If you had directed "The Phantom of the Opera"- Page 3

[MsNina]

Posted: 1/3/05 at 7:29pm

yeah, it was exactly the same, but rather watch butler and listen to wilson. personally, i feel that butler was a stronger actor than singer. but i certainly didn't mind his voice either.

[SallyBrown]

Posted: 1/3/05 at 7:31pm

omg wait
was Gerard Butler that Irish guy in Tomb Raider 2?

[beacon1]

Posted: 1/3/05 at 7:33pm

Gerard is Scottish

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 1/3/05 at 7:34pm

Yup, scottish.

[SallyBrown]

Posted: 1/3/05 at 7:34pm

yeah but the guy in the movie, the character, was irish

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 1/3/05 at 7:34pm

Yes, he was in Tomb Raider 2 as well as Timeline and Dracula 2000

[SallyBrown]

Posted: 1/3/05 at 7:37pm

OMG SO THAT WAS HIM!
WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 1/3/05 at 7:40pm

I actually really liked him in Dracula 2000. I thought he was a great Dracula. I think he brought a little of that Menace to POTO which is really good.

[ashley0139]

Posted: 1/3/05 at 8:05pm

Yay my first official post! I must say that I loved this movie (and have seen it 3 times already). The strange thing is, there are so many things about it that I think could be improved. I just can't quite put my finger on why I liked it so much... First of all, I greatly dislike Gerard Butler and would have recast him. Emmy is starting to grow on me but I think at the beginning of the movie her highs could be better. Loved Patrick Wilson but the wig... enough said. Loved Madame Giry also but the French accent didn't work (even though it was good b/c Miranda rocks!) In response to the mouthed "I love you," I read about it on here then made sure to look for it when I saw it again today. I think it is sweet but completely ruins the whole love triangle thing. So that's my post/review of POTO.

Ashley

[Phantomerik15]

Posted: 1/3/05 at 8:16pm

YES, the "I love you" thing RUINED THE WHOLE LOVE WITH THE PHANTOM, ERIK!
NOOOOOOOOOOO!
*cries*

DIE RAOUL DIE!....(And, to tell the truth, I don't really like Pat Wilson either)

Posted: 1/3/05 at 8:20pm

I feel you... that "I love you" thing to Raoul is still bugging me. She wasn't suppose to say that and kiss Erik to save Raoul's @ss (although it is a pretty nice @ss to save)! LOL! At least the stage version got it right...

And Gerard is Scottish and played a Scot in the Tomb Raider 2 movie.

~Rosalynn

[GirlforTartaglia]

Posted: 1/3/05 at 8:28pm

I have a lot of complaints about this movie. And by far, I believe that the Broadway onstage version is better.
1. Get an actual mask that is the same size as the one in the show. He had this little skimpy mask on which barely covered half his face.
2. The Phantom was too pretty. Gah, they didnt want Crawford because he was too "old" but I mean, c'mon, the guy is wearing a mask anyway, why do you need a young hot guy? (and I'm definatley not saying this phantom was hot)
3. Get people who sing the songs
4. Get people who sound Broadway-ish when they sing
5. In the end, when Christine and Raoul travel back by the boat leaving the Phantom with the monkey music box, they sing (All I ask of you, I think that's the song..I forgot) within earshot of the phantom. That was too dramatic and horrible to witness! I mean, give the phantom a break, and dont have them sing their love so that he can hear them a SECOND time, like on the roof the first.
6. I didn't like how the phantom was supposedly her father/ angel similar to her father. He's supposed to be the Opera Ghost who falls in love and obsesses over Christine. The father aspect was not as prevelant in the show, but in the movie Raoul even says "This thing is not your father!" to Christine..
Oh, and when the phantom cut Raoul and he bled out on his shirt, later on Raoul was still wearing the same shirt when he entered the phantom's layer...maybe that was a messup, because i dont think he'd have the same thing on for that much time, especially with blood all over the arm.
Sorry, that all bugged me. :x

[ashley0139]

