Movie Reviews Revisited P.II - Tale Of The Brave (2014)

THESE ARE SOLEY MY OPINIONS AND ARE NOT INFLUENCED FROM THE THOMAS & FRIENDS FANBASE

TALE OF THE BRAVE (2014)

Written by

Andrew Brenner

Directed by

Rob Silvestri

Produced by

Ian McCue (HIT)

Robert Anderson & Brian Lynch (Arc)

Release Date

1/09/14 - UK

16/09/14- US

1/10/14 - AUS

Distributed by

HIT Entertainment

MY VIEWS

Honestly, this was a major improvement compare to 'King of the Railway' because there was focus on the narrative. Sure there were subplots but they all feel connected compare to the 2013 special, Thomas was curiorus about the mysterious footprint, Percy was scared by the idea of a monster and James was trying to hide his scaredy side to make himself look bigger. I will say Percy being the scaredy engine does seem to be a big depature to how the way Awdry made him but to be honest, the lead role for him feels like something for him. Percy, in the classic series, has traits similar to Thomas (cheeky, arrogant and boastful) but he had some traits that are different and they are his naiveness and scaredy trait. This is the same engine that once believed in 'backing signals', this is the same engine who got scared of a paper dragon, naughty gnomes etc in the non-Awdry stories. It seems right for him to take the lead, Percy was being naive about the idea of a monster and was scared by the idea too. Plus a role like this can be really relatable among younger kids who go through that phase of things in the dark looking scarey by the weird shape of shadows. Heck even adults can get scared of things sometimes and its natural.

I do like how Thomas was handeled in this special particulary with Percy. After Percy had dealt with James' 'scrap monster', he (Thomas) wants to believe him but he had his own doubts and Thomas has the right to have some of it because the moment he saw during that thunderstorm was just a blink of the eye and he doesn't know if it was real or if he was seeing things. Percy really didn't need to be angry with him but of course he doesn't how Thomas was thinking. I also, if I digress here, remember talking to someone years ago about the idea of the footprints, they said that it was super obvivous what it is, BUT do the characters in the film know? Had they ever seen a dinosuar before? Yes we know about Christopher Awdry's book about Thomas and the dinosuar but hardly any of his books get acknowledgement at all compare to his father's and his stand alone books from the 90's aren't canon since they were never referenced in any of his Railway Series books. When we see a movie, we don't watch through our presepective we're suppose to see it through the character's prespective. So the idea of Thomas not knowing what those footprints are makes a so much sense in them making it a mystery.

With James, I like how he was the bully to Percy, but he only did it out of fun for himself. This is James that I see from the classic series and he was like this with the likes of Edward, Gordon and the other engines with his teasing. However he learnt, although visually, that he can be scared himself and they do say that all bullies are cowards from the inside. Percy is very opened about being a coward and very vulnerable as shown in the movie and of course James sees that as an opportunity to bully him but of course he's a coward on the inside and didn't want to show it.

As with Gator, I do like the wisdom and advise he gave to Percy. But yeah why was he on Sodor? I mean sure Connor and Caitlin were on Sodor because they were on time trials but Gator was here because he was. After reading SiF's viewpoint on the movie from 2014, his reason for storytelling purposes was to be a strange looking engine that looks unusual and uncanny compare to the other engines that we normally see on Sodor. A bit like a monster. His fear of height was intriguing but we also learn from him that we have to brave even though we are scared and it's hard for somebody to get over something fearful too but we mustn't let fear enslave us in the end. Clive Mantle's voice was nice, soothing and clam.

Marion and neither Timothy had anything major to play in the film but there characters shine like Marion's talkative attitude and Timothy's gullibility. I will say Oliva Colman really shined with Marion and I can tell she was having lots of fun voicing her. She really had brought alot of warmth to her too and it amazes me on how far she had come since voicing Marion, I mean sure she had a successful acting career before Thomas but she's now an acamedy award winner now and that is something. I would love to see her again in the show. I think the only character that could've been cut and introduce later would've been Reg. He was there and that was it. I will also point out, Cranky's scene of stopping the ship was still tensed and sure while it's unrealistic, the show had never been focused with reality for quite sometime. I think I had just come to the point with it being the new norm. I also remembered someone saying they should've referenced 'Cranky Bugs' despite some complain about 'fan service' because they'd referened 'Up, Up and Away', how this is that fan service when the older fanbase despise it I will never know. But to me it wouldn't be useful and would feel shoehorned in just to please some older fans.

I do understand that the structure of the story have been a bit all over the place but I managed to follow the story despite that.In the end, this special is great. I loved it back in 2014 and I still think it holds up. I find it a bit weird to hear Ben Small after years hearing John Hasler and while I think Hasler has done a bit better than Small, Ben had done good work into bringing Thomas' voice to life over the years, although I think HIT and Mattel could've let him stayed on as the other characters he was voicing but he wouldn't have done much given how the character he had voiced don't have much episodes or roles as they use to.

