Phantom of Opera Options

[zbrittanyz]

This movie is sooooo good! I Emmy Rossum! She's the best!

[yeseulx3]

The Phantom looks good, although the mask makes him look a little weird.

no, the mask adds charisma.
it's sexy.

[Jhaks]

I saw the broadway performance.

[*Kathleen*]

its a broadway musical made into a movie
right?

Actually, the broadway musical was based on the French book, which was turned into a movie. Both of them stray a bit from the book with important themes, nonetheless, I loved the movie. I have the soundtrack...and yeah. Wow. I've become obsessed. It's sad how late this is with my obsession. I'm planning to see it at the cheapies on the weekend with my best friend. It's awesome. I love it. I think I'll go make a layout of it now...

[maia_dc]

It's been forever but I still wanna see it!!!!
So romantic... sort of.
Anyway, I love that type of thing. <33

[FoOd]

I wanna watch the movie... and I want the DVD.

[*stephinika*]

haha i've finally seen it! bought it on dvd and watched it last night...
i'm in love with this movie and its music. emmy rossum is amazing.

[*Kathleen*]

Haha. I LOVE YOUR SIGNATURE STEPH! Ahh. That song and "All I Ask of You" are my favorite. Gerard Butler is so hot. So is Patrick Wilson. I bought the soundtrack the other day.

[Ballpointpencil]

I am Phantom obsessed, and have been since I first picked up the book. I read it through fifteen times (yes, you read right- 15) before I ever downloaded ALW's music, which I immediately got hooked on as well. I'm leaving for NY on Thursday, mostly so I can see the musical on Broadway (though the book completely pwns any spin-off). Also have the old movie. Anyway, I'll c&p my "official review" of the movie. I saw it six times in theatre and bought the dvd the day it came out, so I did enjoy it quite a bit, lol.

"Just got back from “Phantom of the Opera”, so I thought I’d write while it was still fresh in my mind.

I don’t know what to think.

There was so much about this movie that pulls me in opposite directions. I love it, but I hate it. The plot was distorted horribly, but then, it was based off a musical that was based off a book, and I was comparing it to the book (which isn’t really fair to it). Though I truly dislike that they made Madame Giry such an important character and removed the Persian completely.

Raoul was an excellent actor and singer (his voice was better than the Phantom’s) though he was a completely different character than in the book. He should have been a spoiled, rich brat, but he instead he was a noble hero, who you actually wanted Christine to love. In the book, I rooted for the Phantom. In the musical, my mother (who has seen it) rooted for the Phantom. In the movie, I actually wanted Raoul to get the girl. Extreme change there, considering I had hoped that he would just get killed so Christine would end up with Erik.

That’s another thing, they never ever mentioned Phantom’s name! I mean, Erik wasn’t even his name, just a name he took on, but still, it was ‘his’ name. In the movie he was simply “the Phantom” or “the Angel (of music)”. Never the “poor Erik” that Christine mourned for.

Christine was also exquisite, especially in her singing, and to a lesser extent, her acting. She sort of had the same basic expression throughout the whole movie, but her voice was beautiful. I love the way she did “Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again”. ^_^ It made me very happy, as it is second only to “Music of the Night” in my opinion. Truthfully, I prefer her to Sarah Brightman, but don’t tell. =P

The Phantom himself. Don’t get me started. He did have a nice voice. I’ll give him that. But he had no range. To play in the place of Michael Crawford you need an impressive range, which he only had in a thin imitation. He completely butchered “Music of the Night” -_- as well as pretty much every other song he had. Especially “I Remember”. He didn’t hit ANY of the notes in the entire song (he hit them in the song immediately following that- “Stranger Than You Dreamt It”- but just barely), and he was taking them down a fifth anyway! Gah. Okay. Maybe it isn’t fair to compare the poor guy (who was not even a singer prior to the movie, by the way) to the great Michael Crawford. But really, he sang so badly that you wondered how he was supposed to have taught Christine when she sang worlds better than him.
However, he was an awesome actor. After the “All I Ask of You” duet (my favorite part of the whole movie, by the way, the actors did breathtakingly well in singing & acting during and right after it), when he was crushed and heartbroken, he almost made me want to cry in pity (then he opened his mouth and messed up his few lyrics in the reprise XD). His expressions looked so real, so heartfelt, that your heart went out to him. Maybe it was just because I had already read the book and knew the character well, but I really felt his agony during that one scene especially. The man was a remarkable actor.

The Masquerade scene was splendidly choreographed, though I can’t help but wonder why neither Raoul or Christine were wearing masks, when a big part of the story was that they were able to meet secretly at the Ball without Erik knowing because nobody knew who anybody else was. Heh. Oh well.

