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: Buy the Milestone Collection two disk edition
Summary: 5 Stars
There must be two dozen productions of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. My two favorites are the 1925/1929 Lon Chaney, Sr. silent thriller and the enthralling Joel Schumacher/Andrew Lloyd Webber 2004 opera. There are a lot of versions of the Chaney masterpiece to buy, including $5 drugstore copies with no music score. Kino has an outstanding copy, mastered from a 35mm European film archive print with a beautiful orchestra score. It sells for a reasonable $25. You can't go wrong with it.
But if you want the ultimate copy, and not have to buy a second copy of the film, go with the Milestone Collection double disk for only $25. You get a Lon Chaney double bill with Milestone-Disk 2 has the unrestored 1925 original. It runs 107 minutes with a Jon Mirsalis orchestra score. Disk 1 is the restored 1929 version, with talking sequences that are apparently lost. But some of the soundtrack exists as a bonus-with Christine and Raoul, not the Phantom. The 1929 film runs a tighter 95 minutes and offers two very different music scores: Carl Davis and a stereo orchestra score; and the original 1930 early talkie music score plus audio commentary by film scholar Scott MacQueen. Other bonuses include an audio chat with cinematographer Charles Van Enger and remembrances by Carla Laemmle. In any event, if you want to buy the Lon Chaney PHANTOM, by all means get the Milestone Collection double disk.
How does Chaney stack up against Andrew Lloyd Webber? I love both a lot. Chaney is a criminally insane escapee from Devil's Island; Lloyd Webber's Phantom is a tragic hero who actually doesn't look that bad without his partial face mask. Chaney is chilling as he drives his small boat with Christine through the Paris sewers. By contrast, Lloyd Webber's Phantom is almost a lounge singer when he does the grandly romantic"Music of the Night" and "All I Ask of You". And the chandelier falls in different places. (PLOT SPOILER ALERT!) It falls 1/3 of the way through Chaney's movie and at the Act one finale in the stage production because it takes twenty minutes to pull it back up to the ceiling. But it falls in a third spot in the movie, and maybe the best spot dramatically. And the film has a haunting flash-forward that becomes clear and poignant in the last scene. The Chaney film has a mob chase the Phantom into the Seine to drown. The 1925 version has a 20 second lovers' embrace epilogue.
Have a great Halloween with the Milestone Collection version of Lon Chaney's PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, but you won't go wrong if you pick the Kino version with just the restored 1929 version and an orchestra score and color tints. Save the swooningly romantic and elegant Lloyd Webber film for Valentine's Day!
Movie Review: An excellent choice for "Phantom" completists and film buffs.
Summary: 5 Stars
Lon Chaney's silent version of "The Phantom of the Opera" is one of the hallmarks of cinema (say what you will about the movie itself) and probably the strongest reason why the original book managed to survive the "death" of Leroux's other works.
The five-star rating above is for the DVD set. The movie itself (either version that's included here) would rank slightly less due to the less than stellar directing and performances. Chaney's performance and appearance, however, are still fantastic (and listening to the commentary just increases my admiration for the man), and the set design is absolutely wonderful.
This DVD set is the perfect compilation of the silent "Phantom"--or at least the best that can be made with the existing materials. It contains both the 1925 original, general-release version (by far the most fleshed out and faithful), and the 1929 "silent version" re-issue (the better presented of the two, including the primitive Technicolor moments that had been originally intended for the film). They each come with their own soundtracks. The 1925 version only has one--a servicable enough score by Jon Mirsalis that only lacks the necessary dramatic punch in a few areas (like the un-masking scene). The 1929 comes with two--a full orchestral score by Carl Davis, and as much of the 1929's "sound version's" soundtrack as can be edited to fit the film (the music for which is nice enough, but I could do without the histrionic voices myself).
The extras include an excellent and thoroughly informative commentary by Scott MacQueen, the additional soundtracks from the 1929 "sound version," theatrical trailers, a taped interview with Carla Laemmle, an old audio interview with cinematographer Charles Van Enger, an "opera extract" of a sequence from Faust (an interesting diversion, at least), and a large photo gallery that includes stills from the two preview versions of the movie (both containing cut scenes and characters).
This DVD set proves itself to be one of the finest and most complete that can be created for a movie of the silent era. A must for film buffs, and Phantom "phans" who like to have a bit of the Chaney version for their viewing pleasure.
Movie Review: A Terrifying Silent Masterpiece- A Review By Mary Sanders
Summary: 5 Stars
I saw this silent movie on television with my father when I was quite young, about eight or nine. I loved it and let me say for this film being made in practically the beginning of when films were being made, the people who made this film did a spectacular job filming it, and taking care of it so it wouldn't become lost, like so many infamous silent films have because of companies not caring for them. This one got lucky. Lon Chaney did a spectacular job playing The Phantom (Erick), a lonely man with a face so hideously deformed that he wears a mask, and lives within the basement of a Paris opera house. He falls in love with a beautiful young singer named Christine, who is already engaged. He talks her into coming to see him in the basement of the opera, and constantly tells her how beautiful she is and how marvelous her singing is. Christine isn't to fond of him, and disobey's his order never to remove his mask. When she manages to slip it off while he is playing the organ, he flies into a rage, which terrifies Christine. In the end, sadly, he dies. Anyway, unlike many early silent films, this one wasn't overacted and the film is clear with few little scratches. This movie is a masterpiece, BUY IT!!!!Movie Review: Good product
Summary: 5 Stars
The product was in perfect condition. The movies are silent, so you have to read the scenes. It's not at all like todays movies, but that makes it really interesting.Movie Review: Awesome!
Summary: 5 Stars
[...]I like old movies and this 1925 movie is awesome, thrilling and a little bit spooky! I read a review that says Erik was a normal man who hid underground after he was disfigured but Erik was born with a disformed face. That's how it was in the book and in this movie they never actually said why his face was like that. It was the Phantom Of the Opera movie that came out sometime in the 40's that they had it that his face was disfigured when someone threw acid in his face so maybe she is mistaking the facts from that movie with this one.