The Phantom (1996)

Director:

Simon Wincer

Writers (WGA):

Lee Falk (characters)
Jeffrey Boam (written by)

Release Date:

7 June 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure

Tagline:

The Ghost Who Walks. The Man Who Cannot Die.

Plot:

The Phantom, descendent of a line of African heroes, travels to New York to thwart a criminal genius.

Plot Keywords:

Box Office Flop | Based On Comic | Beautiful Woman | Comic Strip | 1930s

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Billy Zane	...	The Phantom / Kit Walker
Kristy Swanson	...	Diana Palmer
Treat Williams	...	Xander Drax
Catherine Zeta-Jones	...	Sala (as Catherine Zeta Jones)
James Remar	...	Quill
Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa	...	The Great Kabai Sengh
Bill Smitrovich	...	Uncle Dave Palmer
Casey Siemaszko	...	Morgan
David Proval	...	Charlie Zephro
Joseph Ragno	...	Ray Zephro
Samantha Eggar	...	Lily Palmer
Jon Tenney	...	Jimmy Wells
Patrick McGoohan	...	Phantom's Dad
Robert Coleby	...	Capt. Philip Horton
Al Ruscio	...	Police Commissioner Farley

MPAA:

Rated PG for action/adventure violence and some mild language.

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

Australia | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Brazil:Livre | Iceland:12 | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Finland:K-12/9 | France:U | Germany:12 | Portugal:M/12 (video premiere) | Spain:7 | Sweden:11 | UK:12 | USA:PG | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Company:

Boam Productions

Trivia:

Though Capt. Philip Horton appears to be the leader of the Jungle Patrol, it is actually the Phantom that leads them. This is because the Patrol was started by an earlier Phantom to protect the jungle when he is not there. This is one of the most heavily guarded secrets of the Jungle Patrol.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Black cables can be seen attached to the Phantom's belt when he slides down the elevator cable and grabs hold of the floor.

Quotes:

Quill: I've killed the Phantom.
The Great Kabai Sengh: Join the club. We've all killed him over the years. He keeps coming back.

Movie Connections:

Version of The Ghost Who Walks (2009)

Harmless Old-Fashioned Comic Book Adventure

An old-fashioned adventure yarn is the best description of this modern-day comic book-hero-come to life-story. This almost like one of those early Tim Burton directed-Batman type adventures without all the darkness. The language is mild (as it should be in these type of films), the special-effects are decent and the sound is good. Best of all is the scenery, some beautiful landscapes filmed in Thailand and Australia.

Instead of the city being where our comic book hero performs his heroics, this is out in the jungle, more like an Indiana Jones-type story. It's fast-moving, it's hokey, it's unrealistic but its generally fun to watch. Even the villain ("Xander Drax" played by Treat Williams) isn't really all nasty.

The Phantom (Billy Zane) has the normal off-and-on corny romance situation with feminist-journalist (does Hollywood know any other kind?) "Diana Palmer" (Kristy Swanson) and the film gives you an entertaining 100 minutes. It's no award-winner but at least it's something you watch with your kids.