Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7764 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-07-16
• Rating: Universal, suitable for all
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 85 minutes

Synopsis
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.

Customer Reviews

love it!
I have to say its not the best film i've seen but my 3 year old LOVES it! It's not got a great story line thats got much to do with thomas really but if you take it on face value and who its targeted at then they have gone a brilliant job. I had bought a Lady train for my son and he never looked at it until this movie, now he sets his train set up and has his diesel 10 chasing thomas and lady! So to sum up dont expect too much and after all its for the kids, not us over critical grumpy grown ups!!

A Hollywood makeover that works!
Have to say I completely disagree with some of the unfairly negative comments posted here in the other review on this film. For those thinking this movie amounts to another Hollywood assassination of a great TV series, have no fear, it actually works surprisingly well. Mixing the model animation of the original Thomas characters with live actors was always going to be a risky venture but to the credit of both the film-makers and the cast involved the whole thing comes across as enjoyable and genuinely engaging. Alec Baldwin does a particularly good job as 'the conductor' (literally another universe away from his roles in 'Malice' and 'The Juror' for sure!) whilst Peter Fonda also deserves credit for his performance (again, a long long way from Easy Rider). Special mention should also be made of Neil Crone's superb voicing of arch baddie Diesel 10, which succeeds in coming across as a locomotive version of the Wicked Witch of the West!

Suffice to say my three old son loved this film from start to finish and take it from me - your kids will too. Sometimes Hollywood can get things right you know (!)

Your child will probably love it, but...
As a parent this is one of the worst films I have ever had to sit through. Terrible acting, terrible sets, terrible story, just bad from beginning to end. Thomas here is just about still English, but his world is entered through the side of a hill in America. So all the characters are American - okay perhaps for the international market and undiscerning todlers, but a travesty for parents who remember watching the 5 minute films narrated by Ringo Starr and who would be forgiven for feeling that part of their childhood has been horribly adulterated. And of course, in Politically Correct America, the Fat Controller becomes "Sir Topham Hatt"

But then again you probably don't care what I think, do you. You want to know if your child will like it? If he/she likes Thomas the tank engine and is 2 years or older, the answer is yes, your child will probably love it - unfortunately.

My advice is to stick to the good old English productions, which are widely available and thankfully sell much better than this Americanised version