Thomas & Friends - Hero of the Rails [DVD] [2009]

A strong story, great characters and beautiful visuals. But... the teething troubles are easily spotted in Thomas first fully animated outing. The transition from models to animation was done cleverly by having a mix of the two in series 12. So the kids and nostalgic adults should be ready and accepting instead off sulky and angry like I was when I first heard about the transition.I watched this with my daughter and she loved the whole show. Seeing as its newly transition there wasn't a bombardment of loads of characters old and new this strictly focuses on the main cast as the heroes, Spencer as the baddie and Hiro as the plot. The visuals are beautiful, but it doesn't have the stand out magic and physical, reach out and touch feeling of the old model environments. The trains also seem less realistic which has always been a corner stone of Thomas and his creator Rev W Awdry. This is to be expected though, the hardest part for me was the new voices for the trains. Before we could all visualise what each characters voice was like but now we've had it done for us and frankly some of them are a little disappointed. Toby sounds like a fat guy heavy smoking, Percy sounds like child with speech issues talking through his nose, Henry sounds like whining coward and Thomas is a bland, emotionless child. But I suppose each to ones own, others may like the voices. Gordons and Spencers is ok.Despite this niggley negatives the story itself is quite strong and Spencer makes a fresh and convincing villain who finally get Knocked down a peg. The story also has some much needed suspense and action not seen since the Thomas Movie, as Hiro flees from Spencer while shedding train parts, brilliant.Id like to finish on a positive and a message to the few older guys still out there that enjoy Thomas, but wont give the show any time now its animated. I've even heard comments like Rev W Awdry would turn in his grave if he could see what has been done to his creation. My message to them is shut up and grow up. Thomas is a children's show. That is what it is. And kids still love it in the form its in now, worldwide millions of children love Thomas, the show was becoming out dated and stale and Hit have done a brilliant job of revamping it and breathing life back into it. Rev W Awrdy wanted to entertain and educate children, that still happens today.

I don't suppose there could be anyone unfamiliar with Thomas The tank engine, but there are probably some who may not be aware that since the days of Ringo Stars narratives, Thomas has moved on and the stories have gained new engines, and a lovely island paradise for steam train story lovers.This tale sees Thomas at work with his friends on Sodor, whereupon he finds a new engine, Hiro whom Thomas decides to help return to his former glory, from his distant, deserted siding.My 2 year old absolutely loves this film, it has lots of excitement, colour and depth that allows all ages to sit through a fast paced hour of entertainment. Thomas and the other engines gain full mobility thanks to the CGI effects, which, for this film, have replaced the models of the channel 5 series. And for me, that is the problem. It left me rather cold, wishing to see the sway and clatter of model trains chuffing around the model island. It hasn't really bothered my daughter, but for me, it has lost a lot of its charm...... but I guess it's not really aimed at a 42 year old...

Thomas & Friends - Hero Of The Rails [DVD] [2009 ]A really good film for all the family, girls, boys, young or old. Kept us all entertained for the duration which is no mean feat for a two and three year old with minimal attention spans.In this feature length film, Thomas stumbles across a new friend 'Hiro' who needs his help - Thomas enlists the help of his trusted friends back at Tidmouth sheds to get Hiro back on the rails after years rusting in a siding all alone. The problem is they must not let nosey old Spencer find out as he will tell the fat controller and Hiro might get scrapped! Fun and games ensue as they all work together to get the parts, narrowly escaping run-ins with both Spencer and the Fat Contoller too. Percy even manages to lose his mail trucks in all the drama.Guaranteed to be watched over and over again until little Thomas runs out of steam!

My 3 year old son LOVES the new "talking Thomas" and was delighted with his new Christmas DVDs. We also got him "Misty Island Rescue" but he likes "Hero of the Rails" the best. He recites bits of the film over and over when he is playing with his trains and is already begging me to buy him a Hiro train. My elderly father was with us on Christmas day and he loved the film too! He thought it was a great storyline and we could hardly tear him away from the film to eat his brussel sprouts.

Hiro is the Hero of this new adventure. Overall the story is average, but the new character, Hiro, has personality and is really likable. Plus Thomas who sets off to help Hiro, and Percy, Victor and Kevin as Thomas' willing assistants all against Spencer, the "villain", and you have the recipe of a feel good movie (mainly) for boys.Simplistic for adults, but little boys, like my son, will probably love it. Parents beware: after your little treasure watches the movie, Hiro might climb to the top of the wish list for Christmas.

I was given this dvd as a gift for my three year old son. He absolutely loves it and so do I! The story is very good. Even I found it interesting and I'm 32! My son is now a Thomas fan. He never gets fed up of this dvd and he watches it almost every day. I'm sure my other son will love it when he's old enough, too.

I took my 2 year old sister to the cinema to watch this and she loved it so much that I bought it the moment it came out. At last count I had watched it with her about 15 times. Even as an adult (23) I love watching this film over and over again with my sister.I'd recommend it for anyone that likes thomas or cartoons!

Thomas the tank engine finds an old broken engine and trys to fix him but Spencer is snooping around...great story of how hero the master of the railway was fou d and fixed...a favourite of my 4yr old and mine