The Phantom of the Opera (1989)

User Rating:

4.9/10   

Director:

Dwight H. Little

Writers:

Gaston Leroux (novel)
Gerry O'Hara (based on a screenplay by)

Release Date:

4 November 1989 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Music

Tagline:

The final curtain is about to drop.

Plot:

A darker version of the classic Gaston Leroux novel. A young soprano becomes the obsession of a horribly disfigured composer who has plans for those oppose himself or the young singer.

Plot Keywords:

Devil | Opera | Composer | New York | Singer

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Robert Englund	...	Erik Destler / The Phantom
Jill Schoelen	...	Christine Day
Alex Hyde-White	...	Richard Dutton
Bill Nighy	...	Martin Barton
Stephanie Lawrence	...	La Carlotta
Terence Harvey	...	Insp. Hawkins
Nathan Lewis	...	Davies
Peter Clapham	...	Harrison
Molly Shannon	...	Meg (New York)
Emma Rawson	...	Meg (London)
Mark Ryan	...	Mott
Yehuda Efroni	...	The Rat Catcher
Terence Beesley	...	Joseph Buquet
Ray Jewers	...	Elise
Robin Hunter	...	Roland

Also Known As:

Gaston Leroux's The Phantom of the Opera
Phantom of the Opera: The Motion Picture (USA)

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo

Certification:

Finland:K-15 (re-rating: 2001) | Finland:K-16 (original rating) | Netherlands:16 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | France:-12 | Singapore:M18 | UK:18 | USA:R | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Budapest, Hungary

Company:

21st Century Film Corporation

Trivia:

In 2007 the number of film adaptations of Gaston Leroux's novels amounts to 40 including shorts, cartoons TV films and variants.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Christine first leaves to visit her fathers grave, she has pink and white flowers. When she arrives at the grave, she has only five red roses.

Quotes:

[about to take off Erik's mask]
Carlotta: What will I think when I see?
Erik Destler: You'll just... die!

Movie Connections:

References The Shining (1980)

My favorite book, is now my favorite movie.

Phantom of the Opera has long been my favorite book, but I have never liked any of the movies--they always portrayed Erik, as a small, weak, mooning, lovesick writer. The real Erik was nearly 7 feet tall, and a strong, bad tempered, and very violent man--a serial killer not unlike his contemporary: Jack the Ripper. The great horror classic novel was written by Gaston Leroux, a reporter, and was based on an actual event that he had been called on to investigate.

I've seen every Phantom movie and am always deeply disappointed because none of them bear even a most remote hint of the book--until now. This version staring Robert Englund, while it has some inaccuracies, is the most faithful rendition of the book ever made. It captures Erik's violent, darker side as well as his vengeful temper.

Few people know that the real Erik was a "giant" born with a deformed face, abandoned by his parents who sold him as a slave to a circus when still a small child, and was shunned by society as an adult. His deep rooted hatred for the human race went to the extent that he took a job as a carpenter for the new Paris Opera House, and built the famous mazes and tunnels below it's basement, where he lived his entire life, seeking revenge on the world, by capturing actors, singers, and spectators, and than locking them for weeks on end in a torture chamber below the Opera House. As an old man, Erik's body was found shortly after the disappearance of the real Christine Daee'. Gaston Lerox was the newspaper reporter called in to write the newspaper reports on the death of the Opera Ghost and the missing girl; his research into Erik's life resulted in one of the greatest horror classics ever written. And now FINALLY a movie has been made that reaches into the very horror of the real life Erik and his murderous obsession with Miss Daee'. This is the most accurate Phantom of the Opera movie ever made. I love this movie so much I went out and bought 2 copies of it.