Is The Hate For The Polar Express Justified?⎮The Polar Express Discussion 

This movie gives very pure Christmas vibes that very few movies can achieve. Definitely puts you in a Christmas mood when you watch it

This is wild. Everyone In my school loves this movie

I just cant accept that there are people who don’t think this is the most authentic, real, beautiful, amazing, magical, and personal Christmas movie.

I loved this film when I was a kid, every year exactly at sixth of December (till I was thirteen I belive) I would ask my parents to watch it with me. I know that it's animation is not the greatest, but little me didn't care so I should not care either. I will hold to it as one of my happy memories.

I remember watching this movie after years of not seeing it and it surprised me when it almost brought me to tears multiple times and I still have no idea why, but still a good fantastical kids movie about faith and the season

Wait, I didn't know this film was widely disliked. It's one of my favorite Christmas films.

This has, and always shall remain, one of my _favorite_ childhood Christmas movies of all time that came from the early 2000s. 😁.

This is a Christmas classic

I remember watching this as a kid quite a few times. The hot chocolate part slaps, loved the song. Didn't remember literally anything else about the movie and it's plot though 💀

I love this movie! It became Christmas tradition in my home to watch this movie while putting up and decorating the Christmas tree. And then having hot chocolate afterwards and or during the movie. 😊 Such great memories!

I love this so much that I watch throughout the year. I think it gets a bad wrap for the animation. I think if they didn't try and use the new at the time technology it would have been a classic staple among audiences.

What I love about it is that the fact it makes itself different from the other Christmas movies. It features everything a kid's dream of Christmas that would come true such as: trains, toys, magic, and of course, just the general Christmas spirit self so what better way to combine the four of them all into this spectacular special and not the same reproduced "cookie cutter effect" of the same stories of such such as a Santa Claus is Coming to Town or Rudolph for example. Just kind of like Disney's Prep and Landing franchise how it was different from others.

This movie has a sense of purity and innocence compared to almost every other Christmas movie.

I agree! I love the journey of the train, gives big Christmas magic vibes for me! My family loves this movie. I feel like it's more successful in home audiences than the theater.

I don't know if RU-vid is having a stroke or there are really no comments, but not seeing anything down here after 8 hours is cursed.

This was one of the first movies I got to watch in theatres when I was little and I’ve loved it ever since.

It was my favorite movie as a kid

I have not grown tired of this movie even after watching it almost every Christmas growing up, I am in my 20s now and still love it. Maybe it’s not an objectively good film, but i think it’s a great Christmas film

I love this movie to bits as a kid and i still too

People need to learn to enjoy the magic of the art and stop trying to be critics or holding things up to expectations the creators never had.

People hate The Polar Express? First time I'm hearing this! 😲

I absolutely enjoy this movie! I personally love every bit of it. It’s got a magical aesthetic that definitely fits a Christmas feeling. There is definitely one part of the movie I don’t like. And that’s the part when the Hero Boy’s parents walk into his room and you can see that they don’t have any facial expressions and aren’t even moving their lips. Other than that, I love this Christmas movie 10/10

This is one of the movies that made me love trains for some reason. and it is a tradition to watch it at least once during Christmas.

I love this movie so much. Very magical.

I just watched this movie in Theaters yesterday!! Funny, how you make a review for this the next day! 😅

This is my favourite Christmas movie. We see it every year in IMAX on the biggest screen in BC. I freaking love this movie!!!!

I watch this movie every single year Christmas time comes around. I saw this in theaters as a kid. The only reason people hate it all the time because of the CGI hate train. They aren't used to the strangeness of how they all look, and I will admit; the animation is a little creepy. But, I got used to it eventually. People can't look past the animation and see it for what it is. A harmless Christmas film. The music by Alan Silvestri is timeless and amazing. Tom Hanks is always awesome and I love it.

Wait, people hated the movie?!

I agree with you. I love this movie. I try to watch it every year around Christmas. It's not perfect but it brings me that Christmas spirit and thats why I like it.

This is a great and awesome movie I watched it every year during Christmas time

we must live in different worlds. in my world this movie is generally loved.

In case you were wondering, the main character's (Hero Boy and Hero Girl) names are Chris and Holly.

for a 2004 film, its not bad if i watched this thing in 2004 i would think this is the best show ever

Fine, ya broke me. It's not that bad.

People hate it? I always thought it was a classic movie.

I’m glad to see someone outside of hewy toonmore and the nostalgia critic is standing up for polar express I think good and underrated Christmas film

I went to see this movie in the theater when it first came out, and I remember being mesmerized by the motion capture quality. This was BEFORE Avatar, so there was nothing like it yet. The movement of the eyes on Hero Boy was amazing to me, even if everyone's limb movements were somewhat robotlike at time. The North Pole sequences were my favorite, with beautiful color, the huge scale of the sleigh vs. the elves, and shiny, sparkly depictions of the town. My least favorite part was the incongruous "recycled toy" car full of weird-looking, dangling, broken toys. That marionette suddenly coming to life was unnecessary. It gave the movie a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory vibe, which took me out of the feel-good zone. I still like to watch the movie every year though. It's on my list!

