Phantom of the Opera on DVD with Gerard Butler: CHECK IN!

May 16, 2005

[Cinnamon Girl]

For those who never saw the musical, or the movie when it was released, the DVD is out now, and I recommend it. Very much. Number one because of this guy:

Scottish actor Gerard Butler, who I first saw on the DVD release of "Attila," cannot cover his Scottish brogue no matter how hard he tries (and why should he, really?) and the unfortunate truth is that, well, he isn't the strongest singer they could find, but he is a good actor and let's face it, he's hot.

I knew before seeing the DVD that Butler couldn't sing so well and that Schumacher and Andrew Lloyd Webber cast him for the other reasons mentioned, so I didn't have high expectations. But Butler is so intense, and it's such a dazzling film, and Emmy Rossum is such a fine singer, that it was all very appealing.

The look of the opera house was fascinating and elaborate as were the costumes, and especially intricate were the secret passages to the Phantom's cave-like home.

Emmy Rossum is remarkable. Isn't she 18? I like her voice because it's clear and strong but not opera-ish. And the two leads definitely expressed a chemistry which made their scenes together more powerful.

ATTENTION: *****(the following may sort of ruin certain aspects of the story for anyone who isn't totally familiar with it, so skip it, please!):

Some parts of the movie I didn't understand, like, why exactly was Christine's boyfriend, the visconte, better than the Phantom? If it hadn't been for one particularly hugely wrong incident which I didn't understand the motivation for anyway, what was so wrong with the man in the mask?

I cried my head off at the end, when the Phantom had an emotional revelation and then cried for his broken heart. That's when Butler's acting abilities really shined. You could see his face change as he considered what was happening, and his tears just flowed.

Minnie Driver's singing was looped. I guess it would have been too weird to loop the Phantom, but I'm not sure it would have been a bad idea.

Overall, I liked and maybe loved this film and recommend it, recognizing that guys may not care for it much or at all.

[Cinnamon Girl]

Have you seen it? Please share.

[Cinnamon Girl]

For those of you who may be interested.

[FormerACLUmember]

I saw the DVD last week and totally enjoyed it. The sets and staging were spectacular. And I happen to love the music.

[Mad Dawgg]

I just saw Moulon Rouge for the first time last night and was blown away.

I am heading to Netflix now to and this one to my list.

[tiamat]

Haven't seen it yet.

Saw the origional play in Toronto years ago.

Cy, check it out!

[Gewittermädchen]

well, he isn't the strongest singer they could find, but he is a good actor and let's face it, he's hot.

I so agree...

[Darkwolf]

Haven't seen it and have no desire to, but it's always interesting to me how many women I've known are hugely into musicals, while the few I've seen have left me not only uninterested but completely bored stiff. (I'm not putting this movie down, btw, just using this opportunity to talk about the general topic.) It's not about imagination, as I've sold some pretty far-out fiction, but I think it's about making overt emotions that women feel and think about but never get to express, or, maybe more pertinently, they wish men would express overtly. I don't like the music, don't like musicals, the style of music is just florid and sappy to me, but I am always amazed at how INTENSELY some people love this stuff.

[nutmeg]

:o)

[Gewittermädchen]

BTW, Minnie Driver was the only one in the cast who did not sing, all dubbed, thought she was hysterical though, "get my doggies, bring my doggies, bye, bye!!

[narby]

Saw it this weekend. Pretty good. But I enjoyed the two trips to see it on stage in LA better.

There were some small things that could have improved it dramatically (pun....).

Don't continue if you haven't seen it yet.

The part where the phantom chases the stage hand in the rigging up over the stage was done badly. It was appropriate that they showed the phantom chasing him. But then he caught him, and you watched the phantom put the noose over his neck. Then the stage hand fell down and hung over the stage.

Totally predictable. Written like someone who was "too close" to the stage production would have converted it to movie.

They could have showed the chase. But then skip directly to the body dropping on the noose. It would have had the surprise that it had on the stage where a normal show was going on and suddenly this body drops down. Wow.

[cyborg]

excellent... thanks for thinking of me...a thick,scottish accent would loosen my morals in a hot second.

[Cinnamon Girl]

I still have the copy I got from Netflix. I'm thinking about sending it back...

[narby]

I am always amazed at how INTENSELY some people love this stuff.

The LA stage production was awesome. The music is beautiful too.

[SouthernFreebird]

OMG I saw this on the big screen and ran to the store the first day of release. I loved this movie, I cried everytime I've watched it (about 100x) and my kids love it.

And yeah the Phanton is so hot! I can't believe she would go for that wuss over the Phantom... now he has testosterone.
Heck I'd do him even with the messed up face :)

[Cinnamon Girl]

I couldn't figure out why the Phantom killed that guy. Sure he was obnoxious, but how was he exceptionally bad to the Phantom?

[ezo4]

just brought it yesterday. Havent seen it yet

[Theo]

I saw it with my wife in the theater. Puzzlingly bad, in my opinion.

The cinematography is great, but the story seems to have been written by a pretentious undergrad student trying to impress someone. It's got elements stolen from a dozen other stories, inappropriate and story-disrupting outfits (who walks around in the cold of winter with their chest bared?), a musical accompaniment straight out of a 70s rock opera, and so on.

The cinematography is alluring, but all the accollades this film receives strikes me like the applause people gave at "seeing" the emperor's new clothes.

I guess what I'm saying is that people shouldn't be ashamed to say they don't care for such a "classic" as this....

[MikefromOhio]

screw the guy who played the Phantom, who was that young blonde that was Christine's friend? SHE was gorgeous!!!!

[supercat]

In many ways, this is a really great film, but the greatness is in some ways marred by excessive silliness. I fully recognize that this is a musical, and so the concept of people singing is part of the normal suspension of disbelief. Candelabras which rise, lit, out of an underground lake, however, are simply goofy (yes, I know the stage musical does it, but the effect there is more metaphoricaal than literal). The first time I saw the film, stuff like that put me in 'silly mood' and distracted from the rest of the picture. The second time I figured that since I already knew the story editors were goofy I figured I could focus on other aspects and enjoyed it much better.

Still, the list of sillinesses is pretty impressive:

1. The candelabra 'hands' in the first verse of the "Phantom of the Opera" song.
2. Indecision of whether a verse of music is voice-over or direct singing, changing depending upon camera angle.
3. A very powerful underground light source outside the phantom's lair
4. Chrstine telling a driver to take her "To the cemetary--to my father's grave". If the driver knew her, she wouldn't have to say which grave she wanted, and if he didn't know her, her order wouldn't tell him where to go.
5. The "James Bond" swimming scene. The film is somewhat overlong, and would have been just as good if not better if everything from Raoul's walking down the stairs to him climbing out of the water was cut.
6. The "ropes and chains flailing madly" insert shots during the chandelier disaster
7. The chandelier disaster itself does not seem to have been well-thought-out. Consider the implications for the 1919 opening and also for Mme. Giry's order that Meg stay put.

I really like the film, but find myself amazed at the number of small bits of Plan-Nine-level stupidity that were left in.

[Cinnamon Girl]

Agree with all of it. Was the boyfriend more appealing in the stage show? Because I didn't get it. Not that this guy wasn't a fine singer, and would probably have it going on with shorter hair and some jeans, but where was the appeal here? And remember when the Phantom showed up at the Mascarade while Christine and boyfriend were dancing, and boyfriend just left the room, leaving her unprotected?