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polar express  

post #1 of 27
11/14/04 at 1:11pm
Thread Starter 
i'm thinking about taking ds to see this. he's 4, and this would be his second movie (we went half a year ago, and lasted 10 minutes). has anyone seen it? did you like it?
post #2 of 27
11/14/04 at 1:39pm
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post #3 of 27
11/14/04 at 3:03pm
I saw it last night. As an adult, I loved the action and special effects. The animation was eerily realistic. Having said that, I probably would not take my 3-1/2 year old niece . . . I thought there were some really scary images for younger kids. It's very loud and it depicts some pretty dangerious scenarios . . I thought it could be way too overstimulating for sensitive eyes and ears. JMO.
post #4 of 27
11/14/04 at 3:24pm
i'm taking my 4.5 year old ds and 3 yr. dd this afternoon. i'll let you know.
post #5 of 27
11/14/04 at 3:24pm
OT (sort of)...I am so sick of studios making movies presumably for children, but suitable mostly for adults or older children. I already had my concerns about this one, because Polar Express is our Christmas Eve book and I didn't want anything to take away from the beauty and magic of it. The book has such a stillness to it, I imagine it's hard to make a movie capture that, but it feels like another disappointment.

Carry on....
post #6 of 27
11/14/04 at 3:52pm
I haven't heard great things about Polar Express, and I'm not that excited to see it myself.

On the topic of "kids'" movies being for adults - I agree, but I think it's the film makers trying to strike a balance between adults' and kids' movies so parents can actually enjoy taking their kids to the movies. For example, I took my neices to see Shrek2 yesterday (it's still at the dollar theater) and we all loved it. It has enough adult humor to keep me interested, and tons of silly stuff for the kids, but no real violence and the potty-humor type jokes are kept to a minimum. Plus I think that many adults who grew up with good-quality cartoon movies like the Disney films, etc. just really enjoy a good "cartoon" sometimes.
post #7 of 27
11/14/04 at 4:01pm
My dh and I took our dds (ages 6 and 3) yesterday. We were really looking forward to it. We love holiday movies, it is rated G, and the girls love the book.

It was good, but probably better suited to a little older (or just less sensitive?) kids. The action had some pretty intense moments, and there was a part where the main character fears that the conductor is throwing another child off the train that had my dds worried, too.

Maybe better to watch on video next Christmas.
post #8 of 27
11/14/04 at 4:44pm
We cannot wait to see it. It is my Dd's fave story book.
post #9 of 27
11/14/04 at 5:07pm
we went to a birthday party for a five year old yesterday, and all the kids went to see this movie (except us, bc ds is 2 1/2...) anyway, the five year old bday kid was in his mother's lap in tears for 20 minutes during one extremely loud and intense part. And he had trouble doing to sleep last night bc of the movie. She told me to definately not take my ds to see it this year.

that's all I know!
post #10 of 27
11/14/04 at 6:03pm
I really didn't think it was scary at all. I took my five year old son to see and thought overall it was a nice movie. We rented Shrek 2 recently and I thought it had some parts that weren't suitable for children at ALL!

Valerie
post #11 of 27
11/14/04 at 6:23pm
We just took ds to see it. This was his very first movie in the theatre. He's 2.5 and we are extremely careful about what he watches but he loved it. Glued to the screen, not scared although it was loud and intense at parts. I felt it was a good match for my ds but each parent should judge their own child.
post #12 of 27
11/14/04 at 8:50pm
my dd (3) fell asleep with about 20 minutes left, but my ds (4.5) and i were both riveted. i really enjoyed the animation. i love the book and have read it to them for years. i think they did a great job developing it into a movie. i think it really captured the spirit of christmas. if it's possible to do that in a movie.
post #13 of 27
11/15/04 at 6:48pm
I enjoyed the animation, dd is seven and she enjoyed the movie. There were parts where I was scratching my head, wondering what "that" was doing there; I had never read the book. I picked it up the next day, and the parts where I was scratching my head were the parts that were NOT in the book. I'd say that means they didn't do such a seamless job?

