Customer Reviews

The Phantom [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Kit Walker has come of age but before he can take up the challenge of becoming the 21st Phantom, his adoptive parents have to bite the dust.... The PHANTOM saga continues in this almost 3 hour two-part television mini-series movie with Ryan Carnes playing the legend. Compared to the long history of dozens of Tarzan films, it has always seemed a Hollywood anomly that the Phantom had to date only rated ONE serial, ONE feature film and an animated TV series. Finally we are treated to another visualisation of the GHOST WHO WALKS legend, but a somewhat disappointing one at that. A pity that lessons of the past still seem to not have been learned. Pause for a moment to consider another film legend - The Lone Ranger who has appeared in a couple of serials, a long running TV series and several movie adventures. The original TV episodes with Clayton Moore are fondly remembered and his two cinema adventures remain very popular with fans especially the first Lone Ranger film which was almost non-stop action with our hero besting the bad guys but only after Tonto was almost strung up and the Lone Ranger had recovered from being shot. I mention this because many years later Hollywood tried to revive the legend with an updated Lone Ranger film that was a third of the way through it before our hero appeared in his traditional blue outfit accompanied by the unforgettable strains of the William Tell Overture allowing fans to finally stamp their feet with approval. But at the end of the day, fans berated the producers for a boring film with far too much delay before our hero appeared. Fast forward to the current Phantom adventure. Guess what - our hero does not appear in full uniform and chasing the bad guys until part 2 - YES - THAT'S NOT TILL AN HOUR AND A HALF INTO THIS PRODUCTION !!! (Yawn, yawn, yawn.) The Billy Zane Phantom film was originally panned for its comic strip production values but is now very fondly remembered for being a fun and faithful rendition of the comic strip hero we have come to admire. The new PHANTOM fails to generate any of the excitement captured in that film. The new story is quite boring and when the bad guys open fire, none of them think to take aim at the Phantom's lower face which is the one body part not protected by his new kevlar body suit. Overall, the best that can be said is that it's great to see the Phantom on the screen again but this half hearted resurrection will do nothing to enhance the legend and the expected luke warm response to this product is unlikely to encourage film producers to invest in a more worthy film adaptation. To give this an A rating, the A will have to be defined as AVERAGE. And as for the new uniform, we watch movies to be entertained. I for one, would much rather see an entertaining movie set in the 30's to 50's with the Phantom suited up in the traditional Billy Zane style costume than this new and almost unrecognisable version of a present day hero in a sad and confused drug fuelled modern setting. Yes, the new Phantom goes through all the motions but is he entertaining?

I wont be buying this film as I saw it on tv and was quite disappointed.Why do we have to "upgrade" characters like the Phantom, The Lone Ranger,Wonder Woman etc.? In this version why does Kit Walker wander about the city with his coat wide open so everyone can see the skull buckle on his outfit? At least the real Phantom had natural strength ( of 10 tigers : old jungle saying) and didn't have to enhance it with an electronic suit.Why does Guran have to be a woman? No offense meant towards women but Guran has always been one of the Pygmy Poison People.Why change that?Lets hope someone will make another film like the Billy Zane version.Please don't turn this new Phantom into a series.Phantom?What Phantom? He may as well be another X-man.

The series is decent in that it sets up the possibility of a decent future show. The mini series on Syfy was 4 hours long. It took about 1 1/2 hours to even get to the Phantom. It setups nicely as to why he is the Phantom and who the bad guys are. It pays homage to the history of the Phantom as well. If you would like a modern Phantom this is the show for you, if you have your heart set on the old time Phantom running through the jungles this is not for you. Very modern, I would say the only thing I didn't like was that the new suit in the show appeared to be mostly black with very little purple. Looks like they may have corrected that at least according to the box art of this DVD.

Very disappointed in this movie. Why do modern schmucks feel they have the right to take classic characters and change them beyond recognition? Ever since Tim Burton's Batman most superhero costumes are all black or non-existent, this one is both. How would the new Phantom continue the legend of, "The Ghost Who Walks" without the uniform? The concept of the super-powered suit isn't all that bad, the Phantom did add new technology to his arsenal as times changed, but make it look like the Phantom. When the classic suit in the case was revealed I thought, "COOL" the new Phantom character ridiculed it. I'll take the Zane version over this junk any day.

I wasn't overly bothered that the story deviated significantly from the old Phantom; a fresh look or new take can improve source material. Unfortunately, this is a horrible flick. The lead is never believable as a hero...he starts as a whiny b*tch and ultimately (after 90 minutes of dragging out his origin) evolves into snarky. The story is often illogical, the pacing is painfully slow, and the acting by the leads is on the level of a high school play. If you are a masochist and want to watch it, view it free the next time its on the Syfy channel or wait a few months and pick it up in the $2.99 discount bin.

This is a relatively decent modern update of the classic serials, and a good followup to Billy Zane's film version. The story has enough twists to keep you guessing, even at the end, and has plenty of potential to be a new series. The quality and scale for this kind of budget was obvious and should be improved if this turns into a series, which it should.

