Phantom of the Opera [1998]

Phantom of the Opera [1998]:
01). The Phantom… Julian Sands.
02). Christine Daaé… Asia Argento.
03). Baron Raoul de Chagny… Andrea Di Stefano

`Completely out of the blue I got a copy of Dario Argento’s Phantom… So here is goes. Oh, horror of horrors! I can’t believe I am doing this… I had to set it up quickly so there is going to be very little time for a set up. One thing with this movie Julian Sands refused to be deformed in this movie, so he wears no mask whatsoever. They say that in this version he is deformed on the inside. Also, this movie has very little plot to me so I am hoping that people will be able to keep up. If not you should be able to IMDB the plot. Because it makes no earthly sense to me, this is probably the worst Phantom movie ever! If you ask why I decided to finally review it, it is because I am bored to death, have nothing else to do and I found a way to watch the movie for free. So I decided to review it and add it to my collection.

Medusa Films… does that mean if we look at it we will die? “The Phantom of the Opera”… um, no it’s not! Ennio Marricone is actually quite a good composer (The Untouchables and many other notable movies) how did he end up doing this?! At least I know the background music should be good.
The scene begins like Batman Returns (which is actually a movie I did like, so it annoys me a little). Large rats, and the words “Mysterious bond between child and inhabitants of the darkness” appear as the cheesiest line and it makes me laugh. His mother throws him in a basket, as a baby, and sends him down the River Seine. Then we switch to some years later in 1877.
We are now at the Paris Opera House. The well scene that makes no earthly sense, they apparently unearth the Phantom and he kills them. I believe that my Erik Plushie is going to rightfully Punjab Lasso me tonight… who could blame him!
Christine comes onto the stage and begins to sing. Why is Christine walking around the Opera in a see through top? We see the phantom for the first time. Horrible wig!
Note: Dario Argento casted his daughter to play Christine in this movie and directed her in it as well.
The Phantom talks to Christine for the first time and she seems to be taken with him. Apparently the phantom is able to invade her mind with his thoughts. The dialogue here doesn’t make much sense to me.
The Phantom is controlling the motions of the rat-catcher, making him put his hand in the rat-trap. Somehow this Phantom has special mental powers, which is something I just can’t get into. He is suppose to be a genius not supernatural.
Christine gets flowers from the demoted Baron Raoul de Chagny who is actually supposed to be Vicomte Raoul de Chagny. At rehearsal Christine watches Carlotta singing Carmen and she talks to the Phantom’s voice in her head, then growls like a dog at Carlotta. The Phantom then summons her. Christine meets with the phantom and he admires her “female smell”! Worst line ever!
We scan the camera upwards were a stage hand watches them. He follows the Phantom for a little while then he goes and tells his girlfriend about it and claims to be a hero for following him.
There is a man walking around the Opera collecting information about him, is this suppose to be Gaston Leroux (because he works for the paper). If so, why did this actually interesting touch have to be in here?
The stagehand and his girlfriend talk of trying to go into the catacombs because of supposed treasure down there. I was distracted by the nice touch of a post talking of ‘La Semaine Sanglante’ or ‘The Bloody Week’ of the Commune. I do have to admit the nice touch of that there.
We finally meet Baron Raoul de Chagny, who is rather frightening looking, to me at least. Christine admits that she doesn’t love him and would allow Raoul to be the brother she never had. This was the first seen that wasn’t actually too bad.
Then we are back to the treasure hunting couple. There are close-ups of many bugs and rodents that creeps me out. SPIDER! Why, do they have to add this? I am fine with rats just not worms and spiders! The guy gets captured by the Phantom and there is this line: “I am not a Phantom, I am a rat!” never heard a truer line. The Phantom then kills Alfred (finally caught his name). The girl finds his body and tries running away. Then she notices her footsprints after trying to hide. She begins to get rid of them. Soon, the Phantom finally catches up to her. As she screams she sticks her tough out and he bits it out. EWW! I had to turn away for that.
Monsieur Buquet, who has risen in class, was frightening ballet girls with stories of the Phantom. Christine comforts them and the maid yells at him for it, before listening to what stories Buquet had to tell.
On the roof of the opera the Phantom thinks of people caught in a rat-traps. Then he thinks of Christine apparently surrounded by her hair or seaweed can’t really tell. This is another pointless scene.
We flip to Carlotta with a sore throat, and the managers talking about having Christine sing instead. Carlotta shrieks at this idea. Later Christine is singing in rehearsal. She is apparently overtaken by emotion and passes out. She is taken to her dressing room where the Phantom is there as well, after everyone leaves. Raoul listens in through the door. In a scene that for the first time resembles the novel. But, you can find it in the cartoon version. Which is less stressful to watch and the rest of the story resembles the novel more. Raoul then invades her dressing room after she leaves, lighting a candle to look around.
Then we now have Jerome (?) de Chagny, Raoul’s brother, who is originally called Philippe. Finally his brother shows up. He offers to take Raoul to cheer him up and takes him to a bath house. I hate this scene. Here Raoul, the “hero” of the piece acts worse the in the villain in the original story. Correction: Worse than the villain in the other horror version of Phantom. The one with Robert Englund and it is suppose to be very Freddy Kruger in style. It makes no sense. He also imagines that one of the women there is Christine. We also have some very bad acting.
We then have a scene in which a guy is chasing one of the ballet girls, and then the Phantom kills him and tells the girl to go home. She returns to the ballet room, where she gets reprimanded for telling lies when she tells the truth.
Christine then walks into her dressing room where the maid is getting stoned. Christine has a large dove on her head. I just needed to put that in there. Then the Phantom in a psychic-like way calls Christine to him. I have to admit, that I really like her dress in this scene. She almost gets run over by the rat-catchers in their new rat-catcher-mobile trying to catch more rats. The music is rather cheerful for the scene. Unfortunately it doesn’t last long; they get into an accident and are killed.
This Phantom is the opposite of a gentleman. He makes Christine row the boat to him instead of doing it himself like in the original; or even providing a horse for her to ride instead of walking the long distance. Very un-gentlemen like.
His lair isn’t too bad though, probably the largest pipe organ I have seen in phantom movies (get your mind out of the gutter!) “Sing for me!” He said, and I start hearing a good Phantoms in my head, ah Michael Crawford or anyone except him. Christine is almost orgasmic as she sings.
The next scene is her lying naked in bed and the Phantom leans over her naked as well. I don’t like this scene; it is just annoying in many ways. He talks about his double nature as they lay together, does this mean he is a Were-rat? This might explain some things. What I don’t know, but it might help.
The Phantom tells Christine to stay there as he is planning to make sure that Christine is going to take over for Carlotta. She tries arguing but he forces her to stay. The Phantom then speaks to Carlotta from behind the mirror as he tries to threaten her to get her to step aside. Instead she blames one of the men in the room. After hearing someone call to her she goes to the costume room. The Phantom then threatens her physically to step aside. She doesn’t listen. He has also sent a threatening letter to the managers.
We then have the Phantom shirtless chopping down the thing holding up the chandelier, which is more reminiscent of a lumberjack then a phantom. He does this as Carlotta performs on stage. The ceiling starts to crack and then the chandelier comes crashing down. Then a prop falls down onto Carlotta, still not killing her! Out of curiosity how is Christine suppose to perform if she is being held captive by the Phantom? So why do all this destruction, due to Carlotta performing after you have told Christine to stay put? They can’t put Christine on stage instead of Carlotta if they can’t find her you moron! Isn’t the Phantom supposed to be a genius not an idiot!
Then he returns to her to tell her the role is hers, she says she doesn’t want it. He then proceeds to rape her. A). I hate this idea because this did NOT happen in the original, nor is it something that should be there at all! B). this is Dario Argento’s daughter!
The next scene is another horrible one. Apparently Christine just doesn’t do it for him because, she watches him secretly, in a scene in which the Phantom seems to have sex with the rats! No kidding! That is all I am going to say other than OMFG Ew!
When he is done Christine has disappeared. Do you blame her?! He is (psychically, I think) able to see where she is running to. She runs into Raoul on her way out and gets away. She takes him to the roof and tells Raoul all about the Phantom as the Phantom listens in. The maid comes and gets Christine to rehears for Faust because of what happened to Carlotta.
At the performance apparently all the victims of the chandelier crash were compensated with free seats to the opera because all the wounded people were there at her performance. I love theatre and opera, but if a chandelier hit me, I would not be returning to the theatre that quickly! One of the rat-catchers survived the accident, and was making his way to the performance. He shows up on stage and calls her the Phantom’s whore. Then the Phantom jumps onto the stage all Batmen-like and takes Christine away. Then we have some more bad acting.
She is passed out and when she wakes up she hits him on the head with a large rock and proceeds to scream for Raoul, who is following them. Afterwards she apologizes to the Phantom for hitting him and they begin to leave together (make up your bloody mind!) Raoul finds some guns down there. This actually makes sense considering the year is 1877; they were probably down there because of the Paris Commune.
Soon Raoul catches up to them and shoots the Phantom. Then the Phantom says that if they catch Christine they would kill her (why?) and he turns to Raoul and asks him to help her. He then sends Christine and Raoul away in the boat and Christine screams for him. Why she cares for him I don’t know. He is then shot five more times and is still fighting. Christine is still screaming for him. Then he is stabbed and falls into the water. We end on Christine crying, and me hoping that Captain Jack Harkness will walk in the door with a forgetting pill.
If you have any desire to see this I recommend watching the Phantom Reviewers review of it, it is far better and has comedy in it that makes it worth seeing that way. The worst part is, is that at the end of this movie Raoul and the Phantom work together to save Christine (even if for a brief moment). I have this theory that if they had Raoul and the Phantom work together to rescue Christine and Gustave at the end of Love Never Dies, it might improve this a little. It is sad that an ending similar to the Dario Argento movie might improve Love Never Dies, but only a little.
I don’t know what I will review next possibly the Wishbone episode I got my hands on that one a while ago, but just haven’t watched it yet. In regards to this one I highly recommend staying away from it. If you like the movies to be horror watch the Robert Englund version it is far superior.