OVERALL RATING
9/10

Movie Reviews Revisited P.II - King Of The Railway (2013)

As stated back in December 2019, I'm looking back at the movies again, but only between the 2013-2016 specials because I don't want to sit through the likes of Misty Island or Day of the Diesels again, those are still terrible to watch. So I'm focusing on the Brenner/McCue era of the Thomas specials. The reason why I won't be reviewing movies like 'Journey Beyond Sodor' and 'Big World Big Adventures' is because I still hold my views on them since they were new and also they are too young in my eyes to look back at yet, maybe in another few years when the time is right. 

So let's start off with the start of the Brenner/McCue era with 'King of the Railway'. Had the movie stand with the test of time? Let's find out. But first:

THESE ARE SOLEY MY OPINIONS AND ARE NOT INFLUENCED FROM THE THOMAS & FRIENDS FANBASE

KING OF THE RAILWAY (2013)

Written by

Andrew Brenner

Directed by

Rob Silvestri

Produced by

Ian McCue (HIT)

Halim Jabbour (HIT)

Brian Lynch (Arc)

Release Date

2/09/13 - UK

17/09/13 - USA

2/10/13 - AUS

Distributed by

HIT Entertainment

MY VIEWS

Looking back, I feel that this movie doesn't know what to focus on storywise. One part was the mystery behind all of the whole grand plan that the Earl was keeping under wraps, then we have Thomas, Percy and James working together at the castle and then Stephen wanting to be useful by finding a job and Gordon and Spencer trying to prove who was the fastest until Connor and Caitlin showed up, which by the way felt arupt when that concluded their subplot and nothing was resolved for them entirely. I mean even though the Miller/Barlow era has its tremendous faults, the movies had focus on the narrative from start to finish, don't get me wrong I still find them terrible, except for 'Hero of The Rails', even if it was more of an extended episode. I think if they had the idea at the time, this could've been more better as four episodes for the TV series. I will also point out that I think the 'climax' of Thomas and Stephen nearly falling off the bridge really didn't serve anything and it was shoehorned in to fill up space to make ends meet. I think if they had focused on one story, maybe it could've been about Thomas, James and Percy wanting to find King Godred's golden crown for the Earl before he arrives home so they can surprise him. However, James acts all arrogant and boastful that he can find the crown himself without the pair of tank engines slowing him down. Perhaps Stephen could fit into the story by having him sent to the Steamworks by the Earl while he was on his world expedition and maybe James made fun of him for being old and thinks that he would be even slower to find the crown and James ends up being trapped in the mine. It's not much but I think it would work with the moral about teamwork. If any fan made writers are out there wanting to use that outline you're welcomed to use it and you can have the freedom to change it up if you think what would work better.

The characteristation of the engines were really good. I especially like Percy in this one because his personality feels very Awdry like with his cheekiness and boastfulness but mixed with his sweet nature. Sure he would not be like that in the next movie but I'll talk about that another time. Brenner had really nailed them well, especially with the likes of Gordon, Spencer, Thomas, James etc. However, outside from Stephen, the new characters I feel were just there. Sure they had there reason but they were unneeded because they added nothing and this isn't the first movie that had done that in this era. Stephen however was a pretty good character. A wise old engine with a good sense of humor feeling like something Rev.W.Awdry would've done in the books. I also like that they had added in some Sodor history in the movie too based upon of the history that Rev.W.Awdry and his brother George had developed back in the mid-1980's.

This movie was good but I think they should've done more work on the plot by focusing on one story. As for the animation, looking back at Arc's first try, it did look a little pale compare to Arc's next films until 2016. The lighting was bright but the action and movement of the engines were more fluid.

OVERALL RATING

6/10

Classic Series Review Revisited - Series 7 (2003)

THESE ARE SOLEY MY OPINIONS AND ARE NOT INFLUENCED FROM THE THOMAS & FRIENDS FANBASE

SERIES 7 (2003)

Written by

Jam Page

Paul Larson

Brain Trueman

Robyn Charteris

George Tarry

James Mason

David Mitton

Jenny McDade

Polly Churchill

Robin Kingsland

Lee Pressman

EPISODES

EMILY'S NEW COACHES

Honestly I think the story could've been better. I think they should've expanded on Thomas thinking that the new coaches were for him and he was wondering why and he saw Emily taking his ones, assuming his coaches were given to Emily instead. Thomas was cross and told the other engines that she was a thief. Then it turns out it was Thomas' ignorance that was the problem because the coaches were for Emily. But I think they wanted a reason to give Emily her new coaches. For that idea, maybe the episode could've gone as a two parter. Episode one is about Emily assuming that Annie and Clarabel were just random coaches and didn't ask permission, which annoyed Thomas and then episode two would be about Emily redeeming herself to Thomas. In the end, the episode was alright but it wasn't a strong opener in my opinion.

