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Product Description: Musical Drama based on Andrew Lloyd Webber's celebrated musical phenomenon. The Phantom of the Opera tells the story of a disfigured musical genius (Gerard Butler) who haunts the catacombs beneath the Paris Opera waging a reign of terror over its occupants. When he falls fatally in love with the lovely Christine (Emmy Rossum) the Phantom devotes himself to creating a new star for the Opera exerting a strange sense of control over the young soprano as he nurtures her extraordinary talents.Running Time: 141 min.System Requirements:Running Time: 141 MinutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: PG-13 UPC: 085393895228 Manufacturer No: 38952Amazon.com: Although it's not as bold as Oscar darling Chicago, The Phantom of the Opera continues the resuscitation of the movie musical with a faithful adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's blockbuster stage musical. Emmy Rossum glows in a breakout role as opera ingénue Christine Daae, and if phantom Gerard Butler isn't Rossum's match vocally, he does convey menace and sensuality in such numbers as "The Music of the Night." The most experienced musical theater veteran in the cast, romantic lead Patrick Wilson, sings sweetly but seems wooden. The biggest name in the cast, Minnie Driver, hams it up as diva Carlotta, and she's the only principal whose voice was dubbed (though she does sing the closing-credit number, "Learn to Be Lonely," which is also the only new song). Director Joel Schumacher, no stranger to visual spectacle, seems to have found a good match in Lloyd Webber's larger-than-life vision of Gaston LeRoux's Gothic horror-romance. His weakness is cuing too many audience-reaction shots and showing too much of the lurking Phantom, but when he calms down and lets Rossum sings "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again" alone in a silent graveyard, it's exquisite. Those who consider the stage musical shallow and overblown probably won't have their minds changed by the movie, and devotees will forever rue that the movie took the better part of two decades to develop, which prevented the casting of original principals Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman. Still, The Phantom of the Opera is a welcome exception to the long line of ill-conceived Broadway-to-movie travesties. DVD Features
The special edition of The Phantom of the Opera has two major extras. "Behind the Mask: The Story of The Phantom of the Opera" is an hourlong documentary tracing the genesis of the stage show, with interviews of composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, director Harold Prince, producer Cameron Macintosh, lyricists Richard Stilgoe and Charles Hart, choreographer Gillian Lynne, and others. Conspicuously absent are stars Sarah Brightman and Michael Crawford. Both do appear in video clips, including Brightman performing with Colm Wilkinson at an early workshop, and Crawford is the subject of a casting segment. Other brief scenes from the show are represented by a 2001 production. The other major feature is the 45-minute making-of focusing on the movie, including casting and the selection of director Joel Schumacher Both are well-done productions by Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Group. The deleted scene is a new song written by Lloyd Webber and Charles Hart, "No One Would Listen," sung by the Phantom toward the end of the movie. It's a beautiful song that, along with Madame Giry's story, makes him a more sympathetic character. But because that bit of backstory already slowed down the ending, it was probably a good move to cut the song. --David Horiuchi More on The Phantom of the Opera 
The Phantom of the Opera (Special Extended Edition Soundtrack) (CD) | 
The Phantom of the Opera (2004 Movie Soundtrack) (CD) | 
The Phantom of the Opera (Original 1986 London Cast) (CD) | 
Evita (DVD) | 
Andrew Lloyd Weber: The Royal Albert Hall Celebration (DVD) | 
More Broadway DVDs |
Customer Reviews:
- Great movie: I wore out my tape cassette of Phantom back in the 1980s, though I never got to see the actual musical on stage. It's nice to be able to have it on DVD so I can finally see the dialogue and sets while I hear the music. This is a very good production. Emmy Rossum has a beautiful voice and projects the sweetness, innocence and youth that the character should have. The rest of the cast does a fine job as well. Definitely worth the investment.
- Disappointing: I loved the play and saw it several times. I was happy to hear that it was being filmed and hoped that it would prove to be a comeback for the Hollywood musical, but so many bad decisions were made it hard to know how to begin. Let's start with the casting. The guy who played the phantom was terrible. He couldn't sing! Maybe if you've never seen or heard Michael Crawford you might think him adequate, but his voice just couldn't do justice to the music. End of story. The play and original story had a lot of supernatural elements such as Christine walking through the mirror and the magical lasso that hung in the middle of the air. Part of the fun was wondering how the phantom did these things. In the movie all this was explained away. Christine finds the mirror to be a sliding glass door of all things. The phantom was way too good looking. He is supposed to be scary and hideous in appearance. He is just a handsome guy with a mask. When you do finally see him it is underwhelming. He just isn't scary enough. By taking away the horror and supernatural elements we are just left with a love triangle. Combine that with some of the cepiatone filming and it takes on the feel of a cheap harlequin romance novel. These changes, though small, have a great significance. All the fun and profundity are absent. There are many good performances and the score is well done, beautiful sets and costumes...When I think of how good it should have been. I have to scratch my head. What fools!
Don't mess with perfection. And get a phantom who is scary and can sing! - The closest we will come to the Play for many of us: The Paris Opera House is being sold to a couple of junk... oops scrap metal dealers. They inherit along with the opera and Opera Company but also an unwanted guest. Yes it is the Opera Ghost or Phantom. The ghost falls in love with a voice and before the story of a love triangle is over we see that genius has turned to madness.
Loosely base on a story written by Gaston Leroux in 1911 "LE Fantôme de l'Opéra" (with many improvements) and more than 10 movie adaptations, "Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera" is brought to film with only scenes and sights and full orchestral music at can only bee seen and heard on film (best in Blu-ray).
As with many movie adoptions this film pails compared to the famous stage productions. Yet is much better than the stage version I watched locally. We also are treated of insights, which even though lack the mystery of stage, from flashbacks to carriage chase scenes.
The costuming and sets are impeccable and spectacular. Of course even for the time Patrick Wilson could stand to have a haircut.
Most of the actors, of course not the stage actors, were well chosen especially Minnie Driver as Carlotta. Emmy Rossum as Christine is cute as a button and could have been a Disney hereon. The only downside is that with all the choices of singers thy chose a lead Gerard Butler as The Phantom who is not a professional singer and you can hear it.
Ignore the fact that you can hear Evita creeping in many of the tunes and prepare to be wrapped in the story.
The Blu-ray DVD has a great back story of the Making of the Phantom that almost rivals the movie.
Evita - Worst Phatom they could have chosen: Of all the singers at their disposal, the guy they chosen for Phantom sucks! He's flat and off key many times, and is just horrible. Sub par performance, plus really crappy makeup effect for the Phantom as well. Christine and Raoul are well played and are the ONLY glimmer of hope. This is a rental ~ not a purchase. It's not a movie you'll watch over and over. I've seen the play several times with many different actors from Michael Crawford to Robert Guillaume ~ and a muppet would have sung better than this clown. What a disappointment!
- show stopping service: The Phantom of the Opera (Full Screen Edition)
I had wornout my last copy of this dvd. How nice to be able to order anew copy, and receive it in mere days.Now I can once again view one of my favorite musicals when ever I wish.
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