Phantom of the Opera

I saw "Phantom" today...and all I can really say is that I'm totally disappointed with it.

I should state now that I'm a huge fan of the stage production and have seen it twice: once on Broadway and once with a touring company that came to town. But I was so excited when I heard they were making of movie of this film, that I swear I thought I couldn't wait until it opened to see it!


...but while this film wasn't terrible, it certainly was not on par with other films of it's nature (most closely comapred to Moulin Rouge). And I don't think it should have been nominated for "Best Picture" in the Golden Globes, either.

The trailers for this film made it look awesome, despite the fact that it was a Joel Schumacher film.


I will say though that Emily Rossum was magnificent as Christine, so were the actors who played Raul, Meg, Andre, and Mdme Giri. Minnie Driver was perfectly cast as Carlotta as well!


....but the actor who played the Phantom? Where could I possibly start? He cannot sing. He just can't. Even with as much studio help as he had, it was still painstakingly obvious that he lacked the talent the role he was cast in called for. He was flat, he had no style to his voice, not to mention he shouted half of his songs. (I'm probably terribly biased since I adore Michael Crawford who originated the role). And it was funny because whenever he would sing, the music would be just as loud as him, as to cover up the roughness in his voice. His acting was just as cheesy. I really felt myself wanting to laugh half the time he was on screen! (Ok, I could be a bit harsh).


However, there is no excuse for half of the cast not being able to sing well when they are cast in a musical.


The masquerade ball was visually beautiful though And I loved the choreography!


Simply put, I found this film to be pain-stakingly long. A lot of visuals that worked well on stage did not translate well into film (which I found rather odd since you can do so much more with film).


And as much as I love Andrew Lloyd Webber's "The Phantom of the Opera," I'd much rather pretend that this film never happened and hold to my memories of the stage production.


Latah
Token

I saw it a few weeks ago thanks to the magic of piracy. Once again, I believe that Joel Shumacher has to be probobly the worst director known to man. He screwed up Batman, and made Phone Booth, which has to be one of the worst movies ever (Keifer Sutherland and Colin Farrell should be shot after making that). Go see it on Broadway. It's better, and a chandalier falls down, causing heart attacks for old people.

Didnt see the movie, saw the play/opera/musical/whatever its called the day after Christmas. The chandelier fall is cool...everyone freaked out. Good stuff...

Owww I want to go see this too!! I have never seen the whole vesrion on Phamton but I always like the music! Neat! I must get to see this as well! Thanks! ^_^"""

I can't agree with you on the Phantom, Token, but maybe I'm biased because I think Gerard Butler is hot. Anyway, I thought he was okay, but perhaps they should have substituted his voice. He looked good as Eric (read the book, you'll get it), but I was half-expecting them to replace his voice with Michael Crawford's. I only thought this because I read it somewhere that they would, but that obviously didn't happen.

quote:

(I'm probably terribly biased since I adore Michael Crawford who originated the role).

But I can agree with you on that. I adore Michael Crawford too, and if it weren't for the fact that I can't find any good photos of him as Phantom, it'd be him in my signature instead of Gerard.

I think Michael Crawford has a much better singing voice than Gerard Butler, but Gerard is much better looking. (That's obvious too, he's all over my profile...) Christine was nice, and I must say that Raoul was butt-ugly, but was still a good role. However, I did enjoy the movie, despite some of the changes from the Stage production. I've seen the stage, I've listened to the original cast recording with Michael Crawford, and I'm currently reading the book.

I think instead of the sword fight, they should have stuck with the throwing of fireballs.

Later days:
JA

I saw the movie and I, too, was slightly disappointed.

I'm fortunate to have seen the stage production on Broadway twice before watching the movie (oMfg d4 ch4ndi113333RRRR!!!!11) and it was incredible and quite intense.

If I had seen the movie first, chances are I wouldn't be such a big fan of PotO.

However, I thought it got the job done. It was alright in its own respect. True, it's not on par with other musicals as a film, but then I'm not really a fan of musicals

MUCH more could have been done with the medium, as stated by Token. That said, I think the changes they did make...

spoiler (highlight to read):

...such as the chandelier falling at the END of the film...

