"If you like the christmas movies on abc family, you'll like these...a little slow, but heartfelt and leaves you feeling good, if somewhat perplexed that the movie came to an abrupt end. Kathy Ireland is Santas daughter and Santa threatens to take a vacation from xmas since no one has spirit anymore. She decides to try and get a family off of the naughtly list to convince Santa otherwise. Posing as a live in caregiver for the children she enters their lives and tries to change them. Meanwhile her evil sister tries to thwart her plans so that she can take over as santa. Kathy is a bit like Roma/touched by an angel, but she has some good moments. Overall I give it 3 stars."
Christmas Movies
Jeff M. Marsh | Gurnee, IL. USA | 02/07/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Both "Once Upon a Christmas" and "Twice Upon a Christmas" star Kathy Ireland and John Dye. These films take a look at some of my favorite things about Christmas. Kathy Ireland plays Kristin, the younger of Santa's two daughters, who comes down to the world to help a family who are on the naughty list so they can get on the nice list. John Dye plays Bill, the father of the two children, Brittany and Kyle. Their mother died a few years before the story begins, and Kristin tries to encourage their Christmas spirit. Meanwhile, Kristin's sister Rudolpha, has a bet with their dad that Kristin can't get the family on the nice list, and tries to sabotage their efforts by IMing Kyle with suggestions on how to screw things up for Kristin
In the seond movie, which takes over from where the first one left off, Kristin is trying to stop Rudolpha from selling off the North Pole, while the Claus family's belongings have begun to disappear.
I really enjoyed this little series."
Not what I thought...
Michelle Polk | Mississippi, USA | 12/06/2007
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Hmmm....I can recommend this movie for the whole family. Nothing inappropriate was in this film. I didn't really like it because the story line was cheesy and the acting was terrible. I thought it was going to be a sweet family film instead it turned out to be ....I don't know, just something else!"
Cute holiday film, but it gets cheesy
D. J. Nardi | Washington, DC | 11/22/2009
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Around the holiday season, every TV channel seems to show yet another movie about somebody saving Christmas. Once Upon a Christmas / Twice Upon a Christmas has the benefit of being at least a bit original/different. In the film, Santa's two daughters, Kristin and Rudolpha, alternatively try to save and destroy Christmas. The movie doesn't focus so much on jolly St. Nick himself, but rather the naughty and very nice daughters.
However, this movie isn't going to make it into the holiday classics. The acting is decent, but not great. In fact, the movie seems to spend way too much time with Rudolpha, the evil sister/villain, whose acting was over the top, rather than developing the rest of the characters. Kristen Claus by contrast comes across as a bit too pure and kindly.
The film was made-for-TV, and definitely looks it. The production quality looks more like a late 1980s movie than something that came out only a few years ago. In fact, when I was watching it, I was sure it came out much earlier.
Other scenes were just flat out corny. The call to Donald Trump didn't really advance the story and wasn't particularly funny. The movie doesn't even use the real Donald. The ending came a bit too magically and suddenly (I don't want to spoil it, but you'll see what I mean).
If you like the The Santa Clause-type movies, you'll probably like Once Upon a Christmas / Twice Upon a Christmas. It's sweet, Christmas-y, etc. - just don't expect too much."
Once Upon a Christmas/Twice Upon a Christmas
kidatheart | 01/18/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"One of the best Christmas movies ever. Whimsical, but meaningful. There is no one that this movie could not entertain and reach. We purchased this movie with the sequel, which was also recommendable."