Rating: 4/10

PERCY GETS IT RIGHT

I think they should've gone with Gordon getting stuck in the mud instead of Thomas, perhaps the message that we should listen would've been better if they have gone with him instead. With Thomas it just felt mandated because he's the star of the show. I was going to add about the Fat Controller ignoring Percy but I think the intention was to showcase that he's not at all perfect and should've listened to one of his engines. Anyway, the episode was alright but could've been better. 

Rating: 4/10 

BILL, BEN AND FERGUS

I feel that Fergus was introduced just to give Bill and Ben something to work with. While I understand that Fergus' persona is him being fussy about the rulebook and a goody two shoes with a big heart. The plot feels like your generic 'Bill and Ben causing trouble' story.

Rating: 3/10 

THE OLD BRIDGE

I look back at this episode and realise that probably had given this episode too much flak. Yes, Skarloey is an old and wise engine but he can be immune from being scared about anything. We never saw him dealing with an old bridge before so I think this episode is nice to give him some traits and it showcases that he's an engine with some flaws too rather than being the one dimensional wise old engine.

Rating: 7/10

EDWARD'S BRASS BAND

Honestly, it's nice to see Edward with an episode that is not him proving his own worth to someone like Gordon or James but despite that, this episode didn't bring out anything new towards him. There was conflict but it was not done by him and nor he deserves. I think it was trying to show that things can go south but he was repaired and rewarded in the end as if that message doesn't even matter. To me this is another mandated Edward episode. It's good that they thought outside the box but sadly there was nothing new and you can see why writers would rather stick with Edward dealing with him being old or proving his own worth at times over the years before they replaced him with Nia in 2017. Please don't take my word about Edward as if I'm sort of a Mattel 'shill' or a 'bootlicker', honestly, unlike some people. Not every decision they make is great or flawless and I like Edward and Henry, but if you like to have characters who are out there proving there worth to a superior or having to deal with an illness over and over and over again to the point they are flanderised or having episodes where there characters are tarnished for good for those who enjoy them back when they were kids then there'll be problems. The two work well as secondary characters in my opinion, as they were in some Railway Series stories. They can't hold an episode to themselves.

Rating: 3/10

WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH HENRY?

One thing I'll say, I like that they add Emily in the show more but her original persona is kind of like of how fans reacted to with Nia's persona when she was first introduced and honestly I'm glad that they had changed up her persona in S8 to give her more conflict, say what you want about S8 but at least they weren't afraid to try something different. While it was nice to see Emily being this big sister type character, she feels very one dimensional and take a look at her right now, she hardly has any episode, though are some upcoming ones this year and we had one back in 2019 but with that nice persona it doesn't make her interesting. OK I digress, as with the episode. I feel that this is another mandated episode for the sake of giving Henry an episode and it's quite odd to go back with him being sick only that they resolved it quickly this time rather then being for a whole series until nearing its end. I remember hearing a few months ago on twitter, one person pointed out everyone else ignored Henry's illness but there's one problem, they had done that back in series 1. I'm not saying that the person was wrong, there are people in the world who do that sadly. But the idea of Henry being ill for this episode just feels forced and unoriginal and adds nothing new for Henry and we would see this again further down the track during the 'new series' era. 

Rating: 2/10

JAMES AND THE QUEEN OF SODOR

This was your typical James is a splendid engine story, not the best episode I've seen but it was decent. I think maybe they should've made James dirty when he crashed into the pipe of sludge just to add some conflict and a message that you can't keep clean all the time, although as of writing this, it feels strange to say that since we have to keep clean because of COVID-19, wash your hands thoroughly. 

Rating: 6/10

THE REFRESHMENT LADY'S TEA SHOP

I do like this episode and it's also good that we have an episode that gives the message that we need to think outside of the box and that there are solutions to some problems. I also like how they paired up Peter Sam with the refreshment lady again after three seasons and the episode fits with his kind hearted side of his persona. 

Rating: 8/10

THE SPOTLESS RECORD

I honestly think this would've worked better with James since he and Arthur share something in common. They both like to keep clean. Plus this could've served as a sequel to 'James & The Queen of Sodor' if they had gone with that idea, have James feeling very annoyed that there was an engine being better than him at being clean and the other engines were praising him as well and not giving James any sort of attention. It's much better than Thomas because his, according to the Wikia, jealously towards Arthur was just out of nowhere and he was just a complete jerk for no reason. I mean that was in character in this era but with what he was in the first series there was a reason why he was like towards Terence. He was different and thought he was funny looking with his caterpillar tracks. That was until he realised that he was useful in the end. As for the episode was good though and Arthur's character was decent too. In the end, the episode was good but it could've been better.