...worked well.

quote:

Originally posted by Hanyou I saw the movie and I, too, was slightly disappointed. I'm fortunate to have seen the stage production on Broadway twice before watching the movie (oMfg d4 ch4ndi113333RRRR!!!!11) and it was incredible and quite intense. If I had seen the movie first, chances are I wouldn't be such a big fan of PotO. However, I thought it got the job done. It was alright in its own respect. True, it's not on par with other musicals as a film, but then I'm not really a fan of musicals MUCH more could have been done with the medium, as stated by Token. That said, I think the changes they did make... spoiler (highlight to read): ...such as the chandelier falling at the END of the film... ...worked well.

Yeah. They could have. Oh, I was listening to the soundtrack, then I listened to my Michael Crawford CD. I noticed the big voice changed (eep, Michael Crawford has a much, much, much better voice that Gerard [ha, I spelled it wrong the first few times...] Butler), then I noticed that they edit out parts of the "The Phantom of the Opera" song and "Music of the Night" and change some lyrics in "Masquerade". Kind of bummed me out.

Then I listened to the entire thing on tape (original cast recording ) and realized that the end part of "Masquerade" in the movie was different than the original. Phantom denigrating everyone except Christine is supposed to be in a note, sent to them and Mme Giry reads it to them, with Christine there. Also, the plan thing is supposed to have Christine with Raoul, so she can hear it when their reading the note denigrating everyone. And Phantom says "Your chains are still mine, you will sing for me!" instead of what he says in the movie.

So they made some big changes from the stage production to the movie. Bummer, I liked it. ^_^ The stage I mean. I keep listening to the original. Ha ha.

Later days:
JA

I am sorry to bring up an old thread...But I have recently seen the movie on DVD....I must say that it was done very well, the sets and costumes are amazing and I kind of perfer Butler over Crawford to a point (Even if Crawford was the first and being that I have only herd Butler and Crawford and not the other guys who have played the role.) I really liked the Masquerade part though...my favorite scene really.


As for the lyrics chaning and them droping a verse in "The Phantom of the opera" If you go back and wach some of the extras on the second DVD of the two disc set, you can see that the play wasn't without it's share of changed lyrics as well.

Don't worry I'm planning on reading the book and I wouldn't mind seeing the stage production...But from a musical stand point it was done very well.

*Gets shot*

Thanks Green Bird for reviving this thread. LOL. I was going to do it today anyway.

I saw this movie on DVD last night with my boyfriend (who is a BIG Phantom fan). My personal view: I LOVE THE MOVIE! Visually, wonderfully done and I felt the music was nicely done! I really enjoyed all the use of the snow and the scene where she goes to the graveyard had some wicked music behind it!

Though, my first comment to my boyfriend was that the Phantom was too pretty (somehow, I had seen a pic of Crawford's Phantom before the movie). I mean, the first time he looses the mask, you can't even tell he's deformed. I think that might have been an editorial mistake like Christine's mask in the masquarde (she apparently has one, but it's gone later).

I still can't get over how nicely done it was. I mean, the masquarde scene was black and white and BAM, the Phantom is dressed in a nice red number. The opera house was beautiful too. I must say, I also enjoyed the use of color and contrasts. I'm still surprised Minnie Driver is in this movie! She was def. very good: "BRING ME MY DOGGIE!"

We also watched some extras like the cut scene. Why did they cut that? It was a nice musical number (whether the guy can sing or not!). Of course....there's another reason why I like those lyrics.

And the extra thing about how the show came about, AWESOME. I really want to hear the soundtrack to the original show! The music seemed really cool. Hopefully, we'll get a chance to get to New York to see the show (we just have to figure out how we're getting there) so then I can compare.

Later,
Pen1300

quote:

Originally posted by pen1300 And the extra thing about how the show came about, AWESOME. I really want to hear the soundtrack to the original show! The music seemed really cool. Hopefully, we'll get a chance to get to New York to see the show (we just have to figure out how we're getting there) so then I can compare.

