Editor Reviews:

Product Description:
For as long as anyone can remember the island of Sodor land of talking trains has been a realm of magic and innocence. But now Thomas the Tank Engine and his friends on the magic railroad are being threatened by diesel engines like the surly Diesel 10 and his sidekicks Splotch and Splatter. Even the magical Mr. Conductor (Alec Baldwin) who has always traveled between the train world and the human world of Shining Time Station is losing his powers and sparkle. In the middle of this crisis Lily (Mara Wilson) a resourceful 12 year-old meets up with Mr. Conductor on the way to visit her lonely grandfather Burnett Stone (Peter Fonda). With a host of whimsical witty and wise characters they embark on an adventure in the Island of Sodor with Thomas the Tank Engine to preserve that wonderful world that exists just beyond the limits of the imagination. Brave Thomas reminds them all that "even little engines can do big things."System Requirements:Starring: Alec Baldwin Peter Fonda Mara Wilson Russell Means Didi Conn Michael E. Rodgers Cody McMains and Jared Wall. Directed By: Britt Allcroft. Running Time: 85 Min. Color. This film is presented in "Standard" format. Copyright 2000 Columbia TriStar Home Video.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: CHILDREN/FAMILY Rating: G UPC: 043396054264

Amazon.com:
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

Rating : - A child's review
OK - as an adult reviewer, I'll agree: this movie is terrible. It's poorly written & on & on -- what everyone else is saying.
But from a kid's perspective, it's pretty, it has a little bit of good music, and it has Thomas, and some other "nice" trains (and some bad ones)... so add some magic, and voila! The best movie ever. I'm not proud of that fact my kids are so easily entertained, but after renting it once, my kids wanted to pick it out at the rental store over & over again, so I ended up buying it. They still love it.
I'm sure in a few years the thrill will pass and we can find a young, unsuspecting family to pass this movie on to...