"Phantom" test screening: my review- Page 3

[MeGustaJake]

Posted: 9/29/04 at 1:50pm

Theres something funny going on with the msg board. I'm posting this to see if it works it out.

Okay, well you have to click on "Next Page" on Pg. 2 to see what I posted before. So I'll post it again here:

You're awesome! I think I know enough about the movie now: I just can't wait to see it.

I'm going to refrain saying "one last question", because odds are I'll think of something else, but how was the character development? Especially among the three leads. In terms of Christine and Raoul's relationship: is it believable? I always felt it could've been a little more fleshed out in the stage version.

Thanks:)
Updated On: 9/29/04 at 01:50 PM

[Rose_MacShane]

Posted: 9/29/04 at 1:57pm

It's definitely believable. They added a little scene just before "Don Juan Triumpnaht" where Christine expresses her fear at going onstage, and how she knows that the Phantom will always be there, in her head, haunting her, and Raoul comforts her.

[beacon1]

Posted: 9/29/04 at 2:02pm

If I say that I'M afraid of the Phantom...will Patrick...er "Raoul"--come and comfort ME????

Sorry...had to lapse into schoolgirl mode for just a moment.
*giggle*

Carry on! My financial reports are calling and clients will not be put on hold any longer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ugh. "Real Life"

[MeGustaJake]

Posted: 9/29/04 at 2:08pm

Thanks so much.

Thats all for now but I'm sure there will be more questions...whether it be from me or from others...

Keep checking this thread though! Don't forget about us

Haha...How long was the film? Do you remember? IMDb says 143 minutes, but another source said 2 hours and 50 minutes

[Rose_MacShane]

Posted: 9/29/04 at 2:19pm

Whoa. It's definitely not that long. Let's see, it started around 7:00 and we left the theater around 9:40. So, not counting the time we spent filling out the surveys, I think the running time was a little over two hours.
Also, I checked out that site with the tons of new pics and I can say for certain that "No One Would Listen" was definitely NOT included in our screening. But who knows? They might put it in for others. Time will tell, I suppose.

beacon1: That would certainly be nice, wouldn't it?

[MeGustaJake]

Posted: 9/29/04 at 2:23pm

Well even if it isn't included in the movie, it'll probably be found on a deleted scene on the DVD...so either way we'll see it.

Thanks again

[PhanBoy 10495]

Posted: 9/29/04 at 3:23pm

Rose, thank you SOO much for being so honest. Once again we have another good review from someone who saw a sneak peek, but you have actually let us know what you didn't like. :) Woo hoo! Honesty makes me happy.

OK enough of that. I know Jake has asked you a ton of questions, so thank you for answering them all...but I've got a little one myself. I saw the new site with a ton of new pics, and see that Meg discovers the mask by the music box at the end. So my question is--how exactly does it end in the movie? The Phantom disappears, I know--but we have heard that it keeps the throne ending we see onstage from some sources, but an "insider" on the movie set said he walks through one of the many mirrors he smashes and disappears. Can you confirm this? :) Oh, I mean minus the little graveyard bit at the end with Raoul and the music box. Thank you sooo much!!

[Rose_MacShane]

Posted: 9/29/04 at 3:35pm

Yes, I think he does walk through one of the mirrors. After "It's over now, the music of the night" he starts smashing them with a candlestick and I think it's implied that he walks through one of them. When Meg and the gang discover his lair, all the mirrors are gone and so is he, leaving only his mask and the music box.

[PhanBoy 10495]

Posted: 9/29/04 at 3:51pm

Hmmm...well I guess I'll accept it if it's "implied"...cuz the whole idea of actually going through a mirror sounded kind of cheesy to me. <_< Thanks!

Oh, that reminds me...do the all flashback sequences end up coming across as cheesy to you? I didn't really think they would, but knowing that they have added a lot of them makes me wonder...

[Rose_MacShane]

Posted: 9/29/04 at 3:56pm

I thought there were a few too many, but I didn't think they were cheesy. My pet peeve is when a movie insists on blugeoning you to death with something; not that I felt like that, but I more than understood that the movie was mostly a flashback and some of them were extraneous.