Yes! Get the Original London Production Cast recording That one is probably the most well known, and is one of the better recordings. The singers in the musical production are much stronger, and much more talented than the singers in the movie (Emmy Rossum has a pretty voice, but it lacks the strength and solidity of Sarah Brightman's). I'm still bitter about this movie though, partly because the singing was so shotty. I also can't get over how they "prettied" up the Phantom....no, just....no. I agree with you that visually it was stunning, but as a former Phantom fangirl, I had such high hopes for this movie, and it broke my heart


Latah
Token

quote:

Originally posted by Token Kittie quote: Originally posted by pen1300 And the extra thing about how the show came about, AWESOME. I really want to hear the soundtrack to the original show! The music seemed really cool. Hopefully, we'll get a chance to get to New York to see the show (we just have to figure out how we're getting there) so then I can compare. Yes! Get the Original London Production Cast recording That one is probably the most well known, and is one of the better recordings. The singers in the musical production are much stronger, and much more talented than the singers in the movie (Emmy Rossum has a pretty voice, but it lacks the strength and solidity of Sarah Brightman's). I'm still bitter about this movie though, partly because the singing was so shotty. I also can't get over how they "prettied" up the Phantom....no, just....no. I agree with you that visually it was stunning, but as a former Phantom fangirl, I had such high hopes for this movie, and it broke my heart Latah Token

LOL! Yes, the singing is not the greatest. I mean, even though I don't have the music background my boyfriend does, I could tell when they enhanced the voices technically. Actually, my one comment was "No one can hold that note that long naturally." Actually, I heard for Minnie Driver's Character, they used the original actress's singing voice. In turn, this makes me wonder how many they added in.

Later,
Pen1300

quote:

Originally posted by pen1300 [...] Actually, I heard for Minnie Driver's Character, they used the original actress's singing voice. In turn, this makes me wonder how many they added in.

I herd that she was the only one that didn't sing (although, she did sing Learn to be Lonely), everyone else sung their own parts.

quote:

Originally posted by Green_Bird quote: Originally posted by pen1300 [...] Actually, I heard for Minnie Driver's Character, they used the original actress's singing voice. In turn, this makes me wonder how many they added in. I herd that she was the only one that didn't sing (although, she did sing Learn to be Lonely), everyone else sung their own parts.

That was what I mean. They supposedly used the orginally actress from the Phantom show and not Driver's voice. It's hard to explain because I don't know their names and stuff.

Learn to be Lonely was much better sung by the Phantom...but we skipped the credits to see his version.

Later,
Pen1300

quote:

Originally posted by pen1300 LOL! Yes, the singing is not the greatest. I mean, even though I don't have the music background my boyfriend does, I could tell when they enhanced the voices technically. Actually, my one comment was "No one can hold that note that long naturally." Actually, I heard for Minnie Driver's Character, they used the original actress's singing voice. In turn, this makes me wonder how many they added in. Later, Pen1300

I've only listened to the soundtrack; I've yet to see the movie, though one thing I've noticed is that the music tends to be louder when the Phantom sings. There is an easy explanation for that. The poor guy is shouting his lyrics, basically. There is the conception (founded or not is irrelevent) that the louder you sing, the easier it is to hit higher notes. Being as the Phantom is not the best of singers (I'd daresay he's easily one of the worst on the soundtrack), it's hardly surprising he'd try and shout his way through.

I was actually impressed with Rossum as Christine; as Token mentioned, she might not have had as forceful a voice as Brightman's (and I'd say that's a very accurate comparison), but I think she did a great job nonetheless. Actually, in a way it helped her fit into Christine's character, I thought. Granted, I've not seen how she acts the part yet, but considering how Christine was depicted in the play (young and talented but still relatively inexperienced), she seemed to sing the role rather well.

I have some questions about the movie:

1. If the phantom lives below the opera house in the sewers and presumably steals all his stuff from the props department and doesn't get out much...why the hell does he need 120,000 francs a month? What's he goanna do with it?

2. Whyyyyy can't Christine just run away?

3. How does the Phantom expect to keep Christine locked up in his place forever? Wouldn't that be boring?

4. In the musical, I recall the phantom did not grow up in the opera house, but traveled with a bunch of gypsies as a child and teenager (where he learned music and how to strangle folks). Why did they feel like changing that for the movie?

5. Isn't Madame Giry essentially pimping Christine out to the Phantom? Doesn no one else find it disturbing that Giry is Christine's adoptive mother and approves/does nothing and the Phantom is an adoptive father and wants to bone Christine?

6. On that note, in the musical, the Phantom was pretty old, so this makes sense, but in the movie the Phantom is like, 30. And in the movie sequence where Giry rescues him from the freak show, she's maybe 15, he's maybe 10. But in present day, Giry looks at least 45...