Rating: 7/10

TOBY'S WINDMILL

I think this episode showcased that we should help those in times of need. There's really not much else to say then that this episode was decent.

Rating: 8/10

BAD DAY AT CASTLE LOCH

They should've reworked the script because this episode had wasted away its potential to become a better story. Donald and Douglas do play jokes and I think they should've gone with one of the twins playing a joke on one another to see who is more brave when they go to Lord Callan's castle. It the episode feels like they went with this 'We have a scottish castle episode who should be the characters? I know Donald and Douglas.' I feel like they went with that idea because their are scottish twins. It's good that they added some scottish culture in but I wish they did more with the twins. 

Rating: 3/10

RHENEAS AND THE ROLLER COASTER

Reading in the triva section of the episode on the Thomas wikia, the original idea was to have Peter Sam doing the tour and that he wanted the tour to be over and done with. But perhaps instead of Peter Sam or Rheneas since they'd developed the script, why not Duncan or if he were in this series, Sir Handel? Both characters seem to fit perfectly for that role and the original idea seems to be much more better compare to this. Honestly writing for the narrow gauge engines isn't easy, that's why you don't see much of them in my series. From my experience I feel that in order to have conflict with them it works with Sir Handel and Duncan mostly and maybe with Peter Sam and whenever I have idea that could work for them, I usually groan because I get tired writing stories for them. Rheneas is a good character but with personality he doesn't have an episode that would make him lead. I know I had mentioned about 'thinking outside of the box' but even so it's hard to think what could work for him outside of his persona. Sure he wants to make something memorable for the school kids but maybe have Rheneas go around the railway and he thinks he had done nothing special but it turns out he did and that was kids knowing more about the places and sites because history can be fun and exciting in the end, yeah a bit of cliche but it could work without the whole roller coaster business.

Rating: 3/10

SALTY'S STORMY TALE

Honestly this episode could've been improved. While I think Thomas and Percy's teasing scene is a good way for kids to learn not to hurt anyone's feelings, since this world is full of some who don't consider that, I feel what they should've done was have Thomas and Percy bored of Salty's stories because they were the same and sometimes very unbelievable which hurts Salty and then the storm happened. It would give the message that there's always something new. I think the episode was alright but not great.

Rating: 4/10

SNOW ENGINE

I think this episode was nice and it was good to see an expansion on Oliver's character but then again this could've gone to any character to be honest. But yeah it was nice and some nice development from Oliver when it comes to snow. 

Rating: 7/10

SOMETHING FISHY

This episode was alright. Nice to see more of Arthur and seeing him having an interest in something. But I feel that the episode was just there. I think maybe they could've introduce another character just for this episode and have him rivaling up on Arthur into getting his own line to make him feel important and he got it because maybe he had sabotaged Arthur's work or something. I feel like that every episode from this series that I've reviewed there's going to be ways that I think would work much better. I don't hate this episode but I think it could've been better.

Rating: 4/10

THE RUNAWAY ELEPHANT

I think this episode was quite good with its message that we should be safe then sorry. Plus it shows the importance of brake vans too on a railway, yeah and we all know what happened in the next series onwards of course. But aside from that this was still a decent episode

Rating: 8/10

PEACE AND QUIET

I honestly find it a bit confusing that we have an engine who wants peace and quiet when really he's an engine that makes noise. But I think with the episode it shows that there are worse noises out there. But yeah I don't have much of a problem with this episode apart from Murdoch's character.

Rating: 7/10

FERGUS BREAKS THE RULES

I think it could've been better that if it were Diesel who was to find Fergus. It would be a punishment for tricking him to make Fergus leave the cement works. Plus there is one little annoying nitpick, that camera zoom to the Fat Controller at the end of the episode. What was that? It was there what was it there for? The story was OK though.

Rating: 5/10 

BULGY RIDES AGAIN

Not much to say for this episode. It was nice to see Bulgy again, before his 14 year come back. But taking away his hatred of the railway kind of made him uninteresting in this episode that trait at least made him interesting. It was alright but not great.

Rating: 4/10

HAROLD AND THE FLYING HORSE

I think the story could've been about Harold going to take part of the fair giving rides to children. But was called to do some rescue operations, one of them being rescuing pegasus. He would be upset by this and would miss out but it would give the message that we all have to make sacrifices in the end. The story was nice and all and Percy's ignorance about flying horses was funny to say the least. 