I absolutely love this movie especially in 3D. It's a must watch every Christmas. I don't know why people don't like it.

When I was a kid, I thought The Polar Express is a live-action movie and I thought these characters are real people, but as an adult, I realized they were all animated with motion capture.

I love this movie. It’s not the Christmas season until I watch it.

The Polar Express doesn't have to try to look realistic, it just has to be unique and that's what makes it a special christmas classic.

That was my favorite christmas film

Great sound track! I grew up with a cassette tape of the book. Even came with a bell. I think for me the movie never captured the magic of the book, except maybe the sound track.

I remember watching this in kindergarten and getting scared when they went into the kart with all the dolls in it

Y’know personally I hope that by the end of the movie and after Christmas he looks to find out where his friends from the train live (y’know hero girl, Billy and the know it all kid) and they all meet up and remain close friends forever. Like that to me would just be so nice👌 just imagine how depressing it would be after his experience in the polar express and after everything that happened he NEVER tried to find his friends from the train and never tried to hook up with them after the PE experience and like imagine if throughout his entire life he NEVER met them or saw them ever again? Like that would just be SO freaking depressing in my opinion.

That hot chocolate song is the best.

I love how The Polar Express totally ignores basic laws of physics and gravity. Like, when they go almost 90 degrees downhill, the water around the boiler with burning coal inside would totally rush to the front of the locomotive. Then, when they level out before entering the tunnel, the water would splash back onto the boiler, causing an instant steam explosion. It's kinda like what happened to the Lusitania, except the water came flooding into the boiler room from outside.

I didn't even know this movie was hated by people. Why it's just some kids riding on a train to meet santa

People who are into model electric trains must love "The Polar Express," as several model electric train manufacturers seem to continually offer sets based on it. Lionel offers both passenger and freight sets based on it, in O, S, and G scales. Other companies offer sets in HO and OO. These sets are always big sellers, so at the very least rail fans like the movie.

I loved this movie and still do i never thought it was terrible

The reason why I’m bringing it up very super early is tonight (July 22nd) me and Dad will go to the drive in, our drive in is celebrating Christmas in July event tonight and showing 2 Christmas movies, the first movie just happened to be my favorite Christmas Movie which is The Polar Express and then a Christmas classic National Lampoon Christmas Vacation!!!!!!!! I was a little kid when The Polar Express came out in theaters but I don’t remember seeing it in theaters, and I wasn’t alive when National Lampoon Christmas Vacation released in theaters! Well that’s about to change tonight!

I always liked the movie. Its something fresh with christmas movies in general and the artstyle helps it stand out. It was realistically, but not too much. Maybe it should've been in live action, but the action scenes wouldnt be quite so effective and intense like in animation. I never heard of it having a bad rating and I cant see why.

the love the movie mostly for its dreamlike state the movie seems to give off maybe its the character's looking a bit uncanny that makes me feel that way because i remember clear but hazy dreams were i see almost real looking people who despite looking a bit unnerving were approachable and friendly vary much like the character's in the movie. it could also be the wide shots in the movie adding to it as many people who remember their dreams see themselves from a different perspective and almost never from a point of view perspective but thats just my two cents on it.

I like it, it's not that bad for 2004 it's not bad at all, the movie could better but it's still a good Christmas movie. It's not perfect I understand but it has good message, good characters and soundtrack is good

Like everyone else here I'm surprised it apparently is hated, I love the polar express and because of Christmas tradition I'm (at 19) am watching it yearly with my family and it still a good movie in my opinion. Hell I like how the move looks, mabe because I gotten so used to it but never the less I love it.

the frozen lake scene is easily the best

I like this movie I have no problem with it I just don’t understand why so many people dislike this movie like if you guys don’t like this movie than your not enjoying the Christmas Spirit

How do people hate this movie it’s amazing

when I was a kid I thought this mo or was really creepy live-action XD it really confused me after I watched this again

Wait- People hate this movie???

(I had made this comment before at the "Dabi's Big Moment!" but now comments are enabled here I will post it here) For me polar express is also a movie I've a lot of nostalgia and also one of the xmas movies that brings me into the xmas vibes, it's one of the movies I try to watch every year. For me even now I'm an adult the story is still very enjoyable to watch and although the visuals are a bit outdated it's still passible for me. only for the visuals I would like a remake and maybe the animation could be made even more cartoony which may fit even more with the Polar Express. in general I like the polar express a lot and I also don't understand the hate it gets.

