DVD Review: The Phantom of the Opera

One reason I'm glad I watched it is that I love classic literature, and any movie based on classic literature is on my got-to-see-it list. I've never read this particular classic, by Gaston LeRoux, but I think it would be worth the time spent. From reading the reviews on Amazon it seems that the book is much different than the DVD, which was based on the hit musical. There's also a 1925 film version featuring Lon Chaney as the phantom that I've put into my Netflix queue.

The casting was perfect – the main players were all believable, and attractive except for the wicked, wretched phantom of course (Gerard Butler) who was never meant to be attractive in any way. The leading lady, Christine (Emmy Rossum) was gorgeous in an odd but highly appealing sort of way, and her boyfriend Raoul (Patrick Wilson) was adorable.

There was a lot of music, more than we normally like to hear during a film. But it was an opera movie, so what would you expect? The songs were fantastic, easy to understand, and beautifully performed. It could make someone start to like opera if, for some reason, they didn't already.

What I liked best of all in this movie were the sets and costumes. They were unbelievably beautiful. The dresses – oh my goodness – they were incredibly detailed and I would have loved to wear things like that when I was younger. And the old Paris opera house was amazing. In the first scene the opera house was old and abandoned, and the site of an auction in 1919. But then the movie flashed back to 1870 where the main action of the story takes place in the grandeur and luxury of the most wonderfully gorgeous theater you could imagine. This is really worth seeing just to look at the architecture.

So there you have my opinions. If you haven't seen it and don't care for musicals – especially those with lots of opera singing, you still might want to check it out if you like costumes, gracious old buildings, and intense love triangle stories that will stay in your mind for years to come.