Polar Express movie goofs

All a dream? I can see how some folks in this forum struggle with the metaphysical or magical storytelling. 

The Hero Boy wasn’t dreaming. The movie ends with a tangible sleigh bell in his possession, one with a note from Santa telling him to fix that hole in his pocket. 

He and his sister Sarah can hear the bell ring at that point. Their parents cannot.

The bell and the story share a magical connection  

If you can’t believe the magic, you have grown too old to believe. Those who can believe the magic remain young at heart.

jim pastorius posted:

What bunch of nitpicking by a pack of scrooges. It is a fantasy, not a documentary-butt heads. Love watching the train and the movie. Merry Xmas !  PS: I hear the bell.

Well Jim,

Your post is rather disappointing. I thought better of you than that. Obviously I had my sights too high.

We've all been civil as we discussed our viewpoints about the movie. Some of the counterpoints to my opinion have been enlightening as well as thought provoking.

I honestly do not see the need to resort to low class name calling just because some of us don't find the same value in the movie that others do.

Further, properly it's CHRISTmas, not Xmas.

Unlike your (what seemed to be) sarcastic wish for us, I hope you and yours do have a Merry Christmas.

I know we at the Ming household will have a merry one: For the first time in quite a few years, all of my wife's remaining immediate family will be coming to our place as well as our only daughter and only grand daughter... oh, and "him". (The son-in-law .) In our eyes, it can't get any better than that!

Andre

Relax folks.  It's just a movie.  About a movie.  About a book.   

Jim R. posted:

If you can’t believe the magic, you have grown too old to believe. Those who can believe the magic remain young at heart.

Sorry, I believe in magic and still think TPE is a "just OK" movie.

Rusty

Rusty Traque posted:

Jim R. posted:

If you can’t believe the magic, you have grown too old to believe. Those who can believe the magic remain young at heart.

Sorry, I believe in magic and still think TPE is a "just OK" movie.

Rusty

Where did I say you needed to think it was a great movie?

It's animated...…..

Remind me of the TV Bloopers show, a segment where Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble are sitting there talking  and laughing about the bloopers in their shows. LOL

Jim R. posted:

I haven’t grown tired of “Polar Express,” which I have loved from the start.

 

I agree, but the first time I saw it was in IMAX 3-D. Now THAT was a mind-blower! 

“All a dream? I can see how some folks in this forum struggle with the metaphysical or magical storytelling. “

The director, Tom Hanks, and the author all seemed to think it was a dream... why not you?

(And yes, I’ve interviewed the author... even have a signed copy of the book!)

Please reread my earlier post.  This is how it was explained to me at the time.

Jon

KOOLjock1 posted:

“All a dream? I can see how some folks in this forum struggle with the metaphysical or magical storytelling. “

The director, Tom Hanks, and the author all seemed to think it was a dream... why not you?

(And yes, I’ve interviewed the author... even have a signed copy of the book!)

Please reread my earlier post.  This is how it was explained to me at the time.

Jon

That must have been interesting. Please post your "interview" here so we all can read/listen to.

I've had many friends stop by to visit over the years along with their children. First thing they want to see of course is my trains. Afterwards, Holiday season or not, ask to see the movie Polar Express. Not one ever asked about errors as listed, except for a few, understood it was a dream the boy had when he fell asleep. How many of us ever fell asleep and didn't think we did? Or how many have had full detailed dreams? Yes the movie had errors, but just as our dreams of long ago, I'm sure continuity and realism weren't without errors.

Enjoy the movie for what it is, a fantasy to be enjoyed, rather then criticize it. Just like our layout and trains, everything isn't perfect and this is not a perfect world we live in.

That was 18 years ago!  The servers here have been replaced twice in that time...

Jon  

Of course it was dark you fools! It was night time! Geez!!!

OK guys.....we all can have different opinions about the movie...but it is a MOVIE....so cut the personal attack crap....  Just because someone disagrees with you doesn't mean that they are a fool or below your standards and some of the other put downs I have seen in this thread.  Probably should close this thread but I'll give it a little longer and see if any other worthwhile comments are made.....

If it was a dream, then the bell, the note, and the reflection make no sense whatsoever.  Calling the adventure a dream in the face of actual objects in the boy's waking life WOULD be a goof, of monumental proportions--in fact, it would be the only one that is an actual mistake.

Yes, the color pallet is "dark" because the story takes place at night, but that's not the real darkness.  The themes are dark and somber.  Again, that darkness is not a bad thing, but ignoring it does injustice to the movie.

Well, I won’t weigh in on the movie. Because, believe it or not, I have never seen it!

Anyway, thought I would steer this in a slightly different direction. Isn’t the Polar Express now Lionel’s all-time best selling train? Not sure if that includes just the train sets or some of the other associated merchandise.

Not bad considering how long Big L’s been around and the fact that the original PE set came out in, what, 2004?