Rating: 8/10

THE GRAND OPENING

While I was watching the episode, I thought the Fat Controller was being ungrateful to Skarloey for being late despite that he was working hard. But I think after seeing it in full, he was grateful to see him after his balloon incident with his wife. So a blessing in disguise. I was thinking this should've been another Fat Controller shenanigans episode but it might've become a retread of 'Lady Hatt's Birthday Party'. I think the overall episode was good. 

Rating: 8/10

BEST DRESSED ENGINE

The maypole scene was just useless filler in my opinion since it adds nothing to the story. You could've added a scene of Thomas delivering the decorations to the sheds that were for the dress up competition. But the episode itself was good and it shows that dressing up can be fun no matter what, like cosplaying. 

Rating: 8/10

GORDON AND SPENCER

To me out of all the new characters that were introduced in this series, Spencer was probably the most interesting character and this episode is probably the best of the this series alone. On the surface it's pretty much a Gordon is jealous of Spencer episode but after listening to an audio book about Flying Scotsman, they had mentioned that the A4's took over the major expresses on the LNER (e.g - The Flying Scotsman service) and the A3's, the engines that Gordon is based on, were left to do secondary trains. So the whole rivalry between them feels a lot more deeper. To me this almost feels like something out from the Railway Series. Yeah, the running out of water stuff that Spencer faced is probably the easist reason for him to learn his lesson, but honestly it didn't bother me.

Rating: 10/10

NOT SO HASTY PUDDINGS

The episode was nice and its message is that everyone can be reliable was nice too. It's pretty much that to be honest.

Rating: 8/10

TRUSTY RUSTY

So this is where the whole 'no coal makes engine stop' thing started. To be honest, this little thing was annoying and I'm glad that they had started to acknowledge that it is water, when it runs out, that stops an engine from running in the current series. I also think Duncan's insult towards Rusty was just stupid, sure it's a way to make Duncan learn later on but it just sounds more like a petty insult. Perhaps what they should've done was to have Duncan feel stubborn saying that he crossed that bridge plenty of times and didn't see anything wrong with it. In the end, the episode was average. It had a good message that we should obey the signs and don't doubt about dangerous situations. 

Rating: 5/10

THREE CHEERS FOR THOMAS

The episode almost feels like 'Thomas and Bertie' with the race sequence but the entire episode itself gave me a Christopher Awdry feeling towards it. Like in the style of those one shot story books that he wrote back in 1990's like 'Thomas and the Dinosuar' and 'Thomas and the Tiger'. But I also like how Thomas was putting the children and their medals first instead of the race, shows how much Thomas has grown and I feel like it was a great episode to serve the end of the classic series era as well. It was started with Thomas episode and it ended with one too. So yeah another great episode on par with 'Gordon and Spencer' from the series.

Rating: 10/10

OVERALL

I'll be honest, despite some good episodes, this series did feel really weak and it had some traits that would lead into the 'new series' era like no coal makes the engine stop, lack of brake vans, Henry's illness, the too nice personas from some engines etc. I also feel that some of the stories had so much more potential then what they really were and while the new characters have the best designs some have the weakest personalities. Emily in this series was nice of course but that was it and it made her bland and uninteresting. I'll be honest, with the way HIT made her as a bossy engine I think that was a great move because it made her not perfect and with a serious flaw. She is sort of like that nowadays, her S7 persona, in the show and she barely had many episodes despite being part of the 'steam team'.

Fergus I think is the weakest newbie of them all. I understand that he didn't comeback post-S7 because his model was broken by the rockslide in the second episode, but it would be great to expand him. I feel that he was more of a prop then a character. But now with the show being CGI for well over a decade, Fergus could make a comeback in the series. Sam Wilkinson, wheather you love him or hate him, works for the show and could give reference material, like photographs, to whoever will be animating the show, since Jam Filled aren't animating the show anymore. I feel there is potential in him for more stories, perhaps he would be great with Bradford.

I will say the sets and everything was a bit more better than what S6 had done and with the narration, I think Micheal Angelis had toned down the enthusiasm way too much and it was more gentle and soft spoken and I feel that they told him not to shout like he had previously. One other thing that annoyed me was the sound effects, I feel that they were all turned down for no reason. You couldn't hear much of the whistles, chuffing noises etc.

 S7 was nice but did feel weak storywise.

OVERALL RATING
154/260

And that is it, I definetly had alot of opinion changes years after my first reviews. Will I delete my 2012-13 posts? Not really. I want to keep them up because I want to show people how far I came reviewing these episodes. Well next thing I'll be reviewing soon is 'The Royal Engine' DVD and then later on I'll be reviewing the specials (KOTR-TGR). Will I revisit the Jack and the Pack episodes? Maybe one day in the future but not right now. Thanks for reading these reviews and I'll be seeing you real soon.

- NWR1991. 

