The Polar Express fingerprintStunning style, big heart, a touch of humor.
Spectacular
Awe-inspiring and heartwarming
Much of it is about growing up and family.
A little humor
Not a comedy at heart.
Fantasy, growing up, and faith and meaning
Lived-in and easy to get lost in. Holds up on a rewatch.
Standout direction
Standout cinematography, score, and visual style
A distinctive visual signature.
Spectacular
The Polar Express is spectacular.
Awe-inspiring and heartwarming
Much of it is about growing up and family.
Emotionally, it's awe-inspiring, heartwarming, and uplifting. Much of it is about growing up and family.
Fantasy, growing up, and faith and meaning
Lived-in and easy to get lost in. Holds up on a rewatch.
Its world is built around fantasy, growing up, and faith and meaning. The setting feels lived-in and easy to get lost in. It holds up on a rewatch.
Standout cinematography, score, and visual style
A distinctive visual signature.
Look and sound: the cinematography, score, and visual style stand out.
Based on the GoodWatch fingerprint: our scores for 70+ attributes of every movie. Select a row to see all of them.
A journey like you’ve never imagined.
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The Polar Express2004
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Quick answers from GoodWatch data.
The Polar Express is included with a subscription to HBO Max in the United States. You can also rent or buy it from Apple TV, Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, and Google Play Movies. All links in Where to Watch go to these licensed services.
Opinions are mixed, with a GoodWatch score of 62/100 (IMDb 6.6, Rotten Tomatoes 55%, and Metacritic 61). The GoodWatch score combines critic and audience ratings.
It's rated G in the United States.
1 h 40 min
The Polar Express runs 1 h 40 min.
Not quite. Audiences rate The Polar Express higher (66) than critics (58). It's more of a crowd-pleaser than a critics' pick.
Roughly broke even. It cost about $165 million to make and earned $318 million worldwide, 1.9 times its budget.
It was made in English. Produced in United States.
+100GoodWatch finds legal streaming, rental, or purchase options for The Polar Express in 114 countries. Pick any of them in Where to Watch to see the local services.
TV Tropes lists 110 storytelling tropes for The Polar Express, including Belly-Scraping Flight, Creator Provincialism, Broken Record.
6.6
