FemaleFirst.co.uk: DVD: The Phantom [DVD] [1997]

The Phantom [DVD] [1997]
enlarge	Director: Simon Wincer Actors: Billy Zane, Kristy Swanson, Treat Williams, Catherine Zeta-Jones, James Remar Studio: Paramount Home Entertainment Category: DVD List Price: ~~£9.99~~ Buy New: £1.38 as of 22/11/2009 16:53 GMT details You Save: £8.61 (86%) New (15) Used (2) from £1.38 Seller: fastdvd2006 Rating: 6 reviews Sales Rank: 6226 Format: Anamorphic, Dubbed, PAL, Widescreen Languages: English (Subtitles For The Hearing Impaired), Arabic (Subtitled), Bulgarian (Subtitled), Czech (Subtitled), Danish (Subtitled), Dutch (Subtitled), English (Subtitled), Finnish (Subtitled), German (Subtitled), Hungarian (Subtitled), Icelandic (Subtitled), Norwegian (Subtitled), Polish (Subtitled), Romanian (Subtitled), Swedish (Subtitled), Turkish (Subtitled), English (Original Language), German (Dubbed), Hungarian (Dubbed) Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over Region: 2 Discs: 1 Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Number Of Discs: 1 Running Time: 96 Minutes Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2 Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6 EAN: 5014437811233 ASIN: B000059H5I Theatrical Release Date: June 7, 1996 Release Date: May 7, 2001 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days


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Editorial Reviews: Amazon.co.uk Review This pleasant enough comic-strip adaptation features Billy Zane in purple tights and a Lone Ranger mask as a 1930s daredevil who lives in a cave, has a pet dog called Devil, and devotes himself to goodness and justice and that sort of thing. Treat Williams is a nasty millionaire out to collect the evil-plot coupons (a set of jewelled skulls) so he can send off for ultimate, world-ruling power. Zane, plus peppy heroine Kristy Swanson, is out to stop Williams by jumping from aeroplanes onto horses, grinning as he biffs scurvy minions and resisting the wiles of ludicrous lady pirate Catherine Zeta Jones. Unlike most recent comic book films, IThe Phantom/I makes no attempt at bringing its 30s-created superhero up to date: there is a lot of charming period detail and a refreshingly unneurotic, healthy hero and heroine team, but it seems a bit embalmed by its resurrection of serial-style thrills. --IKim Newman/I