Posted: 1/3/05 at 8:31pm

girlfortartaglia, at the end with the whole "all I ask of you" thing, were they actually singing it or was he just kinda thinking/remembering at we could here it too? that was the impression I got... cause it happens at other parts in the movie too. and I agree about the bloody shirt, not to even mention the fact that the sword fight was kinda cheesy

Ashley

[SallyBrown]

Posted: 1/3/05 at 8:34pm

oh he did play a Scot? my bad
well at least i know it was him and im not just seeing Gerard everywhere I go

Posted: 1/3/05 at 8:47pm

He he! Oh come on...you gotta love the cheeesy swordfight scene! I guess it works better on film than having the Phantom shoot fireballs.

And is it just me or does the Phantom remind you of Batman at times?

~Rosalynn

[SallyBrown]

Posted: 1/3/05 at 8:53pm

actually....yes but only sometimes the rest of the time im too taken with gerards gorgeous half-face

[gustof777]

Posted: 1/3/05 at 8:58pm

Wow i have to say that some of the comments that people make when critiquing this are hilarious so thank you for brightening up an otherwise very dull monday night...well anyways i went into the movie knowing that i might not like it becasue i really didnt care for stage show or ALW in general...im not saying he's bad just not for me. But over all i was very impressed i really didnt think that they could pull it off into a movie but they certainly did. I thought that the look of the film was gorgeous and everything in it was attractive...but i do have to say that the men of the cast were a huge let down. But i was very impressed with how great the women were. Minnie was HILARIOUS like most people the accent had me wondering what was going on but still funny and Emmy was very very good not perfect but very acceptable and impressive for 16. I thought that her singing was ok and i realize that she was young when she made this but her think of me had some swooping into high notes that irritated me but as the movie progressed i warmed up to her voice more and more you people have to realize its not sarah brightmans not that excuses some of the things she did but you have to have an open mind and her acting i found was wonderful i have never felt for christine like i did when seeing this she had me in tears so yay for emmy i hope she nabs the golden globe. Patrick aside from the wig i thought was ok...i think that raoul kind of has always been a blah part but he did a few things with it...could he have done more? oh yeah but what can you do? his singing as with Emmy's i had a few issues with but overall was something i could live with....that leaves mr. butler. HOLY ****!!!! When your sitting in the theater thinking that kids in your high school can sing those songs better than him than there's a problem. Did i like Michael Crawford? No his voice is ok but i dont really like it that much. Should they have cast him>? no hes too old. Should they have found someone who could actually SING, for phantom??? H*ELL YES!!! Good Lord i started laughing during Music of the Night. That man had soo many Glotal attacks and his belt was soo painful to listen to. At least dub him with someone who can sing... i know taht the phantom doesnt necessairly have to have the best voice but JESUS his was awful and his acting i found left a lot to be desired as well i mean i felt no sympathy for him until like the final scene where finally cries but that scene where its a long close up of his face and he's sobbing clutching the rose she left him and he didnt have any tears i was like WTF!!!>!>?! I felt soo much for the phantom when i've seen the show in the past but the movie i knew she made the right choice because his phantom just seemed so pathetic sorry if this seems like bashing because i loved eveerything else pretty much...except for the fact that they spoke some lines that are normally sung but thats forgivable and the vouge choreography...nough said. so if i were a director....thered be a new phantom.

[AuBrie]

Posted: 1/3/05 at 8:59pm

First off definitly casting. Patrick Wilson did well enough with his part but Emma... Are we supposed to believe that a huge audience coming into see an Opera in the 1870's would clap for her singing voice. She sounded about 14 in "think of me" . Maybe they wanted her voice to be innocent sounding to conrast with Carlotta but please, She is singing the lead in Opera at least have her sound somewhat operatic. just a little.. I personally thought her acting was a little cliche. Too many "deer caught in headlight" looks.
Gerard Butler's voice was not up to par either. Raspy at times. I noticed a few parts taken down for him. He was much too pretty.

