Editorial Review:Amazon.com:Thomas, as anyone familiar with the eponymous, wildly popular TV series knows, is a very useful engine, and never more so than in his first theatrical release, which was a modest box-office success. On a tank filled with little more than pluck, determination, and goodwill, Thomas sets out full steam ahead on a danger-fraught mission to help his friend Mr. Conductor. The conductor's stash of magic gold dust has run out, leaving him stranded on the Island of Sodor with Junior, his flaky cousin, and Lily, a little girl enlisted to lift her grandfather out of a funk on nearby Muffle Mountain. When Thomas bravely chugs beyond his hometown tracks' buffers with Lily aboard, he's transported to Muffle Mountain's secret railway and to Lady, a long-lost steamer whose legendary engine makes her more powerful than Diesel, the train-yard bully. Together, Thomas and Lady lead Diesel on a chase that causes a bridge to collapse, taking the dastardly Diesel down with it. Most impressive about the movie is its marquee names: Alec Baldwin works magic as the dutiful worrywart Mr. Conductor, Mara Wilson is Lily, and Peter Fonda plays the cool-looking but lugubrious Grandpa. It's a cast that'll keep put-upon parents watching, if halfheartedly. Thomas fans 5 and under, meanwhile, will wish the actors wouldn't blow so much hot air; they'll want to see their hero a bigger part in steaming up the story line.
--Tammy La Gorce
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
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What is with the 1 stars on this movie???
My 19 month old loves this movie. We have watched it over 100 times. I bought another Thomas the Train dvd and my son didn't make it through the first 2 minutes. This has real trains in it, plus actual people in it. I like watching this better than all the Elmo movies!!
Rating: 
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Why on earth does he like it?
OK, I am a huge Thomas fan. (So is my 3-year-old son, but I am the one writing.) I had heard this was a horrid movie, but we were going on a long trip and I had to get a new movie for him to watch. He spotted this and there was no convincing him otherwise.
It's as if they all took acid when they put this together. I agree - the plot is hard to follow and the acting, well, STINKS! Peter Fonda looks as if he took Valium the whole time. Perhaps he did - it might have made it more bearable for him.
I will say this - my son loves watching this, but I am convinced his taste is suspended in order to enjoy the temporary "demise" of Diesel 10. If not, I have no hope for his future in the creative arts.
Buy the new Thomas movie. It's not great, but at least it's close to what we all know and love. If you are forced to watch this one, you might want a beer or two handy( - and a designated parent within earshot.)
Rating: 
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stop being so critical! the kids seem to love it..
I just think it's so funny that most of the people that gave this movie a bad review are basing it on their own criticsm and point of view. Hey, try looking at it from the kids' perspective and as long as they like it your opinions are null.
Rating: -
1 year old LOVES it
My son is 13 mos and LOVES this movie. Yes Peter Fonda's acting makes me laugh but the movie is golden simply for the fact that my son can watch it over and over again and keep him entertained. Anyone who thinks the plot is hard to follow is joking because my son at 13 mos follows it and even claps at the parts when Thomas saves the day. The songs are sweet and it's a nice feel good movie for the whole family. Alec Baldwin is a hilarious straight man to his free spirited cousin. They actually make the movie tolerable for the adults who have to sit through it.
Rating: 
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Just terrible
This movie is just wrong...the acting is terrible and the plot is nonsensical. There is no excuse for such awful movie-making. Yes, even for kids.
Worst of all, it is completely false to the spirit of the Thomas stories and original series. The movie actually features an evil villain -- rare-to-nonexistent in the real Thomas stories, where the baddies learn their lessons and quickly become goodies. One of the charms of the Sodor of the books is that none of the trains are all bad, and all of them are basically upstanding and want nothing but to be Really Useful Engines. The Thomas engines in this turkey are made to say things roughly in character but still totally tone deaf. They're caricatures. The narrator has an American accent, and the engines are given very annoying voices, unlike the good old fashioned British productions. It mixes live actors, who are apparently somewhere in a magical part of the United States. Alec Baldwin plays a sort of fairy creature. A train is hidden inside a mountain, and is called not by English names like Emily but the Disneyesque "Lady." That just gives you a little notion. Apparently the plot involves "magical gold dust," but I admit I didn't finish watching the movie so I never found out how. But in the books, Sodor is not magical, it is not a fairy tale. It's a regular place...it just happens to have engines that talk. It interfaces with the real world, not via a magic portal, but via bridges and ferries.
This movie is not Thomas the Tank Engine. This is Americanized, Disneyfied excuse to make a buck--well, that's not fair, because most American children's and Disney theatrical releases are not this bad. Whoever is responsible for this turkey knows nothing about Thomas or why kids love him. They just wanted to make a quick buck, that's all. It's a slap in the face to those who like and appreciate Thomas.
My little boy is absolutely crazy about Thomas, but he couldn't watch more than 10-15 minutes of this garbage.
