Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #569 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-05-02
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Box set, PAL
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 143 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Although it's not as bold as Oscar darling Chicago, The Phantom of the Opera continues the resuscitation of the movie musical with a faithful adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's blockbuster stage musical. Emmy Rossum glows in a breakout role as opera ingénue Christine Daae, and if phantom Gerard Butler isn't Rossum's match vocally, he does convey menace and sensuality in such numbers as "The Music of the Night." The most experienced musical theater veteran in the cast, romantic lead Patrick Wilson, sings sweetly but seems wooden. The biggest name in the cast, Minnie Driver, hams it up as diva Carlotta, and she's the only principal whose voice was dubbed (though she does sing the closing-credit number, "Learn to Be Lonely," which is also the only new song).

Director Joel Schumacher, no stranger to visual spectacle, seems to have found a good match in Lloyd Webber's larger-than-life vision of Gaston LeRoux's Gothic horror-romance. His weakness is cuing too many audience-reaction shots and showing too much of the lurking Phantom, but when he calms down and lets Rossum sings "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again" alone in a silent graveyard, it's exquisite.

Those who consider the stage musical shallow and overblown probably won't have their minds changed by the movie, and devotees will forever rue that the movie took the better part of two decades to develop, which prevented the casting of original principals Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman. Still, The Phantom of the Opera is a welcome exception to the long line of ill-conceived Broadway-to-movie travesties.

DVD Features
The two-disc edition of The Phantom of the Opera has two major extras. "Behind the Mask: The Story of The Phantom of the Opera" is an hourlong documentary tracing the genesis of the stage show, with interviews by composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, director Harold Prince, producer Cameron Macintosh, lyricists Richard Stilgoe and Charles Hart, choreographer Gillian Lynne, and others. Conspicuously absent are stars Sarah Brightman and Michael Crawford. Both do appear in video clips, including Brightman performing with Colm Wilkinson at an early workshop, and Crawford is the subject of a casting segment. Other brief scenes from the show are represented by a 2001 production. The other major feature is the 45-minute making-of focusing on the movie, including casting and the selection of director Joel Schumacher Both are well-done productions by Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Group.

The deleted scene is a new song written by Lloyd Webber and Charles Hart, "No One Would Listen," sung by the Phantom toward the end of the movie. It's a beautiful song that, along with Madame Giry's story, makes him a more sympathetic character. But because that bit of backstory already slowed down the ending, it was probably a good move to cut the song. --David Horiuchi

Important note: Initial playback of this DVD defaults to the DTS (Digital Theatre System) soundtrack, therefore customers without such equipment will not hear any sound. Please note that this is NOT a fault with the DVD.

If you are not in possession of a DTS compatible sound amplifier, you need to change the film's soundtrack type from the main menu.

In order to do this, please follow the instructions below:

1. Click the "set-up" option.
2. Select either Dolby Digital Surround Sound or Dolby Digital Stereo as appropriate.
3. Select "Play Movie". The film will now play with a universal audible soundtrack.

Synopsis
Those who thought that smoke machines and cobwebbed candelabras were the stuff of Halloween parties and dance clubs need to think again. In Joel Schumacher's film adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Broadway musical THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, these moody set devices--and countless others--make every scene an atmospheric vision of souped-up 19th-century Gothic bliss. Christine Daee (a luminescent Emmy Rossum) is a tortured young star who is haunted by the voice of the phantom (Gerard Butler--who also played the lead in DRACULA 2000), a musician who hides in the shadows to hide a facial disfigurement, yet sings to her obsessively. Dwelling in the dark, damp chambers beneath the Paris opera house, the phantom lords over the cast and management with artistic autocracy--he writes the shows, casts them, and threatens all who disobey his plans with dramatically violent outbursts. But when his young student Christine falls for the rich and dapper Raoul (Patrick Wilson), the phantom descends into madness. Webber's memorable songs are performed with aplomb by Rossum, whose background includes singing with the Metropolitan Opera, and Wilson and Butler provide ample accompaniment. One of the treats of the proceedings is Minnie Driver's deeply exaggerated portrayal of the jealous diva, giving this PHANTOM a very appropriate dose of comic relief.