I also would have changed the Masquerade choreography. Seemed almost "vogueish". And costuming... I was very disapointed in the costuming. I thought that they could have done better than black and white for the masquerade scene.

numerous other things I would have changed if I had directed it but I'll stop with just those

[SallyBrown]

Posted: 1/3/05 at 9:35pm

yes but maybe his sometimes-raspy voice was for chracter?

[Mamie]

Posted: 1/3/05 at 11:02pm

Well I finally got a chance to see this today. There were definitely some disappointments but also some nice surprises.

Like many others I was terribly disappointed with Butler's voice. I absolutely ADORE "Phantom" on the stage, particularly "Music of the Night". This afternoon I found myself wincing during certain passages and realized at one point that I had been thinking about an upcoming doctor's appointment - while the song was still going on. This is particularly upsetting to me because I had really been looking forward to this bit.

I had a much bigger disappointment with Rossum though. Her singing was all right but I honestly believe this child must have never acted a day in her life. Someone here already said her acting ran the gamut from A to B. I'm thinking that B may just be a stretch. (And she's been nominated as best actress for one of the awards? Incredible.)

As for Wilson - I've got to admit that I must be one of the very few individuals in the world who've just never been impressed with anything he's done. I will give him credit for acting chops though based on reviews of his performance in "Angels in America". (I didn't see it myself.) His voice is beautiful but from his first scenes I kept getting the impression that he wished he were anywhere but there. I'd see him and immediately think of Doug Sills getting out of "Spamalot" because of the size of the role. Maybe Wilson didn't have the option of getting out of it? It did occur to me late in the show that if they were going to go for a young, handsome Phantom, why didn't they just slap a dark wig on Wilson and let him play the part? At least we would have heard a really good singer on those songs. A lesser performer could have played Raoul. (Maybe he could get back at them by playing the Phantom on stage? I'd go see that.)

Driver was hysterically funny - just as Carlotta is supposed to be. Yes the lip syncing was off, but you kind of forgot it when you saw how funny she was.

Richardson played a very believable and sympathetic Giry. Her accent didn't bother me the least. (Who says she has to speak exactly as everyone else there? Even if it didn't take place in Paris, she could have used a French accent and been an emigree! LOL. To tell you the truth, Driver's accent bothered me a lot more because I couldn't understand a lot of what she was saying.

I really feel that the vast majority of complaints I've heard about this production have been very nit-picky. Somewhere along the line the reviewers (here and elsewhere) seem to have forgotten the fact that this is a fantasy. It's all made up. Gaston Leroux' statement notwithstanding - THERE IS NO PHANTOM OF THE OPERA! I direct this to the people who criticised the film for the following reasons:

Lighting in the underground vault - The man lived there for crying out loud. What was it supposed to be? A cave?

Candles rising from the lake - I would have been disappointed if they HADN'T had these. They've used them for almost a couple of decades in the stage version and they belong here. IT'S A FANTASY!!!!

The Phantom must have been really powerful to get all those candles lit and raising up like that on their own! (See above.) And of course he's powerful. Did you see the way he could get Christine's dress to fall off every time she looked at him in PONR?

The phantom's face not being "Like yellow parchment is his skin... a great black hole served as the nose that never grew" as described by Buquet. Buquet was both trying to scare and impress the girls in the ballet. His description means nothing. I agree that the Phantom's disfigurement was ridiculously understated though. In fact, the makeup people here really screwed things up bad. Did you notice that the degree of disfigurement kept changing the longer his mask was off? Sometimes it just looked like a case of rosacea. One time I thought his eye was going to fall out and a second later it just looked a little red. Bad job folks.

How did the Phantom learn to fight with a sword? WHO CARES? It looked totally cool and very believable. Frankly this is one area of the play that I've always disliked. Those fire balls falling limply out of the Phantom's staff always looked pretty lame to me. They should incorporate the swords into the stage production.

Meg's too ....'healthy' to be a ballet dancer. More ridiculousness. Take a look at any painting by Degas. Remember - George Balanchine hadn't come along yet to starve ballet dancers into anorexia. Meg looked great - and authentic.

