Railroad Movie Reviews
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Family movie reviews for "Railroad" sorted by average review score:
Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Narrow Gauge Railroad
Released in DVD by (24 April, 2003)
Average review score: 
VIDEO JUSTICE DONE TO THE C&TS!
Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Narrow Gauge RailroadDescription:
This is an in-depth look at the world famous Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Narrow Gauge Railroad located in the borders od Colorado & New Mexico. The feature contains steam trains traveling 64 miles through thick green forests of aspens, pines and cedar trees, mysterious volcanic rock formations, winding river grasslands and high desert plains. Watch trains travel over a breathtaking 165 foot high trestle, cling to the side of a 500 foot cliff and tackle grades in access of 4%. Filmed in the winter, spring, summer and fall at 37 different locations you will see double-headers, triple headers and freight trains. You will also see the Beautiful Eureka & Palisades #4, This privately owned Baldwin Locomotive Works 4-4-0 locomotive built in "1875" could possibly be the oldest "operating" narrow gauge locomotive in the country. You will not only view the full trains but you will also view the amazing terrain the trains are trying to conquer. Running time = About 2 hours
This is an in-depth look at the world famous Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Narrow Gauge Railroad located in the borders od Colorado & New Mexico. The feature contains steam trains traveling 64 miles through thick green forests of aspens, pines and cedar trees, mysterious volcanic rock formations, winding river grasslands and high desert plains. Watch trains travel over a breathtaking 165 foot high trestle, cling to the side of a 500 foot cliff and tackle grades in access of 4%. Filmed in the winter, spring, summer and fall at 37 different locations you will see double-headers, triple headers and freight trains. You will also see the Beautiful Eureka & Palisades #4, This privately owned Baldwin Locomotive Works 4-4-0 locomotive built in "1875" could possibly be the oldest "operating" narrow gauge locomotive in the country. You will not only view the full trains but you will also view the amazing terrain the trains are trying to conquer. Running time = About 2 hours
Technical Highlights:
A unique two camera perspective filmed with two broadcast quality (3 chip) cameras. Audio recorded in digital stereo. DVD has the option to watch with or without narration. A graphics screen is included before each scene describing the type or locomotives, horsepower or grade level and milepost where the scene was filmed. See why this railroad was voted "one of the most scenic train rides in the world".
Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad
Released in DVD by Shiloh (05 September, 2003)
Average review score:
ANOTHER SUPERB RAILFAN VIDEO FROM SHILOH!AFTER VIEWING THIS PRODUCERS' EARLIER RELEASE ON THE CUMBRES & TOLTEC, I COULD HARDLY WAIT FOR THIS ANNOUNCED RELEASE. THE WAIT WAS WELL WORTH IT. NARRATION IS MINIMAL (DISC CAN BE PLAYED WITHOUT NARRATION), LETTING THE ENGINES AND SCENERY DO THE TALKING. THIS PRODUCERS VIDEOGRAPHY IS EXCELLENT+, PROVIDING DIFFERENT AND VARIED VIEWS FROM MOST OTHER PRODUCTIONS I HAVE SEEN ON THIS SUBJECT. PRODUCTION QUALITY IS HIGH, CLEARLY EVIDENT THROUGHOUT. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
Race to Freedom: The Underground Railroad
Released in DVD by Xenon Studios (30 January, 2001)
Average review score: 
Good but still HollywoodThis is a film demonstrating the frustrating experiences and heroic attempts of abolitionists and fugitive slaves. It is a great introduction to the subject for younger viewers. Some scenes are graphic in violence (true to life). Other sequences are little more than stereotypical vehicles for a storybook happy ending. The cruelty of slavery is minimized, yet the terror of attempted escape is portrayed intensely. The streamlined representation of the Underground Railroad is romantacized and not enough credit is given to the initiative of the runaways themselves. As a film it is engaging. As a representation of history it needs a clarifying introduction.