Customer Reviews

Give me the Phantom over Raoul any day!
WOW! WOOHOO! and WOW! again!!!

I have just finished watching this film for the second time and am still just as in awe as I was the first time! I simply HAD to get straight on here and review it!

The majority of the universe probably know the basic plot, but for those of you who do not...

Christine Daae,(Emmy Rossum), is chorusline girl and understudy to the very O.T.T. Diva Carlotta, (Minnie Driver). When Carlotta refuses to sing and stomps off in one of her famous sulks, Christine is yanked centre stage and blows the roof off the opera house! Unknowingly, Christine has been receiving tutorage from the Phantom...she believes it to be the spirit of her dead father, the one she knows as her Angel Of Music.
Said Phantom, (so SEXILY played by Gerard Butler...swoon!), is in actual fact in love with Christine and has plans to make her all his. (Why, oh why can't it be me?!) On seeing his childhood sweetheart perform, the Vicompte Raoul de Chagny,(Patrick Wilson), the new opera house patron, also falls in love with Christine again and begins a new courtship. Thus annoying the hell out of the Phantom.

What you have here is a true tear jerker of a love triangle, (if that is you are as soppy as I!) What is Christine to do? Should she run away with Raoul, (NO! NO! NO! I SAY!) or should she stay with the Phantom in his under ground lair? (YES! YES! YES! I CRY!) Who cares if he has homicidal tendancies and is having one heck of a bad hair day?! NOT I! Just take one look of him in his cloak and mask or THAT red get-up at the masquerade! Mmmmmmmmm...yum yum! Failing that, simply listen to him sing Music Of The Night and I defy ANY woman out there not to wish it were HER bodice he was running his hands over!

Of course it goes without saying that the entire cast are fantastic and almost entirely BRITISH!!! YAY! The only Americans are Emmy Rossum,(Who was only 16 when she made this film although has spent a lot of her time on stage singing her heart out since she was 7!), and Patrick Wilson who is also a trained singer on Broadway.

Standing ovation for Gerard Butler then who admits on the special features that he'd never sung before this role! What an achievement!

Patrick Wilson did an excellent job too, (can he help it if he got the less ...erm... manly role? On the special features, with that awful hair gone, he's actually quite a nice looking bloke. (Still not Gerard Butler though but..hey, mustn't keep on!)

The 2 disc dvd is well worth every penny. The documentaries are very informative with regards to props, sets, casting, music, the stage production...literally everything Phantomesque. (Even the 80's cheese fest music videos with Sarah Brightman and Michael Crawford, but you gotta love 'em just the same!)

This a definate keeper as far as I'm concerned and will be playing in my dvd player for many years to come. Do yourselves a favour and just buy it...if you don't like it, chances are someone you know will absolutely LOVE it!

Hope you enjoy it as much as me.

(I'm off now to go and swoon over the dvd case again...there's a GORGEOUS pose in earlier mentioned red attire!)

:o)