Classic Series Review Revisited - Series 6 (2002)

THESE ARE SOLEY MY OPINIONS AND ARE NOT INFLUENCED FROM THE THOMAS & FRIENDS FANBASE

SERIES 6

Written by

Robin Kingsland

Jonathan Trueman

Paul Larson

David Mitton

Sam Nicolson 

Phil Ferhle

Abi Grant

James Mason

Brian Trueman

Robyn Charteris

Jenny McDade

Ross Hastings

EPISODES

SALTY'S SECRET

I think this episode could've been improved a bit more with its story. It was a nice story but I think the writer had some trouble on focusing on whatever plot. One was about Salty missing the sea and later on it teaching the twins his secret with the trucks, perhaps for the sake of the title and maybe with a longer running time, it should've been about Bill and Ben delaying work because of their mishandling of trucks. Mavis usually helps them out but she was away at the works and that was Salty's reason to be at the quarry, to look after the twins and the work. Bill and Ben think they don't need any help since they know all about trucks. But they are still mishandling them and Salty left them to it and dealt with his own work but the way he had handled the trucks made the twins jealous. The twins think he had it easy but they are still mishandling them until they sallowed their own pride and asked Salty for help and he taught them his secret. I mean sure you have Salty missing the sea being cut out, but with the way he was in the story he pretty much just dealt with not being near the sea and put his own usefulness first before his intrests, which was a good message from this episode. I think the episode is good but it could've been improved to work better on its focus.

Rating: 7/10

HARVEY TO THE RESCUE

Honestly, there's not much I can say about this episode other than that it was a very good episode. It had a nice moral that we all have something that others don't have. Harvey had some good character devlopment from him being underconfident about his looks after what the other engines had said and I liked that Harvey had proved his worth, although maybe the plot could've been better if say all the cranes are gone because they were needed for repairs or were used for something else and Harvey was the only one who can save Percy but other than that, it was still a very good episode.

Rating: 9/10 

NO SLEEP FOR CRANKY

I kinda like the reason on why Cranky the crane is always cranky. It kind of did better than 'Cranky Bugs' to be honest. I did nitpick that it doesn't make sense to have Cranky working all day and night but if we have that then there's no point of the story. Some people may not have like the Fat Controller in this period, I'm referencing the 'journalists' who thinks he's the stalin of Sodor, but I think the Fat Controller being hard on Cranky is very understandable coming from his part, the docks is where all trade from the outside world comes in and having the railway blocked due to someone's negligence because they had a lack of sleep, would stop all goods from being transffered. Perhaps if the story was more about Cranky wanting to be useful by working 24/7 straight and that his lack of sleep is the cause of his negligence later on, it would serve the moral that sleep is important as well as being useful. In the end the episode was alright but I think it could've been better.

Rating: 6/10

A BAD DAY FOR HAROLD THE HELICOPTER

I think the title should've been renamed. There was never any bad day for Harold when its more of him being cocky and very proud, just like what he was in the second series. I like how they kept the chemistry between Percy and Harold by showing them as friendly rivals. The story was alright in the end but I think there should've been a better title, like maybe 'Cocky Harold' or 'Pride Before A Fall'.

Rating: 7/10 

ELIZABETH THE VINTAGE LORRY

I think if the episodes were given longer time limits, perhaps they would've been more Elizabeth and her friendship with the Fat Controller. I find that as interesting, perhaps if they had cut back on Thomas enjoying taking specials, maybe we could've seen the Fat Controller looking at a picture of Elizabeth and wondered where could she be and maybe a little flashback too and then Thomas had his accident and they found Elizabeth in a shed. It would serve the ending much more better in my opinion because it felt out of nowhere to be honest. In the end, the episode was OK but I think a rewrite here and there could've made the episode a bit more better.

Rating: 5/10

THE FOGMAN

This episode shows that new technology means well but they are not always great all the time and sometimes you don't need to replace what's not broken. Plus it was nice to show a bit of railway safety too with the likes of detonators. In the end the episode was very good.

Rating: 9/10

JACK JUMPS IN

It's a shame that they didn't take off with the spin-off series they had in mind for this, despite the next few episodes that came along after this four years later due to money problems to fund the thing. But despite of that, this was a great episode. I love how the way they introduce the characters while showcasing Jack's overegarness to work. It also had a good message that safety comes first and that we shouldn't jump into others despite that it's good you're showing an interest in helping someone.

Rating: 10/10 

A FRIEND IN NEED

I love the smooth transition of Jack's face from his happiness to worry, great editing there. I also like how they introduce Ned and how his introduction sort of set as a sign of things to come later on in the episode. It was also good to see some character development towards Jack with him learning everything and getting better all the time. The episode also had a good moral of helping your friends when there's trouble as showcased with Jack saving Thomas. These two episodes are still great for all to watch. As for the Thomas model, I really don't see any trouble with it at all, the face I think was OK but could've done with some tweaks.