This year sucks!!!

It has been one thing after another for me this year. First, one person isn't talking to me. Then, I worry about a friend's situation that lives far away. Next, my father ends up in the ICU. Then, I was suppose to start school but they don't notify me of something changing so then I can't start school.
So, the only thing that was getting me sanely through this was knowing that I had a vacation coming up. I had planned on seeing The Phantom of the Opera in Atlanta on the last weekend in July. Well, guess what... cancelled1!!! I didn't cancel it, but someone else did. Apparently I am not getting a break at all.
The worst part about this is, I can't just wait for it to come around again. The tour is closing this year. They announced that it was the farwell tour this time around.
It is my personal belief that they are closing the tour to make room for the tour of the horrible sequel Love Never Dies. So I blame Andrew Lloyd Webber for this.
I am in the works on trying to get more tickets, but I am also having to change hotel reservations and many other things as well. I can't believe this is happening. I just wish this year would be over with.

The Phantom of the Opera [1989]

************************Warning*********************************
This is a horror movie. I just wanted to warn you about that.
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The Phantom of the Opera [1989]:
01). Erik Destler… Robert Englund
02). Christine Day… Jill Schoelen.
03). Richard Dutton… Alex Hyde-White.

A lot of people may think me crazy for this one being my favorite. Especially considering not long ago I despised it. I had seen it well over ten years ago, and was not a fan of it. It was also my first ever horror movie so that was a problem as well. I re-watched it recently and found that I loved it. It is amazing how time can change things.
The story begins during modern day New York, and a singer named Christine Day is looking for an original audition piece (which will actually help her, especially if she sings something original instead of the common songs, which shows they know what they are talking about). Her friend Meg finds something old and incomplete called Don Juan Triumphant by Erik Destler. Meg attempts to find the rest of it, and Christine sings a piece of it but blood comes out of the music. When Meg returns the blood is gone.
Christine goes on the audition walking by a poster for Les Misérables. She would actually make a good Eponine, I think. As she sings she seems to be seeing vision of the past, and then a weight for the sets swings down hitting her and breaking a mirror.
We are then transformed back to 19th Century England, and we hear the Phantom for the first time saying “Christine… come back to me!” I love hearing Robert Englund as Erik his voice really is perfect for this. When she wakes (still back in the 19th Century) we are at a rehearsal for Faust and she is playing the role of Siebel. I love this touch because that is the role she was playing in the original novel before getting the role of Marguerite. They send her to her dressing room to rest after getting hit. While their Erik starts to speak to her and give her the lessons and has her practice the role of Marguerite. This really is how I imagined their lessons to go.
Then we have the stagehands talking about the fact that Joseph Buquet was at fault for the accident because he was paying too much attention on eyeing Christine instead of his job. Joseph Buquet then blames the Phantom for it and takes a drink from his flask. When Joseph Buquet is alone he is confronted by Erik. Who says a few wonderful one liners (very Freddy like) then proceeds to kill Buquet and skin him.
A few things to keep in mind for those who don’t know and have been living under a rock! Robert Englund’s best known role is Freddy Krueger in the Nightmare on Elm Street movies, the original ones that is, not the re-loaded. That’s Jackie Earl Haley who I think will do a phenomenal job. That should also tell you the style of movie this is so be prepared. The gory aspects of this movie are not from the original novel, but I will get to that later.
After killing Joseph Buquet, he goes back to his lair and we have a scene in which I have issue watching. He begins sewing flesh on his face to cover his own deformity… Ewww! But, hey he has no nose! So that is a positive. He also does use an artificial one, another positive. He uses a previously lit match to create darker eyebrows. This really doesn’t work… I tried it. I was hoping to find a more natural looking eyebrow because I really don’t have any!
Soon Joseph Buquet’s body is found in Carlotta’s closet. This Carlotta is really a prima donna. But Stephanie Lawrence is also known playing the role of Evita as well. So I am guessing she does her own singing in this. This is actually really good, what little we hear of it that is. Because of being so disturbed by the body of Joseph Buquet, Christine has to sing the role of Marguerite. She does well, I think. Erik watches her with excitement. I like this because just sitting or standing still when watching his prodigy go on stage never made much sense to me. He almost stands up to applaud and then sits back mouthing the word “oops”. This is a touch that I love.
During the performance of Faust we also learn a little bit about Erik himself. Apparently long ago (but how long it is unclear) he made a pact with the devil for his music to live on forever. Recommendation always read the fine print before making a pact with the devil. His music is unknown and he is the one living forever. This is a very Faustian version which actually does work well in Phantom stories. Before leaving the box Erik leaves a rose and a tip for the box keeper which is a nice touch and taken from the original novel, again!
When exiting the theatre Erik is approached by some prostitutes, he ignores the first one, but the second one who resembles Christine he offers his arm too. At first I thought this was ridiculous, but then the novel does mention (before he begins training Christine that is) that there were roses from a woman’s bodice and fan left behind in his box, so maybe he did seek company. The first time you see this movie you would also expect her to be dead by morning. That is not the case before she sees the money he left behind she has a big grin on her face.
After her performance Christine goes out to dinner with Richard Dutton. He admits that he had the intention of proposing to her. But, she says the she wishes to concentrate on her career and talks to him about her “voice teacher”. This is closer to the conversation in the novel.
Also Erik is in a dark corner of a bar working on his music and gets bugged by some of the other patrons. When Erik leaves they follow him with the intention of robbing him. Erik defends himself by using a whip to wrap around the neck of one of the robbers then beheading him and using the head to “bowl” with. He then goes after the last man (Mark Ryan) and they exchange some great one liners. Mark Ryan is actually quite a nice man I meant him when I was in L.A. He then gets out a surgical knife to begin skinning them as well.
The next day Christine is slightly hung over and Meg shows up with her review. Christine reads it and it is a horrible one. The person who wrote the review was actually paid off to do so. Because of this Erik visits the reviewer in the bath house and offers to give him his box to see Christine perform again the reviewer says that he would rather die. Erik of course obliges by killing him with a towel.
Christine leaves to go and visit her father’s grave. Richard follows her as well. While she is there a violin is overheard and Erik is playing it. He tells her to follow him. She does so. Richard tries to stop her but she chooses to go with Erik. This scene is one of the most beautiful and rare scenes in Phantom. We have the graveyard scene in the 2004 movie, but they illuminate the violin from it, which I think is a bad decision. The imagery of him doing this is rare, but to me iconic.
Erik takes Christine to his lair, and shows her around. She finds his Don Juan and asks him to play it and he refuses. The exchange is quotes from the novel. This makes this the only movie to have these. Finally he plays the music for her and she begins to sing it, even though the words are not written yet. If you look closely you can see tears coming out of his eyes. Erik then gives Christine a ring that she is to never remove from her finger saying she is now married to music.
During this Richard Dutton speaks with one of the policeman (an Ahab if anyone gets that) who has been investigating Erik for some time and says the only way to destroy him is to destroy his music. He also shows Richard photos of the skinned bodies.
Richard goes to visit Christine but she refuses to see him, she does slip him a note saying to meet her at the masked ball. She is also having troubles getting the ring off of her finger.
At the masked ball Richard and Christine meet and discuss getting out of there secretly. Richard then leaves to get his carriage. Erik has over heard this and is dressing like Red Death, the first Red Death showing up in Phantom movies since Lon Chaney. He dances with Carlotta, which is actually a cool image. Carlotta wishes to see his face so he takes her to a secret room and shows her as she begins to scream the scene shifts back to the masked ball. Soon food is being served and in the soup dish is Carlotta’s head creating panic.
We are now at the final chase of the movie, Richard, the policeman, and shown the way to the Phantom’s lair by the Rat catcher. They take a few more policemen with them and they of course are killed by Erik on the way. Erik also quotes one of the greatest quotes from the novel “The Requiem Mass or the Wedding March… the choice is yours!” Eventually Richard and the Policeman make to Erik’s lair and Erik kills them both! Wait! He dies in this version! The Raoul character does! I actually like Raoul, so I am not going to cheer for this, though some may. Christine finally fights back and shoots Erik and breaks a mirror. I don’t know what actually happens because we then go back to modern day New York.
Christine wakes up from being knocked out and is informed by the producer that she got the role. The producer is none other than Erik. He takes back to his home for him to change and take her out to dinner to celebrate. He goes to his room where he fixes his face, and she discovers his Don Juan. She recognizes it and when he shows back up talking to her the way he did in… The previous life? The alternate life? I don’t know. He says “Now it is just a matter of what you choose… love or music.” This is actually my ringtone. She reaches up and kisses him and his face is so content. The she reaches back and rips off his mask. His deformity has gotten much worse reminding me of Dorian Gray! Oddly enough is another theme that works well with Phantom, weird. She then stabs him and steals his music burning it and destroying it as he cries out. She still has some of it though and tosses that into the sewers. As she walks away a violinist begins playing the Don Juan. The End.
This movie departs from the novel greatly, but at the same time has the feel of it better than any other version. Robert Englund gets Erik down pat! He gets that he isn’t stoic and has a lot of passion. His voice also matches quite well even though he doesn’t ever sing, but he dos play the violin. The music in this movie is very good as well.
I also like some of the things Robert Englund himself has said about this movie. “A person is free to be themselves when they are hiding behind a mask.” Also “Women are attracted to Erik because he is passionate about music and that is sexy.” He also has said that cashing the paycheck for this movie was the most fulfilling of all the movies he has filmed. He also is proud to be among the ranks of Lon Chaney, Claude Rains and Herbert Lom. Listing them in chronological order, and has also mentioned reading the original novel in High School, which I have a lot of respect for. I also have an autographed photo of him in this movie which he signed (on his own) Erik, the Phantom… Robert Englund. So I might be added these to my love for the movie. But, I don’t care. I highly recommend this version especially if you like horror movies or are a fan of Robert Englund or the Freddy Krueger movies. Well that’s all for now. I have no other ones to review at the moment.

