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Movies / On DVD / Thomas and the Magic Railroad
Thomas and the Magic Railroad

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Thomas and the Magic Railroad (2000)

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19 %
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Reviews Counted: 63

Fresh: 12

Rotten:51

Average Rating: 3.9/10

Consensus: Kids these days demand cutting edge special effects or at least a clever plot with cute charectors. This movie has neither, having lost in its Americanization what the British original did so right.

Runtime: 87 mins

Genre: Childrens

Box Office: $2,027,042

Synopsis: Eleven-year old Lily (Mara Wilson) sets off to see her grandpa (Peter Fonda), but she ends up on the wrong train. Lily meets Mr. Conductor (Alec Baldwin), who lives in the town of Shining Time. Mr.... Eleven-year old Lily (Mara Wilson) sets off to see her grandpa (Peter Fonda), but she ends up on the wrong train. Lily meets Mr. Conductor (Alec Baldwin), who lives in the town of Shining Time. Mr. Conductor uses magic gold dust to visit the Island of Sodor and Thomas the Tank Engine and the Magic Railroad. When Lily arrives, Thomas is having problems with Diesel 10, a renegade diesel engine, and Mr. Conductor is running out of the magic dust. But all will be well if Lady, a missing golden engine, can be found. In the meantime, Grandpa has an engine hidden away in the mountain. Could it be Lady? Will Mr. Conductor find more magic gold dust? And will Thomas again be the number one hero of the Magic Railroad? In the early 1980s, Britt Allcroft found Thomas the Tank Engine and his friends in the Reverend W. Awdry's THE RAILWAY SERIES and brought them to television. Now--aiming at an audience of children between 3 and 7 years old--Allcroft transfers Thomas and his friends to the big screen, and she uses all manner of special effects in capturing the storybook feel of the original stories. [More]

Starring: Edward Glen, Alec Baldwin, Peter Fonda, Mara Wilson

Starring: Edward Glen, Alec Baldwin, Peter Fonda, Mara Wilson, Michael Rodgers, Russell Means, Cody McMains, Didi Conn

Director: Britt Allcroft

Director: Britt Allcroft
Screenwriter: Britt Allcroft
Producer: Britt Allcroft, Phil Fehrie
Composer: Hummie Mann

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Oct 31, 2000

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Reviews for Thomas and the Magic Railroad

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review | comment Comment
08/07/08
Mark Halverson
Sacramento News & Review

Scenes with Peter Fonda as a melancholy grandfather -- he couldn't get a cherished engine running in time for his late wife to ride it -- periodically bring the movie screeching to a halt.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
05/19/08
Lisa Alspector
Chicago Reader
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

With clunky bluescreen, spot-a-mile-off matte work and an absolute lack of synergy between real-life and animated action, it all conspires to provide an appropriately amateur sheen.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
12/30/06
Empire Magazine

If all this sounds convoluted, well, it's a toddlers' film and anything goes.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Derek Adams
Time Out

Please, for the love of God, don't let it be a franchise. Think of the parents.

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
12/06/05
Susannah Breslin
Film Threat

It's very slow, though it does offer a respite from the overactive animation that kids are mostly subjected to.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
05/20/03
Elvis Mitchell
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

There's no magic here, only incompetence.

Full Review Source: Palo Alto Weekly | comment Comment
05/14/03
Joe Mader
Palo Alto Weekly

...A strange, brooding story vastly different from its TV ancestor, and it will soon slip indistinctly from the public consciousness and into video stores, which is where it belongs.

Full Review Source: Film Quips Online | comment Comment
02/08/03
John R. McEwen
Film Quips Online

An inglorious wreck of a movie.

Full Review Source: Sight and Sound | comment Comment
12/02/02
Edward Lawrenson
Sight and Sound

Kids who loved the TV series will probably love this too. Adults will likely be less enthused.

Full Review Source: San Diego Metropolitan | comment Comment
10/21/02
Jean Lowerison
San Diego Metropolitan

A really unnecessary movie, whose purpose is primarily to promote the inevitable home video.

Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment Comment
04/05/02
Liam Lacey
Globe and Mail
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Could have been worse I suppose. At least there are no Pokemons or (shudder) grinning purple dinosaurs around.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
12/10/01
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

If I had been on drugs, I would have laughed hysterically at those silly trains, with only their googly eyes giving them expression.

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
02/14/01
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile

Offers a smooth trip.

Full Review Source: E! Online | comment Comment
01/01/00
E! Online

This land of sweetness and light may appeal to many, but to some it is going to seem like living hell.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
01/01/00
Bob Graham
San Francisco Chronicle
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A cynical, poorly constructed attempt to make parents and kids pay for a lesser version of what they can get free on TV.

comment Comment
01/01/00
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
St. Paul Pioneer Press

The sloppy storytelling leaves the magic in short supply.

Full Review Source: Nitrate Online | comment Comment
01/01/00
Dan Lybarger
Nitrate Online

Compared with contempo kidpics, the whole thing also looks rather low-tech.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
01/01/00
Derek Elley
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

I grew confused, then annoyed and finally just fatigued.

Full Review Source: NUVO Newsweekly | comment Comment
01/01/00
Edward Johnson-Ott
NUVO Newsweekly

You really don't want to be railroaded into seeing it.

Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | comment Comment
01/01/00
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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Latest News for Thomas and the Magic Railroad

January 01, 2000: It looks cute enough. Opens in new window
More...

January 01, 2000: Though its box-office prospects seem chancy, the film does have a ready-made audience. Opens in new window
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