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Phantom (The)
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray A - America - Lions Gate Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Andreas Petersen (1st May 2010). |
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The Film
 Sometimes all it takes for me to get excited for a movie, or at least gets me in the right mood, is to see one person’s name on the credits. "The Phantom" wasn’t written by anyone I know, nor directed by a familiar name, but was produced by Joe Dante. Dante is one of those filmmakers that people seem to forget about, despite his amazing contributions in the form of "The Howling" (1981) and the "Gremlins" films (1984 & 1990). Seeing Dante’s name as a producer on "The Phantom" told me to just relax and get ready to have a great time. And that is just what "The Phantom" was. "The Phantom" is based on the 1930’s comic book, opens with the origin of the titular hero. There was a boy on a ship, and it was attacked by pirates. The boy washed up on the island Bengalla, and after being rescued by the natives, decides to spend his life fighting evil. 400 years pass, and The Phantom (Billy Zane) still lives, or at least that is how the legend goes. Evil business man Xavier Drax (Treat Williams) is looking for three fabled skulls that, when together, hold enough power to take over the world. The Phantom looks to stop his plans, and all the while gets tangled up with old girlfriend Diana Palmer (Kristy Swanson), whom doesn’t know that her ex-lover is the masked hero. One of the most fascinating things about this movie is how amazingly modern it feels. This may be peculiar for a 1996 film that is mostly a call back to adventure movies of the 30’s and 40’s, but in a day and age where every filmmaker seems to be making their call back to something, "The Phantom" does it better than most people do today. Hell, "The Phantom" felt more like an "Indiana Jones" movie than "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" (2008). "The Phantom" is silly fun from start to finish, and all the while felt as though they knew exactly what they were doing. There are stunts where people jump from planes and land on horses, jungle chase sequences that rival anything out of "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" (as if that was hard), and dopey dialogue up the wazoo. You have pirates, evil corporate men, a league of evil sexy pilots, etc. etc. I mean, I found myself asking “Does this movie have everything?” numerous times. However, if "The Phantom" were in fact made today, I feel as though it could be done a little better. While I loved the innocent dopy-ness of the whole thing, there were a couple times where I felt if this movie had been 'PG-13' instead of 'PG' it could have appealed to my senses much more. Also, the whole thing felt a little reserved, and I wish perhaps the movie ran with itself a little more. But honestly these are minor gripes that didn't really bother me very much. "The Phantom" is a gem, it's one of those undiscovered movies that I’m happy can be re-discovered on DVD and Blu-ray. I remember seeing ads for this movie in 1996 and thinking “That looks like purple Batman. I don’t want to see purple Batman.” Little did I know that at the theaters on June 7, 1996, premiered the closest thing to an "Indiana Jones" film in years. Do yourself a favor and check this one out.
Video
"The Phantom" is presented in 2.35:1 1080p 24/fps HD widescreen picture mastered in AVC MPEG-4 compression, and continues the successful trend of Lionsgate movies that are looking better and better. The past few Lionsgate Blu-rays I have reviewed have surprised me, and "The Phantom" is no exception. The film’s interesting look, from jungle, to 1930's New York, to evil pirate caves, all look great in this transfer. I didn’t see any noise, any grain, it just all looked great. Considering this movie was a dud at the box office, I’m happy that the studio took the time to give us a proper transfer. What could have been a throw away mess turned out to be one of the better looking old-movie-Blu-ray's I have seen in a while.
Audio
"The Phantom" is presented in an English DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 track mixed at 48kHz/24-bit, and I’d be hard pressed to want more out of it. "The Phantom" is an action movie, and if the campy presentation wasn’t enough, the audio track does everything in its power to remind us so. While the mix isn’t the most robust, the action sequences themselves sounded clear and moved great. All the dialogue was clear, even through loud sequences or moments of heavy score. This really does a service to the film, making it nearly transcend its campy roots, but for all the right reasons. Optional subtitles are included in English and Spanish.
Extras
Included on this disc are just a theatrical trailer for the film which lasts for 1 minute and 23 seconds, and a bonus trailer for "Lionsgate Blu-ray" promo that lasts for 1 minute and 1 second.
Overall
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