On board the Polar Express
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Robert Zameckis' animated adventure, "The Polar Express," brings out the child in adults. Especially, when watched on 3D IMAX format. The characters don't enter the viewers' world; instead, the audience enters theirs, says SUDHISH KAMATH.
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It combines storytelling with innovative filmmaking ...
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``SOMETIMES, SEEING is believing.And sometimes ... the most real things in the world are things you can't see,'' the conductor of the Polar Express tells the boy. "The Polar Express" is about faith. About belief. And the wonder of life for those who believe.
Robert Zameckis continues from where his previous films left off. In "Forrest Gump," he teamed up with Tom Hanks and told us ``Life is a box of chocolates and you never know what you're gonna get.'' It told us keep walking and to run when there's trouble. ``Run Forrest, Run.'' "Contact," starring Jodie Foster, told us that both science and religion are in pursuit of the same thing: Truth.
In "Castaway," teaming up with Tom Hanks again, he told us that no matter what, we have to keep breathing. ``Because tomorrow the sun will rise and who knows, what the tide will bring.''
Magical mix
And now, Zameckis takes the simplicity of life from "Forrest Gump," the scepticism and man's eternal quest for answers from "Contact," the spirit of life from "Castaway," and weaves the philosophical elements into a fantasy format with loads of adventure that tempts you to dream. And inspires you to believe.
It is Christmas Eve and the boy just can't go to sleep. As he watches his parents put his sister, Sarah, to sleep, he sees Santa's hood hanging out from his Dad's pocket. Maybe Santa is not real after all. Maybe there are no jingle bells. Maybe there is no sleigh. Just the perfect setting for "The Polar Express" to come to a screeching halt right outside his house.
``Well, are you coming?'' asks the conductor.
``Where?''
``Why, to the North Pole, of course. This is the Polar Express.'' And the adventure unfolds, taking the audience with it.
Part of the magic owes it to IMAX. What is IMAX? It is the most advanced technology in film projection, the 15/70 format is ten times larger than the conventional 35-mm film. Watching a film on IMAX is not like watching a movie, it is like being in one. You can touch the characters, but unlike the regular 35 mm 3-dimension movies, the characters don't enter your world, you enter theirs through the IMAX 3D format.
New heights
Add to this mind-blowing sound (the film has been nominated for the Academy Awards for Best Sound and Best Sound Editing), it is like watching Indiana Jones on 3D or being on a rollercoaster that falls eight storeys ... Yes, that's how BIG the screen at an IMAX theatre is — the size of a football field!
It is one rollercoaster of a joyride after the boy boards "The Polar Express." There are thrills at every drop as Zameckis takes animation to new heights.
Talking of animation, Zameckis uses his mascot, Tom Hanks, in multiple roles in the film, not just getting him to dub but also getting his actors to perform. The performances were then captured by state-of-the-art IMAX cameras and then animated, along with the sets created on computers.
But the technology is just a tool which Zameckis toys with, while telling a story that is delightfully entertaining, fulfilling every child's secret desires: having a big cup of hot chocolate, pulling the chain to stop the train, getting on top of the train, blowing the horn, driving the train, pulling the brakes, finding out if ghosts exist — all the while chasing the biggest dream of them all — going to the North Pole and finding out if Santa is real.
Watching it on 3D IMAX, you really don't want the trip to get over nor do you want to shut up that kid in you, who is excited to find a new adventure at every corner. "The Polar Express," Hollywood's first feature length film in IMAX 3D, had the biggest opening weekend gross for a Hollywood simultaneous release. Ever since it released in Hyderabad during the Christmas season, over a lakh people have seen it. ``We still have a 72 per cent occupancy, even after one and half months of release,'' says Ralph Sunil, General Manager of Prasads Family Entertainment Centre.
Multiplex
In Chennai, the movie is playing at a smaller theatre in the Sathyam multiplex. But the world over, the film is said to have done better business in the 3D IMAX format.
If you haven't seen anything like this before, chances are that you will say what almost every person coming out of the Indian premiere said: ``I just didn't want the movie to get over. Awesome.''
... the first feature to be shot in this format.
Seeing is believing goes the tag-line for the movie. See it. To Believe. Will the boy finally wake up on Christmas morning and believe it was all a dream?
But like the conductor tells the boy when he gets off the train, ``One thing about trains ... Doesn't matter where they are going. What matters ... is deciding to get on.''
"The Polar Express" is worth a ticket on Charminar Express that takes you to the IMAX theatre at Prasads, Hyderabad.
If you cannot afford that, do the next best thing. Get on board, at the Sathyam multiplex.
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