped in old-fashioned storybook charm. Warner release is strictly for young children and looks unlikely to challenge Disney/Pixar's "The Incredibles."

Given that this $165 million gamble is more interesting as a technical achievement than as storytelling, there is additional curiosity value in its IMAX 3D release, which will occur simultaneously on Nov. 10 with the standard-print rollout. Even on a regular screen, the action often displays a tangible, at times visceral 3D quality, so the giant screen format and immersion in the action may help give the unsatisfying film more audience immediacy and excitement.

While digital animation has made considerable strides in the past decade, the trick of creating emotionally vivid, realistic human characters has yet to be achieved. Pixar’s “Toy Story” movies got by with peripherally featured humans, but attempts to move beyond that, like Sony’s 2001 interactive computer game-derived “Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within,” have been cold and distancing.

“The Polar Express” may succeed via the motion-capture process in replicating human movement by digitalizing the performances of live actors, but it fails to capture the subtlety of facial expressions or to fabricate sympathetic, evocative figures, particularly of the children that are key to this adaptation of Chris Van Allsburg’s beloved fairy tale.

In fact, the three dead-eyed tykes who lead the action here resemble nothing so much as Stepford children, giving the film an at times creepy feel, amplified in the later reels by spindly, hyperactive elves (who perform stereotypical Jewish shtick, including Yiddish) and a Santa who descends on the North Pole town square like some kind of yuletide Mussolini hitting Piazza Venezia.

Adding to the emotional remoteness of the three kids is the fact they don’t have names. While small children are perhaps less likely than adults to find the strange unintended subtext of the film off-putting, it’s hard to imagine them empathizing much with such stock figures: a middle-class boy from suburban Middle America in whom the first signs of doubt about the existence of Santa Claus have begun to manifest themselves; a smart black girl with incipient leadership qualities; and a poor boy from the wrong side of the tracks, whom Christmas has always passed by.

While the story chronicles the kids’ journey toward life lessons — the importance of friendship, courage, magic, trust or simply belief in the spirit of Christmas — there’s surprisingly little flesh on the narrative bones. Instead, action covers a series of brushes with danger that create the illusion of a propulsive narrative but never really develop into a satisfying fable.

The main girl’s momentary loss of her train ticket prompts a hair-raising scramble along the roof of the moving train where a hobo (Hanks) camps out; a mass caribou crossing brings the engine to a screeching halt just in time; the iced-over tracks send the train sliding out of control, narrowly avoiding catastrophe when the ice cracks.

There’s a curious lack of the quintessential characteristics of wonderment, joy and childhood reaffirmation that might have made the completion of the kids’ journey of self-discovery register with more emotional warmth. Despite unrelenting use of an aggressively heart-tugging score by Alan Silvestri, the story merely plays out as an inflated spectacle with not much to tell.

Voice work is of secondary importance here to the visual action, much of which is exhilaratingly muscular and rich in movement. The ice episode is spectacularly illustrated, as is the dizzying flight of the girl’s lost ticket, snatched up by an eagle and then let loose again to flutter back down to the train.

The story’s imposing landscape of snow-covered mountains, vast plains, thick forests and skies electrified by the Arctic lights is faithful to the style of Van Allsburg’s illustrations and often exhibits the painterly look of vintage children’s books.… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
All this user's reviews
6
sebastianaliJan 12, 2020
Bueno, a esta película le tenia muchísima nostalgia, pero que se le va a hacer. El Expreso Polar se podría decir que cumple con lo básico en cuanto a película navideña, pero sin aspirar a nada mas. Tiene una animación decente, y buenasBueno, a esta película le tenia muchísima nostalgia, pero que se le va a hacer. El Expreso Polar se podría decir que cumple con lo básico en cuanto a película navideña, pero sin aspirar a nada mas. Tiene una animación decente, y buenas canciones, pero el resto de cosas no son lo suficientemente satisfactorias de ver. La historia en general se siente muy alargada artificialmente y no todos los personajes son tan explotados, siendo el único que destaca es el conductor del tren. Algo que El Expreso Polar hace realmente bien son en cuanto a las moralejas que enseña sobre la navidad, son muy buenas y tiene bastantes! Asi que si realmente estas metido en todo esto del espíritu navideño esta película realmente te gustara, aunque si eres mas neutral en todo este tipo de cosas, pues, no parecerá la gran cosa, ya que no ofrece nada mas aparte de lo mas básico que es ser una película navideña. Las mejores películas navideñas no solo destacan por ser eso, sino también porque tienen una buena historia aparte con la que defenderse.… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
All this user's reviews
5
Sosmooth1982Jan 8, 2023
Decent movie, a lot different from all the other same type of christmas movies you see. A train that take you to Santa's work shop. For a kid who never believed in santa.
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
All this user's reviews
More From This Movie

61 Critic Reviews

6.8 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 77 Project Hail Mary
2 75 Send Help
3 73 Hoppers
4 71 The Sheep Detectives
5 68 Crime 101
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL