Product Details

• Actors: Burt Lancaster, Teri Polo
• Directors: Tony Richardson
• Format: Import, NTSC, Subtitled
• Subtitles: Korean
• Region: All Regions
• Studio: South Korea
• Run Time: 189 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000AIR1CC
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #45,983 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

South Korean Edition DVD/Sound in English / Optional Korean Subtitles , easy to turn OFF..*****Summary: __Christine is a talented young singer who was sent by the Count De Chagny to sing at the Paris Opera House to be trained by the manager - Gerard Carriere. But Carrier left and the new manager - Richard Cholet and his wife - Carlotta, a fat soprano put her working in the costume department after a man in the costume department was killed by the infamous Phantom. The Phantom turns out to be Erik - a lonely disfigured masked man who's the son of Gerard Carrier, left alone in the opera cellars and dreams of Christine since childhood. Erik start to teach Christine in an abandoned music room while tricks the managers.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The most romantic and operatic version of "Phantom", December 31, 2005

By 

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Phantom of the Opera - Tv Mini Series (Import, All Regions) (DVD)

This two-part televison version of "The Phantom of the Opera" is a mixed bag to be sure, but it does have its moments. Clearly this is a post-Lloyd Webber version of "Phantom," highlighting the romance between the title character (Charles Dance) and Christine (Terri Polo) even more than the Broadway show. For once, the love triangle between teacher, pupil and Philippe (Adam Stroke), the Count de Chagny, is realistic; which is to say, Christine really has a choice between the two men who command her affection. Of course, the paradox is that the more romantic a figure the Phantom becomes, the less he can be seen as a deadly maniac roaming at will through the Paris Opera House. The result is that when this Phantom kills intruders into his subterranean realm, I found it hard to believe because it went against Erik's character (cf. the 1989 film version with Robert Englund of Freddy Krueger fame).

One of the strengths of this version is the use it makes of the opera part of the title. There is a wonderful scene early when Christine has come to the big city and has joined the chorus of the Opera. One evening she is signing at a local tavern and the managers of the Opera House convince Carlotta (Andréa Ferréol), the egotistical diva, to go up and sign with the girl. However, it does not take long for Christine to blow Carlotta away, and when the diva flees from the stage we have clear proof as to who has more talent. The finale of the mini-series involves a production of Charles Gounod's "Faust," which is one of the best uses of an opera in a film since a production of "La Traviata" popped up in "Pretty Woman." The choice of "Faust" is a masterstroke, not just because the opera is actually sung in French, but because there are some strong parallels between the story of Faust and that of the Phantom. This allows for a rather surprising and haunting use of the opera's climatic aria.

I know there will be strong disagreement on this score, but I also appreciated this version's approach to the Phantom's disfigurement. There is a pivotal scene early on when Christine actually tries to persuade Erik to remove his mask, maintaining that she can look at whatever is beneath it with eyes of love. When the mask is removed the focus is not on his face but rather on Christine's as she bases from shock to horror to senselessness. It is that look, along with Erik's cry of anguish, that carries the scene. More importantly, it sets up an even better scene at the end of the film. That first scene is clearly influenced by the Broadway version, where the audience never sees the Phantom's face at that point, just Christine, rather than the immortal scene where Mary Philbin unmasked Lon Chaney in the classic silent version. Meanwhile, the film's conclusion actually harkens back to Gaston Leroux's original novel with regards to how Christine conquers Erik.

Editing this film down a bit would certainly be helpful; the four-hour mini-series loses about an hour once you take out the commercials, but could benefit from losing another half-hour or so. The performances are competent, with Dance evincing charm as the Phantom without a real undercurrent of menace. Polo is a tad too emotional at time and has a lot of lip-synching to do with all the opera singing, but there is an earnestness that matches the character. Stroke has the unenviable tasks of trying to convince both Christine and the audience that she should pick his character instead of the Phantom. Most of the supporting cast are assigned various roles of comic relief with French accents, while Burt Lancaster gets to bring some dignity to the proceedings as the former manager of the Paris Opera House who knows more about the Phantom than anyone knows.

