The Phantom of the Opera (Two-Disc Special Edition)

The Phantom of the Opera (Two-Disc Special Edition)
by Joel Schumacher

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DVD details

Actor: Emmy Rossum, Gerard Butler, Minnie Driver, Miranda Richardson, Patrick Wilson
Director: Joel Schumacher
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); French (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Collector's Edition, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, NTSC, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 141 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-05-03
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Warner Home Video

DVD Reviews of The Phantom of the Opera (Two-Disc Special Edition)

DVD Review: Very Provocative and Romantic!
Summary: 5 Stars

This is one of my favorite movies! It has something for everyone! It has intrigue, mystery, subtle humor and emotionally intense. It was very romantic and provocative as well. All the actors were top shelf, not only Gerard Butler, who is always superior in every role that he plays, but Emmy Rossum and Patrick Wilson were magnificent as well with not only their great acting ability but all three of these actors have beautiful voices. I really, really, really loved this movie!!!

DVD Review: Phantom of the Opera
Summary: 5 Stars

I never tire of viewing this DVD and have even introduced my granddaughter to its fantastic music.

DVD Review: The Phantom of the Opera
Summary: 5 Stars

This was an excellent movie. Gerard Butler is a great actor and also can sing very well. Sorry Michael Crawford - but I enjoyed Gerard's singing better than yours. He expressed more emotion. Throughout the entire movie you can understand how and what he felt and the hurt he has been through. I only wish they would have left the song 'No One Would Listen' in the movie because he sung how he felt. Although the ending was different from the book, it was well done. If I could I'd give it 10 stars.

DVD Review: Poor service
Summary: 1 Stars

Never received. Amazon sent to wrong address and I never got any notification. Amazon really needs to work on their communication regarding PO boxes, street addresses, and how they are shipping the product so these errors get fixed. I have had four of them over the past six months!!! I have been a customer for a very long time, but hesitate to order anything further since they cannot coordinate their shipping with such a simple issue as PO boxes vs. street addresses.

DVD Review: Music of the Night
Summary: 5 Stars

Personally, I've never been a big fan of movie musicals, though there have been a few exceptions. One of those exceptions is Joel Schumacher's marvelous film adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Weber's The Phantom of the Opera. The lavish production perfectly captures the excitement of the stage, while cleverly exploiting the cinematic medium for maximum impact. The film showcases impressive costumes, awesome sets, and an unexpectedly terrific cast, which reenergizes the music with a youthful vitality that is sometimes absent in stage productions. Of the cast, the real showstopper is young Emmy Rossum, whose porcelain skin, gorgeous brown eyes, and breathtaking vocals lend an urgency and sympathy to the character of the Phantom, who is played by Gerard Butler. The rest of the excellent cast includes Patrick Wilson as Raoul, Miranda Richardson as Madame Giry, Jennifer Ellison as Meg Giry, and Minnie Driver as Carlotta. All are superb in their respective roles. Many of the songs have been updated slightly to suit the vocal capabilities of the actors, as well as to achieve greater emotional investment with the characters. Every member of the cast does their own singing (or so says the press release), which is astonishing when you consider that most of the actors have never sung professionally before.

Orphaned at age seven, when her famous violinist father passed away, Christine Daae was raised by Madame Giry in the Paris Opera Populaire. From a young age she showed great promise as both a singer and a dancer. The secret to her talents can be partly attributed to a mysterious voice that she's heard since the death of her father. This voice guides her and tutors her with her singing, but little does she suspect that it is the voice of Erik, the Phantom of the Opera. The Phantom lives deep beneath the opera house where he uses his ingenious talents to orchestrates all to ensure Christine's success. But when Christine's childhood friend, the now handsome and dashing Raoul returns and expresses his love for Christine, the Phantom grows jealous and his wrath echoes throughout the Opera Populaire. The Phantom, filled with anger and consumed by possessive passion, kidnaps Christine and takes her to his cavernous underground lair. After unmasking him and revealing a disfigured face, the Phantom lets Christine go. Then he sends a threatening note declaring that Christine should replace Carlotta, an obnoxious prim Donna and the star of the latest opera, but when the new owners of the opera disregard the Phantom's note, he disrupts the performance on opening night. The Phantom kills a stage hand, and sabotages Carlotta's performance, practically destroying her career. Meanwhile Raoul plans to take Christine away from the opera house before misfortune should befall her too, but the Phantom won't allow it. The Phantom sets into action a plan that will guarantee that he and Christine won't be separated... ever. Yet Christine, torn between Raoul and the Phantom, is left to make the decision of a lifetime.

The screenplay, which was written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Joel Schumacher, is based upon the musical written by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Charles Hart, and Richard Stilgoe. The musical was inspired by the serial novel written by Gaston Leroux, though much has been changed in order to create a more romantic atmosphere.
Stylistically, The Phantom of the Opera has no equal as the production design is immaculate and unlike anything seen in film before. And as I've mentioned before the lavish costumes, which were designed by Alexandra Byrne, help to set the tone of the film. The lighting and cinematography are also spectacular. In fact, it's hard to find any significant flaws in the film, at least not from a technical standpoint.
My only complaint is that some of the actors have difficulty adapting the acting style of the stage to that of the screen. However, this is a very minor annoyance and the majority of the cast is superb, especially Emmy Rossum as Christine and Gerard Butler as The Phantom. Both should be deeply proud of their impressive work in this film.
Without a doubt, The Phantom of the Opera is a classic.

Also recommended:
The Phantom Of The Opera by Gaston Leroux
The Phantom of the Opera (original 1925 Universal Studios film)
Phantom of the Opera (original 1943 Universal Studios remake)
The Rocky Horror Picture Show / Shock Treatment
The Lost Boys
Moulin Rouge
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
The Phantom of the Opera: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Description of The Phantom of the Opera (Two-Disc Special Edition)

Musical Drama based on Andrew Lloyd Webber's celebrated musical phenomenon. The Phantom of the Opera tells the story of a disfigured musical genius (Gerard Butler) who haunts the catacombs beneath the Paris Opera, waging a reign of terror over its occupants. When he falls fatally in love with the lovely Christine (Emmy Rossum), the Phantom devotes himself to creating a new star for the Opera, exerting a strange sense of control over the young soprano as he nurtures her extraordinary talents.

DVD Features:
Additional Scenes:"No-one Would Listen" Approx. 4 Mins.
DVD ROM Features
Documentary:Behind the Mask - The Story of the Phantom of the Opera
Easter Eggs
Featurette:The Making of The Phantom of the Opera in 3 Spellbinding Acts: Preproduction, The Director, Production

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 ing?nue 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.

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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 special 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 of 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

More on The Phantom of the Opera

The Phantom of the Opera (Special Extended Edition Soundtrack) (CD)
The Phantom of the Opera (2004 Movie Soundtrack) (CD)
The Phantom of the Opera (Original 1986 London Cast) (CD)

Evita (DVD)
Andrew Lloyd Weber: The Royal Albert Hall Celebration (DVD)
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