The Phantom of the Opera (2004) [DVD]

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.

After seeing Phantom of the Opera many times on stage I went to see this film with much trepidation, thinking that I probably would not like it that much and was sure that it wouldn't live up to the stage production. All I can say is I couldn't be more wrong. I thought it was absolutely wonderful and this DVD is a must for any Phantom fan. I think the casting was excellent and all the performers do a very good job of filling the shoes of the original London Cast performers. Michael Crawford who was a wonderful Phantom would probably be the first to admit that he would have been too old for the role of the Phantom now and so would Sarah Brightman who played the original Christine. Emmy Rossum and Gerard Butler do a terrific job and their screen chemistry is great. View it with an open mind. This is a film after all and it is very different from watching it live in a theatre, but nonetheless very enjoyable. It was crying out to be made into a film and Andrew Lloyd Webber's Film has NOT let us Phantom fans down. Buy it - you will not be disappointed.

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)