The Phantom of the Paradise [1974]

The Phantom of the Paradise [1974]:
01). Winslow Leach, The Phantom… William Finley.
02). Swan… Paul Williams.
03). Phoenix… Jessica Harper.
04). Beef… Gerrit Graham.

The story is of a composer who has his music stolen by the devil. Who goes by Swan in this. He tries to go after Swan but get caught and thrown into jail where his teeth are all pulled out. He then hears the announcement of his music to be recorded and escapes jail. He tries to destroy all the music but gets his head crushed by a record… thing of the bobber. As he walks around there is this strange Darth Vader like breathing… only the thing is… this is before Star Wars! So it’s not a rip-off.
He then begins to haunt the Paradise. He then meets Swan again and makes a deal with him. He will finish Faust as long as he has control over it. They hold auditions for it again. He hears a woman he had meant earlier… Phoenix. He says that only she is able to sing his music.
Swan helps the Phantom figure out a way to speak because he lost his voice in the accident. They rig up a voice box for him to use.
Soon, Swan has Phoenix moved from the lead to the chorus, and hires a new lead a man named Beef. That is one thing about this movie, really strange names… mostly named from birds apparently.
Beef is sort of the comic relief. The Phantom is not pleased with this and so he threatens Beef to not sing his music. At first Beef listens and starts to leave, but they convince him to stay anyways. While performing Beef gets electrocuted by his guitar. Hey, I just saw an episode of CSI with that. Maybe they were watching this movie.
Phoenix then takes over and the crowd loves her. Soon she is wrapped up in the life of a rock star. The Phantom continues finishing Faust and Swan plans to have Phoenix assassinated onstage because that creates more publicity.
The Phantom learns of this plan by watching some videos some of which involve Swan’s deal with the Devil so he could be young forever, and his true face only show up on pictures…. Apparently he is Dorian Gray! Phoenix also has a deal with Swan aka Dorian Gray as well.
Once the Phantom learns of Swan’s plan he hurries in to save her as well as burning the tapes which will destroy Swan. He stops the assassin, saving Phoenix and then the Phantom rips off Swan’s mask revealing his face that is burning away…. Wait! The Phantom rips off someone else’s mask? That a switch! Anyways, his own mask then gets ripped off and the crowd begins climbing onto the stage. Do they have no security there? How does the crowd not see that people are dying? Oh, well. Soon Phoenix recognized the Phantom as Winslow. She goes over to him as he dies.
So far, this movie is only okay…. Not really to my taste especially in music. Faust isn’t too bad though. I do like Winslow’s costume in it. Most of the other characters in it are driving me nuts! Though Beef is rather comically in his own way. Phoenix’s voice is really nice.
I know I left out a lot but this is only my first viewing. I hear that this movie gets better the second time you watch it, because you know what type of movie it is that you are getting. I do plan on doing this, and do actually hope to like it better. I know that there is a following for this movie. There is also suppose to be a remake of it coming out this year. So I guess we will see what happens.

The Phantom of the Opera [1990]

The Phantom of the Opera [1990]:
01). Erik Carriere, The Phantom… Charles Dance.
02). Christine Daee… Teri Polo.
03). Gerard Carriere… Burt Lancaster.
04). Philippe de Chagny… Adam Storke.

This is probably one of my favorite Phantom movies of all time! This movie introduced me to Charles Dance and Teri Polo. Most people know of Teri Polo from Meet the Parents, but I knew her long before because of her role as Christine. Another great thing about this movie is that it is the only Phantom movie to actually be filmed at the Palais Garnier! This is also one of the few movies that have been approved by the Leroux estate. It also has a stage production as well done by Maury Yeston and Arthur Kopit, which I highly recommend seeing at some point.
We start out with Christine showing up at the opera hoping to get singing lessons. She is obviously poor, and has no money. She was sent there by the Comte de Chagny, Philippe. She is told that the old manager, Gerard Carriere has just been let go.
Gerard Carriere the old manager of the opera tries to convince the new managers of a Phantom of the Opera residing in the opera. The new manager doesn’t believe him, but is still frightened by a falling statue. Gerard then goes down to the cellars and tells Erik of the fact that he has been let go.
One of the things I love about this movie is that Erik is so sarcastic in it. This Erik is also a much nicer Erik. But, the story seems to make up for it, by giving us Carlotta, who is completely tone deaf. She does not know this nor does her husband who is the manager. Erik notices immediately and threatens (in a joke) to have her killed.
Later Erik overhears Christine singing. She is living in the opera and has been made a costume girl to Carlotta. Erik watches her singing on stage from box 5. It is one of the beautiful scenes in this movie.
Erik watches Christine as she does her job as a costume girl. When the day ends he speaks to her from the orchestra pit while she is on stage. He offers to give her singing lessons but he will wear a mask to hide his face because he doesn’t want her to know who he is. Too bad the Leroux Erik didn’t do this. It may have made things easier.
He gives her the lessons and she improves during it. Carlotta has her Paris debut, which goes horribly wrong due to itching powder in her wig, thanks to Erik. The scene is rather comical actually. During her second performance he “glues” the glass she needs to the tray and that ends up being comically and she is laughed off of the stage. I also noticed the shoes she wears is the same pair Christine wears in the stage production during the Music of the Night scene.
Next Philippe shows up at the opera returning home from business early to find out if Christine showed up. He finds out she is a costume girl. He is also greeted by many other women of the Opera as well. He announces hosting a the company at the bistro that night and invites Christine to show up.
Christine tells Erik about it, and he insists that she goes to sing since they are not holding auditions it is the best way for them to hear her. He provides her with a beautiful dress to wear. When she shows up and sings Carlotta joins her, much to Erik’s annoyance. Erik is listening in from outside. This is actually one of my favorite scenes. The dueling diva’s is something that is really fun to watch, especially Carlotta giving up and leaving Christine to sing.
Philippe introduces Christine to Gerard Carriere and he tells her she reminds him of someone he once knew. Christine then leaves the Bistro with Philippe and Erik watches from the shadows; instead of looking menacing he looks heartbroken.
He then waits for Christine in the ballet hall. Carlotta waits for Christine in the room she was staying in. Christine goes to the Bois with Philippe and he asks were he knows her from. She reminds him that she and her father were servants at his old home.
When Philippe returns her to the Opera she goes to the ballet hall and sees that Erik is no longer there waiting for her. She rests her head on the piano sad for having left him there alone. She returns to her room were Carlotta questions her about her teacher. Christine gives just enough information for Carlotta to realize who it is.
Cholet (the manager) visits Christine and tells her that he is giving her the role as Marguerite in Faust. Later Christine tells Erik about it. He is proud, but still hurt. Christine apologizes about not having meant him and say that she was with Carlotta celebrating. She then immediately admits to lying and says that she is sorry and hugs him for helping her. Erik doesn’t seem to know how to react.
When Christine is getting ready for her performance Carlotta visits her acting as a friend, she gives Christine something to drink to calm her nerves, and instead is poisons her making her loose her voice on stage. When she gets boo-ed. Erik cuts a rope and drops a chandelier onto the auditorium. This ends part one of the mini-series.
One of the things I find interesting in this one is the relationship between Erik and Christine. Since they are face to face so to speak, they are able to develop the relationship better. So you can see why he falls for her quickly and why she cares for him. It is also interesting that Carlotta seems to serve as the bad guy in this as well as the comic relief. I also find it interesting that this movie they seem to get the ages of the characters right as well. Charles Dance was about 50 when he made this and Teri Polo about 20. So the ages seems appropriate to the characters. I liked that little touch. Not much else can be said so onto part two.
Erik has taken Christine off-stage and is taking her with him to his lair. Gerard and Philippe are looking for her. The scene of Erik taking Christine across the lake is rather nice. I also notice how he moves his cloak. They got the details so perfect it really does seems like he is an experienced cloak wearer. The detail on how he moves the cloak at certain times is the way you move a cloak that you use often and do not wish for it to get dirty or damaged. Or they way he is un-shocked by it getting hung up on the punting pole as well.
Christine falls asleep and he carries her to a bed so she can sleep, he sings a lullaby to her (Laissez-moi if anyone knows it). There are policeman now searching for Christine as well. They overhear Erik singing to her and continue searches. Soon they must give up and start returning to the opera, a policeman goes missing. They find his body hanging and one of them grabs a rope to brace himself and something (sorry not sure what) swing down and kills him as well.
Erik goes back up to the opera and learns that Carlotta poisoned her and then goes to Carlotta and dumps a suitcase full of rats on her saying: “Rats for a rat”. This is actually rather nice of him considering many other incarnations of Erik would have done much worse.
Christine wakes up and looks around the lair. She finds a dress there and changes out of her costume into the dress. Erik provides such nice clothing. He has phenomenal taste. She also finds a portrait of a woman there, which highly resembles her. She also finds a doll without a head. This makes no sense to me whatsoever!
Gerard then goes down to the lake and tries to convince Erik to let Christine go back up to the opera. Erik refuses. The feel of this confrontation really reminds me of the feel of the confrontation between Erik and Daroga in the original. Erik states that if they come down after him his defenses will be up. He is preparing barrels of explosive to protect himself from this happening.
Erik continues his work and Gerard goes and visits Christine. He tells her Erik’s name, and why he wears a mask, and that he is Erik’s father. He also explains that her looks and voice remind both him and Erik of Belladova, Erik’s mother. Now, opposite to many other versions of this story Erik’s mother loved him greatly and thought his face beautiful, instead of the normal story. This is why he reacts this way to Christine, now there beautiful relationship is actually kind of creepy. I wish they didn’t add this fact into it. In the original he loves Christine because of her voice, her beauty, and her soul. End of story. Gerard also explains that he has known nothing outside living in the cellars of the opera his whole life. Nor does he know that Gerard is his father. He tries to get Christine to leave with him, but she refuses. She believes that she too can look on him with love.
Gerard leaves and Christine goes to find Erik. He is in a room playing the flute. Now they chose the flute in this version because Charles Dance himself plays the flute. When Christine enters the room he stops and puts on his mask. He then takes her on a picnic in a room he created to look like a forest he calls it his “dreamery”. Can someone please explain this conversation, if they can understand it because I can’t?

Erik: I call this place my dreamery, do find that apt?
Christine: Yes.
Erik: Well apt to what?
Christine: Well apt to what you wish.
Erik: Rightly so.

What the hell was that about! It makes no sense that I can figure out! Are they trying to say that Erik’s sheltered life made him incapable of speaking properly! Someone please explain this to me! I will try to move on now.
Christine talks Erik into showing her his face. He finally agrees and removes his mask, but she is unable to look at him and she faints, he begins crying then screaming and begins to destroy his home. This is probably more heartbreaking than any other version because he willingly shows her his face, she gains that trust in him, and then destroys it.
When she wakes she tries to run away but he grabs her instead. She eventually escapes and he chases her through the labyrinth. But she gets away and finds Philippe and Gerard talking to each other in the rotunda room. Philippe and Gerard take her away from the opera.
They take her to Philippe’s home, where she confesses what happened to them and her regret at leaving Erik alone, and her wishes to return. Gerard leaves to visit Erik and Philippe watches over Christine.
She convinces him to let her return to sing for Erik once more. She uses this to let Erik know that she is sorry. Cholet uses this opportunity to try and catch the Phantom.
Gerard finally tells Erik that he is his father. Erik seems to have already known this. Erik is now dying and wishes to be buried deep so no one can find him. He tells Gerard to come back in a day and that he wishes to die alone. Now, one thing that I liked is that the mannerisms of Charles Dance and Burt Lancaster are very similar in this movie. They way a father and son should be. When you watch this movie knowing that they are father and son it is easy to pick up on.
Gerard returns to the opera and listens to Christine singing. Her voice echoes in the cellars where Erik is able to hear her. He slowly makes his way up towards the auditorium. It takes him the length of the third act to the final trio in Faust to do so.
When he gets there it is the Prison Scene and Christine finally sees him in the box and sings to him “Yes, it is I that love you.” He returns singing to her Faust’s part. Everyone is shocked but they continue until the end of the song. This scene is probably the most beautiful scene in all the phantom movies combined! I can watch just this scene alone over and over again. I must give credit to both Charles Dance and Teri Polo for being able to pull this off so well, also to the people actually singing these parts Michelle LaGrange singing the role of Christine/ Marguerite and Gerard Garino singing the role of Erik/ Faust.
When the scene ends the policeman shoot at Erik, who jumps out of box 5 and onto the stage he grabs Christine and takes her up to the roof. Everyone follows. Erik and Philippe fight up on the roof and Philippe is almost knocked off. Christine begs Erik for Philippe’s life and Erik pulls him back up. He is now surrounded and they wish to take him alive. Erik turns to Gerard and nods at him, Gerard points a gun at him and shoots. Erik falls to the second level of the roof and Christine runs to him crying. She removes his mask and kisses him on the forehead. Erik then dies in Gerard’s arms. Philippe and Christine walk away with Christine’s head resting on Philippe’s shoulders. The end.
It is very difficult to explain this version of the story because it is a mini-series there is so much to it. One of the things I did not mention yet. It how each character is affected throughout the movie. Philippe being one of the major ones, at the beginning of the story he is obviously a bachelor and likes to drink and party (I also get this from the stage production in which he is called the “champagne king”) but once Christine is in his life, he settles down and his love for her is all that matters to him. He also is perfectly willing to risk his life and change it for her.
The person I feel sorry for the most in all this is Gerard Carriere who has to kill his own son to save him. Otherwise Erik would have been put on display. In a situation like that death is the only choice to save someone. There are so many other details in this movie it would take forever to explain. So I recommend that you find and watch this movie! If you don’t know anything else of the story of Phantom other than Andrew Lloyd Webber’s version and wish to find another I recommend starting with this one. This Erik is far more likable then the Andrew Lloyd Webber version as well. Another thing about the Charles Dance Erik is that he is the only one that I know of that can successfully pull off a puffy white shirt. I don’t know what it is, but he can.
Next I will be going out of order again and watching the Phantom of the Paradise. I just got my hands on a copy and have not seen it before. I hear the music is good. After that I have only one other left and it is my favorite version of the movies. Surprisingly.

Angel of Music [2009]

Angel of Music [2009]:
01). Eric/ Erik… Doug Kisgen
02). Kristen/ Christine… Lisa J. Mader.
03). Raymond/ Raoul… Jordan Baranowski.
04). Persing/ The Persian… John Redmond.

I have having to interrupt my normal order of reviewing do to the fact that I managed to lay hands on a copy of the movie “Angel of Music”. This isn’t a normal movie, but a student film actually. It was actually very well filmed. I was amazed at the quality of the sounds/costumes and CGI in it.
The story of it, is a sort of Phantom of the Opera meets The Da Vinci Code. It takes place modern day, but flashes back to when the novel originally took place. There is a cult surrounding the story of Phantom and trying to either protect or destroy the bloodline, it isn’t clear until the end that they are destroying it. Why I am not to sure of, they never give a reason.
The modern day story is extremely shaky, doesn’t make much sense at all. Which is unfortunate because it is the story that dominates the movie. The flashbacks to the original novel, are actually quite good. I really enjoyed seeing those. Especially the scenes that never have made the film before.
It is unfortunate that he didn’t keep to the original story to begin with because otherwise it would have been truly phenomenal. It would have been a must see and have for most phans. I do need to say that they get bonus points for including the Persian in this movie. We also never see Erik’s face in this movie, which is fine. The Charles Dance movie does the same thing, and doing the deformity the way it is suppose to be is not an easy task.
This is not one of my favorite Phantom movies. There are a lot better when it comes to story line. But, this one still beats Love Never Dies, by a mile! It does remain true to the characters in the story. Actually all that they would need to do to have it make more sense is to add a supernatural element to it… “Have Erik of actually been born of a Fossegrim (and old legend that possibly inspired the Angel of Music legend) and they are trying to protect his bloodline because of that. Just that little bit would of improved it a lot.
Also, I am extending these reviews this month because of the opening of LND I am watching as many of the movies as possible. Just my own personal thing. I will also be added to the list another one in which I have not seen but has been around for a while… The Phantom of the Paradise. It is actually suppose to be good and have a decent cult following, if you know what it is you are watching.

The Phantom of the Opera [1986]

Since I already posted my most recent review of seeing the stage musical here I am just going to re-link to it. Also, I do know the picture is of Paul Stanley and not Tim Martin Gleason. I had to use what was easily available at the moment. It is also one of my favorite pictures as well. Next one will be of the 1990 Charles Dance mini-series.

http://illyriasirrationalizations.blogspot.com/2009/11/phantom-of-opera-review-part-1.html

http://illyriasirrationalizations.blogspot.com/2009/11/phantom-of-opera-review-part-2.html

The Phantom of the Opera [1925]

The Phantom of the Opera [1925]:
Erik, the Phantom… Lon Chaney, Sr.
Christine Daaé… Mary Philbin
Raoul, Le Vicomte de Chagny… Norman Kerry.
The Persian (credited as Ledoux)… Arthur Edmund Carewe.

There is so much that can be said about this version of the movie. Unfortunately an entire book could be written. This is not only the first Phantom movie, but one of the movies that Lon Chaney is best known for, along with Hunchback of Notre Dame, London After Midnight. Not only was there drama going on onscreen, but off screen as well. There stories of the making of this movie are almost as fascinating as the movie itself. This also the only one in which Gaston Leroux himself helped make as well. Another thing to keep in mind is that Lon Chaney did his own make-up for all his movies, and this is one of the few movies in which his deformity is very close to the original novel.
The movie starts with the Gala night and in attendance is Raoul, and his brother Philippe. Christine is now Carlotta’s understudy, and is under tutelage of a mysterious teacher.
Elsewhere the retiring managers of the Opera are handing over the keys to the opera to the new managers. They tell them about the Opera Ghost, and how he is to have Box 5. The new managers laugh it off as a joke, and the old managers leave very uncomfortable. So the new managers decide to check out box 5, they talk to the box keeper who has no idea who sits in it. When they enter the box they see someone sitting there. They quickly leave to compose themselves, and then re-enter the box. When they do the mysterious figure has disappeared.
After the performance the ballet girls see a mysterious shadow, so the go to Joseph Buquet who tells them about the Opera Ghost, he describes him as a skeletal figure.
The next day the Prima Donna, Carlotta bursts into the managers office upset at a letter she got from the Phantom saying that Christine should be the one to perform in the Opera as Marguerite.
Christine triumphs at her performance. Raoul goes to visit her in her dressing room, and she claims not to recognize him. When Raoul leaves he listens behind her door and hears a voice speaking to her in there. When Christine leaves, alone, he goes into her dressing room and finds that no one is there.
The next day the managers and Carlotta get a letter stating that if Christine does not sing, they will perform Faust in a house with a curse on it.
Despite the warning they have the performance with Carlotta as the lead. The Phantom’s warning prove to be true. The chandelier comes down part way into the performance.
Christine hurries to her dressing room. Where she is entranced by the mysterious voice. Who then takes her through the mirror and through the corridors of the Opera in a dreamlike sequence. He takes her across the underground lake to his home. Where he tells her who he really is and that he loves her. Christine faints, and he carries her into a beautiful bedroom, where he lays her down comfortably.
When she wakes, she finds a note from Erik, the Phantom. He tells her that she is safe, and never to touch the mask. She then goes out into the other room where Erik is playing his Don Juan Triumphant. Curiosity gets the better of her and she removes his mask. He is enraged at her, and tells her that she will never goes above again. She pleads to him for her freedom. He then agrees that she may go back, as long as she never sees Raoul again.
At the masked ball, Christine defies Erik and meets Raoul, Erik shows up to the masked ball as Red Death. Raoul and Christine go up to the roof where Christine tells Raoul all about Erik. When they leave we see that sitting up on the Apollo’s Lyre listening in was, Erik.
On there way back down from the roof they are told by a mysterious man, the Persian or Ledoux if you read the cue cards, to go a different way.
The next night Christine performs as Marguerite, during the performance she disappears off stage. Raoul, goes looking for her and meets the mysterious man. Who helps him down to Erik’s home. Philippe also goes down there looking for Raoul. Unfortunately he is drowned by Erik.
Then Erik tells Christine she must make a choice and tell him her decision by turning either the Grasshopper or the Scorpion. Christine picks the Scorpion and it begins to drown Raoul, and Ledoux who were in Erik’s heated chamber. Christine begs for their life, and Erik releases them.
Erik then hears a mob coming and grabs Christine and begins running with her. The mob follows them with the help of Raoul. There is a carriage chase sequence, and Christine manages to get away and back into the arms of Raoul. Erik is chased down by the mob who beat him and throw his body into the Seine River. That is where the movie ends.
The ending of the movie differs very much from the story in the original novel. But, that is because of the time it was filmed. They had the original ending where Erik lets Raoul, and Christine go, and Erik cries out in pain and dies of a broken heart. But, the public wanted him to have to pay for what he did. So they had to change the ending. Unfortunately, the original footage was lost. Along with the footage of the graveyard violin scene, but photos do exist of them.
This one is by far one of my favorite Phantom movies. It is also a classic. Both in the Phantom movie genre and horror movie genre’s. If you are not someone who is unsure about silent films this is a great one to start out with. There are very little changes in this movie compared to the original novel. I understand the changes of the ending, because of the time it was filmed in. I don’t understand why they changed Erik back story from the original book, of having him in Persia. They changed it to him being someone who escaped from an insane asylum. They also changed the character of the Persian to a inspector who is chasing Erik to bring him back to the asylum. But, that is only changed in cue cards, if you ignore them, the story remains the same. Which is pretty cool actually.
This movie is also one of the movie to feature the rat catcher as well. Depending on which version you watch the Masquerade scene is in color as well. There are actually many version of this movie and the 1929 re-mastered version is the one I highly recommend. Some of the footage has been cleaned up as well.
I honestly don’t have anything bad to say about this version. How can you criticize such a classic. If there are going to be re-making some of the classics (like Wolfman, which stared Lon Chaney, Jr. by the way). Then they really should try to remain as close to this story as possible. Most of the interesting things about this movie happened behind the scenes. Lon Chaney and the director hated each other so much that they would only talk through notes passed through a third person. Norman Kerry who also hated the director charged him on a horse while filming this movie. Many other interesting facts like this can be heard about on the special editions of this on DVD. I highly recommend checking them out.
One of my favorite lines from the movie is when Erik says “If I am the Phantom it is because man’s hatred has made me so.”
I also noticed that César, the horse is black in this movie, instead of grey like in the book. I am guessing it’s an imagery thing.
Another thing that I like about this movie, is that when Erik is first interacting with Christine he always is either standing a few steps below her. Or has her sitting on the chaise lounge with him kneeling before her. Giving her the higher ground. I always like that little tidbit about this movie.
I also like the line “Barrels, barrels, any barrels to sell” showing up in this…. Some people will get it.
Next time I will be posting a review of The Phantom of the Opera [1986] the Andrew Lloyd Webber stage version.

The Phantom of the Opera [1995]

Ye Ban Ge Sheng (The Phantom Lover) [1995]
Song Danping… Leslie Cheung.
Wei Qing… Lei Huang
Yun Yan… Chien-lein Wu

I had to review this one after watching the movie because of needing to read the subtitles and this is one to catch everything in it you really need to pay attention and because of the cinematography, you don’t want to look away.
This one is the one that moves away from the original story. It combines a story of The Phantom of the Opera and Cyrano de Bergerac together. It is also based on a Chinese movie that was from the 1930’s called Song at Midnight.
There are two stories that told. It begins with the story of Wei Qing and Lan Die who arrives at a burned down theatre, trying to get there theatre troupe up and running. They are working on their own piece that seems to be a failure. A man soon tells Wei Qing the story of the burned down theatre and the man who helped build it… Sung Danping.
We flash back to Sung Danping singing on stage in the role of Romeo in his Romeo and Juliet. Yun Yan watches him on stage. We quickly learn that they are in love but she is to marry a Baron. Yun Yan tries to get a message to Sung Danping to meet her so they can elope but her plan fails, and the Governor burns down the theatre with Sung Danping in it, and Yun Yan marries the Governor but the marriage in annulled after he finds out she is not a virgin. She ends up in the streets and has gone mad. She still shows up at the theatre to hear Sung Danping sing to her on every full moon.
Back to the 1930’s, Wei Qing’s theatre troupe are about to leave. Wei Qing learns that Sung Danping did not die in the fire and is still there in the theatre. Sung Danping gives Wei Qing his Romeo and Juliet and teaches him to sing the role of Romeo, at first Sung Danping sings from a hidden spot for him.
The Baron was there and heard Wei Qing sound like Sung Danping. He meets with them and begins to try and destroy the relationship of Wei Qing and Lan Die. Sung Danping also has Wei Qing wait for him onstage, and he begins singing. Yun Yan shows up believing he is Sung Danping. Because of this Sung Danping has Wei Qing pose as Sung Danping for Yun Yan because she hasn’t smiled that much in ten years.
Later, Yun Yan finally realizes that Wei Qing is not Sung Danping and runs away. That night she sees the real Sung Danping staring at her through the window, and she runs after him. He only stops when the Baron shoots her. Sung Danping goes after the Baron.
Back at the theatre Wei Qing is about to perform in Romeo and Juliet, and the Governor shows up to arrest Wei Qing for killing his son, the Baron. Sung Danping shows up to them know what had actually happened. They arrest the Governor and his son, who is finally brought out tied up hanging from the ceiling (not choking or anything like that). Wei Qing and Lan Die’s troupe will be allowed to continue. Sung Danping and Yun Yan leave together, but she is blinded by the gunshot wound, and he is finally able to show himself to her.
They let us believe that this movie is actually going to have a happy ending until it blacks out and a cue card tells us that a year after the events Yun Yan dies, and Sung Danping lives single for the rest of his life until he dies in 1940.
This is actually one of my favorite version of this story. When Sung Danping sing for Wei Qing it truly goes back to the Svengali origins. I also love how it seems to have a Cyrano de Bergerac feel to it. The robe that Sung Danping wears throughout this version is highly reminiscent of the Don Juan robe in the ALW stage version (which I love). The cinematography in this movie I believe is the best in all the phantom movie there are some scenes that are so artistically done, they just blow me away! The music in this version is also some of the best, especially the pieces from Sung Danping’s Romeo and Juliet because they are composed by Leslie Cheung, the man who played Sung Danping. Unfortunately Leslie Cheung is no longer with us, which is terribly sad. He was phenomenal in this movie and hopefully soon I will finally be able to watch one of his other movies Farewell My Concubine.
On another note, the reason I am doing these this month is in honor of the 100th anniversary of The Phantom of the Opera that is happening this month. So, I found it pretty cool when I was done watching the movie and went to go watch the 2010 Vancouver Olympics Men’s Figure Skating, because Patrick Chen of Canada skated to music from Phantom of the Opera. Which was really cool.
Next time I will be reviewing The Phantom of the Opera [1925] The Lon Chaney version and the one that started it all!

