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Phantom Of The Opera
List Price: Unknown [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
A decent version of the popular horror tale, it's doubtful that nobody knows the tale of the composer (Claude Rains) who seeks revenge on others for the accident that deformed him years ago. Living under a Paris opera house, he falls in love with Christine and isn't able to take it when he finds out that she's in love with someone else.
The film is fairly well acted, but not terribly scary. Marketed as a horror film, it seems more like a drama, at least to me. The phantom is certainly a classic character, but this film version doesn't really present it (or any other character here) as that compelling a character, or why the audience should really care.
Where some of the other Universal horror titles that I've watched recently were at least moderately entertaining old-school fun with a few decent scares, "Phantom Of The Opera" (or at least this version), doesn't really spark, with either the characters or the story in general.
The DVD
VIDEO: Another older film from Univeral, another excellent effort. Where the first two editions from the classic horror series that I've looked at were black and white, "Phantom" is one of the early technicolor films, and it also looks quite good for its age. Impressively, the full-frame picture doesn't seem "flat" and occasionally has nice "depth" to the image.
Sharpness is pleasant but not perfect. What softness that does creep into the picture seems intentional for the most part. Detail is good, and clarity is never a problem. As with the rest of the classic Universal titles I've looked at in this horror series, the print used for "Phantom" seems in very good condition for a film of its age. I did notice some small speckles and marks here and there, but not as many as I'd expected. For the most part, the picture is very clean, with no instances of pixelation or shimmering, and hardly any grain.
The main color is red, which looks deep and rich here. Overall, "Phantom of the Opera" looks excellent and Univeral has again done a very nice job with a classic title.
SOUND: "Phantom of the Opera" is presented in 2.0 mono and again, the only problem that plagues the sound is age. Although like the rest of the films in the series it sounds fairly pleasant for mono of its age, it does display quite limited range, and does sound noticably thin at times with dialogue sounding clear, but a little harsh. As with video, fairly good considering the age.
MENUS:: Nicely film-themed menus that show images from the film, with sounds and score in the background.
EXTRAS:
Commentary: This is a commentary from film historian Scott MacQueen. It's not quite as interesting as the rest of the commentary tracks that I've listened to on the Universal horror series, although it isn't because there are pauses in the track, which there aren't. MacQueen is able to talk throughout the majority of the commentary, but I just didn't find his comments to be all that interesting. He talks mainly about the history behind the story and the actors, sometimes getting a little bit off-track and into other subjects.
Still, for those who are interested in learning more about the movie, the commentary track is definitely a good place to start - I suppose I just felt that this track isn't quite as organized and easy to follow as some of the other ones in the series.
The Opera Ghost: Proving to be of more interest, "An Opera Ghost" presents a fun look at the making of the film, talking about the themes behind the film and how the ideas of Opera combined with the gothic horror tale made for a popular story with audiences in both this version and the many other editions on film. As with the other documentaries included on the Universal horror titles, we are taken back in history to learn more about who the actors were and what other roles they had done before, in this case, "Phantom".
Also A gallery of production photos, production notes, cast/crew bios and theatrical trailer.
Final Thoughts: I'm probably in the minority on this one, but I didn't find "Phantom Of The Opera", or at least this version, to be that engaging. Universal though, has at least done another good job with audio/video quality and especially supplements - although the commentary isn't that interesting, I liked the documentary.
A decent version of the popular horror tale, it's doubtful that nobody knows the tale of the composer (Claude Rains) who seeks revenge on others for the accident that deformed him years ago. Living under a Paris opera house, he falls in love with Christine and isn't able to take it when he finds out that she's in love with someone else.
The film is fairly well acted, but not terribly scary. Marketed as a horror film, it seems more like a drama, at least to me. The phantom is certainly a classic character, but this film version doesn't really present it (or any other character here) as that compelling a character, or why the audience should really care.
Where some of the other Universal horror titles that I've watched recently were at least moderately entertaining old-school fun with a few decent scares, "Phantom Of The Opera" (or at least this version), doesn't really spark, with either the characters or the story in general.
The DVD
VIDEO: Another older film from Univeral, another excellent effort. Where the first two editions from the classic horror series that I've looked at were black and white, "Phantom" is one of the early technicolor films, and it also looks quite good for its age. Impressively, the full-frame picture doesn't seem "flat" and occasionally has nice "depth" to the image.
Sharpness is pleasant but not perfect. What softness that does creep into the picture seems intentional for the most part. Detail is good, and clarity is never a problem. As with the rest of the classic Universal titles I've looked at in this horror series, the print used for "Phantom" seems in very good condition for a film of its age. I did notice some small speckles and marks here and there, but not as many as I'd expected. For the most part, the picture is very clean, with no instances of pixelation or shimmering, and hardly any grain.
The main color is red, which looks deep and rich here. Overall, "Phantom of the Opera" looks excellent and Univeral has again done a very nice job with a classic title.
SOUND: "Phantom of the Opera" is presented in 2.0 mono and again, the only problem that plagues the sound is age. Although like the rest of the films in the series it sounds fairly pleasant for mono of its age, it does display quite limited range, and does sound noticably thin at times with dialogue sounding clear, but a little harsh. As with video, fairly good considering the age.
MENUS:: Nicely film-themed menus that show images from the film, with sounds and score in the background.
EXTRAS:
Commentary: This is a commentary from film historian Scott MacQueen. It's not quite as interesting as the rest of the commentary tracks that I've listened to on the Universal horror series, although it isn't because there are pauses in the track, which there aren't. MacQueen is able to talk throughout the majority of the commentary, but I just didn't find his comments to be all that interesting. He talks mainly about the history behind the story and the actors, sometimes getting a little bit off-track and into other subjects.
Still, for those who are interested in learning more about the movie, the commentary track is definitely a good place to start - I suppose I just felt that this track isn't quite as organized and easy to follow as some of the other ones in the series.
The Opera Ghost: Proving to be of more interest, "An Opera Ghost" presents a fun look at the making of the film, talking about the themes behind the film and how the ideas of Opera combined with the gothic horror tale made for a popular story with audiences in both this version and the many other editions on film. As with the other documentaries included on the Universal horror titles, we are taken back in history to learn more about who the actors were and what other roles they had done before, in this case, "Phantom".
Also A gallery of production photos, production notes, cast/crew bios and theatrical trailer.
Final Thoughts: I'm probably in the minority on this one, but I didn't find "Phantom Of The Opera", or at least this version, to be that engaging. Universal though, has at least done another good job with audio/video quality and especially supplements - although the commentary isn't that interesting, I liked the documentary.
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