[BlueRose]

Posted: 9/29/04 at 4:07pm

Thank you so much for your review. You just made my day. It was so nice to have something that is so obviously genuine and get some feedback on this movie. I know a lot of us are so excited for this, but afraid it won't live up to our expectations. Any info that you think of later to give us, would be greatly apprecited and I have a couple of questions and if you have time to answere them that would be great.
Can you give us any more details on the Phantom's deformity? Does it seem like he would be in a freak show, and has a "face that earned a mother's fear and loathing"?
What was Gerard Butler's voice like? I know you said it was more broadway than opera, but is it good? Did Music of the Night just make you melt, or where you like 'nice song'?
Thanks again.

[MeGustaJake]

Posted: 9/29/04 at 4:09pm

What other flashbacks were there? Other than the fairground one and the "Little Lotte" one?

Thanks

[Rose_MacShane]

Posted: 9/29/04 at 4:37pm

There wasn't a flashback for "Little Lotte." Rather, after Christine's perofrmance, Meg finds her in a little cloistered room, lighting candles. When asked who her teacher is, Christine explains that when she was brought to the Opera House, she started coming to this little room to pray, and the Angel started speaking to her.
The deformity is pretty nastified. It's hard to describe; it's like someone pulled on his face and stretched it. Trust me, it works a lot better than I can describe it.
Gerard's voice is awesome. And "Music of the Night" is SO hot. Not as much as "Points" but still...

Updated On: 9/29/04 at 04:37 PM

[MeGustaJake]

Posted: 9/29/04 at 4:55pm

Oh, I have a question: the Raoul from the West End Production plays Christine's father. When do we see him?

[Rose_MacShane]

Posted: 9/29/04 at 5:01pm

I honestly don't remember. Sorry!

[MeGustaJake]

Posted: 9/29/04 at 5:05pm

No problem. I know I'm probably draining your brain with all these questions.

So we never see a young Christine? A young Raoul? In the 1990 script its said that there are little flashes during "Little Lotte" of Raoul getting her scarf, etc.

[Type_A_Tiff]

Posted: 9/29/04 at 5:08pm

I haven't seen any script but I've read the original book---are there any flashbacks of the phantom as the freak at hte circus and Madame Giry saving him or that kind of thing?

[Rose_MacShane]

Posted: 9/29/04 at 5:09pm

No, there's a shot of a young Christine as she's led to the Opera House by Mme. Giry, and while she's in the room where she first hears the Phantom.

[Rose_MacShane]

Posted: 9/29/04 at 5:14pm

Type_A_Tiff: In the flashback to the Phantom's circus days, he kills the carny in charge of him and breaks out. Mme. Giry does indeed help him escape and hides him in the Opera House.

[Type_A_Tiff]

Posted: 9/29/04 at 5:26pm

Fabulous. Thanks!

(And it's only 2 hours? Did they cut anything out or is it just a faster pace??)

[Rose_MacShane]

Posted: 9/29/04 at 5:36pm

Nothing was cut. And it does move fairly fast.

[zepka102]

Posted: 9/29/04 at 6:05pm

i'm gonna cry... so beautiful... i don't want to wait till december... emmy need a date to the premiere? i'm free!!


(hey, i think shes hot... and shes 18, so i can say it... even though im only a few years older :P)

[madaboutoz]

Posted: 9/29/04 at 6:12pm

Hi. Thank you soooo much for the hepful and wonderful review. If you don't mind, I have a question: How is Prima Donna done? Someone said it stops the movie. Is it that good? Thanks

[Plexsis]

Posted: 9/29/04 at 6:12pm

what happened with notes and notes 2?

[chinkie azn jai]

Posted: 9/29/04 at 7:17pm

BLEH. the deformity sounds gross...er creppy. I've always been creeped out about it. When i saw it live, i couldnt bring myself to look through my binoculars during his unmasking scenes. Are there BIG closeups on it?
^hehe i sound like such a wimp right now.