The Phantom of the Opera [2004

The Phantom of the Opera [2004]:
01). The Phantom… Gerard Butler.
02). Christine Daaé… Emmy Rossum.
03). Raoul, le Vicomte de Chagny… Patrick Wilson.

I know I said it was going to be Ye Ban Ge Shen but, we decided to go with this one first. Next time it will be Ye Ban Ge Shen. Now for the review of The Phantom of the Opera [2004]… or the fluffy white shirt review.
I will leave out my historical inaccuracy nitpicks this time around. They have been said time and time again. I also don’t want to be annoying.
We start out with the auction seen. Older Raoul is there to bid on the music box. Madame Giry is there as well. Ok, I got to say it… why is he a Vicomte when at the end of the movie Christine is a Comtess? I love the overture with the full orchestra. The sound is wonderful, especially with a sound system. It’s now 1870 according to Andrew Lloyd Webber ten years later (in his sequel) it will be 1907! Or the dates in the stage production say this takes place in 1880’s still ten years later is NOT 1907! I am bad at math, but this just doesn’t add up for me. OK, now I am done (this is what happens if the movie gets paused)!
Messrs. André and Firmin show up, and walk through the opera. I love how Raoul drives his own carriage in this, it says something about his character to me. That he prefers doing things himself instead of being waited on. It’s also a nice allusion to the 1990 Charles Dance movie. Minnie Driver is spectacular in this movie. Poor Piangi never makes up onto the elephant. “Grovel, Grovel Grovel!” That’s an allusion to Joseph, And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. I really do miss the fedora on the phantom. Why is his wax seal so huge? Wouldn’t it be hilarious if when the phantom leaves at the end of the movie he went to Australia?
I love the dress she wears for Think of Me here. It’s based off of the one worn by Elisabeth of Bavaria. The camera spins to the cellars where the phantom stands listening a la Claude Rains. Carlotta’s reaction to Christine’s success is hilarious. That’s a lot of roses in Christine’s dressing room. I love how Raoul just takes the flowers from M. Firmin. The portrait of Carlotta has a severed head laying on the plate she is holding, the severed his is that of Andrew Lloyd Webber.
I wish they let him put some more sarcasm behind “brave young suitor” I prefer my phantoms extremely sarcastic. The moving arms in this sequence is interesting based off of Le Belle et la Bête, which the Phantom story is very similar to, obviously. We also have César, the horse in this movie. They do cut out my favorite line from this song “In all your fantasies…”
No wonder he is insane by the time you get all those candles lit one goes out and you have to start all over again. Once I looked at various incarnations of the Phantom throughout time, I have come to believe that this one is the most psychotic one. I always like looking at his lair to see what he has laying around trying to spot something new each time. I love how the “be” echoes. I keep expecting a pipe organ to start playing after MOTN is done, but that’s not in here.
Meg shrieks at finding rats, I think they need to go and tell the rat catcher to do a better job. Joseph Buquet scareing the chorus girls with stories of the Phantom. Madame Giry warns him about talking about him, and slaps him one the face, which gives me a chuckles. I don’t know why.
Christine wakes up. Stockingless, someone please explain that! The Phantom composing his Don Juan. Looking rather smug. I like his smoking jacket, but I do miss the kimono. Darn, didn’t notice anything new in his lair this time.
I find it interesting that it is Raoul’s eye that goes yellow, when in the novel it is Erik’s eyes that are yellow.
I love the managers they can be so comical at times. “Wrote…written” I find the black lines around his notes interesting, in the Victorian days that meant that you were mourning someone. Who is it that he is mourning or is this just a coincidence? I do like that Carlotta is more interested in the puppies than the diamonds. That’s one characteristic I like about her. The two managers with their “scrap metal” make me laugh. Joseph Buquet spots the Phantom and starts to stalk him, as Carlotta “cro-acks” like a toad. I get a kick out of that dude who doesn’t get off of the stage in time. I always did love the sylvan glade scene. I swear I see him smile as Joseph Buquet dies. Apparently it’s just me though.
I love Christine’s cloak in the Rooftop scene. Raoul is so loving in this scene, the way he puts his arms around her. Patrick Wilson played the role spectacularly, and only one other person has beaten him (that I have seen) and that is Sean MacLaughlin. I also am arguing more on the side of Raoul in the ALW Phantom now, due to what I have heard about what is going on in Love Never Dies. Then the Phantom’s reaction after overhearing, done very well. I love how his cloak billows out. Feels cool when it happens to you as well.
I love the fireworks over the Opera. It’s even better at the Las Vegas production because it is live! I am really not fond of the costumes in the Masquerade scene I much prefer the stage costumes and Monkey Girl!Why is there someone vogue-ing? We also have the Cats pose. I do like Raoul’s hussar costume, that one is really nice. I also believe that they should have had Christine dance with the group as well. She doesn’t strike me as the type who can sit out and watch people perform.
The Red Death is also a costume I prefer the stage version of, because it is far more menacing and elaborate. He also seems to have a magical musical score pocket as well, or he is the most talented magician because the Don Juan appeared out of no where. His quivering chin when he sees Christine is sad to see. Raoul goes down after him into the mirror room which is an allusion to the book. Madame Giry helps him out, and tells him the background story of the Phantom. I am not fond of this version of it. I much prefer the background being him working for the Shah of Persia, it honestly explains his personality better.
I love the scene with the stage it is one of the most beautiful shots in this movie. Why didn’t Raoul sleep with his back against the door so he would notice if it opened? I also love the Phantom’s cloak here very reminiscent of the Don Juan from the stage version. Yes, I am obsessed with his clothing apparently. Probably because he tends to always have something nice and elaborate. Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again is one of my favorite songs, it has a lot of meaning to me. I also believe Emmy sings it beautifully. I really wish they would of added him playing a violin here. Swordfight! I love that they added a swordfight. That’s also a really heavy cloak that the Phantom is wearing, I know, I tried it on! Long story.
What is it with opened up white fluffy shirts on the men in this movie anyways? Oh yeah. Joel Schumacher. Never mind. But still, the last half of the movie has someone in just that. I always loved the “Seal My Fate” sequence. It sticks in the head. I also think of a great phlub I read about once.
How does no one notice Piangi is now taller and has lost a lot of weight? I love how she sings the lyrics “consume us…” so much power behind it. The look on Raoul’s face at this moment is as heart wrenching as the Phantom’s earlier. Interesting. In the stage version some Christine react when he begins singing the All I Ask Of You reprise. In the movie it is Raoul who reacts and not Christine! I just noticed that and I find it very interesting. Intriguing really. For all those who don’t like Raoul, right here is proof the he is a man with a big heart, he feels bad for what he did to the Phantom. Even though, he is trying to rescue Christine, he still feels bad. So STOP CALLING HIM A FOP!!!!
Deformity rant: It’s actually not that bad, nor is it frightening. He looks like he just got burned, that’s all. Tons of people around Paris had that issue. He wouldn’t stand out. They really should of made it worse.
Poor Piangi, I actually like Piangi. He stood up to the Phantom when he insulted Carlotta, he also can be funny.
Raoul falls into the water, at least he made it down faster. We also have more white fluffy shirts. Once again they should of allowed him to be more sarcastic. Gerard Butler is naturally sarcastic so he should have been able to do it. The Phantom ties Raoul to the portcullis. Poor Patrick Wilson, Gerard Butler tugged a little to hard on the rope during that last pull and almost choked Patrick while filming this movie.
His face when she returns the ring seems to have hope on it. Then she turns to leave and you can see that hope dwindle. The breaking of all the mirrors. Why does he have so many mirrors? That one just doesn’t make sense to me. Now Meg is wearing a fluffy white shirt?! Her pants also dry from the water in seconds, I want that material for that rainy day.
The older Vicomte is now visiting the grave of Christine, Le Comtess de Chagny. He leaves the music box for her and sees the rose with the ring on it. His face seems shocked as he looks around. The end.
Thanks for reading the fluffy white shirt review. Next time will be Ye Ban Ge Shen (The Phantom Lover) from 1997

The Phantom of the Opera [1943]

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (1943):
Erique Claudin… Claude Rains.
Christine Dubois… Susanna Foster.
Raoul D'Aubert… Edgar Barrier.
Anatole Garron… Nelson Eddy.