It was still fun, mostly. Of course, no female elves until they needed them at the end so the guy elves could have dance partners. The usual junk.
post #14 of 27
11/15/04 at 7:08pm
I agree with what Joan said about the "stillness" of the storybook. The pictures are simple and stark. It's a lovely book, even if I don't ultimately agree with its message (you won't hear the jingle bell ring unless you believe faithfully in Santa. I know, go ahead, roll your eyes. ).

I groaned when I first saw the trailer for this movie. "Do They have to take everything nice and turn it into a movie??"
post #15 of 27
11/16/04 at 1:11pm
the dorky kid annoyed me...his voice was so fake and when it seemed there was nothing else to do, the train would go on a rollercoaster ride...felt like an imax theatre...3 yo loves trains....they made it so that the train was very intense, noises, size etc...overall we enjoyed it better than most other movies we've seen yet....there was a part where he said...no that mama...no that...(rollercoaster ride)
post #16 of 27
11/16/04 at 10:17pm
My dh, 4 yo ds and I went to see "The Polar Express" this weekend after reading about ten reviews on-line since critical reaction was so mixed. I took the advice of a friend and made some earplugs for my ds since it was his first movie in a theater. We had read the book to him each night this past week in preparation. When the movie was over, ds exclaimed "mama, I loved that movie" but he hasn't said anything since, prefering to talk about "Peter Pan" which we saw on the stage the previous weekend. I buy children's films for our library and I thought the film was completely harmless, if a bit weird looking and just OK for entertainment value. It certainly doesn't have the magic of the book or of some other classic holiday films..."Miracle on 34th St"... or "A Christmas Story" etc. I loved some of the action and the spooky, still darkness of it all, but overall it was not memorable. After the Pixar company excellence, it's hard to get excited about this new animation form. Still, in our small town it will be another year before there's a film appropriate for my little one, so I thought it was a great outing.
post #17 of 27
11/17/04 at 2:03am
Loved it! Went w/ 5 little boys, 3 years old. No one was scared and they all were SO excited for the choochoo train/Santa movie. I just approached all the scenes w/whispered thrill; ie HOW FUN to be on that rollercoaster!!!!

The part about throwing the girl off the train went right over their heads. No clue about any plot subtleties for us
post #18 of 27
11/17/04 at 2:13am
i absolutely love the Polar Express and would love to see the movie...

with that said, i wholeheartedly believe that books have a sort of magick to them that movies will never possess.

i will not allow my son to see the movie before he reads the book with me. maybe that's just me.

if he was already familiar with the story, i would definitely take him.
post #19 of 27
11/17/04 at 2:20am
Well, we took our 5 1/2 yo ds last Saturday. It was his 1st movie in almost 2 years. We took him mostly because he is a huge train fan and had been talking about the steam engine (I showed him the trailer beforehand)

But, as somebody else mentioned, he spent a good 30 minutes of the movie crying holding on to me, and the rest, worried about what was going to happen to the kids (if they were going to return home, fall from the train, etc.)

I don't think there's even a moment to make you laugh in all the movie? or I don't remember. Only peril situations with the children involved.

I liked it myself, and I think ds would have liked it when he was 3 and he didn't understand a lot of what what going on, or maybe I just have a very sensitive little boy and that's why he didn't take it that well.....

And to think that I chose this movie against the incredibles because it's rated G.... I think we would have enjoyed the incredibles better, but I'm not taking that chance now...
post #20 of 27
11/17/04 at 2:25pm
The Incredibles was great fun, but if your 5 1/2 y.o. was overwhelmed by Polar Express, then hold off on Incredibles. My impervious, nerves of steel kids didn't have a problem with it (9 y.o. and 5 y.o.), but there are definitly intense, scarey moments. Definitly worth seeing, just not yet.
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