SANTA CLAUS CONQUERS THE MARTIANS (1964)
Got the "Horizon Movies" copy straight from Kino Lorber. It got to my PO Box in 9 days.
I'm not sure I've EVER seen this movie on TV. I first saw it when I was 5 years old-- in late 1964. I was 5 years old. Then, again, a year later! It's amazing how much I forgot, but also, how much I remembered, and vividly. The first act (before the 2 kids show up) is played DEADLY-SERIOUS, which, I think, makes it really "work". It then get more silly and more fun as it goes, but, by then, you're invested in the story.
There's a lot of damage on this, but, most of it's very watchable. After I was done (and I did find myself laughing for almost a whole minute when it was over-- that goes a long way), I read the fine print on the back of the box. I'm going to type that here:
"Due to the rarity of materials available, the master for this film was created from a 16 mm European print secured by Holland Releasing with the HD telecine and color correction completed by Fotokem/Burbank. Since this print was originally created for television, it is presented in a 1:33:1 aspect ratio. The original theatrical release of this film was projected in a matted 1:85:1 with a 'safe top & bottom'. As a result of the master having 'removed the matte', this presentation of the film actually reveals additional information on the top and bottom of the frame."
UH HUH. That explains a lot. I'm GLAD I got it. But, seriously, IS there actually a brand-new scan of the camera negative out there? I've been running across several movies of late where this is happening (including my favorite Euro Jules Verne movie), and getting the "best-ever" version would be cool-- even with something that's every bit as goofy as LOST IN SPACE season 2!
By the way-- and I remember this so well-- there's is SUCH a dramatic build-up and suspense leading to the reveal of exactly what "TORG" is. They mention him several times, you don't see him, then, when the kids are out in the snow, one of them sees what they think are lights from Santa's house. But, NO!! It's a clunky robot! I joked, "It's not quite Stormrobot"-- referring to how in a comic-book I published back in 2002, I actually based a "giant" robot on a 1950s wind-up tin toy robot. I thought it was the funniest idea. The HEAD is similar. I don't think I remembered this movie when I did that. But now I can't forget the similarity.
Hey! Those Martians LEFT Torg behind on Earth!!! How could they DO that?
Also, isn't it insane, that they kidnapped the 2 kids so no one would ever know they kidnapped Santa-- but as soon as they left, Mrs. Claus told the reporters what happened. Those Martians WEREN'T very smart.![]()
Got the "Horizon Movies" copy straight from Kino Lorber. It got to my PO Box in 9 days.
I'm not sure I've EVER seen this movie on TV. I first saw it when I was 5 years old-- in late 1964. I was 5 years old. Then, again, a year later! It's amazing how much I forgot, but also, how much I remembered, and vividly. The first act (before the 2 kids show up) is played DEADLY-SERIOUS, which, I think, makes it really "work". It then get more silly and more fun as it goes, but, by then, you're invested in the story.
There's a lot of damage on this, but, most of it's very watchable. After I was done (and I did find myself laughing for almost a whole minute when it was over-- that goes a long way), I read the fine print on the back of the box. I'm going to type that here:
"Due to the rarity of materials available, the master for this film was created from a 16 mm European print secured by Holland Releasing with the HD telecine and color correction completed by Fotokem/Burbank. Since this print was originally created for television, it is presented in a 1:33:1 aspect ratio. The original theatrical release of this film was projected in a matted 1:85:1 with a 'safe top & bottom'. As a result of the master having 'removed the matte', this presentation of the film actually reveals additional information on the top and bottom of the frame."
UH HUH. That explains a lot. I'm GLAD I got it. But, seriously, IS there actually a brand-new scan of the camera negative out there? I've been running across several movies of late where this is happening (including my favorite Euro Jules Verne movie), and getting the "best-ever" version would be cool-- even with something that's every bit as goofy as LOST IN SPACE season 2!
By the way-- and I remember this so well-- there's is SUCH a dramatic build-up and suspense leading to the reveal of exactly what "TORG" is. They mention him several times, you don't see him, then, when the kids are out in the snow, one of them sees what they think are lights from Santa's house. But, NO!! It's a clunky robot! I joked, "It's not quite Stormrobot"-- referring to how in a comic-book I published back in 2002, I actually based a "giant" robot on a 1950s wind-up tin toy robot. I thought it was the funniest idea. The HEAD is similar. I don't think I remembered this movie when I did that. But now I can't forget the similarity.
Hey! Those Martians LEFT Torg behind on Earth!!! How could they DO that?
Also, isn't it insane, that they kidnapped the 2 kids so no one would ever know they kidnapped Santa-- but as soon as they left, Mrs. Claus told the reporters what happened. Those Martians WEREN'T very smart.
statistics: Posted by Profh0011 — 9:17 PM - 1 day ago — Replies 1 — Views 128