Customer Reviews

Thomas & Friends: Hero of the Rails - The Movie

5 star:		(39)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The fourth Thomas movie down the line (after "Thomas and the Magic Railroad", "Calling All Engines", and "The Great Discovery"), "Hero of the Rails" makes the biggest change in Thomas's history so far; the entire film is done in CGI animation produced by Nitrogen Studios in Canada. All of the characters are now individually voiced, although Micheal Brandon returns to narrate through the film.

In the story, Spencer, a big silver engine from the mainland, is visiting Sodor to help build a private summer house. Thomas, after being teased about his size, foolishly tries to compete with Spencer, but ends up crashing onto an abandoned old line. There he finds Hiro, an old abandoned engine who once worked on Sodor long ago. Wanting to prevent him from being scrapped, Thomas promises to help return him to his former glory, along with the help of Victor and Kevin (a steam engine and a crane, respectively), who work at Sodor's famous "Steamworks". Along the way, he has to avoid the suspicious eyes of Spencer, and keep Hiro's secret from Sir Topham Hatt.
Not spoiling the end of the story, it's vaguely similar to "Magic Railroad", but it was fantastically executed overall. Hiro's character is very believable and likable, and Victor and Kevin make a wonderful pair on-screen. The story's moral is laid in through the narration, but isn't thrown right into the viewer's face, unlike most children's films, which is a refreshing change.

The film's main focus, however, is the new animation. While the original model series was wonderful, the new CGI is a breath of fresh air. The moving faces give a whole new life to the characters, and each locomotive looks as realistic as they can be. The backgrounds, scenery, and buildings are far more detailed than something I would have expected from a film for children. There are plenty of new camera angles, too, that could never have been achieved with the models, such as shots from under the engine, or swooping shots of two engines racing side by side, or panoramic shots of morning skies across massive mountains.

The voice acting is fantastic as well. Thomas's new voice fits his personality to the tee. Hiro has a gentle Japanese accent, which suits him very well. Michael Brandon does an even better job at narrating than ever, and he really helps to bring the story to life. I would advice the scriptwriters to work more on the actual lines though; the format used in the film gets repetitive over time (for example, "Thomas's wheels whirred and wobbled" "Thomas's boiler was bubbling" or "his pistons were pounding) and the "phrases" the engines use come and go ("Fizzling fireboxes!" "Blistering boilers!" "Rattle my rods!" "Cinders and ashes!").

Overall, however, I feel that "Hero of the Rails" is one of Thomas's best films yet, and I can't wait to see Thomas in his new animated format in the near future. HiT Entertainment and Nitrogen Studios put a lot of work and effort into this new film, and it shows. Old and new fans alike are sure to enjoy Thomas in his newest adventure.

My 4 year old went bananas when he saw that I bought this for him. He was so happy. I watched it with him the first time and I was impressed with it. The Thomas movies have always been good for kids and now that they are animated it is even better. Not quite as creepy I think! So if you have a Thomas fan in your house this is a must see & buy.

My daughter loves Thomas the Tank Engine but sometimes the videos make me want to eat nails. That stupid song gets caught in my head and the stories just seem so short and underdeveloped. This movie is very different. The music is more modern (read: no annoying children's choir)and the character voices are much more natural. The longer story was developed well and did not seem to end abruptly. I actually enjoyed watching this Thomas video with my daughter.

I bought Hero of the Rails for my 2-year old. He is an absolute Thomas fanatic!

This movie does not dissappoint. Initially, I was not a fan of the CGI. After watching what seemed like endless hours of Thomas minatures and voiced-over character dolls in the older shows, it seemed that was the only proper way to watch Thomas. The CGI would simply cause "confusion and delay".

Was I wrong! CGI breathes new life into this series. The characters have lost that "homey" feel of the minatures, but this is more than made up for by the quality of the graphics. The scenes flow very well, and I must admit, they hold your attention better than "The Great Discovery".

The storyline is very believable: a broken-down and forgotten engine is made new again. This seems to be a recurring theme in many Thomas episodes: Something old is made new. Or, something old is worth keeping around, e.g., steam engines in the age of diesel.

The characters are great! Some of the voices are bit overboard, such as Gordon's "High & Mighty", and Henry's whine. Spencer's voice is perfect, as are Hiro's and Emily's. Personally, I don't care for Thomas's voice. It seems a bit too youngish, but considering who this DVD is aimed at, it works for kids. As was mentioned in an earlier post, Victor and Kevin are a match made in Heaven: the seasoned veteran and the new kid in the shop. Perfect!

Without getting too specific and spoiling the movie for all, I will just say this movie is great for kids and adults. I have even snuck it into the DVD player when no one was around...

Buy it. You won't regret it!

This new Thomas and Friends movies uses more animation than the old TV series, typical of recent Thomas stories available on video. I'm not in favor of the animated facial expressions and speech, nor the fully animated Topham Hat. However the story in this particular full length movie was much better than previous Thomas movies or episodes. My 3 year old was not overwhelmed or confused by it, and we all really liked the new character, a Japanese engine called Hiro. The story was well-written, and except for the open ended fairy tale ending - it reaches a reasonable conclusion. The movie also used one of the better voice narrators, though not for all the character voices.