Dancers in "Point of No Return" - I didn't mind them. I thought they helped remind you that despite the emotions in the scene, you weren't watching a private moment between Christine and Erik. It was a performance. They were on stage, in front of an audience. Also I thought the shadows of the dancers hands on the wall behind the stairs as they climbed to the bridge was very erotic.

Almost total lack of color in "Masquerade" - If this was an artistic experiment, it bombed badly. This was another place where I was really looking forward to the costumes. It was a big disappointment.

Sets? Gorgeous. Everything you could ask for. Costumes? OK, but not great. The costumes in the stage production ARE great and they should have used them. Carlotta really stood out here. Her costume in Hannibal wasn't as gorgeous as the one in the play. Her costumes off stage were almost clownish - especially when compared with the costume she wore to the masquerade. It was so .... boring and limp and blah. I don't think Carlotta would have worn that as an undergarment!

The only other thing I can think of right now is the ending. I would much rather have seen the Phantom disappearing in his throne and Meg finding just the mask left. I did like the camera closing in on the music box and then seeing the box turn to black and white and the present time. And THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE END. It would have made a perfect ending. One of the best things about the play is the fact that you never really know what became of the Phantom. They just went one step too far with this. I wish they'd just cut everything out after the music box. Providing the audience with a firm answer to the Phantom's lot at the end is insulting to the intelligence of the audience. (Oh - OK. Maybe they had to.)

[SallyBrown]

Posted: 1/3/05 at 11:15pm

I must admit, Meg did look a bit healthy to be a ballerina...
aw poor Gerard no one likes his voice I LOVE HIM THOUGH lol
nah everyone to their own opinion

[Phantomerik15]

Posted: 1/4/05 at 5:44pm

Another thing was the "Think of Me" bit in the movie...I was disappointed. Emmy was just staring into the audience with those "blank" staring eyes and doing nothing. I don't even think she even moved while singing that song. The camera was just circling her and nothing happened!
Also, there was only one instance where Mme Giry mentioned "Box 5" in the movie and after that there was never another word of it...They forgot to explain it and all (the Phantom getting all angry,etc.,etc.) They should have kept the Phantom's bit at the end of "Prima Donna."
And "Music of the Night"...All I have to say about that is: IT WAS TORTURE GOING THROUGH THAT BIT WITH GERRY! (a whisper there, a growl here, a yell there...)

[EponineThenardier]

Posted: 1/4/05 at 6:02pm

Casting: I think Anne Hathaway should have been Christine. Patrick looked like he was bored with the part of Raoul (he did the best that the part allowed). That man can even bring goodness into crap roles. If Joel Shumacher knew that he wanted Gerard to play the Phantom (for years and years) freakin have him start taking voice lessons the minute there might have even been a chance that he was gonna be the Phantom. Oooor get another Phantom. Gerard Butler is talented (acting wise) but he has never gotten a role that can show that off specaularly.

General: Ditch Joel Shumacher I don't like him as a director. Get a better cinematographer, Andrew Lesnie! Andrew Lesnie!Andrew Lesnie!Andrew Lesnie!Andrew Lesnie!Andrew Lesnie!Andrew Lesnie! (director of photography from Lord of the RIngs)

Other: Accents would have been nice, personally. Also Lip Syncing!!!!!! My God! People in Moulin Rouge, Chicago, etc. did a fabulous job. Especially Moulin Rouge I thought they weren't lip syncing! That was made years ago, they have no excuse. Especially don't lip sync pre recorded dialogue, bad!

I think the sets and costumes were great. But the story was drowned out. Another note, I understand that being in character and singing means that you won't be singing at your best quality per say. But why does she sound bad in "Think of Me" when its supposted to be a staged solo? And everyone is supposed to go banana's over it?

[operadiva1979]

Posted: 1/4/05 at 6:07pm

I would have loved everyone to have a consistent accent. There were like 15 different ones, and also the leads sort of "wavered" between several.
I agree with the comment "I would have cast actors who could sing." and I add "or at least dubbed the pretty actors."

[SallyBrown]

Posted: 1/4/05 at 6:19pm

Eponine, in Chicago they lyp-synched?