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View Full Version : Phantom of the Opera - The Movie ??????



MWM
12-15-2004, 09:50 PM
Blech.

Is nothing sacred anymore?

:thumbdown

westofyou
12-15-2004, 10:07 PM
Blech.

Is nothing sacred anymore?

:thumbdown


Story has been done already.

Phantom of Paradise - Brian Depalma 1974

:MandJ:

Rojo
12-15-2004, 10:10 PM
Phantom of Paradise - Brian Depalma 1974

A much under-appreciated flick, IMO.

westofyou
12-15-2004, 10:11 PM
A much under-appreciated flick, IMO.


Paul Williams... stunning.

MWM
01-30-2005, 10:19 AM
Saw Phantom last night. It wasn't bad and was definitely better than I expected. BUt, I didn't have very high expectations. I thought the movie was actually well done and kept pretty closely to the play. The few additions they made I thought were good ones and added to the story effectively. But just as I had suspected, I don't understand some of the casting decisions. Christine was pretty good, but I've seen Phantom on stage a couple of times and I've heard much better (although she was definitely better than the insufferable Sarah Brightman). The amazing thing about Christine was that she was only 17 years old when the movie was filmed. She had a very pure voice, but it wasn't all that powerful. A few of the parts that require the part to really let it go, she didn't quite have it and made for some anti-climactic parts of the movie that were some of the most exhilarating parts of the stage play. BUt Christine's acting was excellent and I definitely think she did a good job overall. I just thought she was lacking a little of the vocal power required to play Christine.

Two words for Minnie Driver..... WOW and WOW. I had no idea she could sing like that. She was pretty amazing. Actually, after watching the movie I said to my wife that I thought SHE should have played Christine. If she could have pulled off the age I thought she would have been an excellent choice.

The person who played Raoul was incredible. The only downside was that his part doesn't sing more, because his voice was amazing. Great choice for him.

The Phantom did a very good job. Again, I thought they could have done better vocally, but the Phantom doesn't necessarily have to be a GREAT singer. I thought he acted the part extremely well. It was strange seeing the Phantom up close. On stage you're used to seeing him from a distance which makes him a little more mysterious. In the movie, the mask was also contoured exactl like his face so you could pretty much see what he looked like.

Overall, it was definitely worth seeing. But no matter how great the sound system is in the theater, there's just no way to duplicate a live chorus and soloists. So a lot of the songs that are so powerful when you're watching it live become much less dramatic on screen. Obviously that would be the case for any musical, but there's only a few musicals that have ever been made that just shouldn't be translated to the big screen and Phantom is one of them, IMO. I liked it but won't be buying the DVD. And it made me really want to go see the live version again.

Sweetstop
01-30-2005, 04:40 PM
According to Minnie Driver her voice was dubbed for the songs during the movie...She did sing the song at the end over the credits.

MWM
01-30-2005, 09:07 PM
According to Minnie Driver her voice was dubbed for the songs during the movie...She did sing the song at the end over the credits.

I'll have to look that up, because I had heard that the only way Andrew Lloyd Weber agreed to allow this to be made into a movie was if each character sang their own part.

LvJ
01-30-2005, 11:45 PM
I liked the movie alot.

MWM
01-31-2005, 12:42 AM
It's true, Driver was the only person in the movie who didn't sing her own part. That's bush, IMO. If she can't sing the part, get someone who can. Because her acting wasn't very good at all. And she was the only "name" in the entire movie. :thumbdown That definitely makes my opinion of the movie go down a little.

Sweetstop
01-31-2005, 09:04 AM
I think that's why they wanted her...BECAUSE she was a "name."

MWM
01-31-2005, 09:43 AM
I know. And that really rubs me the wrong way. Let the movie stand on its own. Let the people with the talent get the accolades and get their names out there. It's like Evita and Madonna. I thought Madonna was awful compared to just about anyone else who could have played the part from Broadway. Evita is one of my favorite musicals and I haven't watched it since I saw it in the theater because I thought they really sold out in making it by not putting someone who's truly capable of playing Eva Parone and trying to go with a "name." I couldn't have been more disppointed. Heck, you could have picked just about any lead actress from just about any Braodway tour company and they could have put Madonna to shame. It's a peeve of mine, if you can't tell.

Sweetstop
01-31-2005, 10:05 AM
:) A peeve? Nah, you'd never know from the subtlety of your post, MWM. ;)

I saw Phantom on the stage in NYC years ago. I have all the music from the show, but for some reason I can't get up any enthusiasm for the movie. We'll probably watch it on DVD one day I suppose.

By the way, I agree w/ you about Madonna and Evita, although I will admit to liking some of Madonna's work over the years.

savafan
05-06-2005, 05:37 PM
The DVD came out this week, and the bonus documentaries on the making of the movie were very interesting.

IIRC, the musical is coming to the Aronoff in December. I've already got seats reserved in the second row.