In ancient times, a man named Claus, who delivers toys in his small village, fulfils his destiny to become Santa Claus after meeting an expert toy-making elf, Patch, in the North Pole. In the present day, Santa Claus has become overwhelmed by his workload, and the disgruntled Patch flees the workshop to New York City. There, Patch unknowingly threatens the fate of Christmas by taking a job at a failing toy company run by a scheming businessman.
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Reviews
I love this movie so much
The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.
A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.
Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.
After seeing such horrendous Christmas films like "Elf Bowling: The Movie" and "Saving Christmas" it was great to see something...mediocre. Now here's the thing that's weird. The beginning of this movie is great. It wonderfully sets up the Santa Claus mythos and adds new things to the classic icon. The sets are so beautiful and everything is bright and colorful. As the film goes on, however, it starts to get goofy. It seems like the plot about the evil CEO at the end just came out of nowhere. It's like we're in a different movie at that time.I still really like Tom Huddleston as Santa Claus. Well, it's great to see a movie simply called "Santa Claus". That was the title on screen at least! It's certainly much better than the Santa Claus movie shown on MST3K. Many of the actors are really good and everything looks nice, but the story just gets weak in the second half. It features an elf making magic lollipops that make people float. Later, they try to make them more powerful but they explode! Yeah, this is where it's too silly to like. It's too long as well. There are some great parts in this movie, but it does get bad at the end. Hey, it's the new Christmas movie I saw in December this year so it can't be that bad! Oh, and Merry Christmas. **1/2
"Santa Claus" of 1985 is one of the first movies to give a modern take – or update, on Santa Claus. It doesn't go into the true story or the background, but picks up with the fantasy of Santa, his reindeer and the North Pole. The plot has an interesting twist to the beginning of Santa that is mystical. And, another interesting twist is that the elves and the North Pole always have been there -- at least since who knows when, just waiting for the Santa to come on the scene. That's another somewhat mystical aspect. From that fantasy beginning, the movie opens up to a very colorful, inventive and fun story and adventure. The sets for this film were excellent and some of the items were very ingenious. I don't want to give those away. The special effects and design add sparkle, literally and figuratively, to the movie. So, one can say that it is magic. It's sort of a magic show put on film. Of course, there are twists in the plot that work in a couple of Christmas messages. John Lithgow's character, as the mean, villainous B.Z. is just funny enough that he shouldn't be scary to small children. We older children can chuckle at his character. All of the cast are very good in their roles. Without being too overboard, this film gives some colorful and fun treatment to the tradition of Santa Claus that the whole family can enjoy. The little guys might especially enjoy the reindeer as portrayed in this film.
This film gets rightfully undeserving backlash for no straightforward apparent reasoning (at least, not to my knowledge). I saw this back in 1998 on a VHS when I was 7; this meant whatever I saw could be wound and rewound again, and again. I remember my mother and I would sit down on our comfy sofa, curled up by the fireplace next to the tree, with a cup of hot mocha, every Christmas week, every Christmas eve, and almost every Christmas day to watch this beloved rare nostalgic treasure. Every year that I watch it, the heartwarming memories come flooding back to me. To me, it holds a special place in my heart as a timeless tale of warmth, joy, belonging, and togetherness, a feeling that most live-action "kids" films now adays, especially "family pictures", seem to bypass, confuse, or forget. This film does what a number of Christmas Fantasy Films began to emulate: the "fantasy". It feels like an Historical Family Christmas Comedy/Drama, if that makes any sense. It touches on themes of upbringing, unconditional & unconventional compassion, helping those in need, love, belief, faith in one's self, and most of all, destiny.. that we can choose to follow our own path; a path towards enlightenment, a path towards a better life, a path to a brighter future, for everyone. I know like I'm sounding as if this turned into a paragraph-long sermon for some sort of masterpiece that gets wrongfully accused of being "too commercialized", "too adult, sometimes", "too weird", "too strange", "too 80s", "too much like watching a set", "too cheap looking visual effects", "too long", "too drawn out", "too boring".Well, here is my final statement: This film, to me, captures EXACTLY what Christmas is all about; not only that, but it can show young and old, children and adults alike, that with "a little magic", anything can happen (I know, a corny line, but here me out).. You just have to BELIEVE it will happen.. And ALWAYS hold on to faith.......Final Grade: 10/10 --------- A glorious beautiful masterpiece that will continue to transcend the ages as One of the Pinnacle of Defining Christ-mas movies that shows every child should "never stop believing".
This Santa Claus film is one of the best, in terms of heartwarming Christmas films. It's quite twee and hasn't aged well but it's still lovely and enjoyable. The Santa Claus is from the North Pole (of course) and is traditional (post Coca-Cola) and a craftsman who makes presents for children before he "becomes" Santa. It's got some lovely magical scenes, and beautiful reindeer (animatronic so dated now but still cute and entertaining for children) and the elves - lead by Dudley Moore - are sweet and funny. There are some great music and soundtrack and the sets are quite beautiful. I'm sure it was quite big budget at the time! The bad guy, played by John Lithgow, who is trying to take over Christmas, was hilarious, comic-book malevolent and had one of his most iconic roles with some great one-liners. The two child actors were a little hammy in places, particularly the girl, but all in all they are sweet and accomplished and it is the moral and heart of the film that is so prominent and distracts from any flaws; both of the children are orphans of sorts and need a home and someone to love them, she's from a rich family and he is from the streets. It's heartwarming and suitable for all family members and nicely old fashioned enough to not be bogged down with so much SFX and flippancy that all heart is lost. Dudley Moore is fun and enjoyable, and Mrs Claus simply radiant and charming along with Santa - who is so believable and one of the best, jolly and kindly Santa ever put on screen. Fun for all the family.