The key thing is that this 1990 version of "The Phantom of the Opera" is not going to be the first one you view. You have to see Lon Chaney's silent version and at least listen to the Broadway musical (paying copious attention to the libretto so you know exactly what is happening). The 1943 Claude Reins film involving acid being thrown and music being stolen is optional. But the more you are familiar with the various tellings of this tale, the more you can enjoy what writer Arthur L. Kopit and director Tony Richardson ("Tom Jones").

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Almost as good as I remembered it, May 13, 2006

By 

Barbara J. Riley (Osceola, IN United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Phantom of the Opera - Tv Mini Series (Import, All Regions) (DVD)

I watched this version when it came out on TV and taped it, but I then lost the tapes over the years after I went to college and then got a household of my own. All I remembered was that the back story on Eric was riveting, and that Christine's voice was angelic. And, of course, that I hugely enjoyed it the first time around. I couldn't find this version anywhere. I have, since then, read the original book, and seen the Broadway show and the recent movie with Emmy Rossum and Gerard Butler, and a couple of other versions whose details I don't recall.

Then, finally, here it came on Amazon, and I jumped at the chance to have it again. It moved a little slower than I remembered; it was a little dated, of course, and Carlotta was more comical than anything else. But it still enchanted me, and I was pleasantly surprised.

No other version of this story gave any background on Christine and Raoul, and why she'd care so much for a guy she hadn't seen since she was a child. Finally, someone took the time to give us a glimpse of their history, even though it was short and a bit shallow and without dialogue. But seeing them together as children made a difference. I could finally understand, at least a little, the place he held in her heart. (Only, goodness, in every version it's this way, could they please give Raoul a decent haircut so he doesn't look like a girl! Geez.)

Even better was the history of Eric and his parents, both of whom played a pivotal part in his life. I enjoyed the Andrew Lloyd Webber telling of the Phantom's tortured childhood, grisly though it was, for it explained much about his "distorted soul," as Christine called it there. But this in-depth telling was full of unconditional love from Eric's mother, which touched me deeply, and of the continuation of that love and even greater compassion from Christine. In the A.L.W. version, Christine's compassion is mixed with horror and hate, and she bounces like a pinball between her revulsion and attraction to him. None of that here. Our Christine feels for him. She wants to save him. She is sure he is *worth* saving. A.L.W.'s Christine could have saved her Phantom, her "Angel of Music," I am sure of it, were she not so gripped with her obsession with Raoul (which, I'm convinced, is so deep only because she associates him with the time spent with her late father) and her fear of the Phantom. Her choices were disappointing. Our Christine here is so much better. She pleads with them both not to harm each other, not caring to hide her affection for either from the other; her plainness and unrepentant honesty about her love for Eric makes her a heroine. And our Eric makes a dignified exit from a potential life as a curiosity and a freak with a tragic but touching finality.

The characters and basic storyline are present in all versions, but this one, while the telling of it is a bit dated, is still enchanting and more in-depth than others. I highly recommend it. As an aside, it's a kick to see Teri Polo of "Meet the Family" and "The West Wing" here in such an early role. She does a great job, and carries off her part quite well.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best Phantom film ever made, June 6, 2006

By 

Lana "The Angel of music" (Huntsville, AL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Phantom of the Opera - Tv Mini Series (Import, All Regions) (DVD)

I know that the plot wanders off from the original novel, but every production, whether it be stage or screen, does the same thing. The passion and romance in this movie just can't be found anywhere else. Although it's not a musical, it's based on one called 'Phantom' by Yeston & Kopit. I highly reccomend the CD to that musical because Richard White and Glory Crampton are AMAZING!

While Terri Polo and Charles Dance don't do their own singing, they put more shred of emotion into their performance than Emmy Rossum and Gerard Butler ever did from the 2004 Phantom movie. Terri is the passionate and angelic Christine I've always imagined, and Dance is warmhearted and tender, but cold at the same time - which makes him a perfect Erik.

If you want a breif summary of the story, just know that nothing too major is missing. The only really big changes are that Erik's father is the manager of the Opera House, and Christine looks like his mother's twin. I know that these seem kind of outrageous, but it makes more sense on screen.