Thomas and the Magic Railroad (2000)

woooohooo awesome movie why is this movie low rated just because the adults don't like it the kids did and im 12 in year 7 so i love this movie i love the chase scene but heres something the movie was ruined by Americans!!!! it was meant to have George and diesel 10 and all the other characters splatter and dodge were meant to be destroyed the movie was due to be 146 minutes long with Pete Theodore boomer aka p.t boomer and the chase was the best and was meant to have Thomas derailing on the jump and diesel 10 grabbing him and finally killing him then of course we have James about to be scrapped scene and all sorts oh man it was awesome

Thomas the Tank Engine is a precious memory that many young adults and older parents hold dear to their youthful days. Either if it was narrated by Beatles' drummer, Ringo Starr in the U.K. version, or by comedian, George Carlin in the American version, the show was, and still continues to be a wide success among aging toddlers. So it is of no surprise that at the beginning of the 21rst century that the cheeky steam engine was given a theatrically released film. Sadly, Not many people have found it appealing; however, I am one of those few people who actually did.Shocking to me, I don't understand why so many people hate this movie. Yes there are a couple of areas that were not perfect before the filming began, but don't all great projects have their setbacks. And really, there are only a couple issues. But I'm going to forgive it because this film should not be trashed for such small errors. The movie is also partially narrated Mr. Conductor, Alec Baldwin, the third most recognized conductor to tell of Thomas' adventures from the TV show.The problem is that Mr. Conductor starts losing the magic in his gold dust and he must find it quickly. The gold dust is what keeps him from traveling between his world and the Island of Sodor (Thomas' world). And the only people who can help him uncover this secret is a girl and her grandfather. The little girl, Lily is played by the no more in showbizz actress Mara Wilson. Her grandfather, Burnett is played by veteran actor Peter Fonda. And let's not forget that Mr. Conductor has a relative, Jr. (Michael E. Rogers), who joins the crew as well. Even Didi Conn from the original Shining Time Station (1989) TV show, which aired the Thomas and Friends adventures, reprised her role for this movie.There are other actors like Russell Means who doesn't have a big role but do add to the nostalgia of the film. What ticks people off about this film is the acting and characterization. And that's just the human part of the film. I didn't find it out of place at all. Baldwin is considered to be at his worst but I found him fairly entertaining. Fonda is bashed for being to down in the dumps, but I found his performance quite emotional because some people become depressed when losing a family member; it happens. I sympathized with him.Lily and Jr. were thought to be of no importance to the story at hand either. But to me, I found Lily a character that children could connect to. And Jr. may not have been the most convincing character but he did have a number of funny moments. The other thing viewers and professional critics alike did not enjoy were the trains themselves. Apparently audience wanted to see moving mouths. But why do that? The TV show wasn't like that. Why would you want to change something that's classic to bad? Ever hear of "If it ain't broke don't fix it"? It's good that they kept it that way, otherwise it probably would have done worse. Of course, NOW the new series of Thomas and Friends have moving mouths so I hope all of you mopes are happy.The reason why the mouths did not move was that Britt Allcroft, who also happened to be the director of the popular TV show, also directed this movie. I mean, what more could a fan ask for? I give credit to Allcroft, I believe she put in the most effort into making this film as good as it was. She even provided a voice to one of the trains. Speaking of which, this is the last thing people were not happy with; one of the Thomas' friends does not show in this film because his physical train model was not available and the trains all have different voices instead being narrated by Mr. Conductor. Guess what? Not everything's perfect.Actually, the voice actors do a swell job being the trains. Edward Glen as Thomas was a good match. His voice didn't sound too old or too young. Neil Crone as Diesel 10 was a good match too. In fact, Crone's voice made Diesel a very comical villain. Kudos to them! And the film score by composer Hummie Mann was done brilliantly. Mann is able to combine all the right tones with each scene and it even includes The Shining Time theme song in his tracks as a reoccurring theme. It helps the movie a lot.As the only theatrically released film of Thomas the Tank Engine, it should be respected for its good performances and storyline. The characters a very likable and the music excels it to the max.

HiYes most of you are correct, the story is cheesy, without much substance and not much like the English cartoon - However - this is a kids film! My little boy is actually sat there now in awe of it, most of the kids this film is aimed at probably don't really understand the plot anyway all they see are trains, little people and gold dust!So what if a lot of the engines have an American accent, I'm sure children don't really care - I don't!What a great cast, Alec Baldwin, Frenchie from Grease and the girl from Matilda, I'm sure thats enough for the adults and if its not, go on your laptop/do some cleaning while your little one sits down peacefully (which hardly ever happens) and watches this film in wonder.Great film for kids under 8.Tez

Well, a Thomas movie has been made with a great cast and the version that we have was good, but could it have been better? The answer is yes. But it is still good the way it is. There is a nice plot that has everything one would want in a Thomas movie or any kids movie for that matter. What I don't like is how a good portion of the film is unreleased and may never be seen. But until I see the final cut, I think that one that we have now is good. It has the hero's quest, a determined bad guy, and things you can relate to. I liked it because it was a good interpretation of the character from the Thomas franchise and has an understandable plot. While I do hope for the full version of the movie, what we have now is good.