Brilliant version of Lloyd Webber's best loved musical.
Emmy Rossum stars as Christine Daae, a young dancer with the Opera Populaire in Paris. She has been having her voice trained by the mysterious 'Angel of Music' so when the Diva, Carlotta (brilliantly portrayed by Minnie Driver) storms out, Christine is propelled into the lead role of the opera house's latest production.
What Christine doesn't realise is that her angel of music is also the infamous Phantom and that he is obsessed with her. As Christine falls in love with her childhood sweetheart, Raoul de Chagny (Patrick Wilson), the phantom becomes increasingly unbalanced and determined to possess the young singer no matter what.
Joel Schumacher's glossy production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's best loved musical stars, for the most part, a relatively unknown cast, but that doesn't detract in any way from the quality of the film. Rossum was only 17 when this was filmed but she brings a remarkable maturity to her role and she has an incredibly good voice. Gerard Butler, who plays the phantom, doesn't have such a strong voice, but, thanks in the main to his sympathetic and sensitive portrayal of the tortured creature, he pulls it off. A real surprise was Jennifer Ellison (better known to British viewers as the young soap star from 'Brookside') who plays Meg, Christine's best friend. In this role, Ellison shows she can not only act but can sing very well too. Minnie Driver, cast as the spoiled, conceited Carlotta, injects humour and exuberance into her role. She is the only cast member who doesn't perform her own songs but you cannot tell this when watching the film.
As would be expected from such a production, the cinematography is outstanding, the costumes are sumptuous and the sets are marvellous. This DVD is presented over 2 discs. Disc 1 is the movie while disc 2 has a wealth of extras such as 'Behind the Mask; the story of Phantom of the Opera', various featurettes and several music videos taken from stage versions of the musical. For those willing to search, there are also some hidden extras; I have found 4 so far. Hours of entertainment to lose yourself in....brilliant.

Works for me!!
Like many others I have seen the London stage version of the Phantom of the Opera and with various casts from Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman onwards and I love the show. I also love the film but those expecting an exact reproduction will be disappointed.

The film works fantastically well but inevitably has a different perspective because Joel Schumacher is not Harold Prince and this is not the stage. Schumacher, as he says, has chosen to heighten the romantic and sexual elements of Christine's relationship with the Phantom and chosen a much younger cast to portray the principals.

Emmy Rossum is a delightful Christine and whilst her voice is not up to Sarah Brightman's exquisite soprano, she sings charmingly and is actually a much better actress, which benefits the film enormously.

Despite the sword fight I still find Raoul a wet lettuce and nowhere does he appear to more disadvantaged than in the final scene in the Phantom's lair.

This is partly the weakness of the part as it is written but also due to the mesmerising performance of Gerry Butler as the Phantom - anyone would suffer in comparison. He is a stunning Phantom and you would need a heart of stone not to shed a tear for him. The fact that he is also drop-dead gorgeous did not hurt either although this can make it difficult to understand why Christine would be daft enough to choose Raoul, especially after Gerry Butler scorches the screen with this version of Point of No Return. This physical attraction is clearly intended with the open shirts and tight trousers showing off a physique to die for.

They did try to counter balance this with the murder of Buquet, much more chilling and violent than the stage version but I think most women will have forgotten this by the end of the last sequence of the film and would make a totally different choice to Christine - the Phantom is undeniably physically the more attractive of the two, as well the more interesting character. This does, therefore, make for a different story to the stage, where you feel sorry for the Phantom but he really is hideous and you don't end up fancying him like mad. Different is not, in my view, inferior.

All the music is there as we know and love it and well sung by everyone. There have been some criticisms of Gerry Butler in comparison with Michael Crawford. Well all I can say is that those who make these criticisms must be very big Michael Crawford fans if they think that he is a natural singer. I too am a Michael Crawford fan but not blinkered - like Gerry Butler he had to train hard for the role and you can certainly hear the effort occasionally on the original cast album. Gerry Butler has a great edge to his voice and he hits all the notes and when you put this together with the superlative acting performance I actually cannot think of anyone who would have done it better.

So I think if you liked the stage version of the Phantom and are prepared for this to be similar but not the same you will love this film, although I have to admit that it is probably a film that will appeal much more strongly to women than men - yes I am female.

The extras on Disc 2 are also well worth a look - watch out for the hidden extras (and they are well hidden) of the Phantom singing 'No-one would listen' and the highly amusing version of the cast and crew putting their own spin on the title song - this really shows how few people can sing. For me this is a film I will watch again and again, a great version of a show that I have loved for almost 20 years.