Family > 1964 Family

The Night The Reindeer Died

Advantages: Sense of escapist fun.
Disadvantages: It's cheap hammy nonsense from start to finish.

92. Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964) Should I be ashamed when I say this actually made me laugh along with some of the jokes? It’s certainly no finely crafted Bill Murray comedy, or even up to the mediocre standard of a mid series Police Academy film, but it’s not completely without merit. Although for most, it will take a very special frame of mind to avoid drowning yourself in eggnog by the final reel. The story begins with the leader ...
...in the North Pole with Santa Claus. After ten minutes deliberation and consulting a magical 800 year old wise man in a rock garden, he comes to the conclusion that Mars is no fun. Obvious solution: misappropriate Earth’s yearly Christmas festival for the Martians. Most inconsiderately they don’t try to approach Santa off peak and set up a convenient mid-July Christmas on Mars. They instead decide to kidnap him just before the big day. Their ingenious ...

ThePolarOne 22.05.2007 · Read full review
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Review of Santa Claus Conquers The Martians (DVD)

...Won't you Guide My sleigh tonight?

Advantages: original Rankin Bass animagic puppet film, a couple of nice extras, not overly saccharine
Disadvantages: only available as Region 1

...Sam the Snowman, we follow Rudolph from his birth, when his parents try to disguise his nose, to the discovery that he is a misfit and his subsequent humiliation by the other young reindeer. This scene will endear every child, and was especially powerful for my own 4 year old, who had been terriibly bullied at school. Another misfit is also to hand, an elf who would rather fix teeth than make toys, and together, they conspire to run away. But Christmas ...
...to fly his sleigh. Cue Rudolph and his friend saving the day, that red nose lighting the way. There are many more characters adding to story's theme about the wonderfulness of being different, and how that makes each person special, with a miner and a yeti named Bumble, a legion of abandoned toys, as well as songs that make you want to just sing along. One of the nice things about this dvd is that it is the original, unedited 1964 version, and not ...

Shroud 15.02.2007 · Read full review
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Review of Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer (Animated) (DVD)

The T-rex Trek

Advantages: More of those loveable characters
Disadvantages: A typical film number 3

...I wanted to see was Ice Age 3, mostly because I wanted to complete the series and find out what happens, having seen the other two films on the way out. Please bear in mind that if you have not seen the first two films, I do not recommend you read this review (even if that means I miss out on your rating!) That’s because if the film sounds like your thing, I will have spoilt both those first two films within this review of the third. So staying on ...
...all as eggs! If the Ice Age animals didn’t think their mother was scary enough, when Rudy comes along, they are really in for a surprise. He is a much bigger challenge for Buck, and an even bigger terror for all the others, when he makes mummy dino look a dwarf. Sadly we don’t really get that much communication from the dinosaurs as they don’t seem to talk, just “grr”. Admittedly this helps distinguish them from the others as the real predators or ...

Ayesha- 08.11.2009 · Read full review
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Review of Ice Age 3 - Dawn Of The Dinosaurs

City of Ember Smoulders Without Really Catching Light

Advantages: A fun, well told family adventure
Disadvantages: Underdeveloped characters. Understated ending.

...see “City of Ember” at the cinema, but I had taken one look at the trailer and dismissed it out of hand. However, when it made a recent appearance on the Sky Movies schedule, I relented, thinking that, without the added investment of having to buy cinema tickets, a bucket of popcorn and perhaps more importantly, using up a rare night out, I could always fall asleep on the couch if I wanted to. SYNOPSIS The film starts out with a flashback to ...
...catastrophe is soon to make the earth uninhabitable, so a group of scientists (American obviously – they’re always American) create an underground city, called Ember, to which a select group of lucky souls will be sent – a modern day ark – to safeguard the future of the human race. A silver box, the contents of which are not known at this stage, is entrusted to the first mayor, with instructions to pass down the box from mayor to mayor until the ...

Hishyeness 08.11.2009 · Read full review
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Review of The City Of Ember

First let's grab some chow before I eat your liver

Advantages: Nice family film
Disadvantages: Not brilliant

...that keen on the original Garfield movie, I don’t think it transferred very well from a comic strip to a film. But the kids enjoyed it, and so we had to watch Garfield 2 as well. Synopsis Garfield is not the only over pampered, over weight cat on earth, in fact he has a doppelganger in the guise of Prince, heir to the Carlyle Castle. Lord Dargis isn’t too pleased about this as he had expected to inherit the estate, so when he hears that it’s ...
...Liz to London, and then Garfield tags along. Garfield gets mistaken for Prince who’s been missing for a few hours, and whisked off to a lap of luxury, only to find Lord Dargis is out to get him. Cast Breckin Meyer as Jon Arbuckle Jennifer Love Hewitt as Dr. Liz Wilson Billy Connolly as Lord Dargis Bill Murray as the voice of Garfield Tim Curry as the voice of Prince Bob Hoskins as the voice of Winston Ian Abercrombie as Smithee Roger Rees as ...

Fiver29 06.11.2009 · Read full review
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Review of Garfield - A Tail Of Two Kitties (DVD)