Santa Claus Conquers the Martians

[Giant Claw Jr]

That robot look a bit like the one from a episode of GILLIGANS ISLAND

[JamieFarr]

Jamie Farr wasn't in this movie.  It was filmed in 1964, and Farr was born in 1934, yes it does look like a 30 year old man.  But according to his biography, the only martian works he was in was...

Benny, "Avenue `C' Mob," My Favorite Martian, CBS, 1965
Fred, "Virus M for Martian," My Favorite Martian, 1966

The martian who looks like Farr, Stobo, was played by Al Nesor.  See more at...
http://www.answers.com/topic/jamie-farr

[ds21]

toy massacre FTW

[BoyScoutKevin]

This film is very much a product of the '60's. Indeed, I doubt if it could have been made during anyother decade. And whereas, "Citizen Kane" may be the greatest film ever made, I much rather see a film like this again, then a film like "Citizen Kane" again.

[copromovie]

God! Everyone in the cast look like they're stonned with marihuana LOL

[marcus]

Well, well, well,.........this really is an awful film, or am i missing something?.
Things i liked about it:
The abysmal polar bear outfit, ( i heard the violin of pity playing in my head on this one)
The acting,......???????????.
The dialogue
It was like receiving a jigsaw puzzle where the pictures al right, but the pieces hopelessly don't fit.
Mrs Claws, ( oh dear! ) my mother in law acts like her, wonder if she auditioned?.
However, my three year old daughter loved it, she pointed out the polar bear at which point i burst into tears.

[vwyler]

After reading the other comments made about this film, I must disagree.  All right, yes... it is a poor film from a technical point-of-view.

But, keep in mind that the budget  of SCCTM  was around 200 thousand  dollars... peanuts, even in 1964 when the film was made.  Considering the scope the picture attempts to convey,  I don't think the director could have done much better with such a small budget.  He simply had too much movie on his hands to lens for 200 grand.

As to the actors all being terrible, or looking stoned, as some commentors have suggested... this is patently false.  The actors did a competent job with the material they were given.  The acting is certainly on par with the status quo for kiddie films, such as Casper and those horrid Home Alone movies.  And that's an important thing to remember... SCCTM is a kiddie film.  It was never meant for an adult audience.  Yet commentors and critics frequently judge it as if it were adult science fiction, an unfair assessment.

The story is actually rather sweet and has a kindly message over all.  Nothing any sensible person would object to their seven year old sitting through.

All in all, SCCTM has gotten the proverbial raw deal.  I, for one, enjoy the film immensely and reccomend to critics that they view it again, but with a different frame of mind.

[FatFreddysCat]

I'd been hearing/reading about SCCTM for years 'n' years but never pulled the trigger on it till last Holiday season when I found it on DVD at the dollar store. Sat down to watch it and laughed my ass off for the entire film.

Gotta love that "Hooray for Santy Claus" song, catchy as hell!

I'd thought about possibly showing the film to my kids but once I'd viewed it myself I decided not to -- I have a feeling that such an act might constitute child abuse.

Seriously, if ever there was a movie begging to be re-made by Tim Burton or Rob Zombie, this is the one!!

[bob]

S-A-N-T-A C-L-A-U-S

hooray for Santy Claus

[FatFreddysCat]

Funny this one comes up, I was thinking about busting this DVD out tonight to watch whilst I wrap the kids' Christmas gifts.

[jazzfan6]

In the MST3K version, when Dropo's mugging and capering got to be too much, Joel would interject, "Drop 'em, Dropo."

[Pacman000]

After reading the other comments made about this film, I must disagree.  All right, yes... it is a poor film from a technical point-of-view.

But, keep in mind that the budget  of SCCTM  was around 200 thousand  dollars... peanuts, even in 1964 when the film was made.  Considering the scope the picture attempts to convey,  I don't think the director could have done much better with such a small budget.  He simply had too much movie on his hands to lens for 200 grand.

As to the actors all being terrible, or looking stoned, as some commentors have suggested... this is patently false.  The actors did a competent job with the material they were given.  The acting is certainly on par with the status quo for kiddie films, such as Casper and those horrid Home Alone movies.  And that's an important thing to remember... SCCTM is a kiddie film.  It was never meant for an adult audience.  Yet commentors and critics frequently judge it as if it were adult science fiction, an unfair assessment.

The story is actually rather sweet and has a kindly message over all.  Nothing any sensible person would object to their seven year old sitting through.

All in all, SCCTM has gotten the proverbial raw deal.  I, for one, enjoy the film immensely and reccomend to critics that they view it again, but with a different frame of mind.

Finally saw this, & I agree; it's not that bad.

Sets are about on par with Star Trek or Lost in Space, so they're acceptable for the era. Costumes aren't as good, but they're still creative, & not as bad as some aliens. (Plan 9; Killers from Space.) Space ship FX are unimaginative, but sufficient. The song was fun, tho it'll teach kids to mis-pronounce Santa's name.

The story was fairly standard 50's/60's sci-fi stuff; Martians advanced technology has led to cultural stagnation, so they look to Earth for inspiration. A handful of Martians think Earth's influence will make their kids too soft, so they hatch a plan to stop Earth's influence. It's a Christmas movie, since Christmas is a big movie-going time, so they made the influence Santa Claus.

Only two complaints:

1) Once on Mars Santa seemed fairly happy about being kidnapped. There should've been a scene where he saw how sad the martian kids were. Then he could've seen why the Martians kidnapped him. Santa, being a friendly man who loves kids would then have forgiven the Martians for kidnapping him & agreed to help them start Christmas.

2) The Martians TVs use NTSC? Seriously, that's the only way this plot works. If the Martian TVs had their own standard there's no way for Earth's signals to reach the Martian kids.