The Christmas Martian
11-01-23, 12:22 PM
#1
DVD Talk Reviewer/ Admin
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 1999
Location: Greenville, South Cackalack
Posts: 28,234
Received 1,729 Likes
on
1,132 Posts
The Christmas Martian
This could have (and probably should have) been discussed in the general Blu-ray announcement thread, but I thought this one deserved a little more attention. Now for pre-order from Canadian International Pictures (and OCN Distribution):
"Easily the most insane example of Canadian children's cinema ever conceived." - Canuxploitation.com
While out looking for a Christmas tree one winter day, siblings François (François Gosselin) and Katou (Catherine Leduc) encounter a bizarrely dressed entity (Dirty Money’s Marcel Sabourin) who emanates bubbles and shoplifts from a convenience store. With Katou convinced this “man” is really a Martian, the children follow his green trail all the way to a flying saucer. After confirming his alien identity, they form an instant bond and pool their efforts to fix the Martian’s damaged spaceship, so he can return to his home planet. Meanwhile, the police join forces with a vigilante mob to track down this mysterious visitor and put his antics to an end.
A viable contender for weirdest Canadian movie of all time, The Christmas Martian takes family-friendly holiday entertainment to imaginatively inspired new places. With a uniquely carefree and child-like approach, director Bernard Gosselin (making his one and only fiction feature) paved the way for producer Rock Demers’ celebrated Tales for All series and arguably even E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Available here in its original French version and the more outlandish English dub, The Christmas Martian Is a misunderstood (and underseen) holiday gift that keeps on giving.
directed by: Bernard Gosselin
starring: Catherine Leduc, François Gosselin, Marcel Sabourin, Guy L'Ecuyer, Roland Chenail, Paul Hébert
1975 / 61 min / 1.66:1 / French DTS-HD MA 1.0
Additional info:
While out looking for a Christmas tree one winter day, siblings François (François Gosselin) and Katou (Catherine Leduc) encounter a bizarrely dressed entity (Dirty Money’s Marcel Sabourin) who emanates bubbles and shoplifts from a convenience store. With Katou convinced this “man” is really a Martian, the children follow his green trail all the way to a flying saucer. After confirming his alien identity, they form an instant bond and pool their efforts to fix the Martian’s damaged spaceship, so he can return to his home planet. Meanwhile, the police join forces with a vigilante mob to track down this mysterious visitor and put his antics to an end.
A viable contender for weirdest Canadian movie of all time, The Christmas Martian takes family-friendly holiday entertainment to imaginatively inspired new places. With a uniquely carefree and child-like approach, director Bernard Gosselin (making his one and only fiction feature) paved the way for producer Rock Demers’ celebrated Tales for All series and arguably even E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Available here in its original French version and the more outlandish English dub, The Christmas Martian Is a misunderstood (and underseen) holiday gift that keeps on giving.
directed by: Bernard Gosselin
starring: Catherine Leduc, François Gosselin, Marcel Sabourin, Guy L'Ecuyer, Roland Chenail, Paul Hébert
1975 / 61 min / 1.66:1 / French DTS-HD MA 1.0
Additional info:
- Region A Blu-ray
- Scanned and restored in 2K from the 35mm original camera negative by Éléphant - mémoire du cinéma québécois
- Complete English and French versions of the film
- Audio commentary featuring Paul Corupe of Canuxploitation.com and film historian Jason Pichonsky
- Trailers for All (1971-1994, 32 min.) – Theatrical trailers for The Christmas Martian and the first 15 films in the Tales for All series
- Trailers for All commentary featuring Corupe and Pichonsky
- New audio interview with actor Marcel Sabourin (2023, 13 min.)
- The Joy of Winter (1962, 15 min.) – Documentary short directed by Gosselin and Martian producer Jean Dansereau
- The Beach (1978, 4 min.) – Animated short based on a story by Martian screenwriter Roch Carrier
- French theatrical trailer for The Christmas Martian
- Booklet featuring a new interview with NFB curator Marc St-Pierre and an essay on composer Jacques Perron by Fantasia programmer Marc Lamothe
- Reversible cover artwork
- English SDH subtitles
11-03-23, 03:30 PM
#2
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Re: The Christmas Martian
I see this release has trailers for the entire TALES FOR ALL series, which makes me wonder if CIP / OCN will be releasing all of them (well, except PEANUT BUTTER SOLUTION, which is at Severin). Honestly, I'm not sure that's a good thing. People might get the idea that Canadians are weird, especially in Quebec. 
The following users liked this post:
Adam Tyner (11-03-23)
11-03-23, 06:30 PM
#3
DVD Talk Reviewer/ Admin
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 1999
Location: Greenville, South Cackalack
Posts: 28,234
Received 1,729 Likes
on
1,132 Posts
Re: The Christmas Martian
I once danced in the background of a werewolf-in-high-school TV show in Montreal behind Corey Feldman.
11-03-23, 11:09 PM
#4
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Re: The Christmas Martian
See? You're already tainted – no wonder you're promoting this Blu-ray! They put something in the poutine!
Mind you, I have a feeling I know what show that was, but will refrain from googling because I suspect both Coreys were probably in it, and that could be traumatizing for me.
But I gotta know . . . was Feldman doing his tired Michael Jackson schtick in it?
Mind you, I have a feeling I know what show that was, but will refrain from googling because I suspect both Coreys were probably in it, and that could be traumatizing for me.
But I gotta know . . . was Feldman doing his tired Michael Jackson schtick in it?
The following users liked this post:
Adam Tyner (11-04-23)
11-04-23, 12:00 AM
#5
DVD Talk Reviewer/ Admin
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 1999
Location: Greenville, South Cackalack
Posts: 28,234
Received 1,729 Likes
on
1,132 Posts
Re: The Christmas Martian
But I gotta know . . . was Feldman doing his tired Michael Jackson schtick in it?
The main things I remember about Corey are (1) that his girlfriend was really sweet, kinda goth-lite, and worlds removed from the fiancée he had on The Surreal Life shortly afterwards and (2) that he was really proud of an improv where he referred to a character as “Moyel” instead of “Merton”. He was very approachable, and we talked a decent bit (mostly as part of a group rather than one-on-one), but I don’t remember too much of those conversations 22 years on. Mostly just him riffing on me sitting in an actor’s chair and pretending that’s who I was.
The following users liked this post:
Brian T (11-04-23)
11-27-23, 05:00 PM
#6
DVD Talk Reviewer & TOAT Winner
Re: The Christmas Martian
I’ll be reviewing this on HighDef Digest. My main issue is that although this was shot in 1971, it was re-worked in 1991 with newer music and sound effects and that’s the version on this disc. The movie only runs about 65 minutes so they should have included both versions. It’s really weird having early 70s fashions but an early 90s style soundtrack and coloring applied.