This was the first major Phantom of the Opera movie. It actually won (or was nominated) for some Academy Awards. It was also filmed on the same set as the Lon Chaney version. It is nice to see it in color. Susanna Foster’s voice to myself and many others is the voice of Christine. She highly resembles what I would image Christine to look like as well. If you watch NCIS then Tony DiNozzo talks about being a Nelson Eddy fan. Claude Rains you would probably know as either The Invisible Man or Captain Louie Renault in Casablanca.
The music in this movie is some of the best Phantom music around if you aren’t fond of the story watch it for the music alone.
We begin with the performance of the opera. Erique Claudin is a violinist in the orchestra. Raoul is at the opera to talk to Christine, and tells her he loves her. She misses the curtain call and everyone seems to notice. Erique is worried about her missing curtain call as well. He then goes in to talk to the stage manager where he is fired, because his fingers are now unable to play the music. He is poor, and is depending on his concerto “Lullaby of the Bells” to get the money he needs. Lullaby of the Bells is a song that will stick in your hear, but it is beautiful so I am not complaining. It was paying for Christine’s lessons that took his money, but Christine does not know about it.
Erique goes to a music publisher for his music. He overhears someone playing his song (apparently Liszt). He says what it is and is told to leave. He attacks the man for stealing his music and a woman throws acid onto his face. This is the movie that kicked off the burning of the face or acid in the face theme in these movies. Erique leaves into the sewers of the opera.
Claude Rains is only 5ft. 5inches, apparently they added a few inches to his character cause they say that Erique Claudin is 5ft. 8inches. Just found that interested.
Later the new managers are talking about missing costumes, masks and food at the restaurant. They start talking about a ghost at the opera.
Christine is visited by Anatole and sings a lullaby she knows to him. Raoul interrupts her and Anatole singing. Anatole and Raoul do not get along to a comical level. Raoul shows Christine a bust of her, that was found in Erique’s home. Anatole admits that he was making it for her. Some people find it ridiculous, but I don’t mind. Reminding me of a bit that they did in Angel when Spike and Angel try to walk through the same door at the same time. I wonder if this is were they got it from.
In Christine’s dressing room Erique talks to her through the mirror. The second opera begins. Erique pours something in Carlotta’s drink. She falls ill, and Christine has to take over, much to Anatole’s surprise. Susanna Foster really resembles what I think Christine would sound like singing. Carlotta is blaming Anatole for drugging her. On stage Christine hit’s the high G perfectly, beautifully! Susanna Foster is supposedly the only one who can hit that note in history. Erique Claudin listens below stage.
Carlotta is willing to forget that she was drugged if everyone else forgets that Christine sang or she will charge Anatole and Christine for murderer. Erique Claudin threatens her she doesn’t listen so he kills her.
Anatole sees Erique running out of her dressing room so her follows him, with Raoul following Anatole.
They close the opera temporarily. Soon mysterious letters begin to show up. They decide to reopen the opera with someone else singing to lure Erique out of hiding. Anatole and Raoul show up to let Christine know, with more comedy from the two.
Anatole plans to have Liszt play Erique’s music to lure him out. Yes, it is Franz Liszt that is portrayed in this movie.
The opera begins, there people in masks for this opera which tells me they should of chosen a different opera. Because Erique takes out one of the performers and takes his place. Raoul finds the body, then goes around removing the performers mask to try and find him. Erique begins to saw the chain of the chandelier to bring it down…. Still working on the chandelier…The soprano screams the note as the chandelier comes down. Erique goes to Christine and says he will protect her, but takes her down to the lake. Anatole has Liszt play Erique’s concerto, as Raoul goes down to the cellars after Christine. Anatole and some of the actors follow. Erique overhears it, and begins to play. He has Christine sing with. Raoul admits that Anatole had a good idea. They overhear Erique playing the piano and go towards the music. As Christine sings she moves closer to him, and removes his mask. Raoul and Anatole show up and Erique grabs a sword Raoul shoots up into the air and the ceiling begins crumbling and lands on Erique killing him. Raoul, Christine and Anatole get away. There is a beautiful shot of his mask laying on his violin a picture that always is sad.
Later after Christine’s latest performance Raoul and Anatole have her make a decision on who she is going to love, and she chooses her career instead. Anatole and Raoul leave together, and in my head I hear “Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”

The Phantom of the Opera [1987]

The Phantom of the Opera [1987]:
01). Erik, the Phantom… Aiden Grennell.
02). Christine Daaé… Collette Proctor.
03). Raoul, Le Vicomte de Chagny… Daniel Reardon.
04). The Persian, Daroga… Jim Reid.

I talked about the book a lot in this one. It is difficult not to. So you possibly may need to of read it to understand. Or at least know it fairly well.

For those that don’t know. Yes, there is a cartoon version of this story. It begins with a sort of preview of what’s to come. Which, for me gives away a lot so I don’t really understand why. But, I guess they had a reason. This movie is an Emerald City movie so it tends to remain true to the classic literature that it is based of off. A lot like the Wishbone version of Phantom… Pant’in of the Opera.
We begin by looking out into the streets of Paris during the Belle Époque. Raoul, is escorting Christine to the Opera. Christine tells him that she got the role of Juliette. She tells him about the voice that has taught her to sing. The lines so far are pretty close to the original novel, even if they are at the beginning…
DAROGA! Yes, finally we have the Persian! He is equal to Erik for me and often forgotten or replace. Poor, Daroga. Sorry, I have an obsession with Daroga as well.
Here Joseph Buquet is now a manager. Combining character does help shorten time, and lessens the amount of characters in the story.
He just killed a cat! What! Erik doesn’t kill animals! Why do they need to add that? To add suspense? To make him evil (like every other movie tends to do). You can actually show the yellow eyes in this version though. Which is kind of cool.
Christine performance goes well. Raoul tries to visit her. She sends him away. Then he listens behind the door. “The Angels wept tonight…” exact quote. Raoul bursts into her dressing room after hearing a man’s voice. I like how she tells him off. “Spirit of Music”… interesting. Christine throws a vase at him, after he stalked her then yelled at her it is deserved. She should of done that in the book. I do like Raoul by the way.
Then we have them finding the body, the Daroga watches over.
In Christine’s dressing room, he asks her to go with him. She does. “I am not a spirit or a ghost… I am Erik” I love that he says that! They even have them men working on the heating in the cellars! Amazing!
Erik has a nice place, though I never imagined it being this large. His mask isn’t a full face black one, but painted to look like a face, and his dress is a little brighter than I would expect. He kneels down before her. I like that.
When she unmasks him his face to me isn’t that scary, he really can show a lot of emotion. He tries anger but then goes into crying, so accurate.
Back with Raoul, he receives a letter from Christine to meet her. She tells him about Erik. She tells him, not to see her again. Erik listens in behind the mirror. Christine and Raoul plan to meet at the Bal de Masque.
The costumes in this scene for me are intolerable. I hate them. Why couldn’t they of done better. Even the red death is horrible. But, the scene plays out pretty well. Once again we have our stalking Persian. Who isn’t getting stalked or stalking someone?
Also Aiden Grennell, who does the voice of Erik I think did a pretty good job. Erik follows Raoul and Christine to the Apollo’s Lyre, where they plot there escape, and Erik overhears… heartbroken.
At Christine’s last performance he drops the chandelier and abducts Christine. Raoul goes after her. He looks for her in her dressing room. The Persian finds him, and helps Raoul find Christine. Daroga says a line that can really be taken the wrong way.
The flaming head of the rat catcher is seen. I think this is one of the only movies that shows up in!
Erik’s place here seems to resemble a castle more than a hidden retreat, but I can work with them. They find a trap door that supposedly leads to him home. Instead they drop into the Torture Chamber. They listen to Erik talking to Christine. Erik doesn’t know of Raoul and Daroga’s presence yet.
Christine gets Erik to untie her, and Erik figures out that Raoul and Daroga are in the Torture Chamber. The scorpion and the grasshopper make an appearance in this one as well.
Now it seems to change. But, only slightly. The feel is somewhat the same. So I can understand it. I don’t remember Erik talking to Daroga this much until the end. But, it gives a way for Daroga to give a little bit of history. Raoul is the one who pushes the nail for them to go into the cellars away from the now heating up Torture Chamber. They find they barrels of gun powder. More running around so they can get back in. Christine turns the scorpion. After Erik swears to let Raoul go. The place floods drowning the gunpowder, Raoul, and Daroga.
Erik lets Raoul and Daroga out of the Torture Chamber. Erik then gives Christine a ring for her and Raoul “A present from your poor unhappy Erik” He quotes from the book once again. Erik soliloquy is said here as he says goodbye.
He plays the pipe organ bringing the place down as they escape. This time they really changed the ending. Dramatic effect maybe? But, still annoying. Cheesy lines to end the movie.
One thing I forgot to say earlier is that perhaps the Erik may look scary to some. I at times found him rather cute! This one follows the original novel fairly closely almost word for word at times. Which makes it truly sad that this is the only one that follows this closely.

The Phantom of the Opera (1983)

The Phantom of the Opera [1983]:
01). Sándor Korvin/ The Phantom… Maximilian Schell.
02 Maria Gianelli/ Elena Korvin… Jane Seymour.
03). Michael Hartnell… Michael York.


