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The Polar Express

2004

Robert Zemeckis

Animation, Tom Hanks, Nona Gaye, Michael Jeter ...

5.8

18,363

Animation. Adventure. Fantasy. Kids A young boy lies awake in his room one snowy Christmas Eve, excited and alert. Breathing silently. Hardly moving. Waiting. He's listening for a sound he's afraid that he might never hear - the ringing bells of Santa's sleigh. The time is five minutes to midnight. Suddenly, the boy is startled by a thunderous roar. Clearing the mist from his window he sees the most amazing sight - a gleaming black train rumbles to a stop right in front ... [+]

	Author	Review
United States	Manohla Dargis The New York Times	"A grave and disappointing failure (...) Turning a book that takes a few minutes to read into a feature-length film presented a significant hurdle that the filmmakers were not able to clear."	NEG
United States	Roger Ebert rogerebert.com	"The look of the film is extraordinary (...) That's the magic of 'The Polar Express': It doesn't let us off the hook with the usual reassuring Santa and Christmas cliches (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 4)"	POS
United States	David Rooney Variety	"This visually impressive yet emotional frigid fable could perhaps more accurately be tagged 'The Bipolar Express'."	NEU
United States	Peter Travers Rolling Stone	"The movie just doesn't work (...) The result is a failed and lifeless experiment in which everything goes wrong (…) Rating: ★ (out of 4)"	NEG
United States	Paul Clinton CNN	"The overall artwork is remarkable, and the action sequences are inventive and emotionally gripping (...) But those human characters in the film come across as downright ... well, creepy"	NEU
United States	Kirk Honeycutt The Hollywood Reporter	"The film is not sheer wizardry; it also has heart (...) Visually, this train ride is both majestic and edge-of-your-seat"	POS
United Kingdom	Peter Bradshaw The Guardian	"After a promising and distinctive start, a railway adventure to meet Santa runs off the rails (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"	NEU
United Kingdom	Ian Nathan Empire	"A film that's both sentimental and extraordinary (...) [The creators] touch heights of splendour not even reached by Pixar's zanier moments (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"	POS

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