The Polar Express was a Christmas film made using motion capture technology and starred Tom Hanks in several roles. Now, just in time for the holidays, it gets re-released with a new 3-D transfer so that the Express will leap off the screen and into your living room (if you’re lucky).
A young boy (Tom Hanks) doesn’t believe in Santa (Tom Hanks) anymore. That night there arises such a clatter in the street that he is awoken and walks out to investigate. He finds a gigantic steam train called the Polar Express sitting in the middle of the street.
He’s approached by the Conductor (Tom Hanks) to climb aboard and take a trip to the North Pole. On board he meets some fellow children, Know-it-all (Eddie Deezen), a girl (Nona Gaye), and a lonely boy (Peter Scolari), as they continue on their trek north to Santa’s domain.
There’s also a mysterious Hobo (Tom Hanks) on board the train that appears to be a ghost. Along the way the boy will have some grand adventures as well as learning the true meaning of Christmas.
The role of the reviewer will now be played by Tom Hanks, just kidding. It does seem that Mr. Hanks portrays most everyone that appears on the screen thanks to the wonders of technology.
The actors were suited up in suits with green dots all over them and allowed to act on a stage. The movements were then transferred into a computer and the characters were electronically generated.
This allowed for Hanks to appear as a little boy, the Hobo, the Conductor, Santa, and probably could’ve played the train if he wanted to.
The film arrived on DVD in 2005, but this new release features the film in 3-D and gives you four pairs of 3-D glasses for the entire family to enjoy. The problem is that you have to have somewhat optimum conditions to get the full effect.
I had to turn down all the lights and sit directly in front of my set to get it right. I don’t think that the film was originally conceived to be shown in 3-D and that it was just converted to the process.
Perhaps I’m wrong about that since it was released in IMAX in 3-D and turned out to be so much of a hit that it was released as a yearly Christmas event. The film does feature some fantastic sequences and I absolutely adore the bit where the train is barreling across the frozen lake. Even if you don’t want to watch the film in 3-D a 2-D version is included on disc two.
The Polar Express is presented in anamorphic widescreen (2.40:1) and is enhanced for 16x9 televisions. The only extras you get, besides the glasses, are the 1-minute trailer for Polar Express and some other Warner Christmas films.
Sadly, none of the special features of the two-disc edition show up on this release (the 2-D version appears to be the first disc of that set though as its labeled “disc one”).
The Polar Express is bound to become a Christmas tradition at your house, as it is a fantastic holiday film. If you can create the right conditions (very dark room) then you’ll have the train barreling right at you. If you don’t, you might have a blurry mess.
The Polar Express: 3-D is now available at Amazon . As of yet, there is not a release date for this version of the DVD in the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.
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