After reading the reviews from people who watched this on Syfy, I was frightened. I thought one of my favorite characters was going to be raped by writers who thought they could make a completely awesome new school movie by ignoring the original groundwork. As a huge fan of the Phantom (and someone who loved and still loves the Billy Zane movie) I felt I owed it to myself to preorder the DVD and give it a chance.

I understand the length of the movie. The Phantom is an older character and I see why the makers felt the plot needed to be elaborated on for the newer audience. Great job explaining everything and setting the story. However, I did not like the futuristic skull cave idea. The Phantom was a lone ranger with a very few close friends, not with a full military attack center staff. Also, the suit was a HUGE problem. The Phantom was meant to be a gun slinger, not a SWAT/James Bond/The Hurt Locker hybrid. I would have much rather had the original suit. But good job explaining the new suit. "Your dad didn't like the old suit", simply enough right?

As far as action, there really wasn't any. Nothing to keep you on the edge of your seat. I realize this Kit Walker didn't have his entire childhood to train, but Carnes played a very rough screwball of a character that was learning on the job, I felt a little more polish was in order. No incredible stunts. Mainly this movie is about explanation.

I thought Ryan Carnes being casted was suspect, but he actually put my foot in my mouth. For the part that was written, Carnes pulled it off well and I wouldn't have a problem with him playing a future Phantom because he really seemed to get into the character. Good look for the character and completely capable of playing a role such as this.

I heard this movie was made to test the ground and see if people would like a Phantom motion picture to be made. Either a new story or a reboot to the Zane film. Personally I think they could have done a better job if that was their aim. Its kind of like Shyamalan's Unbreakable, it is a good explanation movie but nothing that makes you want to see it really develope. If it does fine, if it doesn't fine.

My suggestion is to pick up the original Zane film and watch it, it is a great movie and what is surprising is how well they pulled it off with a low budget. There are millions pumped into comic book movies today that can't compare to The Phantom. If you enjoy the original, pick this up and spend some time watching it. I would have rated it 4 stars, however I know that this movie strayed far from the original idea of the Phantom. IMO it was too much new material covered all at once. While I don't consider it the flop that forums quickly deemed it, I'm not going to say it was a really strong movie. With the resources that they obviously had, there was no reason this movie couldn't have given the 96 film a run for its money.

I see a lot of reviews on the DVD so I thought I'd comment on the Blu-ray production. There is a high quality top menu. You can turn on English (only) subtitles and this is the setup option. After you play part one, it's back to the menu. Then you can manually decide to play part 2. Special features include interviews with the star and director and we also have a trailer. No other trailers are present. The video is pretty good...HD and wide screen. The sound is good but only stereo. I think it is recorded with a 5.1, but only once or twice did I notice a sound that may have come from the surrounds.

The movie was ok, but I felt a bit overwhelmed by the plot holes. One example: the police let the Phantom go when a shooting victim tells them that the Phantom saved his life. New York cops won't just let a masked and armed man go without even asking for an ID. This Phantom's support team got a serious upgrade from the Pygmy People. The Phantom has a Skull Cave with a good looking antique living quarters lighted with electric lights including a chandlier rather than candles. He has an endless suite of hospital facilities, science labs, computers, etc on the lower levels. Also, a gym, shooting range, motor pool, and even a cafeteria (but the Phantom can call room service...I'm not making this up). This was a bit much to shove into Skull Cave. My biggest problem with the movie (or mini-series as SyFy called it) was the terrible ending. But I have seen worse movies. I may watch this again sometime (skipping that last scene) so it gets 3 stars from me.

First part just short of BORING, second part was ok, but lacked something, like entertanment ? after all the hype, what a let down

This is a long 2 part story. It appears to be made for Canadian TV. No sex, nudity, or bad language. Like American movies, the bad guys are black, except in this one they speak French Canadian. The main bad guys hang out in Switzerland and boast a mish-mash of indistinguishable international accents, including one female (Belladonna Lithia) whose haircut makes me think she was once part of the Swedish Bikini team of the 1980's.

Ryan Carnes plays Chris Mooore, who lives with people he thinks are his parents. Like Luke Skywalker his past is kept secret and then one day he comes home, finds his legal guardians killed by the bad guys and vows revenge. Like Spiderman, he also likes the redhead next door. And there is a corporate meeting which reminded me of the one in Kill Bill.

Chris Moore has lost his memory and doesn't know he is the Phantom, although he does like to jump around the roofs of buildings. Once he is arrested, his DNA goes out on the Interpol network and he is discovered by the Good Guys and the Bad Guys, the Singh. Eventually Chris assumes the role of the Phantom and uses his new high tech bullet proof suit. It turns out his dad died from cancer (must have been those purple dyed asbestos fibers in the old suit). The bad guys have a weapon called "Flicker" or Flickr for you Yahoos or Flicka for you cowboys. This device uses digital TV to turn people into Manchurian Candidates, who will keep the war machine going and the arms dealers rich.

The movie doesn't have long drawn out action scenes. It is long on dialogue and building characters. If this is the first in a series. i.e. an introduction of characters, they did a good job. However, if this is it, you might wait until you have 3 hours to kill on a movie that is more carrot on a stick than action.