Thomas and the Magic Railroad

Destination Films | Release Date: July 26, 2000

5.8	USER SCORE Mixed or average reviews based on 34 Ratings

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User Reviews

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MikeSApr 3, 2009

This is an absolutely terrible movie even by the standards of my 2 year old. It is poorly acted, poorly scripted, poorly shot and doesn't even give much screen time to the steam engines (the main reason my 2 year old wanted to watch This is an absolutely terrible movie even by the standards of my 2 year old. It is poorly acted, poorly scripted, poorly shot and doesn't even give much screen time to the steam engines (the main reason my 2 year old wanted to watch it). One big long non-sequitur that makes Teletubbies seem like Shakespeare. There is nothing here for your kid. There is nothing here for you. Don't waste your time or money.… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful

HunterZeroJan 21, 2015

This is a horrible misuse of the much loved series of stories about every child's favourite tank engine. For a start, it appears to have been written by someone who has never had anything remotely to do with the original stories and TV shows.This is a horrible misuse of the much loved series of stories about every child's favourite tank engine. For a start, it appears to have been written by someone who has never had anything remotely to do with the original stories and TV shows. The world realised in this movie is nothing like that in the original material. For some reason this film tries to explain why the tank engines are alive. The island of Sodor is some parallel magical dimension model railway, with magical special coal and magical gold dust for teleporting around the place. Flowers act as telephones, magic vegetables inexplicably hang by cloths pegs, and magic buffers act as a gateway to a conduit between worlds. In the original stories you just accepted the engines had personalities, and it needed no explanation. Then there's the cast of characters. Rather than have the engines as the main characters and stars of the story, and have the Fat Controller, they had to introduce a cast of completely new human characters. All of them look like they are lost as the film staggers between poorly disjointed scenes and plot points, and all of them have been given positively terrible dialogue to deliver that wavers from putrid to cliched to saccharine sweet. Why has a Moondoggie clone been added to this film? What is the purpose of the native American Indian character? Peter Fonda looks particularly lost in his role. Most of the characters act in silos, there is little meaningful interaction between them at all. Worst of all is the antagonist that has been created for the film - Diesel 10. In all the original stories, all the engines are inherently good and well-meaning, but many have character flaws and they make poor decisions through bad judgement. Throughout the stories, the engines receive their comeuppance, learn valuable lessons, and redeem themselves. Diesel 10 however is unique in that he is the only truly psychopathic character in the Thomas universe. He is the clear stereotypical bad guy, and all his intentions are deliberately evil. He is pugnacious, and violent, and wilfully tries to harm other characters for his own means. He has no redeemable qualities whatsoever. This is an example of the clear Americanisation of this film, where there has to be a clear bad guy who everybody fights against and the audience can hate. Plus they had to add in a pair of brainless stooges for him as well, in classic gangster tradition. To top it all off, the pacing of the film is dreadful, and the direction non-existent. If I had to say something positive about the film, my 2 year old loves it, but then again that could be a negative because it means I have to sit through this awful film multiple times.… Expand

0 of 3 users found this helpful03

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edbezantDec 9, 2012

this is such a poor attempt at bringing the much-loved TV series to the big screen that it's probably a good thing reverend wilbert awdry isn't around to see it

0 of 3 users found this helpful03

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jbb9601Aug 30, 2013

This is the worst movie I've ever seen in my life! The acting sucks, the editing sucks, the direction sucks, the new characters suck, and its story and setting just flat out insult both the Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends and the RailwayThis is the worst movie I've ever seen in my life! The acting sucks, the editing sucks, the direction sucks, the new characters suck, and its story and setting just flat out insult both the Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends and the Railway Series books.… Expand

0 of 2 users found this helpful02

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JPKJan 16, 2020

Complete Insult To Thomas
Thomas is a great show for families with young kids and is a classic. This movie however is complete garbage that isn’t a classic, And rightfully so.

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

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Striking4gold4Jul 11, 2016

This would have to be one of the worst Thomas and Friends features ever put on screen. And judging from Misty Island Rescue, Calling All Engines, and The Other Side of the Mountain, that's saying a lot. Thomas isn't funny. Heck, you can'tThis would have to be one of the worst Thomas and Friends features ever put on screen. And judging from Misty Island Rescue, Calling All Engines, and The Other Side of the Mountain, that's saying a lot. Thomas isn't funny. Heck, you can't even relate to him. And speaking of Thomas, for his first feature film, he's barely in it! The film just centers on a young girl, an out of his mind conductor and a depressed Peter Fonda. Now I know I should give it credit for having Peter Fonda...BUT THE SHOW ITSELF HAS EDDIE REDMAYNE! Yeah, no kidding! I think I said enough.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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SimpsonFansAug 11, 2016

This is a horrible misuse of the much loved series of stories about every child's favourite tank engine. For a start, it appears to have been written by someone who has never had anything remotely to do with the original stories and TV shows.This is a horrible misuse of the much loved series of stories about every child's favourite tank engine. For a start, it appears to have been written by someone who has never had anything remotely to do with the original stories and TV shows. The world realised in this movie is nothing like that in the original material. For some reason this film tries to explain why the tank engines are alive. The island of Sodor is some parallel magical dimension model railway, with magical special coal and magical gold dust for teleporting around the place. Flowers act as telephones, magic vegetables inexplicably hang by cloths pegs, and magic buffers act as a gateway to a conduit between worlds. In the original stories you just accepted the engines had personalities, and it needed no explanation. Then there's the cast of characters. Rather than have the engines as the main characters and stars of the story, and have the Fat Controller, they had to introduce a cast of completely new human characters. All of them look like they are lost as the film staggers between poorly disjointed scenes and plot points, and all of them have been given positively terrible dialogue to deliver that wavers from putrid to cliched to saccharine sweet. Why has a Moondoggie clone been added to this film? What is the purpose of the native American Indian character? Peter Fonda looks particularly lost in his role. Most of the characters act in silos, there is little meaningful interaction between them at all. Worst of all is the antagonist that has been created for the film - Diesel 10. In all the original stories, all the engines are inherently good and well-meaning, but many have character flaws and they make poor decisions through bad judgement. Throughout the stories, the engines receive their comeuppance, learn valuable lessons, and redeem themselves. Diesel 10 however is unique in that he is the only truly psychopathic character in the Thomas universe. He is the clear stereotypical bad guy, and all his intentions are deliberately evil. He is pugnacious, and violent, and wilfully tries to harm other characters for his own means. He has no redeemable qualities whatsoever. This is an example of the clear Americanisation of this film, where there has to be a clear bad guy who everybody fights against and the audience can hate. Plus they had to add in a pair of brainless stooges for him as well, in classic gangster tradition. To top it all off, the pacing of the film is dreadful, and the direction non-existent. It is even worse than The Rugrats Movies. Do not see this movie. It sucks major freaking big huge mega ass.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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