The Polar Express

The Polar Express (2004) is a family fantasy film directed by Robert Zemeckis that you can watch online on iFILM. ImageMovers built the entire picture using performance-capture technology — real actors wore sensor suits and recorded their movements, which were then transformed into a fully animated Christmas world based on Chris Van Allsburg's 1985 illustrated book.

On Christmas Eve, a boy who has started to doubt the holiday hears a roaring engine outside and finds a massive steam locomotive waiting at his front door. The conductor — voiced and motion-captured by Tom Hanks, who also plays the father, a hobo, Scrooge, and Santa Claus — hands him a ticket to the North Pole. On board, the boy meets a kind-hearted girl and a lonely kid named Billy; together they hurtle through snowstorms, over frozen lakes, and across mountain ridges toward a city built entirely for one night of the year. The film cost $165 million to make and earned over $318 million worldwide.

Zemeckis shoots the journey without winking at the audience — the train feels heavy, the cold feels real, and the hot chocolate scene has its own choreography. Stream The Polar Express (2004) in good quality online on iFILM.