The Phantom of the Opera (1990)

Purely Joyful Movie!

Excellent, a Must See

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

As a child of the Millennium, I always thought that the 2004 version would be my favorite and my forever version.Until the day that I tripped on this one. It is not Leroux's version. It is not Andrew's luxurious musical version. It is something else. While it doesn't look as visually stunning as the musical, it has more depth and more development to it. You can watch and re-watch and never really get tired of it. Charles Dance made a unique Phantom. Charismatic, with a particular sense of humor and a lot more feeling than the 2004 version. More personal history and background too, for all of the involved characters. For Charles Dance performance alone this movie deserved more spotlight.

Short version of this review (which won't contain any plot summary): **This isn't horror, more drama/Gothic romance. Great writing and acting, gorgeous music even though it isn't a musical, and filmed at the REAL opera house in Paris. See it - if you're able to get it.** I recently rediscovered this 2-part mini series, on YouTube of all places. It doesn't seem to have been shown much on TV, and one has to make an effort to track down DVDs as well. Generally, this has never been distributed the way it should have been IMO, which is a disgrace. We taped it from a Norwegian TV airing when I was a kid and watched it time and time again, yet sometimes it's like it exists in a vacuum.This version might well have the best Phantom of them all, played by Charles Dance of recent Tywin Lannister fame. Wonderfully written and acted, he's pretty different from other versions; a sardonic British gentleman (in manners if not accent), yet passionate and vulnerable. Not insane as much as unstable, and much more sympathetic (and boy did the teen girls on YouTube notice that! Well, at least I hope they're teens..). This Phantom is like if you provided Gerard Butler (2004) with more dignity, less selfishness and a sense of humor. And he STILL comes off more threatening. Christine is played by a young Teri Polo, she's pretty good, but a bit overwrought, and annoyingly naive. Poor Adam Storke gets the ungrateful task of playing Raoul, or Phillipe, as he's called here (his brother's name in the novel). Everybody always hates Raoul, because he gets the girl over the main character even though he's not a traditional hero (in other aspects his characterization varies). However, he remains Christine's childhood sweetheart, and the one who offers her a normal, healthy life, something the Phantom wants to deny her. And Christine does not love the Phantom in a romantic way; she loves Raoul. Storke does a good job if you can look beyond his blonde tresses and raspy voice (was he trying to sound French or what??) His version of Raoul is less condescending to Christine than Andrew Lloyd Webber's. Others worth mentioning are Burt Lancaster in key role and Andrea Ferreol as a very evil AND very funny Carlotta. For a TV movie with presumably restricted budget the production values are truly outstanding. The movie was filmed in the real Opera house Palais Garnier in Paris, apparently as the only Phantom version so far. The sets are very atmospheric and a welcome relief from the kitschy production values of the 2004 movie. The music needs to be mentioned. This is no musical (though was later made into one, very confusing), but uses real operas combined with a haunting original score by John Addison. Christine and the Phantom have opera singing doubles, but believe me, this is one instance where that works, as the voices chosen (Michele Lagrange and Gerard Carino) are exquisite. I love Lloyd Webber's music, but this is just as good if not better.The only problem I can think of with this mini is some pacing issues in Part 2, where it slows down a bit, which makes it all the more annoying that it was never cut down to movie length and released in cinemas. Well, I guess DVDs and Youtube are better than nothing. Unless you loathe romances (this is deeply romantic in an old-fashioned, Gothic way) - see it.

I saw this movie 1992 I think... and very often after that, so often that I memorized it. Then someone ruined the VHS- tape and it was lost, but I thought about it many times over the years. Now I just saw it again and I swear I got goosebumps! I love it. I think the last scene with the phantom and Christine (the singing) is the most beautiful confession of love I have EVER seen or heard. I can really feel their emotions (and even the emotions of Philippe where he sits). When an actor can make me feel what the character is supposed to be feeling... that is good acting! I love the costumes, I love how every character seem to fit, even the cop is a little compassionate in the end... I just love it. 10 out of 10

I have seen all other film version of this story, and have read the original novel, and I can say this is absolutely the best adaptation. It surpasses the original story, it is presented with A-list actors, superb mounting, flawless film-making savvy across the board, but most importantly the changes to the original story, and the ignoring of every previous film effort, have made this TV production of The Phantom of the Opera the Classic cinema adaptation! I assume the fact of my missing this film in 1998 is due to it being an overseas TV production but the DVD I viewed is available in at least two of the giant rental chains in the U.S. And I found the soundtrack CD on Amazon.