Rating: 10/10

IT'S ONLY SNOW

Yeah the term 'winter holidays' is mentioned in this episode and looking back at this episode, I bet it was mentioned as something more seasonal and not to replace the word 'Christmas' because some people in this world think we can't say it anymore due to offending other cultures despite the fact that the word 'Christmas' can still be said and be shown everywhere in public. Anyway, I think the message was to showcase determination but the whole premise was just your average Thomas hates his snowplough storyline. I don't hate this episode but it just feels meh and it kinda goes against what was shown in series 1. Sure it was focused on Terence but it also showed why snowploughs are important too.

Rating: 4/10 

TWIN TROUBLE

I think one problem with having Donald and Douglas as main characters in an episode is that there stories could easily work with Bill and Ben, since they were established as hot headed twins. When I was a kid back when this episode was new, I thought this episode was going to be about them but was surprised that it was the scottish twins. Plus the episode does seem almost similar to 'One Good Turn' from the third series, some elements like the twins arguing who was to blame of their incident and then later on they were brought back together in the end over something. But there was some originality like the twins seperating apart and realising that they can't live without the other. But this is why I'm OK with them being secondary characters. Not every character like the scottish twins need a story for the sake of having one and that applies for them being in the series now. Anyway the story was nice but not my favourite of series 6.

Rating: 4/10 

THE WORLD'S STRONGEST ENGINE

I like the message that showing off can lead to trouble but why can't they go with Diesel shunting too many trucks that it wore out his engine and he broke down instead? Sure it's a cliche in Thomas but I think it works better than having Diesel not pulling the trucks properly, I mean the whole scene of him dealing with his trucks is just a retread of 'Pop Goes The Diesel'. Plus with BoCo's model being redone for series 6 and since this story might've been based on a 1997 magazine story, why not use BoCo? I think it would add variety and I think the plot would've been a bit more better than what this episode gave us. It's not bad but it was another meh in my books.

Rating: 4/10

SCAREDY ENGINES

This story is 'Ghost Train' but with Percy being scared instead. But for most of the story, it's Thomas being arrogant and cheeky that he wasn't scared until he dealt with it on his own. Sure it's the usual tale that have been done in plenty of media over the years. But yeah story retread is story retread. I will say this the dark atmosphere is great, I keep praising that alot in episodes like these. Maybe I just like that kind of stuff because there was effort put into it.

Rating: 3/10 

PERCY AND THE HAUNTED MINE

Honestly this was more original than 'Scaredy Engines'. The whole situation Percy was in was just comical and it just shows that not everything is scary when you understand the context.

Rating: 8/10

MIDDLE ENGINE

The episode was fine but the scene with Percy being on the tipper's loading ramp I think should've been replaced with maybe have a scene of James teasing him, yeah it was shown in the episode but I think it would've been better to expad it more and have Percy taking his anger out on them because he was a middle engine which got him into trouble by the Fat Controller and then it served with James' karma of being the middle engine. The episode was alright but I think the tipper scene was added in as filler because they need it to fill time.

Rating: 4/10

JAMES AND THE RED BALLOON

To me this is one of the purest episodes to sit through. It was peaceful and wonderful with the music and the hot air balloon floating around and it really makes you forget your troubles away. It was also original despite taking one element out from a Christopher Awdry book, but I quite like that something like air travel can be seen as a threat to the island's engines and they would do something like that again in four seasons later. But to be this episode was nice, relaxing and peaceful and one of my personal favourite episodes.

Rating: 10/10

JACK FROST

There was really nothing bad about this episode, though I won't call it a favourite. Although maybe they could've gone with Thomas after his teasing with Percy but then again I think that would be another rehash of 'Ghost Train' and 'Scaredy Engine'.

Rating: 5/10

GORDON TAKES A TUMBLE

Another story about showing off and I think this was more original than the world strongest episode in terms of story but at the same it is just another arrogant Gordon episode. But at this point in time, I think the writers were more focused on 'what shenanigans are the engines up to today' instead of devloping them and I think it works that way because if you develop them and keep the show running long after you have finished their story arc, chances are it's going to be rebooted again. It is what it is really. It was an alright episode in the end and I do love Salty's teasing towards Gordon too.

Rating: 6/10

PERCY'S CHOCOLATE CRUNCH

I liked this episode with its moral about cleanliness and it works through a railway point of view. It's better to be useful then trying to stay clean. The crash I will say was memorable in my view although I wish they'd mentioned something about the factory workers after the crash. But in the end, it was a nice episode.

