Product Details

• Actors: Michael Angelis, Michael Brandon, Alec Baldwin, Ringo Starr, George Carlin
• Format: Animated, Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Rated: Unrated
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Starz / Anchor Bay
• VHS Release Date: August 10, 1999
• Run Time: 67 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00000JMQB
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #169,701 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Thomas and his English engine buddies face floods, landslides, and taunting trucks in these half dozen 5-minute stories narrated by Alec Baldwin. As in their previous adventures, the spunky toy vehicles survive their mishaps with a combination of quick thinking and help from their fellow vehicles. The hard-working Percy is irked at how dirty he gets hauling rock and coal until being trapped by an avalanche from a mine-shaft collapse puts things in perspective. Competition comes to the Island of Sodor when lorries (British for "trucks") with a bad attitude try to take the engines' places. But a series of accidents and breakdowns restores the engines to their rightful place. The 35-minute video is capped off by a 3-minute "music video" featuring kids singing "Accidents Will Happen" over a series of clips showing the vehicles involved in a series of crashes and other misadventures involving jelly, snow, and a runaway "boulder" that looks suspiciously like a tennis ball. --Kimberly Heinrichs

From Parents' Choice®

Whoa! Who knew how exciting a Thomas the Tank Engine tape could be? This 37-minute gem delivers six suspenseful stories: Percy in an avalanche, Toby in a flood, Henry in a fishing hole, and more. Alec Baldwin does a fine job of narrating the emotion-filled, action-packed segments. The true treat comes at the end with the song "Accidents Happen" urging care, while crash scenes roll. A 1999 Parents' Choice® Gold Award Winner. (Ann Oldenburg, Parents' Choice®)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THIS IS A VERY USEFUL VIDEO, INDEED., November 9, 1999

By 

Rare Reviewer - See all my reviews

This review is from: Thomas The Tank Engine and Friends - Races, Rescues & Runaways [VHS] (VHS Tape)

"Races, Rescues and Runaways" is a great video. The animation is more realistic than previous Thomas videos, it introduces new characters and Alec Baldwin's narration is much improved over the 1998 effort, "Thomas the Tank Engine: Cranky Bugs." More important, the kids love it, which makes it worth every penny!

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Who's in Trouble Now!, July 5, 2005

By 

Pam Tee "Busy Mom" - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Thomas The Tank Engine and Friends - Races, Rescues & Runaways (DVD)

I have to laugh. We got this video and it had my kids (boy and girl; 3 and 5 respectively) sitting on the edge of their seats.

It's the music and Alec Baldwin's narrative that makes this video a success. They really managed to bring a little 'peril' to Sodor, but it is nothing scary.

Another thing we like about this collection of videos is that there are alot of the lesser known characters such as George, Duck, Skarloey, Oliver, and Toad.

Titles are:

Toby and the Flood
Put Upon Percy
Horrid Lorry(s)
Bye George!
Something In The Air
Oliver's Find

Five Stars. A good addition to the home video sheds.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must-See for the Little Thomas Addicts, February 28, 2001

By 

Emilia Palaveeva "ema-in-seattle" (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Thomas The Tank Engine and Friends - Races, Rescues & Runaways [VHS] (VHS Tape)

A Thomas fan once, a Thomas Fan for life--or that is how I feel about my son's favorite character. This collection of Thomas stories is great. A direct interpretation from the original stories, it brings the characters from the book alive. My son loves it.

On a separate note, the live animation and lack of a lot of special effects is a refreshing change from a lot of the other kids movies out there. It lets kids' imagination to develop and that is why I think that my son watches this tape over and over and over....