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6 Degrees Entertainment

The Polar Express: 4K UHD
(Tom Hanks, Nona Gaye, Peter Scolari, Michael Jeter, Eddie Deezen, et al / 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray + Blu-ray + Digital / G / (2004) 2022 / Warner Bros.)

Overview: 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.

4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Verdict: Warner Bros. is expanding their 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray catalog offerings this month with the release of the highly-anticipated The Polar Express in the expansive 4K Ultra HD video format this November 1st, 2022.

For my money, this The Polar Express [4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital] combo pack sharpness takes a fairly large step forward from others in their 4K Ultra HD catalog and even comes with HDR (High Dynamic Range) for the complete 4K Ultra HD experience, of course.

So, what we have is The Polar Express presented to us as a two-disc combo pack with a sheet for a Digital HD Copy. Other stand out points you should know are: Codec: HEVC / H.265 (45.33 Mbps), Resolution: Upscaled 4K (2160p), HDR: HDR10 and Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1.

Featuring Dolby Vision and HDR10 for brighter, deeper, and way more lifelike colors, as with most all 4K UHDs, everything that we watch features these qualities - but somehow, this film gloriously shines within them all.

Noticeably crisp with the overall clarity receiving an obvious boost here on this release, what is more is that it is enjoyably noticeable.

For as well as some new nuances to the somewhat drab palette courtesy of Dolby Vision we also get to witness sudden bright pops of color; such as when the Hero Girl says, It’s A Magic Train.

While the main character is a little hesitant to climb aboard this strange locomotive that has just pulled up to his house, he does so anyway. The first kid he meets is a know-it-all boy who asks if he knows what kind of train it is (It’s a Baldwin 2-8-4 s3-class steam locomotive, in case you were wondering!)

Hero Boy is a little stumped for words, but luckily, a young girl (who is also never named and only known as Hero Girl) has the real answer. It’s a magic train. We’re going to the North Pole, she says with an excited smile!

Indeed, the picture enjoys the fruits of the added resolution in terms of bringing out the aforementioned extremely fine facial and some of the yellow graded material; notably the scene where Hero Boy finds the girls ticket!

As young Hero Girl goes to bring Billy hot chocolate, she leaves her ticket behind on the seat. When Hero Boy notices, he decides to grab it and bring it to her. Unfortunately, it blows away in the wind, and on a train moving as fast as this one is, they’ll surely never see the ticket again ... or will they?!

As for the audio, well we have a veritable smorgasbord of choice here: English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 16-bit), French (Canada): Dolby Digital 5.1, French: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps), German: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps), Italian: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps), Dutch: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps), Mandarin: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps), Mandarin: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps), Cantonese: Dolby Digital 5.1, Korean: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps), Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps), Czech: Dolby Digital 5.1, Danish: Dolby Digital 5.1, Finnish: Dolby Digital 5.1, Dutch: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps), Hungarian: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps), Norwegian: Dolby Digital 5.1, Romanian: Dolby Digital 2.0, and Swedish: Dolby Digital.

Overall, this is a very strong 4K HDR Blu-ray presentation, and, for the most part, the audio track remains fairly similar to its DTS-HD counterpart; with much of the action occupying the surrounds with outstanding directionality and placement where effects flawlessly pan between the sides and rears.

As for the movie itself, well, The Polar Express (2004) is a movie I recently watched with my daughter on Amazon Prime. The storyline follows a boy who believes in Christmas when few in his family still do. On Christmas Eve he hears a train outside and decides to get on it for a trip with other kids to the North Pole where he hopes to get a glimpse at Santa Claus before he starts his toy delivery process. Every child hopes to get picked by Santa to tell him their wishes for Christmas. This movie was directed by Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future) and contains the voices of Tom Hanks (Forest Gump), Chris Coppola (Beowulf), Nona Gaye (Crash), Michael Jeter (The Green Mile), Leslie Zemeckis (Welcome To Barwen) and Peter Scolari (Newhart).

The animation for this movie is absolutely awesome. Tom Hanks was a great choice of voices as the conductor and every second on the train is magical. I loved the magic portrayed both inside and outside the train ride. There’s also some great messages on the challenges children face by the household and circumstances they are born into. Oh, and the Aerosmith cameo was nice and the ending was fun also!

Overall, this is a holiday classic that is a fun family watch and I would urge you all to put it on, families or not, come Christmas Eve Evening, and just take a fantastical train ride, my friends!

DIGITAL, 4K & BLU-RAY ELEMENTS:
Smokey and Steamer Song
You Look Familiar - The Polar Faces of Tom Hanks
A Genuine Ticket to Ride Documentary: Gallery of 5 Featurettes
Deleted/Alternate Scenes
True Imagination: An Author’s Adventure: Profiling Van Allsburg
“Believe” - Josh Groban Performs at the Greek Theatre
Behind the Scenes of “Believe”: Bringing a hit song to Magical Life in the Recording Studio
Flurry of Effects Gallery: 5 Motion-Capture Sessions
Meet the Snow Angels: The Moviemaker’s Christmas Memories
Theatrical Trailer

The film is directed by Robert Zemeckis from a screenplay by Zemeckis and William Broyles Jr. It is based on the classic Caldecott award-winning children’s book written by Chris Van Allsburg. The film is produced by Steve Starkey, Zemeckis, Gary Goetzman, and William Teitler, and features the voices of Tom Hanks, Daryl Sabara, Nona Gaye, Jimmy Bennett, and Eddie Deezen.

“The Polar Express” Movie @ Facebook

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