Well I haven't see Polar Express either but every year my wife and I watch Alistar Sims, Miracle on 34th St, Christmas Story and the Bishop's Wife. Love them all, especially Christmas Story but that probably has more "bloopers" than Polar Express and the others combined but at 77 it resonates with my childhood memories of Christmas (love those lousey trees at the lot).

The academic in me feels compeled to point out the origins of Xmas for Christmas. It supposed to be the Greek letter "chi" which almost looks like an "X" and is the first letter of the word Christ in Greek. Fewer type sets have a chi so folks substituted an "X" as being the nearest to chi.

OGR CEO-PUBLISHER posted:

OK guys.....we all can have different opinions about the movie...but it is a MOVIE....so cut the personal attack crap....  Just because someone disagrees with you doesn't mean that they are a fool or below your standards and some of the other put downs I have seen in this thread.  Probably should close this thread but I'll give it a little longer and see if any other worthwhile comments are made.....

I'm surprised anyone is still discussing this...  

Mark in Oregon

Scotie posted:

The academic in me feels compeled to point out the origins of Xmas for Christmas. It supposed to be the Greek letter "chi" which almost looks like an "X" and is the first letter of the word Christ in Greek. Fewer type sets have a chi so folks substituted an "X" as being the nearest to chi.

The usage actually predates typesetting.  Chi and Rho together have been used as a symbol for Christ since the very early Church.

My original post was put up just to let everyone know there was a silly “movie goof” video on YouTube 

That’s all  - personally I love the movie - I’ll watch it at some point in the middle of the summer when no ones around just to get a little Christmas fix 😊🎄

The only thing I was aware of was the know it all kid being completely wrong about the engine - Baldwin / Lima / etc

Merry Christmas 

The way the elves sing Santa Claus is coming to Town towards the end almost seems like a cult. For those of you defending this movie. Is it only because it has a train in it. If it was called Polar Flight instead I bet nobody here would care. 

dorfj2 posted:

The only thing I was aware of was the know it all kid being completely wrong about the engine - Baldwin / Lima / etc

 

Merry Christmas 

I chalked that up to being a deliberate error to show that the "know-it-all-kid" didn't know it all.

I'm sure we've all had an experience or two with such a person...

Rusty

Hey Rusty - good point / never considered that 👍🏼

And yes I’m sure we’ve all come across “that guy” 😊

I thought I was the only one who thought the movie was a little creepy.  I loved the book and have the Lionel set, but as Andre and others have said, I felt there were a lot of dark overtones in the movie.  

Scotie posted:

The academic in me feels compeled to point out the origins of Xmas for Christmas. It supposed to be the Greek letter "chi" which almost looks like an "X" and is the first letter of the word Christ in Greek. Fewer type sets have a chi so folks substituted an "X" as being the nearest to chi.

Interesting Scotie!

Thanks for that information. I've not previously understood that. Many moons ago a math teacher said that "X" is algebra for the "Unknown", thus his feeling was that "Xmas" was a term used to generally insert ambiguity into the season.

You've helped me to connect the dots. The Christian organization I am a part of has a college campus ministry called "Chi-Alpha". I should have connected the dots given that!  But it eluded me.

What is ironic, is that often times the term "Xmas" IS used to offset the word "Christ" in Christmas, and yet, from what I've just learned, it STILL means what it should mean! How funny.

See? This is why it's often good to have civil discussions about differing opinions... I've learned yet another new thing via this thread! (Learned lots about the movie that I didn't previously understand.)

Aside from the crass name calling, I've enjoyed the exchanges in this thread. It's been mentally stimulating.  At my age, I need all the mental stimulation I can get!

What were we talking about again?

erdnA

Watched about 1:30 of the video before my eyes glazed over.
I wish I had enough free time to analyze a fictitious movie. Either you love it or hate it.

It's a great movie IMHO. If you consider the new CGI technology that went into making it its absolutely amazing. Did wonders for the model train industry too.

What do you mean "It's a dream"? Jeez, before you know it, somebody's going to say that "The Wizard of Oz" was a dream.

KOOLjock1 posted:

That was 18 years ago!  The servers here have been replaced twice in that time...

Jon  

The movie opened 14 years ago.

No movie is ever liked universally. Tastes vary, and I have heard many people suggest the movie is a little dark. I wouldn’t argue that point. Nor would I argue that the movie is great, a vague term at best.

But all a dream. No matter how hard you argue the point, the ending makes that conclusion illogical, and the Hero Boy’s final words immaterial if it were.

Thematically and from a storytelling standpoint, that simply wouldn’t make sense.

I question whether the principle players involved would make such a claim. When I interview someone and claim to represent their point of view, I include the quote or a link to my article, just to reinforce the validity of the statement.

I’ll do some more research online at that point, to see if they did indeed interpret it that way. 

One believes, or not. The main plot of the story.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6XuNWk4_iU