4k Movie, Streaming, Blu-Ray Disc, and Home Theater Product Reviews & News (2024)

Overview -

It's almost been twenty years since the creepy Tom Hanks and Robert Zemeckis motion capture film The Polar Express was released. Now, Warner Bros. has given the film the 4K treatment and it's the best the film has looked thus far, even if those haunting dead-eyed memories of Tom Hanks still rattle the bones. This Christmas story about a boy who visits Santa on a magical train evokes some nostalgic feelings, but in the end, The Polar Express doesn't stand in the same room as other holiday staples. All the bonus features are imported over here, but no new extras are included and DTS-HD 5.1 audio mix sounds wonderful. Recommended For Fans.

When a doubting young boy takes an extraordinary train ride to the North Pole, he embarks on a journey of self-discovery that shows him that the wonder of life never fades for those who believe.

Ranking:

Tom Hanks and Robert Zemeckis sealed their ever-lasting friendship with Forrest Gump and ever since then, the dynamic duo has tried to re-create that magic. It hasn't always been easy though or as good as the first outing in Alabama. At some point, Zemeckis wanted to hop on the CGI wagon with Hanks and make a Christmas movie, which actually happened in 2004 with The Polar Express. The film was based on the 1985 children's book of the same name that was written by Chris Van Allsburg and was set for an epic adventure on the big screen with every actor's motion captured for that weird CGI look.

The trouble though was that the source material was less than thirty pages long and Zemeckis and company made a 100-minute film with pacing problems, bad acting, and no thrills. Even the lifeless eyes of every CGI'd actor was creepy throughout the whole movie and created an unsettling atmosphere. This feature film adaptation about a young boy who was called upon to hop aboard a magical train on Christmas Eve to visit Santa at the North Pole with Aerosmith as the singing elf sounds great on paper, but with this misfire of a movie, it doesn't do anybody any favors. At least not back in 2004 when it was released. The Polar Express still has some recent nostalgic charm and evokes the spirit of the holidays well enough, but it doesn't hold a candle to any of the other Christmas classics.

High-Def Digest previously reviewedThe Polar Expressa few times over the years. Check out our past coverage:

• Peter Bracke's 2006 HD-DVDThe Polar ExpressReview
• Peter Bracke's 2007 Blu-rayThe Polar Express Review
• Peter Bracke's 2008 Blu-rayThe Polar Express Presented in 3-DReview
• M. Enois Duarte's 2011 Blu-ray 3DThe Polar ExpressReview

Vital Disc Stats: The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray
The Polar Express chugs its way to 4K + Blu-ray + Digital Code via Warner Bros. The two discs are housed inside a hard, black plastic case with a cardboard sleeve. The discs themselves are black and blue respectively, giving that haunting effect. The artwork features the train in the film traveling to the north Pole. Luckily, there are no creepy characters on it. There is an insert for a digital code.

Ranking:

The Polar Express comes with a fantastic-looking 2160p UHD 4K transfer with HDR10 capability. This is not the most colorful holiday film out there and it has a haunting color palette, along with a fully CGI image. But Warner Bros. stepped up to the plate and knocked it out of the park, giving this movie the best video presentation thus far.

The colors resemble a darker story, even though the story itself isn't scary. Tons of dark blues greys and silvers take up the screen here with some good contrasting sparks of amber, gold, yellow, and red. Outside in the bitter cold gives way to all those snowy and metalic dark blues of the train cars and wilderness. Even at the North Pole, those darker, haunting colors are seen everywhere. The train sparks on the track provide a beautiful yellow and gold color that lights up the screen. Inside the train car allows for the very warm color spectrum of reds, oranges, and even more holiday-like colors of green, purple, and other bright primary colors. Santa's red suit and big gift sack are wonderful deep red that looks exquisite against the darker background at night.

Black levels are inky and rich, but most have a darker blue hue to them. The HDR delivers those nuanced and well-balanced colors of blues and reds perfectly that distinguish exterior shots of the bitter cold, as well as the different golden sparks and brightness in people's CGI faces. The skin tones are always on the warm yellowish side. There are no instances of any banding, aliasing, or heavy video noise here, which is surprising given the number of visual effects and CGI motion capture. This is probably the best the film has ever looked.

Ranking:

Ranking:

There are about 56 minutes of bonus features included here, all of which have been imported over from a previous release. There are no new extras

• A Genuine Ticket To Ride (HD, 14 Mins.) - A five-part behind-the-scenes featurette is included here, covering all the main elements of shooting the film.
• You look Familiar (HD, 4 Mins.) - Some footage of Tom Hanks in the motion capture arena, performing his character.
• True Inspirations: An Author's Adventure (HD, 6 Mins.) - Chris Van Allsburg talks about his original book the film was based on.
• Believe: Behind The Scenes (HD, 5 Mins.) - Josh Groban gives a look behind the scenes here.
• Flurry Of Effects (HD, 9 Mins.) - A five-part featurette that covers everything motion capture.
• Smokey And Steamer (HD, 7 Mins.) - A deleted song from the film can be found here.
• Josh Groban at the Greek (HD, 5 Mins.) - Groban performs the song from the film live at the venue.
• Meet The Snow Angels (HD, 3 Mins.) - The Cast and Crew talk about their favorite Christmas memories.
• Trailer (HD, 3 Mins.) - Trailer for the film.

View 4K UHD News

• Withnail and I - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray [Arrow UK Limited Edition]
• Memories of Murder - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray (Limited Edition UK Import)
• Purple Rain - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray (UK Import)
• Supermarkt - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray (Limited Edition)

More 4K UHD Pre-orders

• Back to Black - Limited Edition 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray SteelBook (UK Import)
• Back to Black - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray (UK Import)
• Angel Has Fallen - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Walmart Exclusive SteelBook
• The Meg - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray [Walmart Exclusive Steelbook]

More 4K UHD Releases