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 Editor's Note
 Those who thought that smoke machines and cobwebbed candelabras were the stuff of Halloween parties and dance clubs need to think again. In Joel Schumacher's film adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Broadway musical THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, these moody set devices--and countless others--make every scene an atmospheric vision of souped-up 19th-century Gothic bliss. Christine Daee (a luminescent Emmy Rossum) is a tortured young star who is haunted by the voice of the phantom (Gerard Butler--who also played the lead in DRACULA 2000), a musician who hides in the shadows to hide a facial disfigurement, yet sings to her obsessively. Dwelling in the dark, damp chambers beneath the Paris opera house, the phantom lords over the cast and management with artistic autocracy--he writes the shows, casts them, and threatens all who disobey his plans with dramatically violent outbursts. But when his young student Christine falls for the rich and dapper Raoul (Patrick Wilson), the phantom descends into madness. Webber's memorable songs are performed with aplomb by Rossum, whose background includes singing with the Metropolitan Opera, and Wilson and Butler provide ample accompaniment. One of the treats of the proceedings is Minnie Driver's deeply exaggerated portrayal of the jealous diva, giving this PHANTOM a very appropriate dose of comic relief.
| Features | Source: Warner Home Video |
| Technical Info
| Release Information
|  | Studio: Warner Home Video |
 | Release Date: 1/29/2008 |
 | Running Time: 141 minutes |
 | Original Release Date: 2004 |  | Catalog ID: 38951 |  | UPC: 00085393895129 |  | Number of Discs: 1 | Audio & Video
|  | Video: Color |
| Cast & Crew | Emmy Rossum |  | Gerard Butler |  | Minnie Driver |  | Patrick Wilson |  | Miranda Richardson |  | Andrew Lloyd Webber - Producer |  | Anthony Pratt - Production Designer |  | Andrew Lloyd Webber - Screenwriter |  | Paul Hitchcock - Executive Producer |  | Gaston Leroux - Source Writer |  | Andrew Lloyd Webber - Composer |  | John Mathieson - Director of Photography |  | Austin Shaw - Executive Producer |  | Terry Rawlings - Editor |  | Simon Lee - Music |  | Alexandra Byrne - Costume Designer |  | Joel Schumacher - Screenwriter |  | Joel Schumacher - Director |
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| | Professional Reviews | Rolling Stone "[PHANTOM] is a rapturous spectacle. And the movie, directed full throttle by Joel Schumacher, goes the show one better....It smolders." 12/30/2004 p.171USA Today "The look is dazzling....Scotsman Gerard Butler does a fine job as the charismatic, ghostly character who hides away in the opera house because of his disfigurement." 12/22/2004 p.1D Movieline's Hollywood Life "[T]he lavish production captivates the senses, and the musical and emotional crescendos are overpowering." 12/01/2004 p.103 Widescreen Review "The beloved musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Richard Stilgoe sees a lush screen adaptation starring Emmy Rossum as Christine....Costume textures and fine details are amazingly rendered..." 06/01/2006 p.61 |
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