Sherparsa Great special effects in some scenes, especially for its time but BORING AS HELL overall!a very fine start for the first 10 or so minutes but then as if everybody from the director to the actors (to even the crew behind the scenes AND the producers?!) is no longer in the mood, the aura just fails to be enchanting as expected and unless it's been intended for certain types of children with a very cliche taste on the topic of Christmas, elves and Santa Clause, it's not the type of show that would keep a grown up interested in fantasy stories awake to watch the entire thing to the very end ... (or maybe it's because i watched it late at night on a relatively too warm SoCal mid-July summer night?)quoting one of the movie's own much repeated quotes by one of the little elves, this show is not "elf-confident" enough! ;-)again, yes, loved some (but not all) of the special effects (and i may want to obtain a high quality DVD copy of this movie for JUST that) but i'm not surprised this otherwise nice movie failed in the box office!

gwnightscream This 1985 fantasy stars Dudley Moore, David Huddleston, John Lithgow and Burgess Meredith. This sort of tells the origin of Santa Claus (Huddleston) who starts out as a woodcarver and becomes a Christmas symbol when he comes to the North Pole learning it's magical secrets. The late, Moore (Arthur) plays Patch, one of his elves who decides to leave to better his toy making abilities. He heads to New York City where he gets a job working for corrupt, toy manufacturer, B.Z. (Lithgow) who learns of his special talents and tries to profit from them. Soon, Santa tries to get Patch back, stop B.Z. and save the Christmas spirit from becoming lost. The late, Meredith (Rocky) plays an ancient Elf. I watched this as a kid and think it's underrated. The cast is good, there's neat effects and I like Sheena Easton's "Christmas All Over The World" song. I recommend this good Christmas fantasy.

Michael_Elliott Santa Claus (1985) * (out of 4) A Christmas favorite to many, this 1985 film starts off with a kind man and his wife being approached by some elves to become Santa Claus. Shortly afterwards we see how Christmas has changed and an elf named Patch (Dudley Moore) comes up with an assembly line to make toys quicker. When they fall apart Patch decides to head out on his own and ends up with a crooked toy maker (John Lithgow).SANTA CLAUS is a film loved by many so I guess I will embrace the hate mail and being called a Grinch by saying that I thought it was pretty darn awful on many levels. I think the biggest problem is the direction, which I found to be really bad as there's no style or flow to the picture. Another major problem is the screenplay, which is all over the place and I found each and every scene just to drag itself out. Even the sequence showing how Santa came to be just ran too long.The biggest offense here is that there's not an ounce of life, energy or laughs to be found. I was really shocked at how plain and bland the Moore elf was as there's just nothing fun about the character. Moore is pretty lifeless in the role and even Burgess Meredith doesn't get much to do. David Huddleston is good as Santa and he's about the only good thing. Lithgow is rather annoying in his part.SANTA CLAUS will find much support from people but I'm not one of them.

richkd-jr This film was clearly created for the young, and young at heart. It tells the story of how Santa became who he is, sticking mostly to the original lore of England/Germany/Holand/Austria, the tale of Kris Kringle, the gift giver (not the same as Saint Nicholas). and then later jumps to a more modern time frame to tell a tale of Santa's troubles.Its a very light-hearted tale but at times has some serious points which makes it perfect for children and those that still believe in the magic of Christmas.The cast is amazing, Santa is played perfectly and is one of my all time favorites, the remaining cast blends perfectly together in their roles and none of them stood out of place. The "bad guys" are perfectly over the top as would be expected for a film for a young audience and the film has stood the test of time as my youngest nieces and nephews love the film.I have this right next to A Christmas Story as my two favorite Christmas movies of all time with Its a Wonderful Life, the 1930s Christmas Carol and Miracle on 34th Street as my 5 favorites ever.