Race to Freedom: The Underground RailroadI just watched this movie for a study in my history class, and was completely captivated. I thought it was going to be a boring
school movie, but was amazed to find otherwise. After the film ended, I was heartbroken because I wanted to watch it again. Fortunately, I know that it is available on video so I might purchase it in the near future. RACE TO FREEDOM is a superbly acted, well dramatized historical film that displays the horror
of slavery with great intelligence. This film is well scripted
and well laid out. The ending, though being very fairy-taleish
is extremely happy and when it ended, our class clapped. Hehe, and when Solomon shot the bounty hunter (from 'Cowboys Don't Cry'), our class cheered. An excellent film.
school movie, but was amazed to find otherwise. After the film ended, I was heartbroken because I wanted to watch it again. Fortunately, I know that it is available on video so I might purchase it in the near future. RACE TO FREEDOM is a superbly acted, well dramatized historical film that displays the horror
of slavery with great intelligence. This film is well scripted
and well laid out. The ending, though being very fairy-taleish
is extremely happy and when it ended, our class clapped. Hehe, and when Solomon shot the bounty hunter (from 'Cowboys Don't Cry'), our class cheered. An excellent film.
Excellent and spell-binding movie.This video is an excellent addition to anyone's library. It follows the journeys of four runaway slaves to the promised land in Canada. The filming is beautiful and the story heartrending and powerful. Shows the difference that human beings can make by helping one another against the odds. I would definitely recommend this movie.
Chicago's Metra-An Up Close Look at Chicago's Commuter Railroad Trains
Released in DVD by ¹ (24 November, 2002)
Average review score:
no sound at first...butWell, we returned our first DVD, as it had no sound, or so we thought. When the second one arrived with no sound, we asked a friend for help. After adjusting the settings on our DVD player, we now can hear the monotone narrator and all the train sounds. To give you an idea of my ds, he enjoyed the DVD without the sound! We watch it every day. There really is a lot of information on this DVD and worth every penny, IMHO. I would recommend this for any young train enthusiast. Beware, my ds loves it so much, he tries to share it with anyone who visits our house. I don't think they love it as much as he does, but it does provide a bit of unusual entertainment.
Night on the Galactic Railroad
Released in DVD by CENTRAL PARK MEDIA (09 October, 2001)
Based on a short story by the popular children's writer Kenji Miyazawa, Galactic Railroad offers viewers a slow-paced, dreamlike journey through space and time. When Giovanni, a lonely boy in a hill town, goes to get milk for his ailing mother, he finds himself crossing the Milky Way on a faster-than-light steam railroad. The stations he visits in various constellations, like the planets explored by St. Exupery's Little Prince, offer curious adventures and an assortment of human "types." Reality and fantasy blur aboard the train, and its travels across the light-years sometimes suggests the journey through life. The characters as depicted as cats, presumably to avoid the problems of animating humans.
Filmmaker Gisaburo Sugii's long career as an animator, director, executive director, and screenwriter began on The White Snake Enchantress, the first postwar Japanese feature. He has worked on projects ranging from the mildly erotic Cleopatra, Queen of Sex (1970) to Osamu Tezuka's Astro Boy to a feature adaptation of the 11th-century novel The Tale of Genji. In the U.S. he's best known as the director of the movie version of the popular video game Street Fighter II. The contrast between the deadly battles of Street Fighter and the almost hypnotic pace of Galactic Railroad is striking. --Charles Solomon
Average review score:
I have no idea what it is aboutI RARELY don't finish a movie after I've started watching it but this movie bored me to tears. I sat through 30min of this movie and absolutely nothing happened. Blue kitty cat goes to school, blue kitty cat goes to get milk, blue kitty cat gets on a train, blue and pink kitty cat go exploring. I couldn't take it any more. The images are beautiful and I'm sure this movie had some sort of deep message but it's just way too boring. I took the DVD out and put in Akira.
A film with all the beauty and pace of a paintingThe animation in Night on the Galactic Railroad is good, in some places quite beautiful, with images reminiscent of those Miyazaki will later use in Spirited Away to much better effect. This is a poignant film and the sentiment is clearly heartfelt. The main problem is the movie just crawls. At one point the character says he's in a hurry and then proceeds to shuffle across the screen for about 70 seconds, perhaps pondering Zeno's paradox. The heavy breathing and ubiquitous "Uhhh" in the dialogue would be a distraction except that often that's the only thing going on, so there's nothing to take your attention away from. I watched this film with my seven-year old daughter and after a while we were making jokes just to pass the time. There were several sequences both of us watched with interest. I also found the metaphorical meditation on death intriguing. But this movie could have done all it was intended to in about half the time.