By the way, it looks like Mr. Shumacher spent half of the budget on candles. :P They are everywhere!

In conclusion, I did enjoy the movie. I really did. It is one that I will go see again, probably several times, before it is even released on video. It had it’s downfalls, and (to indirectly quote a critic) the Phantom should never be simply adequate, but it was a wonderful movie in it’s own right. I’m going back to see it, if for no other reason than the “All I Ask of You” scene.

Though I have to admit, when it comes out on video I’m going to match up my cd with it and turn off the sound. It would be awesome to have Crawford’s voice and Butler’s acting.

Hope you enjoy the movie."

[*Kathleen*]

Oh haha I know, I know - I've read the book as well. Neither the musical and movie live up to it, as you stated above. I agree with you. Yeah, they did change the characters quite a bit. They made the Phantom a lot more...wicked...I guess you could say so that you were forced to feel that Christine should ultimately pick Raoul. And yeah, I agree that Emmy has a wonderful voice, but...she doesn't have too many facial expressions. In itself, the movie was pretty good - that's if you put aside the musical and the book. In my opinion, anyways (even though I've already commented on it here, but I felt like responding to your post). Blah. Also, I didn't like how you kind of had to assume yourself how he taught Christine to sing and whatnot. It kind of cut out the whole relationship they had, and how he loved her, but she loved him as a father figure kind of thing. Blah. Okay, I'll shut up now. And yeah, Gerard's a magnificent actor. Ehh...I thought he was okay singing, but that's just me.

[Ballpointpencil]

Also, I didn't like how you kind of had to assume yourself how he taught Christine to sing and whatnot. It kind of cut out the whole relationship they had, and how he loved her, but she loved him as a father figure kind of thing.

I didn't even think about that. *Goes and watches the dvd again* Oh my gosh, that is true. They mention that he is her 'mentor' and such, but they never go into the hours that they have spent together learning and all that jazz.

[FoOd]

^ nice review, makes me wanna watch it now.

[emazing]

Erm. The movie was alright, and the actors sang really well, but singing throughout the whole movie was dull.

[*Kathleen*]

Uhm...that's what musicals do...dur...

[Teesa]

^
The movie is definitely one of my favorites! I never thought I would like it that much, but everything about it was wonderful. The songs were so awesome. =)

[technicolour]

I absolutely despise Sarah Brightman. Her verbrato is SOOO ANNOYING. Which is why i was so happy that Emmy Rossum came along. She was 16-17 when she was filming. Pretty dern good in my opinion. Plus Gerard Butler is like GORGEOUS

[KERP1UNK]

i haven't seen it...i dont think i will even though i kinda want to.

[sanbi]

I haven't watched this movie yet so i'm not sure yet...

[thorn_hailweb]

i can't take this poll because i dont agree with any of them. i thought the movie was good but i thought the broadway play was much better. although they did a good job(moviewise) of picking actors/actresses with talent, thankfully.

[angel-roh]

OMG I LOVE THAT MOVIE SO MUCH! I WATCHED IT YESTERDAY AND THE OTHER YESTERDAY. IT WAS AWESOME. I THINK GERALD BUTLER IS SOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOT! HOTTER THAN PATRICK WILSON. EWWW TO PATRICK WILSON. BUT IT'S SUCHA SAD MOVIE!!!

if i watch it again, it would be my 3rd time. my sister didnt watch it, so im gona watch it with her again. now i like emmy rossum a lot! she's a wonderful actress!! but it's gona gross when she kissed a guy who is like umm 17 years apart!! gerald is born in the 69' and emmy was born in the year of 86' ... hehe.

BUT STILL I THOUGHT THEY CHOOSED THE RIGHT AND PERFECTLY RIGHTTTT FOR THE PHANTOM. AND THE VOICE OF IT!! THE VOICE OF THE PHANTOM WAS SEXY!


sorry for the caps lock, but i really enjoyed this movie. i waNT THE DVD!!! does anyone wants to buy it for me? hehe

[LOVE machine x]

i rented it and havnt watched it yet, im planning on doing that today.

[*Kathleen*]

Haha Susan - I bought the DVD like a week after it came out, something I rarely do. It's okay, I would type in caps lock if I had the energy.

[maia_dc]

Omigosh. I just saw it on the plane coming back from Germany...
Wowww, I love it.

Now I'm obsessively downloading the soundtrack.
Anyone wanna buy me the DVD?
<333

[Jus2s1mp13]

Aww i havent watch this movie yet. I still gotta go rent it.

[bambamboozle]

I thought it was awesome, just beautiful. The director did an awesome job.