I remember when this first came out and watching Siskel & Ebert pan it. A year later it was on HBO and I'd watch it every opportunity I got. It has as much holiday cheer as a Spam and Velveeta sandwich. The title of the movie is misleading because the movie really doesn't center around Santa, but Dudley Moore, the Xmas elf.The children in the movie are unlikable. There is a blatant McDonald's placement, too. John Lithgow overacts. And the special fx aren't movie magic, by any stretch of the imagination.
All in all, this film is craptacular. So much so, it's a guilty pleasure.
So it really is bad, right?
Yeah, I'd say so. It's on a different level of badness. It's tacky and overproduced. But personally, I don't find it so bad it's unwatchable. It's one of those movies I saw as a kid and liked it then. But as a 10 year old, I didn't know any better.
This is the movie that made puce famous.
I also watched this many times as a kid. McDonald's actually had a tie-in with this movie.
The thing that makes me really laugh is when the homeless kid (he's homeless, right?) is staring in at the people in the restaraunt. Classic.
Hahaha. Yeah! That scene was suppose to be "heart wrenching". The kid was licking his lips while he was watching people scarf down Big Macs.
Okay. Thanks, Alan.
Plain and simple: Don't try to turn Santa Claus into Superman.
Yah, the movie's tagline was "from the producers of Superman...". This one is more in line with Superman 4 or Supergirl.
Santa Clause as Superman?! WTF?!!
I think another good example of that is SANTA WITH MUSCLES with Hulk Hogan.
I saw that...
ON A SHELF IN MY VIDEO SHOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ahahahahahhaha, AHhahahahaha, AH-HA-HAhahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!