One of the best animated films ever madeThis film is based on the story "Ginka Tetsudo no Yoru" by Miyazawa Kenji. I first saw this film at a theatre in Shinjuku when it was originally released in Japan. This film was released as a major motion picture. Prior to release, there were theatre posters in the subway and articles in newspapers and magazines. The complete works of Miyazawa Kenji were reissued and sold in the theatre loby. By comparison, Tonari no Totoro was a double bill with Graves of the Fireflies and passed with comparatively little notice. Although I had not yet read the story, I keenly looked forward to it because of the poem "Ame ni mo makezu" also by Miyazawa Kenji which I had learned several years earlier.
Miyazawa Kenji was a significant poet and author of children's literature in the early twentieth century. As noted by others, death is a major theme in this film as are issues of friendship and family responsibility. The film is rather weighty and seriously beautiful.
Although the characters are human beings in the original Japanese story, they are primarily represented by cats in the film. This choice was of some interest when the film was originally released. Those who have read published mistranslations of the original story may be suprised to learn that the main characters have Italian names. Regardless, the characters and story are quite compelling. I was deaply moved by the film when I first saw it and subsequently read the original story in Japanese.
This review is based on the theatrical release and the Japanese version on video tape. I have been waiting for DVD release for years.
Living Legends of Rock & Roll - Live from Itchycoo Park
Released in DVD by Image Entertainment (14 August, 2001)
Starring: Starship, Styx, Grand Funk Railroad, and Iron Butterfly
"When Dinosaurs Roamed the Stage" might be a good subtitle for this 85-minute concert, which features the likes of Styx, Iron Butterfly, John Kay & Steppenwolf, and other (mostly) '60s and '70s rockers performing in 1999 at Tennessee's Itchycoo Park. Calling them "legends" is a bit of a stretch; for the most part, these are people who had some hits and then disappeared, only to rise again on the rock revival circuit with, in most cases, less than a full complement of original members.
Potentially pathetic, perhaps, but all concerned turn in good, solid performances. Predictable ones, too, but one can hardly expect Grand Funk Railroad's Mark Farner not to play "I'm Your Captain," and the same goes for Firefall and "You Are the Woman," Starship (with Mickey Thomas the only remaining singer from the Jefferson Airplane spinoff's "classic" lineup) and "We Built This City," and on and on. In fairness, some of the performances go beyond the by-the-numbers approach: Kay brings some genuine fire to "Born to Be Wild," and Christopher Cross and his superb band beautifully re-create the smooth groove of "Sailing." --Sam Graham
Average review score: 
Expecting betterI purchased this DVD, waiting for it for about a month, and expecting a big show of those 70's legends. Big names and excepcional songs. But when I watch the show, I feel that those great bands performed lightly with certain exceptions like John Kay & Steppewolf, and Rare Earth. The singer of Iron Butterfly was surely out of tune when singing their hit In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida. I think Christopher Cross becomes too old to perform on public, except for those beautiful girls on Drums and Keyboard.
This DVD could be better produced.
This DVD could be better produced.
GREAT ROCK AND ROLL MUSIC DVDTHERE ARE VARIOUS ARTISTS FEATURED ON THIS DVD. HOWEVER, THESE PERFORMERS ARE VERY GOOD.
I'VE DEFINETELY SEEN BETTER, BUT THIS IS PRETTY GOOD STUFF. IT FEATURES A LOT OF GOOD MUSIC FROM THE 60'S AND 70'S.
ALL IN ALL, A PRETTY GOOD DVD!! SOUND IS GOOD IN 5.1 AND PICTURE IS OKAY TOO!!
YOU DECIDE.
I'VE DEFINETELY SEEN BETTER, BUT THIS IS PRETTY GOOD STUFF. IT FEATURES A LOT OF GOOD MUSIC FROM THE 60'S AND 70'S.
ALL IN ALL, A PRETTY GOOD DVD!! SOUND IS GOOD IN 5.1 AND PICTURE IS OKAY TOO!!
YOU DECIDE.
ENCUENTRO DE TITANESALTAMENTE RECOMENDABLE, ESPECIALMENTE PARA LOS CUARENTONES.
LA VERDAD ES DE QUE RECORDAR ES VIVIR.
NO SE LAMENTERAN SI LO VEN, ESTA MUY BUENO.