Honestly I don’t get the hate. Like, I get the animation is on the uncanny valley (which to be fair, when this movie was made the animation style for the movie wasn’t perfected yet so I can’t blame it for that) but honestly if you get past that. There is a lot of heart put into the film and the people behind it did the best they could which honestly. I love the movie for it.

I honestly don’t find the animation creepy at all. Maybe it’s because I’ve seen this film every year since I was 3 or 4 years old so I’ve gotten used to it but I think it looks fine for the most part The 2009 Christmas Carol is another story though Either way, this isn’t my favourite Christmas movie but it probably means the most to me. I can’t imagine Christmas without watching this movie. If I was forced to only watch one Christmas movie for the rest of my life, I would actually pick this over movies I objectively prefer like Arthur Christmas, Muppets Christmas Carol or Die Hard. This film just means more to me The only part of this movie that I genuinely have a problem with is Hero Girl. I find her kind of annoying and very selfish. Also, her part in the song always rubbed me the wrong way

I FREAKING LOVE THE POLAR EXPRESS THIS IS MY FAVORITE CHRISTMAS MOVIE!!!!!!!

I loved this movie

Hate can never be justified.

I loveddd this movie

I never knew anyone hated the movie but I can imagine Alex Meyers hating on it he hasn’t even said anything about the movie on his channel which I don’t know what to think about that.

Yeah the movie is , well it a family chrismas movie, an is striking, and its not the deepest, but it a family chrismas movie, not everything can be the hogfather deep. For a kis movie, yeah the vibes and adventure really are great. And if its eird, that gives it identity. And memorable. As chrismasmovie for family an kis at least, and as adventure.

I Remeber the food I ate at my school when I watched this more than the actual movie😂🫤

Ive always been a fan of it, I've also believed in the theory that the hobo is the kids guardian angel sent down to protect him and the train conductor is the kids future version coming back to make sure they get thier Christmas spirit up, also imagine the other kids older (each one is still kinda like their younger self but more mature so yes the know it all is less obnoxious and stuff) and one Christmas their with their own family and they hear a all to familiar train whistle and a man all to familiar now they recognize the voice saying "ALL ABOARD" and as they get on its revealed that they hadn't seen the kid sense the beginning of December and now he's here being the conductor and he has to explain whats going on... FANFICTION WRITERS TO YOUR KEYBAORDS

When I was very young like 5 or so I couldn't even tell it was animated, then when I got older I thought if kinda looked like lifelike paintings moving around. And yea I think it looks pretty good and I don't get the hate

I strongly disagree. I remember when I said the title the Polar Express to my friends growing up, they got really excited. Some critics think it's perfect like Roger Ebert, and Dustin Putman.

I watched it once a long time ago. As I remember it is neither partially bad nor good.

i fully agree on this video. ive watched the movie several times and its just really good. i think alot of the hate is just due to the faces being ugly. and the plot becoming boring over time. and yeah the plot does get more bland. but again the movie is really old. i saw another review about a guy who just did not stop rambling about the damn faces. i think the plot was definetly meant for children. i mean who didnt believe santa was real back then? sometimes youd just have a dilemma about if santa was real.

I didn't know people disliked this movie!!!!!!!!!! What!?

the animation for this film was ahead of this time but I ain't bothered by it I personally enjoy polar express.

the polar express had a scene where they literally drifted a fucking TRAIN on a lake of ice idk how people dont like this movie

The film is supposed to feel like a child's dream sequence, thats why everything looks hazy and superimposed. Everything feels slightly "off" because that's how a dream feels. There's always something out of place or doesn't quite make sense. All of a sudden you're taken somewhere eles in the dream. This movie isnt for the adult hyper analytical mind but through the imagination of a child and for that reason I think it did just that. If anyone felt uneasy or scared during the movie well that is also a feeling of adolescence. Heck I was only seven when Jurassic Park came out in 93 and it scared the crap out of me. I seriously through a raptor was going to open my bedroom and shred me to bits. Clearly this would never happen but it could happen in my seven year old mind. Realest looking animatronics of dinosaurs to date...now we have awful cgi dinosaurs and Chris Pratt talking to them 😩

Wait, people hate this? I loved it when came out

Its a cursed film

Ok I was so scared of this movie as a kid sorry

1:37 im sorry to be that guy, this is like the grammar police of trains but, Its called the CAB, or cabin, Not and engine room. Sorry for the locomotive anatomy lesson.

I didn't know people hated it lol. Thought everyone loved it

I don’t wanna watch this movie at all. I think I prefer the pitch meeting of it because that points out every flaws of the movie. Also, im glad this movie wasnt nominated for best animated feature

I love the Polar Express Idc what anyone says

Because the characters are awful. They don’t even bother giving them names. The “hero boy” is the most bland, unlikable character imaginable. Enjoyable movies need well-written protagonists for the audience to get behind and care about. I honestly didn’t care if “hero boy” ever believed in Santa again.