★ 6 / 10
I didn't love the start of this film
CinemaSerf
I didn't love the start of this film. There's this local carpenter who crafts intricately sculpted little toys for kids at Christmas but makes his poor…
I didn't love the start of this film. There's this local carpenter who crafts intricately sculpted little toys for kids at Christmas but makes his poor reindeers - "Donner" and "Blitzen" race through the most atrocious snow storm so he (David Huddleston) and his kindly wife (Judy Cornwell) can deliver them! Anyway, that weather overwhelms them and things look distinctly hypothermic until a great star arrives in the heavens and next thing they are being fêted by "Dooley" (John Barrard) in the most beautiful toy factory in the world. He is now to be called "Santa" and his job will be to deliver these presents to children all over the planet. Luckily they have a sprinkling of magic dust to doctor the food of not just his own reindeers, but of a few others too and decades now pass uneventfully. As more and more people learn to write, though, the demands on him become increasingly onerous, indeed the poor soul is frankly a bit knackered. An assistant! That's the answer. Two of his elves vie for the position but it's "Patch" (Dudley Moore) who develops and automated production line and emerges victorious. Thing is, his products are cheap and cheerful - they break and soon he is out on his pointy ear and working with disgraced toy manufacturer "BZ" (a well over-the-top John Lithgow). The naive "Patch" is only trying to regain the affection of "Santa". His new business partner is looking to make a mint. Has "Patch" got his priorities right? Perhaps "Santa" has some growing up to do, too? This is a gently entertaining Christmas tale that allows Moore to showcase a little of his comedy acting skills, but generally the rest of it is all a rather thinly-veiled swipe at the rise of commercialism and the throw-away culture. Christian Fitzpatrick is quite engaging as the urchin "Joe" and those with eagle eyes might spot Melvyn Hayes and Don Estelle (famed for the BBC sitcom "Ain't Half Hot Mum") but I found the narrative to be just a little too repetitive and it certainly made me glad I never liked candy cane. It's still fun, but like the gifts he made themselves, I wonder how many kids nowadays would get anything from the charming simplicity of this film?
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★ 7 / 10
Nice film, I found enough enjoyment with it
r96sk
Nice film, I found enough enjoyment with it. Probably not as deep or creative as it could've been, but I do like the plot of 'Santa Claus: The Movie' as it…
Nice film, I found enough enjoyment with it.
Probably not as deep or creative as it could've been, but I do like the plot of 'Santa Claus: The Movie' as it starts off at the embryonic stages of Santa. It ends up turning into a run-of-the-mill good v. bad thing, but that cause is helped by the casting of John Lithgow - who is entertaining.
Lithgow isn't the only positive cast, as Dudley Moore and David Huddleston do solid things too. It's interesting to see that Lithgow doesn't rate this, as well as the fact that it's apparently popular in the UK; though I, as a Englishman, had never heard about this before this year to be honest.
There are, at least in my opinion, many better festive films out there, but this 1985 flick is a satisfying Xmas watch. It's cheesy and features some questionable special effects, but does have pleasant-looking reindeer and has charm.
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★ 6 / 10
Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without Santa Claus:The Movie
Rigsby's Cat
This is a beautifully designed and technically faultless movie. From the wonderful set and costume designs to Henry Mancini's whirling music, and with some…
This is a beautifully designed and technically faultless movie. From the wonderful set and costume designs to Henry Mancini's whirling music, and with some excellently timed and well acted performances [Dudley Moore as Patch, John Lithgow as BZ], this really sums up the feelings of a magical Christmas. It is hard, therefore to understand just where things went wrong. Perhaps part of the problem is that the movie is just too over ambitious. The father son team of Alexander and Ilya Salklind had delivered movies of a grand scale numerous times before [The Three Musketeers, The Four Musketeers, Superman 1-3, Supergirl] and Santa Claus is no exception to the rule. Though their movies are often beautiful to watch, the problems that the producers often came up against were behind the scenes. Bust ups with directors and screen writers hindered the finished results, and the producers had to settle for second best. Jeannot Swarzc is a fine director in his own right, but he is no Richard Donner[Director, Superman-The Movie]. One gets the feeling that if Donner was in charge of this movie all would have gone well. Likewise if the Salkinds had hired a Mario Puzo [Screenwriter, Superman-The Movie] to scribe then the over excessivness that is aparent in David and Leslie Newmans script , may have been toned down. This is perhaps an unfair judgement. Maybe it were the producers who authorised such things like McDonalds featuring prominently throughout, and advertisements for things such as Pepsi and Coca Cola. It worked in Superman 2, but looks out of place here. This movie belongs entirely to Dudley Moore, who gives his heart and soul. Moore was ready made for the role of Patch and has the time of his life, looking and behaving like an Elf would. Every time an Elf is presented in a Christmas movie, it is hard to except him because one has seen Dudley. The laughs go entirely to John Lithgow as the evil Scrooge like BZ. Pompous and witty and also very funny. And also David Huddleston, perfectly cast [Just as Christopher Reeve was in Superman and Helen Slater in Supergirl] as Santa Claus. No doubt that when children who have seen this movie, think of Santa Claus, it will be Huddleston they imagine. This will be the case for generations to come. David Huddleston gives a loving performance and deserves special praise. The real spectacle is the presentation of Santa's grotto in the wonderfull opening sequence. This is where Swarzc's direction is at its best, really capturing the feel of Christmas. The design of the Grotto itself is simply stunning and captures all those images of child hood dreams at once. The elves at work scenes are brilliantly directed again with panache by Swarzc. Other good moments are the scenes when Santa flies by the Statue of Liberty, Patches car flight and the final epic race to save patch at the end of the movie. Henry Mancini's music is at its best in this movie, and there are some great songs sung by Sheena Easton. Where the movie fails is in its lack of a good script, and some times patchy [no pun intended] direction. These things aside the movie is magical, and one that requires a re-release or re apraise. Its a good thing that the movie earned over $100 million in the U.S.A., because this is an American movie, yet its appeal seems to be universal. Pure Magic
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TOMATOMETER
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· 10K ratings
6.3/10
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Wow, no mention of Dudley Moore as part of the top cast? he's only in it during the entire movie lol