THESE ARE SOLEY MY OPINIONS AND ARE NOT INFLUENCED FROM THE THOMAS & FRIENDS FANBASE
THE GREAT RACE (2016)
Andrew Brenner
Directed by
David Stoten
Produced by
Ian McCue (HIT)
Robert Anderson (Arc)
Release Date
5/09/16 - UK
7/09/16 - AUS
13/09/16 - USA
Distributied by
HIT Entertainment
MY VIEWS
Honestly I have been hearing people saying that this should be a Gordon story instead and while I definetly agree with that it would've been interesting, I think the head honchos at HIT and Mattel would've wanted more of a Thomas story. So I thought, why not have both? You can still have Thomas' story as the main plot and Gordon's story to serve as the subplot. Both engines have insecurities like Gordon feeling belittled by his brother, Flying Scotsman, being better than him because of his speed record and famous history and Thomas is insecured because he wanted to go to the Great Railway Show but feels that shunting isn't good enough and two engines (Ashima and Gordon) are living his dream and he wants to find ways like the streamlining phase and the best decorated engine phase, after all Thomas had always had a competitive nature to himself. To do that they should've just cut out Diesel's plot, that didn't go anywhere plotwise and was only added in for the comedy aspect. I think you can still inject humor in the story here and there with Thomas and Gordon's story.
Plus with streamlined Gordon, I think the whole safety valve thing was a bit underwhelming since the story felt arupt and maybe have Gordon's streamline being a rush job because he wanted the workmen to hurry up and they didn't add all the nesscary parts to keep the casing stabled and once Gordon ran at top speed, the casing was falling apart but Gordon kept on trying, have him almost beating Eitenne, Spencer, Axel and Flying Scotsman only to be beaten by the french engine in the end. Gordon got cross that he lost and it's all because his streamlining fell off but then his brother told him that he had kept on trying and had almost beaten him and that he was just being himself. Plus it would've added a bit more depth to the brothership of him and Gordon, he maybe a bit concieted but he still cares more about his brother than a race. Which I felt was a huge missed opportunity in the actual film, while Scott, as I call him in my series, was concerned for Gordon after his boiler expoloded, he put his mind on the race once Axel raced past him. I think they should've shown him crossing the finish the line and everyone was shocked to see him going around the track again despite loosing to Eitenne. However they all saw him helping his brother out to cross the finish line to at least finish the race with some dignity. It would've given the message that despite the teasing Scott cares deeply for his brother in the end, I also see Scott not taking himself too seriously unlike Gordon.
I will add this with the whole streamlined Gordon thing, I remember back in 2016 people were saying that he should've been a A4 but that simply wouldn't work. If you look at an A4 with its smokebox door opened it would look akward and yeah you might say but it worked with Spencer, that's because his face is rectangular, which is the same as the front of an A4. It makes more sense on Mattel and HIT's part to give Gordon an America-esque shape since they have a circular front for his face.
I also think Thomas' self-sacrifice to give Ashima the winning glory in the shunting challenge did show good sportsmanship and I think he was rightly rewarded in the end for it, sure I once said it was bad because it could've been good to showcase that loosing isn't bad, but also showing good sportsmanship is a good message to bring to kids too, Thomas gave up his winning spot because he thinks it wouldn't be fair if Ashima lost due to a derailed conflat blocking her path. However maybe he shouldn't have gotten a trophy but maybe a medal? As for Ashima, I feel that while she was nice and her friendship towards Thomas was nice, she really was bland to be honest. I still think Vinnie was a rather pointless villian, he had no reason to be hard on Philip. I say to at least have a reason, maybe have Philip calling him out on cheating and while everyone praised him, he hated it because he was disqualified. Plus have Philip stand up for himself, he really didn't do any of that in the movie and was being a jerk towards Ashima, even after she'd helped him to get away from Vinnie. This movie had some problems, but really looking back after nearly five years it isn't that bad as some people make it out to be. I think some people should try and make their own minds up without being influenced by any user they consider as a 'big user'. I personally hope no one does the same thing with my reviews over the years because that wasn't my intention to do so and I think it's wrong of people to be influenced by someone else's opinions because you're not really thinking for youself. The movie had some problems, like the bridge jumping scene not having much purpose and it was a bit underwhelming, the Fat Controller not being this tough but fair character etc. In the end, the movie, while not the best, wasn't really that bad to be honest looking back. I think there are much better opportunities for it but what we got is what we got. Overall I think the songs were nice addition and very catchy.
OVERALL RATING
7/10
Thanks to everyone who had the time to read my new viewpoints, I know some of you out there may not agree with me what I say and I respect that. I'll be reviewing more Thomas items in the months to come so stay tuned!
MY VIEWS
Honestly I have been hearing people saying that this should be a Gordon story instead and while I definetly agree with that it would've been interesting, I think the head honchos at HIT and Mattel would've wanted more of a Thomas story. So I thought, why not have both? You can still have Thomas' story as the main plot and Gordon's story to serve as the subplot. Both engines have insecurities like Gordon feeling belittled by his brother, Flying Scotsman, being better than him because of his speed record and famous history and Thomas is insecured because he wanted to go to the Great Railway Show but feels that shunting isn't good enough and two engines (Ashima and Gordon) are living his dream and he wants to find ways like the streamlining phase and the best decorated engine phase, after all Thomas had always had a competitive nature to himself. To do that they should've just cut out Diesel's plot, that didn't go anywhere plotwise and was only added in for the comedy aspect. I think you can still inject humor in the story here and there with Thomas and Gordon's story.
Plus with streamlined Gordon, I think the whole safety valve thing was a bit underwhelming since the story felt arupt and maybe have Gordon's streamline being a rush job because he wanted the workmen to hurry up and they didn't add all the nesscary parts to keep the casing stabled and once Gordon ran at top speed, the casing was falling apart but Gordon kept on trying, have him almost beating Eitenne, Spencer, Axel and Flying Scotsman only to be beaten by the french engine in the end. Gordon got cross that he lost and it's all because his streamlining fell off but then his brother told him that he had kept on trying and had almost beaten him and that he was just being himself. Plus it would've added a bit more depth to the brothership of him and Gordon, he maybe a bit concieted but he still cares more about his brother than a race. Which I felt was a huge missed opportunity in the actual film, while Scott, as I call him in my series, was concerned for Gordon after his boiler expoloded, he put his mind on the race once Axel raced past him. I think they should've shown him crossing the finish the line and everyone was shocked to see him going around the track again despite loosing to Eitenne. However they all saw him helping his brother out to cross the finish line to at least finish the race with some dignity. It would've given the message that despite the teasing Scott cares deeply for his brother in the end, I also see Scott not taking himself too seriously unlike Gordon.
I will add this with the whole streamlined Gordon thing, I remember back in 2016 people were saying that he should've been a A4 but that simply wouldn't work. If you look at an A4 with its smokebox door opened it would look akward and yeah you might say but it worked with Spencer, that's because his face is rectangular, which is the same as the front of an A4. It makes more sense on Mattel and HIT's part to give Gordon an America-esque shape since they have a circular front for his face.
OVERALL RATING
7/10
Thanks to everyone who had the time to read my new viewpoints, I know some of you out there may not agree with me what I say and I respect that. I'll be reviewing more Thomas items in the months to come so stay tuned!