This particular version of The Phantom of the Opera is set in Budapest instead of Paris. It was a made for TV movie. Unfortunately, it is obviously so, unlike the 1991 version. But, one of the cool ironic facts about this movie is that some scenes in it highly resemble the original novel whereas other go so far away from it that it is hardly recognizable as The Phantom of the Opera. Also, one of the men in this is also the auctioneer in the 2004 ALW movie.
We start out with the rehearsal of Faust, Elena Korvin is struggling a little before her debut, her husband is working her a bit hard, apparently. The manager threatens her and she believes she is not good enough, and her husband tries to comfort her. What is it with deceptive managers, anyways? Lack of plot? Someone please tell me? I do love the name of the husband Sándor it’s a pretty name. Sándor then pays someone to start the applause so she won’t be disappointed.
She ends up getting a bad review and boo-ed off of the stage. So she decides to throw herself off of a bridge. I personally am not too fond of this plot. Sándor then takes revenge on all who gave her that review and the man who he paid to applaud her, who got more money to boo her. He fights with the man and ends up getting acid on his face. A man helps him escape.
Years and many masks later… Hey! It’s a full face black mask!!! I like! Apparently, the managers are investigating a missing pipe organ that in the scene just before the phantom was playing (it’s actually a rather small one so I can see how it got stolen).
Hey he has a kitty! Finally a movie that shows him actually having a cat (like in the Susan Kay novel)!
We now have the Prima Donna’s rant. The director actually tells her off! Good director. It was rather comical as well. Which is something that sometimes lacks in Phantom movies but, is in the original book (comedy that is). Then they hold auditions for an understudy. Maria Gianelli sings and Sándor overhears her, and watches from a box. He is infatuated with her because she reminds him of his dead wife (Gah, I hate that). She gets the part.
Maria tells the director of the opera ghost and he says that every opera has a ghost! Cue lights dimming on their “own”. This movie is full of puns and cheesy lines, but somehow it still works. I have no idea how, but it does. Poor Sándor watches from Maria and the director dancing together from afar.
Sándor works watches as Michael (the director) works with her. The Prima Donna gets a letter from Sándor. Telling her not to sing. She goes and blames Maria. “Christine! It’s all a ploy to help Christine!” sorry, couldn’t help it.
Sándor finally confronts Chr… er… Maria and tells her that he will teach her, and gives her the key to his place. This scene is rather interesting to me actually. Maria then goes to his old home and looks around. She sees a picture of Elena. It’s nice to see them rehearsing in the same room for a change. Maximilian can actually be rather expressive with a full face mask. He gives Carlotta rats, as a warning. “Rats! It’s a rat” why always rats?! Could be worse I guess….
I also really don’t like the reasons Sándor likes Maria is because of his dead wife. Kind of creeps me out. I’ve heard people ask “why can’t he just love her for her, like in the original?” I have to agree with this.
Sándor follows Maria around as she spends time with the director. He starts questioning who the other man she spends time with is.
We now have a bath house (why, again, why?). Sándor threatens a man by choking him with his silk scarf. Maria leaves a note for Sándor to meet her at the masked ball. Sándor’s Red Death costume is not as grand as some others have been. There he tells her not to see another man again or she will die. She agrees then leaves the ball. The manager tries to take Maria home with him but, Sándor interrupts abducting the Manager to exact revenge, Maria tries to runaway, but gets abducted as well.
The manager talks himself out of getting killed by Sándor, saying he will make Maria the star that Elena should have been. He then lets him go. Except he dies by way of raven?! His body is found on the set piece portcullis. The police now investigate his murder and the disappearance of Maria. Hey, it’s the Auctioneer from the ALW movie! Yes, Michael York, if you are looking for Orpheus, going underground is the way to do it!
Ah, my favorite scene! The unmasking! Oh, poor Sándor. He speaks quotes from the novel. To finally hear those words spoken, just makes this movie for me. Then it goes away from the quotes. Darn. It stands out because Sándor’s talking pattern changes, but I DON’T CARE! I recently heard a recording of Erik’s Soliloquy (his last words to his friend) and that brought me to tears to finally hear it spoken for the first time in over a decade. The emotion put into it as well, didn’t help. Sándor really doesn’t look burned. The deformity reminds me more of Joseph Merrick. Maria then burns his mask (another similarity to the book) why do they have these close of similarities and then the rest of the movie couldn’t be further from the novel?
Then he shows that he is even crazier then the original Phantom. He shows Maria the body of Elena, and that he plans on making it look like Maria is dead. Apparently this isn’t Phantom so much, as it is Blackbeard. Lovely.
Michael finally comes to the rescues. Sándor’s henchmen tries to stop him, but Michael is able to survived by shoving him down some stairs. Sándor kills him for it.
Michael comes up with a plan to have Maria attend the opera in hopes that Sándor will show up so they can catch him. Is this what inspired Lloyd Webber? Maria then hears him call her name, as he begins to bring down the chandelier. Maria in the mean time decides to move from her box to a seat in the middle of the orchestra level… right under the chandelier. Sándor spots her too late and the chandelier begins to fall. Culminating in the longest chandelier drop ever! She gets out of the way, Sándor is killed. Movie over. Yep, it’s that sudden.
The parts that make this movie tolerable for me, is the fact that the unmasking scene is almost exact from the book, he wears a full face black mask, and she burns his mask in the fireplace. If it wasn’t for those I wouldn’t like it at all. Maximilian Schell’s acting in this movie is phenomenal though. I do wish that they had made this movie better so he could have had more time to show his talent. There are also gaping holes in this movie that never get explained. Kind of makes you wish they could of stuck to the original story, Eh?
Next review will be the 1987 Cartoon version. For those that don’t know. Yes, there is a cartoon version of this story!

The Phantom of the Opera [1962]

Staring:
The Phantom (Professor L. Petrie)… Herbert Lom.
Christine Charles… Heather Sears.
Harry Hunter… Edward de Souza.
Lord Ambrose d’Arcy… Michael Gough.


The movie begins almost immediately with the people of the opera talking about what is happening around the theatre. Music has been destroyed, the leading diva scared by the Phantom.
The opera performed in this piece is Joan of Arc. Which is an ok musical, so far. It is supposedly composed by Lord Ambrose D’Arcy. Who apparently until now had no musical taste. There is also a “mysterious” midget (I dislike calling him the Midget, and calling him Igor is too cliché so I will from here on out call him… Koukol). wondering the opera as well. The Opera gets interrupted by the hanging of “Joseph Buquet”. Postponing the opera indefinitely.
They hold auditions for a new diva. Christine Charles auditions and the Phantom watches. I am not too fond of this Christine, I always thought that either Susanna Foster or Teri Polo matched her better. Herbert Lom voice as the phantom when he speaks to her through the mirror, really does have Erik quality to it.
Then Lord Ambrose D’Arcy takes Christine to a “nice” dinner. During this scene I notice in the background a Persian serving people dinner. Is that a joking allusion to our Daroga?! D’Arcy then tries to take Christine home but she refuses. She gets rescued by the much nobler Mr. Hunter.
Hunter then explains that he believes there is something evil in the theatre. Christine tells him about the voice in the dressing room. She uses the term the voice. I never caught that before, I like that. Another allusion to the original novel. Hunter then has them return to the Opera House to investigate.
They run into the annoying workers of the Opera House. Who annoy them too (thank god), and Hunter sends them on a treasure hunt for a diamond broche, that most likely isn’t there. Cruel, but I’d do it as well.
When in the dressing room they overhear the Phantom’s voice threatening Mr. Hunter. Hey, it’s the rat catcher! “They make a lovely pie, ya know!” “We are vegetarians.” I love that part! Awe, now the rat catcher got killed, damn! Why do they kill him? He doesn’t die in the book! Hunter goes to investigate and Christine encounters the phantom.
She then tells him about it and explains the Phantom and the black mask (it’s actually a shadow, the mask is actually more ivory then black).
D’Arcy then is holding auditions for a new lead after having fired Christine. Hunter gets himself fired, and then goes to visit Christine. He talks to the maid who previously worked with a Professor Petrie. He spots a piece of music and recognizes it as the Opera being performed by Lord Ambrose D’Arcy. Hunter then takes Christine with him to investigate the fire at the printers and the Professor.
Hunter then spends the day with Christine, when he takes her home, she sees Koukol looking in her window, and faints. Koukol then takes her to the Phantom. The is also the only Phantom movie to contain Bach Toccata and Fugue in D minor in it. I think it’s appropriate. The phantom’s words here a very close to the book.
Meanwhile, D’Arcy is trying to train the new diva, and is doing so very badly. He also is having disagreements and is dismissing the “Lefevre” of the movie. He then dismisses everyone and then has his temper tantrum. Hunter begins looking for Christine. Who is still having lessons with the phantom.
I hate it when he hits her! Erik was a harsh teacher, but never physically violent because of not hitting a note! I do expect him to be violent when unmasked or betrayed, but not during a vocal lesson! The Phantom then has Koukol get a glass of sewer water to throw at Christine! Eww! Really nice! I hope that only took one take!
Harry Hunter has now overheard Christine and the Phantom singing/playing the pipe organ and has found a boat and is on the way to her.
After the phantom has worked her to the point of passing out for the 2nd time he finally lets her sleep as he plays the pipe organ. In this version I can see her sleeping through that. Which makes me realize that just about all Christine’s would have to be heavy sleepers to sleep through that.
Hey, Koukol is using the reed from the Tonkin Pirates! Those who have read the novel know what I mean. Harry Hunter to the rescue finally. Sort of, first he tells that Phantom that he knows who he is and that the opera is actually his.
Couldn’t they come up with a different name? Professor Petrie just doesn’t sound right. It also reminds me of the Pterodactyl from Land Before Time. Or my roommate of a dish.
We then flashback to what happened to Professor Petrie, and how Lord Ambrose D’Arcy stole his music. But, at least he didn’t recycle it twice! Sorry, couldn’t help that one. He also explains that Koukol saved his life, and that he has always taken care of him. He also wishes to finish teaching Christine, and that that is all that he wishes to do.
The Phantom then confronts Lord Ambrose D’Arcy. Who runs away the moment he sees his face, which is absolutely classic! It’s always great to see the annoying jerk run away in fear!
The look the Phantom and Christine exchange as she begins to sing is really sweet. Heather Sears does make a very good Joan of Arc. That single tear from the Phantom is heartbreaking as he watching his opera finally get performed.
Then we have Koukol getting into trouble backstage. He jumps to the chandelier and starts bringing it down. The Phantom jumps onto stage knocking Christine over so she is unharmed, but instead it kills him.
The movie ends on a close up of the Phantom’s mask. This isn’t one of my favorite phantom movies, but it is definitely worth the see.
In all honesty this is one of the nicer phantoms. But, they completely took out the love story between the Phantom and Christine in this one. It is a good story on it’s own, but doesn’t resemble the book very much. I hadn’t seen it in a while, which is why there are not many comments. The next movie hopefully will have more. The next one is the 1982 Maximillian Schell and Jane Seymour version.