Polar Express, The (Blu-ray)

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Video:
"The Polar Express" is a dark film in many places, so HD is a real boon. The picture looks sharper and richer in 1080p, with full color saturation and especially strong black levels to pick up every little texture and detail. Mo-Cap lends itself particularly well to the kind of pleasing 3-dimensionality that HD offers. The picture is presented in 2.40:1 aspect ratio.

Audio:
The audio, however, is nothing special--not even a HD soundtrack. It's a simple Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround. With that disclaimer aside, the sound quality on the DVD was quite good, and so is this. There's a nice spread across the front speakers and good use of the rear effects speakers that you notice especially when the train is careening out of control and you get deep rumbling bass notes and screeching treble. But it's an atypical, return-to-basics soundtrack for a Blu-ray release.

Extras:
The bonus features are mostly teasers. "You Look Familiar: The Many Polar Faces of Tom Hanks" explains how Hanks came to play so many roles, while "True Inspirations: An Author's Adventure" showcases children's book author Chris Van Allsburg (whose 38-page story formed the basis for the film), and "Behind the Scenes of 'Believe'" focuses on the recording studio sessions. None of these features is longer than five minutes, and all of them leave you wanting more.

The making-of feature ("A Genuine Ticket to Ride") is also short compared to other releases, clocking in at under a half hour. But at least we get the behind-the-scenes dope on "Performance Capture," "Virtual Camera," "Hair and Wardrobe," "Creating the North Pole," and "Music." Glen Ballard reveals that the movie itself inspired the song "Believe." Rounding out the extras are more short sets, including a "Flurry of Effects" gallery that highlights five Mo-Cap sessions, VERY brief memories in "Meet the Snow Angels: The Moviemakers' Christmas Memories" that's as short a feature as I've seen, a Josh Groban "Believe" performance at the Greek Theatre, and a seven-minute musical scene with the train's engineers. Of these, the Mo-Cap sessions is most worthwhile, with the "Smokey and Steamer" song a curiosity and the principals talking about their holiday memories

Given the pioneering nature of the Performance Motion Capture in this film, it's surprising there's no commentary track, and no extended interview with Hanks and/or Zemeckis. As is, the extras are underwhelming.

Bottom Line:
Like "Titanic," "The Polar express is a CGI marvel, but the characters are about as warm as the setting. That keeps it in the "good but not great" category. As John J. Puccio wrote in his review, this film reportedly cost $150 million to make. I'm just not sure that the payoff is that rich.

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