Customer Reviews: Showing reviews 1-5 of 6 1 2 Next » Billy Zane is the King of all things living January 8, 2005 Mr C L Leader 8 out of 9 found this review helpful Many people feel Billy Zanes incredible portrayal of Caledon Hockley in Titanic was his finest moment, but this is not quite the case. Rewind a year and see him as Kit Walker aka the Phantom! he proves that he can do action and drama in this thoughtful and provocative piece of cinema.pEvil mastermind Xander Drax is trying to obtain 3 sacred skulls, which, when combined, can harness the power of the sun! SWEET! But he is evil, which is not sweet, kit wants to stop him, and does in a fantastic finale.pAnyone who loves movies will adore this gem of a film, I implore to watch it asap, its only £5.97! Buy it, pleasepThank you friend The Ghost Who ROCKS!! June 29, 2005 doctorwholittle (Here) 4 out of 4 found this review helpful For years, people have tried to bring Lee Falk's seminal jungle / superhero to the big screen, with no luck. This movie all but died in "development hell" several times, but you just can't keep a good Ghost-Who-Walks down!pBilly Zane was born to play this role, so it's a good thing that he's such a fan of the character (he "discovered" The Phantom in the late '80s while filming "Dead Calm" in Australia, where The Phantom is revered more than Batman is in the States). He brings the black white / Good vs E-Ville sensibilities of the character to stunning life, while he never takes it too seriously, he never makes fun of it either, which is a hard balance to achieve.pTreat Williams obviously had a cracking good time playing the main baddie, businessman-cum-mad-world-dominator Xander Drax. His delight in being E-Ville (as I like to call it) seeps through every frame he's in, again, he has fun with the role without poking fun at it.pA pre-"Mark of Zorro" Catherine Zeta-Jones has catlike fun in her role as Sala, leader of the all-female Sky Band, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa is absolutely delightful as Kabai Sengh (nee` "Singh" in the comics -- from what I understand, the spelling of the surname was changed so as not to offend anyone from India. ?!?)pChristy Swanson James Remar were unusually sedate in their roles, but that doesn't stop this thrillride of a movie from moving right along.pThe late, great Jeffrey Boam's ("Indiana Jones the Last Crusade") screenplay cobbles together three classic Lee Falk Phantom tales (The Phantom's origin, "The Sky Band" "The Skulls of Touganda"). If Boam wasn't a Phantom follower, he certainly did his homework, as the characters seem to leap right off the pages of Lee Falk Ray Moore's early comic strips in look, tone feel.pThe 1930s' setting might put some people off (it is somewhat of a mystery why he chose to place the character in the '30s, as the comic strip is still going strong worldwide, set in modern times), being as far away, release-wise, from the last Indiana Jones movie as it is. It seems that period pieces such as The Phantom, The Rocketeer, The Shadow have all suffered from this, unfortunately. With superhero movies such as Spider-Man, Daredevil, X-Men, the Batman series, maybe kids have turned a jaded eye on the rather naive concept of "right always triumphs over wrong", but director Simon Wincer's pure vision of the first masked hero (The Phantom predated Batman by 3 years) transported me back to when I was a lad, the heroes rode off into the sunset once the villain(s) had been vanquished. The smile was nigh impossible to carve off my face!pThere's been talk of a new Phantom feature film, distancing itself from the Wincer / Zane version, while I'm eager to see The-Ghost-Who-Walks on the silver screen again, it disappoints me that filmmakers feel the need to avoid comparisons to this film. After all, Paramount Pictures were the ones who shunted the advertising budget from The Phantom to their already-overhyped tanker, "Mission: Impossible", so they are ultimately the ones responsible for this movie not getting the publicity it should have gotten.pI'd love to see a 10th Anniversary edition of this DVD, restoring all the deleted scenes into the film. While the pacing did suffer somewhat, the scenes they left out are integral to understanding who The Phantom is what he stands for.pNot to mention, we'd finally get to see the hero ride off into the sunset! Good Old Fashioned Fun March 2, 2002 6 out of 6 found this review helpful Sit back, relax and dont take it too seriously...If you can abide by this axiom you will enjoy the Phantom, I guarantee it! The pirates are a bit cheesy but otherwise Billy Zane is great as always the music is fantastic and the rescue from the ship sequence is an all time great! Sit back chill and enjoy ' The Phantom ' ! Not fantastic, but not bad June 11, 2009 T. A. Fishwick (Lancashire, UK) Not all films have to be Citizen Kane, with iconic camera angles and great acting. Not all films have to be challenging of the medium. Not all comic book character need to translate onto the screen with tour-de-force of writing and direction like The Dark Knight. Sometimes it's better to just pick up a character and do something fun. br /That's where this film comes in. It's not great by any stretch of the imagination. Some of the acting is so bad it should come with a health risk and the villains are so hammy you wouldn't be surprised if they started smelling of bacon. Still it doesn't drag at all, some of the set pieces are so ludicrous you have to laugh and you actually warm to Williams character of Xander Drax. He's so over the top that he comes right back a round to likeable. br /Films like this are rare. They are an enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours, no grand message or depressing story line. Just fun and watching them help us to remember just how bad bad films are and how good the good ones can be. A charming enough piece of hokum August 13, 2003 mr-benn (England) 2 out of 2 found this review helpful There's very little exceptional about this movie. Essentially it mashes up the pulp 30's homage style of Indiana Jones and the Rocketeer, and fuses it with a pinch of more modern superhero action, keeping its tongue firmly in its cheek throughout. The end result: yes, it's nothing special, but it's great fun regardless.pBilly Zane, while never the most captivating of leading men, makes for a handsome hero: behold his baby-oiled gym toned buffness! Treat Williams is clearly having fun as the smug villian, while the wonderfully gravel voiced James Remar (of The Warriors, 48 Hours and more recently 2 Fast 2 Furious) makes a charismatic henchman. Kirsty Swanson (that's the original Buffy to you and I) generally looks disinterested, and of course there's the pre-superstardom Catherine Zeta Jones in one of her early Hollywood roles. And it's all set against a goregeous exotic backdrop, on the whole beautifully designed and lit.pAs for the plot...erm...wait, it'll come to me...no, it's gone, sorry. But who cares. The plot is- the Phantom does battle with baddies. In skin tight purple lycra and a small black mask, with the odd skull motif here and there.pIt's not Indiana Jones or the Rocketeer, but's it not Batman Forever or Batman And Robin either. Not one to get overexcited about, but there are worse things to waste time on. Such as pondering the rumoured upcoming Phantom movie, which will apparently have zero connection to this one; and mulling over the fact that the second in line for the role after Billy Zane was...BRUCE CAMPBELL!! (read all about it in 'If Chins Could Kill'.) Showing reviews 1-5 of 6 1 2 Next »

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