Phantom Of The Opera (1983)

Down once more to the depths of the opera.

It's strange how certain things come back into your life and Phantom has slowly crept in these past few months, I've rewatched films, seen some more fan appreciation for various adaptations, and even re-read the book so let's talk more films of this beyond niche corner of popular literature. Now I've heard about the Schell version almost immediately in my first and most severe obsession with Phantom Of The Opera way, way back in about 2008 or 2009 but I've only just seen it for the first time. So how was it? In terms of movies it's about lower mid tier of adaptations. They shift the setting from turn of the 20th century Paris to about 1920s-30s Budapest, which brownie points for the crew actually shooting on location there, as we meet composer Sandor Korvin and his fiancee Elena who's a debutting opera singer and after a pretty convoluted and not super well defined reason of the manager sabotaging her career, Elena drowns herself and leads Korvin to seek revenge. And yes this is one of those versions where the Phantom is scarred by acid instead of being deformed, a popular trope since the 1930s chinese version Song At Midnight, but here it's not handled nearly as well. What confuses matters even more for me is Korvin is rescued from acid disfiguring and being almost burned alive by this character who seems to be a mix of the ratcatcher and mute assistant from the Herbert Lom version who inexplicably is outside but not only that, he takes Korvin to his soon to be subterranean lair, and even picks out the mask for him. This boggles my mind and quite frankly takes away defining moments for the Phantom. An indeterminate period of time elapses as we are introduced to new budding opera singer Maria who catches the eye of the Phantom, but not due to just fancying her for her talent and looks but because she looks similar to Korvin's dead wife. Not a fan of such changes, they really love interjecting a reason why the Phantom loves Christine in movies instead of it being a natural attraction (or about as natural a romance as you can get with a creepy mask wearing cave dweller). Oh Christine is his dead wife reincarnated, Christine is his daughter, Christine is the only woman to do his music justice, and it just doesn't work. And to compound that fact that there really isn't any romance or love triangle here, our Raoul equivalent is a posh englishman played by Michael York, and admittedly I actually liked how they weren't making googly eyes at each other from the start and have a rather catty and non-romantic edge to them at the start but there's no real fight or passion to win Maria to either side and when they do get together it's very much a whatever reaction. Hell the most confrontational they get is when the Phantom chokes Michael out like a bitch at a turkish bath and that's kinda it. Another aspect woefully cut short. Sounds like negatives all around huh? Well in all seriousness, I don't hate it. I accept it was just a TV movie made in the 80s, they took some liberties with the source material, and in a pre-Andrew Lloyd Webber musical world showed that people still remember the story. The best part period about the movie is Maximilian Schell himself, I heard his acting might have been a tad much but madame please Erik ain't exactly a down to earth subdued presence in the book so I'll live, I love the look and the mask, I dare say he has one of the best speaking voices for this character in any medium, I love we see him out and about beyond the opera house, and while he doesn't appear much the stuff he has is nothing but highlights for me. Jane Seymour is decent in acting and I don't hate how she takes a more firm spoken and career driven iteration of Christine, but in tandem with our two male leads there's just something missing that's needed for this particular story. Michael York, eh I've rarely seen a Raoul variant that I tremendously like and the attitude and upper classmanship for lack of a better word turns me off quick but no bad acting from him. I will admit the video I got ahold of for this was free on Youtube cause to own it on video you need to have a region free DVD player and even then it seems like not many copies are abound, so the quality was in classic 360p which lends quite well if you imagine you're watching it on a tube TV in 1983, but the direction is solid, the scenery in sets and locations are nice, also kinda amazing to see a Phantom lair look pretty damn close to the musical version 3 years before the stage musical came out so well done there, everything feels legit to the time period, you just gotta roll with the less than crystal clear picture quality but hey maybe there is a better and cleaner source to be found elsewhere. Who knows. Not bad, but there are better. I give it 2 stars, 6/10, and we jump all the way to 1990 tomorrow for another TV movie with a huge modern film star today. If you know your stuff you already know who it is.

Live And Let Die

Man, if I could pull off that Baron Samedi look I would.

Roger Moore's first outing as 007 is a pretty good one in my eyes, now you might be thinking how does Bond and a somewhat blatant Blaxploitation format mix? You'd think it would be an oil and water situation and fail miserably, but it turns out to be a pretty good movie. Bond is quickly assigned a new case after three agents have died, and investigates the prime minister of the fictional country San Monique, where he quickly discovers a heroin organization, voodoo cults, and a woman able to tell the future through tarot cards. It quickly sets the tone for Roger's tenure, able to have a bit of fun and joke while still being a credible spy movie and while I'm all for a serious spy thriller, the James Bond series has always been a bit bonkers since the beginning. The cast is one of the best we've had so far, Roger Moore though not being the Bond of my childhood grew on me very quickly and I love his performance more so than Connery and Lazenby. He has a cool, almost laidback personality, always with a witty retort or quip to ease the tension and to show his character, he can be serious when he needs to be but it's definitely a different interpretation of this character. Jane Seymour does well as Solitaire and I will admit her character is one of the most interesting in Bond history without even counting the foresight she has, she's a sheltered woman under the thumb of a cruel villain and is very conflicted when she meets James, she's a good character. I absolutely love Yaphet Kotto as Dr. Kananga, he's menacing, intelligent, charming, and even a bit fun but he never loses the edge throughout the film, he does damn fine work and I appreciate his hard work to make Kananga something different. In fact all the villains are class with every last one of them memorable and fun, Whisper though not used much is unsettling, Tee Hee poses a physical threat while still being very fun, and the master of the dead himself Baron Samedi played to honest to God perfection by Geoffrey Holder is a marvel to behold, he doesn't do much and is yet another criminally underused villain but the impact he leaves is undeniable. I fully believe he is an undead fiend, they straight up kill him twice and he still is around, the perfect mix of downright creepy and incredible fun I can almost recommend the movie on just him alone. The action isn't half bad either, with the highlight being the speedboat chase in the bayou's of Louisiana and while some say it's like proto-Smokey And The Bandit with some pretty good stunts, an emphasis on comedy, and the inclusion of fan revered or fan reviled Sherrif J.W. Pepper, I enjoy it nevertheless and it's great to watch but this movie came out first about 4 years before Smokey And The Bandit so I like to think it might have inspired something. I know this is one of the devisive entries in the series, some people love it and some people don'tgo for it, but I lean more toward loving it and do recommend seeing it. 3 stars, 7/10, a fine beginning for Mr. Moore. Next time though we get even more divisive so join me next time when we pay a visit to The Man With The Golden Gun.