ADEMAS ES DIFICIL PODER JUNTAR TANTOS IDOLOS DEL ROCK CLASICO
EN UN LUGAR. DEBERIAN SEGUIR HACIENDOLO TAMBIEN CON OTROS GRUPOS
LEGENDARIOS. SIEMPRE HABRA MUCHA CLIENTELA DISPUESTA A COMPRARLOS.
LA VERDAD ES DE QUE RECORDAR ES VIVIR.
NO SE LAMENTERAN SI LO VEN, ESTA MUY BUENO.
ADEMAS ES DIFICIL PODER JUNTAR TANTOS IDOLOS DEL ROCK CLASICO
EN UN LUGAR. DEBERIAN SEGUIR HACIENDOLO TAMBIEN CON OTROS GRUPOS
LEGENDARIOS. SIEMPRE HABRA MUCHA CLIENTELA DISPUESTA A COMPRARLOS.
Thomas and the Magic Railroad
Released in DVD by Columbia/Tristar Studios (29 May, 2001)
Starring: Alec Baldwin
Thomas, as anyone familiar with the eponymous, wildly popular TV series knows, is a very useful engine, and never more so than in his first theatrical release, which was a modest box-office success. On a tank filled with little more than pluck, determination, and goodwill, Thomas sets out full steam ahead on a danger-fraught mission to help his friend Mr. Conductor. The conductor's stash of magic gold dust has run out, leaving him stranded on the Island of Sodor with Junior, his flaky cousin, and Lily, a little girl enlisted to lift her grandfather out of a funk on nearby Muffle Mountain. When Thomas bravely chugs beyond his hometown tracks' buffers with Lily aboard, he's transported to Muffle Mountain's secret railway and to Lady, a long-lost steamer whose legendary engine makes her more powerful than Diesel, the train-yard bully. Together, Thomas and Lady lead Diesel on a chase that causes a bridge to collapse, taking the dastardly Diesel down with it. Most impressive about the movie is its marquee names: Alec Baldwin works magic as the dutiful worrywart Mr. Conductor, Mara Wilson is Lily, and Peter Fonda plays the cool-looking but lugubrious Grandpa. It's a cast that'll keep put-upon parents watching, if halfheartedly. Thomas fans 5 and under, meanwhile, will wish the actors wouldn't blow so much hot air; they'll want to see their hero a bigger part in steaming up the story line. --Tammy La Gorce
Average review score:
Just really bad despite Alec Baldwin's best effortsAlec Baldwin is the only bright spot in this dog. Well, okay, the trains are good, too, but there are far too little of them in the movie. Peter Fonda is just awful, and the plot is truly befuddling. Of course, my 3-year-old loves this movie so I'm forced to watch it a couple of times a month. It took several viewings for me to figure out that the Conductor and his cousin were Lilliputian unless they were on Sodor. What happened to Tasha? And what about that little bluebird? Why not make it turn into a real bird at the end? Don't let your kids watch this--they might like it and then you'll be stuck with it. The Best of Thomas is a much better choice!
KIDS LOVE IT--even if adults don'tI personally don't think this is a very good movie, but my opinion doesn't matter. MY 4 YEAR OLD SON LOVES IT! His hero Thomas plays the role of, well, the hero. He meets a new enchanting character, Lady, whose chugging spins out the railroad's magical energy, gold-dust. There's a villainous train, Diesel 10, who is just scary enough for a youngster.
The movie is great for young kids, so why are all the adults critiquing it from our adult expectations of entertainment? Yeah, Peter Fonda is so flat that I wish he'd go drop some acid. And the child actors are horrible--and given preposterous lines to say. It looks like there was all of a $50 budget for the movie. But in spite of that, Thomas is just plain magical for kids. They will love it.
We all loved it!What a fun movie! My husband and I even enjoyed the video. Our 2 1/2 year old son loves it so much we are going to buy it for him for Christmas. This movie is so much better than the Thomas videos which are painful to watch!
America's Steam Trains-The Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad
Released in DVD by (05 March, 2003)
Average review score:
No reviews found.
Garden Railroad Spectacular
Released in DVD by 11Q (05 March, 2003)
Average review score:
No reviews found.
Orient Express
Released in DVD by Columbia River Entertainment (17 October, 2000)
Starring: Great Railroad Adventures
Average review score:
No reviews found.
SEE ALSO-DURANGO & SILVERTON RELEASE, ALSO SUPERB!!