The Phantom of the Opera
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Movie Reviews of The Phantom of the Opera
Movie Review: a nice try
Summary: 2 Stars
I am a big Phantom fan, and not just of the Weber version, so I was excited about this. The actors were good and the costumes and sets were very well done, and be aware this is a stage production and not a movie, so it is a little different. Alas, the music was very disappointing. It seemed that everything was professional, but the music was community theatre at best. Maybe even high school (not to diminish either). But like I said the actors are very good. It is a pity they didn't have more to work with. Don't let this be the only phantom you see. I really like the Robert Englund movie. Yes it is violent and gory at times, but it has the music that this one should have had. Also don't forget Weber. His music also fulfills in ways this cannot.Movie Review: Not what I hoped
Summary: 2 Stars
A friend of mine lent this to me. I recently became a Phan, and I'm trying to get my hands on every version out there. I understood very well from the beginning that this was not the Lloyd Webber version we all know and worship. The only redeeming thing I found about this other stage version, however, is that the beginning explains more about Christine and Raoul and how they met. I thought this particular version missed the entire point of the story. I was very disappointed with the ending. The sets were very elementary, and I didn't find the music all that stimulating. Maybe I've just been spoiled with the Lloyd Webber Phantom, but I wouldn't recommend this to diehard phans who like the story the way it should be.
Movie Review: NOT the ALW version...and yet...
Summary: 2 Stars
This version of The Phantom of the Opera is NOT the ALW version...and should not be expected to be as stunning as the Broadway play. This was not my favorite Phantom...and yet, for it's amateur quality, I found myself liking it just the same. Though it strays somewhat from the original novel, it is still a bit closer to Leroux than the ALW version.
Though it has shortcomings...if you are a die-hard Phantom fan...put this version in your Phantom collection.
Movie Review: I'd rather fall off a cliff and land in a lake of acid than watch this movie again!!!
Summary: 1 Stars
Words cannot explain the way this Phantom version has infuriated me! I hate, HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE this version! Thankfully, I got it from the library and didn't buy it. But I'm still mad at myself for even wasting precious time on this pathetic excuse for a The Phantom of the Opera interpretation. It's not even remotely close to the original story and the ALW version. Christine, Raoul, and especially Erik are completely out of character. Erik wasn't even Erik in this movie. It was just some imposter/player with a case of raging hormones that slapped a mask on his face and called himself Erik and The Phantom of the Opera!
David Staller's "Erik" proves to be an undevotional lover to Christine. He didn't even try to keep her and chased after every pretty girl in sight. This is highly unconvincing for I believe that Erik is a very devoted and very loving lover to Christine and I am highly convinced that Christine was Erik's only love and interest.
Naturally, I would have said "Poor Erik!" when the ending rolled around and you saw Erik's skeleton or when Erik kills himself after he lets Christine go. But as David Staller's phantom was unburied from the ground, I actually was rather pleased that that son of a gun did rot for it was exaclty what this "Erik" deserved and naturally I wouldn't say this for I am a big phan of the REAL Erik. I am also a huge phan of Christine and even her character in this one sucked. Truthfully, I think that if Erik were actually alive and saw this version, he would punjab whoever wrote the script. I know that's not a very nice thing to say,but I write what I think.
Not only was the script and plot all wrong, so was the costumes and the lighting and the music/singing. By the time the movie rolled to an end, I hade a spiltting headache from the atrocious screeching sound they called "Music". The only memorable and tolerable song on there was the song played at rhe Mask ball and that was it!
The acting was terrible and I couldn't stand to watch the beautiful love story of The Phantom of the Opera ripped to shreds as they mediocre actors participated in the massacre.
It says on the back of the case that it is "close" to the original story. Well, I still don't know what the hell those editors were talking about, but I can assure you, this version is not even close to the original story.
Whew, now that I have got that off my chest, I can forget all about this cheap version and live on with my life. Please, I beg of you, do not make the same mistake that I made by watching this movie.
Movie Review: A mere phantom of The Phantom
Summary: 1 Stars
I have always been a collector - stamps, books, chess sets, music, and so on, 60-years of it. Current craze is of course DVDs. Collectors generally compulsively hang on to something once they've acquired it - even if it turns out to be a piece of drek. You will therefore understand that - while it was a wrench - I've 86d this little item from my collection. And I'm aboaut to tell you why.
The Phantom of the Opera is, like Dracula or Frankenstein (the monster's correct name since he would have the name of his father), an iconic figure from the lushly Romantic (as opposed to romantic) horror literature of the 19th Century. The Phantom exists in a number of celluloid versions, although inexplicably not so many as the endlessly dreary zombie films. At least, thank the gods, there are no zombie musicals.
The story line of this production pretty much follows (if sketchily) that of the Gaston Leroux novel on which the whole "Phantom" phenomenon is based. There is no need to rehearse this, since those who don't already know it ... well, what can I say?
The music for this production is, at best, kitschy and banal, more or less on a par with the alleged music Disney provides for their teeny-bopper programming. There is only one even remotely good musical number - and that is a very bad arrangement of Camille St.Saëns' "Danse Macabre". This accompanies the scène-ballet which follows the Phantom's unmasking. Missing from the production entirely is any hint of the music to the Phantom's grande-oeuvre, "Don Juan Triumphant".
The acting is no better. Indeed, it isn't acting at all; it's mere declamation. I've heard better delivery from used-car commercials.
This is of course a cut-rate production, complete with barely OK sets and obviously plastic prosthetics. Indeed, the Phantom's mask is far more realistic than his alleged disfigurements. We did get a falling chandelier - not badly done, actually.
I've seen this billed on some sites as a "musical comedy". It isn't - it's a serious if inept performance. We could perhaps regard it as a non-comedic parody. It is certainly a travesty.
I've seen some positive, even enthusiastic reviews for this performance. Well, everybody deserves to be loved by somebody. However, my advice is that you rent this before you even consider buying it.