The Phantom of the Opera - The Ultimate Edition (1925 Original Version and 1929 Restored Version)
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Movie Reviews of The Phantom of the Opera - The Ultimate Edition (1925 Original Version and 1929 Restored Version)
Movie Review: One of the greatest movies of all time
Summary: 5 Stars
The phantom of the opera with Lon Chaney is one of the greatest films ever made. Although not scary by todays standards the movie is riveting and has a great storyline. I would recommend watching this movie late at night before bed with the lights turned out as it would add to the enhancement that the movie produces.Movie Review: a must-own for fans pf gothic horror
Summary: 5 Stars
Image's lavish 2-disc set does justice to Lon Chaney's riveting performance as the "Phantom of the Opera." This has long been one of my favorite films, but felt as if I had only seen it for the first time after watching the 1929 edition included in this set. The print is beautiful, and the commentary by Scott MacQueen is insightful. The technicolor has been added to the "Bal Masque" scene, and there is a gorgeous scene of a red-cloaked Erik poised against an anotherwise blue-tinted background. Plus there are loads of stills, promotional materials, alternate music and soundtracks, as well as the 1925 cut of the film. Absolutely essential for fans of gothic horror.Movie Review: The pathos of Lon Chaney gave the Phantom its dimension...
Summary: 4 Stars
Lon Chaney was the first of the long line of Phantoms and the one against whom all his successors had to be measured...
The story, despite all its alternatives, is the familiar one of the musician avoiding the world because of his disfigurement and retreating to a hideout beneath the Opera House, from where he emerges to terrorize singers and audience alike...
He kidnaps a young girl singer - perhaps to teach her to become a great star; certainly because, in his grotesque and pathetic way, he loves her - and carries her off to a boudoir he has prepared far underground...
There was melodrama in plenty: in the first version, for example, two would-be rescuers found themselves trapped in an uncomfortable mirrored room the Phantom had prepared, where they first got a heat treatment and then were flooded...
But, beyond all the heightened effects, it was the pathos of the Phantom underscoring his lonely menace which gave the character a dimension, and the isolation of the captor and his captive, imprisoned to a literal underworld, which gave the suspense of the whole film its power...
Movie Review: Very very Nostalgic
Summary: 5 Stars
I saw this movie at the Symphony. Utah Symphony was playing... if i remember correctly... the score from the broadway production while they projected the film onto a huge screen at the front. I loved it! but!!! I'm pretty sure the Phantom slept under my bed for several years thereafter... maybe he lives there still?Movie Review: Truely The Ultimate Phantom
Summary: 5 Stars
This truly is the ultimate edition of Lon Chaney's Phantom of the Opera. The film has quite an involved history that included cuts of the film in search of a final release version. The 1929 re-release of Phantom is on disc one and it is a magnificent print of the utmost clarity assembled from an original 35mm print with a restored two-strip Technicolor sequence and hand tinting of the Apollo's Lyre scene atop the Paris Opera. The score by Carl Davis is perfect for the film, capturing the drama of the action.
On disc two is the 1925 release of Phantom that is about 10 minutes longer than the 1929 re-issue. The missing footage extends existing scenes and provides a little more continuity with the action going on. There also was a different angle shot of Lon Chaney in the unmasking scene. There is a better flow to the action in the 1925 version but the print is very grainy and is slightly damaged at points. The score by Jon Mirsalis is adequate at best and is un-dramatic when the chandelier falls and in the unmasking scene. Despite this, it is fascinating to compare the 1925 to the 1929 versions.
The bonus features are also highly interesting. There is a short interview with Carla Laemmle, who was the chief ballerina. There are also two collections of stills from the San Francisco and Los Angeles initial screenings that represent the original cuts of Phantom that followed the novel by Gaston Leroux more closely, providing the background to the relationship of Christine and Raoul and the rivalry Raoul has with his brother over Christine. Also in this early version is the ending from the book where Christine kisses Eric, he allows Raoul and Christine to go and dies playing the organ rather than being chased by a mob. The character of the Persian (who later becomes police inspector Ledoux) is played as the friend of Eric that he is in the novel. Apparently, early audiences did not want the Phantom to be a sympathetic character so he was transformed into an escaped lunatic.
This collection is a must for anyone who is interested in silent films and in the Phantom of the Opera in particular.