I recommend it and hope you can get a good deal on it.

Hero of the Rails is a surprisingly effective movie that demonstrates the potential the Thomas series still has.

Breaking from the usual plot formula of the show, Thomas finds an old engine left for scrap, and tries to repair him in secret. Meanwhile visiting engine Spencer is feeling sore from his competition with the Sodor engines, trying to sabotage them in any way possible.

For a show that was admired for its trainset-come-to-life imagery, changing Thomas to a CGI show seems like a controversial move. However, Hero of the Rails shows the new medium being used to its full potential - wonderful scenery, dynamic "camera" work like tracking shots, and a new sense of scale in Thomas' world. In fact, one new setting is the Steamworks - a giant workshop modeled on several installations from the glory days of steam.

There are new characters, too, and while often Thomas introduces new characters with little purpose other than merchandising potential, these seem like natural extensions of the Sodor world: Victor, the even-tempered workshop engine; Kevin, the Steamworks' accident-prone mobile crane, and Hiro, the abandoned engine whom Thomas and friends hope to restore.

The movie's not without its flaws. For instance there's little regard for actual railway practice, which the older shows almost always adhered to. Finally there are times when the narrator keeps talking even though it's perfectly clear through the characters and on-screen action what's happening. It's not really adding anything other than repetitive rhyming and alliteration.

Still, Hero of the Rails is a refreshing chapter in Thomas' history, and deserves a look.

The best part about this one is of course the animation and that the engines actually talk. My 2 yo son calls the cgi movies/cartoons "a new thomas". This a a great addition to any thomas dvd collection.

My 2 year-old daughter has recently expressed excitement over buses, trucks, airplanes, helicopters, and trains...so I thought she might get a kick out of a Thomas video. Once I popped it in, she was hooked. It's actually a very cute movie, and carries a nice message about friendship. The new CGI format is wonderful, and I prefer it to the traditional style (this may be my preference because we started with this format in the first place). I'm waiting for the next Thomas full-length movie, as I prefer it to the videos with short stories.

I ordered this DVD for my 3-year-old son the day it came out, and just sat through two viewings back to back! Obviously, my son loved it! He wants to play the games again (the special features), but it's bath and bed time, so it will have to wait until tomorrow. What did I think as a parent? The movie is pretty good, actually. I wasn't so sure how I would like the full-animation style, being used to the limited motion of the traditional motorized models, but the filmmakers pulled it off really well. The scenery was beautiful, the engines were nicely rendered, the voicework was nice (each individual engine has its own voice here). Overall, the movie was very pleasing. There were no grating characters or voices. There was a good message about teamwork and honesty and helpfulness (typical Thomas fare). I'm sure glad we bought the DVD, as my son will enjoy many, many viewings, but this movie failed to attain the charm, the appeal and the impact of the last Thomas feature film, The Great Discovery. Between the two, definitely get The Great Discovery first.

"Hero of The Rails" is great Thomas fun and if you have a chance to catch it at a real theater, by all means do. It's quite an experience! (All the little kids bouncing around... popcorn flying... energy level sky-high...)


But for the home, what you should know is that like in "Thomas and the Great Discovery" Thomas & Friends: The Great Discovery, Thomas makes a discovery in this film, but this time it's not a place but a person that he finds! The venerable Hiro, Master of the Rails. Hiro, is an absolute delight, by the way. He's an engine from Japan that came to Sodor before any other engines. Unfortunately, because he was first, and because he came from so far away, when he broke down they put him on a sideline where he was soon forgotten. And this is where Thomas finds him.

What makes Hiro delightful is that he finds the good in everyone: imperious Gordon, vain James, it doesn't matter. This trait, of course, brings him friends. And soon, all of our favorite steamies are trying to locate parts for him in an effort to make him whole-and-useful-- because they are afraid that he'll be scraped if they fail.

Missing in this one is a certain devious diesel, so the crews' opposition is provided by egotistical Spencer, who annoys everyone with his boasting and shenanigans. He turns out to be a pretty effective foil, having his way right up to the end, when Thomas emerges victorious and Spencer is not only humbled, but comes to regret his previous behavior.

So as it turns out, "Hero of The Rails" is a story of friendship and trust, and redemption.

Talking Points:::
Moms like me will delight in the positive messages that are in this Thomas movie. Thomas is hardly cheeky at all, and in fact, is patient, a good-sport, and even manages to 'turn the other cheek' when Spencer insults him.

Though it's strange to see the human characters move, it is really great to see more than the Steamies' eyes move. And though the animation is not Lucasfilms quality, the production features some great shots, like having a train roll over you, and seeing from Thomas' prospective what it looks like to go barreling down the tracks.

The Music is awful, and that's all I'll say about that. The voices, however, for the Steamies are good, although there could be more distinction between them.

There are a few new characters. Victor at the Works. His fumbling assistant, Kevin, who isn't an engine, and Hiro, of course.

All in all, this is a must-have flick at this point, because Thomas, Percy, Toby and the rest of the Crew are more alive than ever.

Pam T!
mom and reviewer for BooksForKids-reviews