I know I said once that I was waiting for Australia's release but since ABC went with 'A Colourful World' instead this year, I bought the UK copy back in September 2020. But here is my DVD review, but first:
THESE ARE SOLEY MY OPINIONS AND ARE NOT INFLUENCED FROM THE THOMAS & FRIENDS FANBASE
MARVELLOUS MACHINERY
Written by
Paul Larson & Laura Beaumont
Episodes
Directed by
Joey So:
A New Arrival
World of Tomorrow
Directed by
Ian Cherry:
Sonny's Second Chance
Kenji On The Rails
Produced by
Ian McCue (HIT/Mattel)
Tracy Blagdon (Jam Filled)
Special Features
Meet the Characters - Sonny
Song - How Does It Work
Release Date
28/09/20 - UK
Distributed by
HIT/Mattel Creations - UK
HIT/Mattel Creations/ABC Kids - AUS
EPISODES
One thing different about the DVD is that they had merged the episodes together to make it as a movie, and I seem to remember on a Village Cinema website in Australia earlier this year in March that there was going to be a screening of this special, this was before the COVID-19 epidemic was turned into a global pandemic. So maybe this is what we were going to get if there weren't any pandemic. I can tell that the editing felt a little awkward in some transitions, perhaps they could've extend some of the scenes to give it some better flow. The only transition that I find smooth was from the end of 'Sonny's Second Chance' and then onto 'Kenji on The Rails Again'. I also think it was a little odd to have Thomas say the title of the first part of the two parter special, they could've deleted that like they did with the other ones, perhaps maybe they forgot to edit it out but those are just nitpicks. However the way it was set kinda reminds me of the day of the movies from 2005-2018 where they had a full story and a song at the end.
Looking back at the two part special, I still liked it despite its over the topness. It was far more entertaining and a tad more memorable than 'Digs and Discoveries' & 'Steam Team to the Rescue', despite the use of the fear of replacement story, but it never really felt hammered down unlike some episodes. The stories were entertaining as well as its message that just because something better was made doesn't mean that the things in the past aren't useful. Plus I liked the retrofuturistic style they went with and it was a pretty common thing in the 60's, which is visually implied in the show. I understand that not many people like it because it wasn't what Awdry had envisioned but neither was S5, Magic Railroad etc. even if people have the nostalgia goggles for those things. I will say this in regards to the upcoming 25th season next year, I hope they do take Thomas to Japan, as implied by Hiro in Kenji's episode, but I find it to be a long shot. But the information about the new season is a bit scarce. To read more of my views, please click the links provided above.
SPECIAL FEATURES
Looking back at the two part special, I still liked it despite its over the topness. It was far more entertaining and a tad more memorable than 'Digs and Discoveries' & 'Steam Team to the Rescue', despite the use of the fear of replacement story, but it never really felt hammered down unlike some episodes. The stories were entertaining as well as its message that just because something better was made doesn't mean that the things in the past aren't useful. Plus I liked the retrofuturistic style they went with and it was a pretty common thing in the 60's, which is visually implied in the show. I understand that not many people like it because it wasn't what Awdry had envisioned but neither was S5, Magic Railroad etc. even if people have the nostalgia goggles for those things. I will say this in regards to the upcoming 25th season next year, I hope they do take Thomas to Japan, as implied by Hiro in Kenji's episode, but I find it to be a long shot. But the information about the new season is a bit scarce. To read more of my views, please click the links provided above.
Honestly, the special features have become bare bones in the last few years. All we got were a song and a video about Sonny and that's it. You think with this being Ruth's first apperance in the special they added her video too along with Kenji? Heck Kenji had one episode to himself and it was apart of this special! Perhaps they'll be in a future release next year. I wish the special features have more variety like they were between 2013-2016.
OVERALL
I think the DVD is worth it for kids who enjoy the fast pace nature and over the top actions, however I don't think it would be suitable for children on the autistic spectrum and I don't how they feel of the new changes to the show from 2018. Sadly I don't think Mattel would know either because they'd donated money to the infamous 'Autistic Speak' organisation where they treat autisum as a disease rather than spreading awareness, and to think they had a character from the show who had autistic traits. But I digress. We know now that this would be the last DVD for 2020 and it's strange that we hadn't got the S21 collection this year whereas the last few years we had them on DVD. I have a feeling that more people would rather stream them than buy a physical copy since kids would have the episodes already from the other releases, hence why they were released on Amazon Prime in the UK and US and Stan here in Australia this year instead. But I could be wrong and maybe we might get a release next year instead. We know certaintly that it isn't COVID delaying it since we had other DVDs released in this past year.
OVERALL RATING
7/10
With 2020 finally coming to an end and with no new DVDs coming out until early next year, look out for my yearly retrospective post of the DVDs that were released in 2020 on December 31st. In the mean time, my S18 reviews are still in the works and I would bring more reviews between S19-21 soon after that.