Rating: 9/10

BUFFER BOTHER

This is 'Twin Trouble' but with Bill and Ben this time only it was more about Bill being jealous about Ben getting new buffers. But climax of the episode with Bill crashing into some buffers is pretty much the same as the Donald and Douglas. I also didn't like how they gave Ben new gold buffers only to give him black ones in another episode. There was nothing seriously wrong with the episode though. I like the comedy touches and all but in the end it was meh.

Rating: 3/10

TOBY HAD A LITTLE LAMB

I like the message that desperate times calls for desperate measures. Toby was willing to cross his old branch line, although I don't know why I think the writer might've mistaken his old line from series 1 as a line on Sodor, to bring a vet to help the sheep and his lambs and also that it's good to help those in need. It was a nice episode. 

Rating: 9/10

THOMAS, PERCY AND THE SQUEAK

I think there should've been a title change since Percy barely had much time in the episode. But despite that this story was comedic with Alicia Botti and the mice although I've always wondered why they change the 'peasent' dialouge in the US dub? Surely it couldn't be an offensive term over there? I mean Gordon had used it as a sneer towards Percy but it was mainly used for comedic purposes with Percy mistaken it as 'pleasent'. Anyway it was a nice story with some good little comedy within it as well.

Rating: 7/10

THOMAS THE JET ENGINE

I think what I like about this episode is that despite the suspension of disbelief, it was actually fun and it had a good message that there are some things faster than the other. Which is good for Gordon to learn from as well. Anyway it was a fun episode with craziness but of course for the railway folk out there it is still unrealistic. But even as a railway enthusiast like myself I come to terms that realism isn't THE point for Thomas, plus if you want to teach people about railway accuracy, why not recommend them to a heritage railway? Thomas can't be the only thing when it comes to railways.

Rating: 7/10

EDWARD THE VERY USEFUL ENGINE

As much as I like this episode, it's just another 'Edward proves his worth' story and an episode where Gordon learns his lesson after being rude to Edward. The story is basically that and nothing else. Sure it was nice, but Edward was more of a plot device in this episode and that was it. It's good but it's just not interesting and it feels a little bit like a mandated episode for the sake of Edward with maybe some elements of 'Super Rescue' into the mix. To be honest, this is why I'm OK with him being out of the 'steam team' cast because he can't hold a story on his own and most of the plot that he does have him are either him proving his worth for being old.

Rating: 4/10

DUNKIN DUNCAN

The episode's message about patients and always listen to other was good especially for a character like Duncan because if you don't you'll end up in trouble. I do like the set of the incline, it feels like something from a garden model railway or a model village. It's an average episode but wasn't bad in my opinion.

Rating: 6/10

RUSTY SAVES THE DAY

I think it's odd that the Fat Controller would close down a line. I mean in the past he had saved some engines from scrap and in the Oliver book he said 'we reopen branches.' I just seems out of character of him. I will admit though Awdry had stated, in the Railway Series canon, that he did scrap engines before, particulary the coffee pot engines. If you don't believe me, try reading it yourself since there is a PDF file of it lying around on the world wide web. Anyway the episode was a bit odd but it has a nice message about not to give up and always ask for help. 

Rating: 4/10

FAULTY WHISTLES

This story is pretty much 'Mike's Whistle' but with Duncan instead. It did provide a good message on why whistles are important for an engine in the end. I like it if they've intentionally done but another part of me wishes that they had gone with something original, maybe another Christmas story to end the series or something. I don't hate this story but since at this time they weren't bothered with adapting anymore of Awdry's stories why did they bother with this? I just feel a bit mixed by this.

Rating: 5/10 

SERIES OVERALL
I'll be honest, I think series 6 was a total mixed bag with the way they'd handled the stories but I like it that they were focusing on the characters more whereas unlike S5 it was more focused towards the action and crashes, at least in my point of view. As I've mentioned before in some episode reviews, the stories I feel have a bit of unoriginality in some of them. They've reused some old plot ideas and place it in a new package and some stories I feel could've worked for some other characters. I mean 'Twin Trouble' to me is a Bill and Ben story through and through as Donald and Douglas do act like them when they are hot headed.

The setting was nice, I do like the countryside although the setting isn't as good as compare to the last few series. From the way David Mitton said in his SiF interview, they had shrinking budgets so maybe countryside sets are more cheaper to build and reassemble.

As for the narration, look I like Alec Baldwin but I think he had done a poor job in this series. One person had told me that he had gone through a messy divorce with Kim Basinger as well as fighting a seven year battle with his ex-wife for his rights to see his own daughter at the time and I think maybe that is why his narration was rather poor. So if it is that I can forgive him for that considering how much of a mess he was going through in personal life. Micheal Angelis though was still great with some good energy and enthusiam.

So yeah, I think S6 is underrated but it's not really a perfect series in the end.

OVERALL RATING
165/260