Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera (DVD, 2005, Widescreen)

This glitzy rendition of Andrew Lloyd Webber's stage production is very visually appealing. While Emmy Rossum's singing is not on par with Sarah Brightman, her acting is none the less captivating on the screen. Gerard Butler performs an interesting interpretation of the Phantom. While no Michael Crawford, Butler does hit key notes, and has great chemistry with Rossum.
The made for film "Black and white scenes" add closure to the interpretive ending of the stage production.
If you have never seen the Musical production, this film is perfect for you. If you have seen the Musical, you will not be disappointed... Too much. There are some songs left out, including the rehearsal of "Don Juan Triumphant". The Phantom is not as mystical as in the stage production, as all his tricks can be easily explained in the film through levers and secret passage ways.
The Phantom's lair is fairly accurate to the stage production but only in the deep depths. Towards the beginning Raoul falls into a "Fun House" of mirrors and a strictly made for film water trap.
If I have to make one complaint about the film, it would be the infamous Chandelier Scene. I have no qualms about the chandelier falling in the second Act rather than the end of the first Act; I do have a problem with the way it fell. In the original Novel the Phantom has the chandelier actually fall into the audience. During a stage performance you can not have a chandelier fall on the patrons, (unless you don't want them to come back) so the chandelier falls on the the stage. In the film the chandelier is very realistic looking, however it falls and swings down to crash into the stage! This is a film, therefore you can do things in the film that can not be done during live performances. If you have the technology make the damn chandelier fall into the audience not into the stage!
I normally would not make a fuss about such a thing, however, this is what made Phantom famous during the stage production, it should be nothing short of spectacularly disastrous in the film. Drop the chandelier kill lots of people and then have the theatre burn down. 3 stars out of 4. Hope this was helpful.

This movie was beautifully done.

Joel Schumacher was able to capture what many directors fail to when converting musicals to film: the added extras that the audience is left wanting to see when watching the stage show. The Phantom's lair was elaborate and the backstage scenes seemed to give the viewer a true glance at that period.

The casting could have been improved by getting rid of Patrick Wilson. Although he has a beautiful voice and the 'look' of Raoul, his character lacked the passion and the chemistry with Christine to be believable. In other words, it was flat.

Gerard Butler does not have as strong a voice as many who appear in the stage production (which I've seen 5 times). However, his acting brings a perfect balance to the character (as I think it is intended); he is both dark and light. His deformity and anger is contrasted superbly by the love that you see in his eyes and his feelings are experienced by the audience. The viewer understands why he is the way he is, and I kept my fingers crossed until the very end that he would walk away with some happiness... At the movie end I couldn't help but feel like the wrong guy got the girl (likely due to Wilson's dispassionate portrayal)

Minnie Driver was a surprise pleasure!! An enormous voice to match this superstar.
Ciaran Hinds was, as is typical, a perfect chameleon...he always manages to perfectly fit the roles he takes on.

Highly recommended on all counts. It isn't quite a 5 for me, but as it is closer to a 5 than a 4, I've rated it as such.

Love this version of The Phantom of the Opera. Andrew Lloyd Webber did a wonderful job in making a play into a great movie. The chemistry between
the main characters are great, Emmy Rossum, Gerard Butler and Patrick Wilson. Love them all. This movie is very tender and tragic and shows how Christine shows much compassion. It's one of my all time favorite movies and much better
than even the original book. Had to have my own copy of ALW's The Phantom of the Opera.

Great film. Probably one of the Best (if not the Best) Musical I have ever had the pleasure to see. From the Production to the acting, this film was truly an amazing creation, and a feast to the eyes. Gerard Butler played the part of the Phantom of the Opera amazingly. Both his singing and his acting just left me in awe, I never knew he had such an amazing voice. I totally Recommend this movie to everyone, especially to all those who love music. 10/10

The Phantom of the Opera is my favorite Broadway musical, and I've been fortunate enough to see three performances of it. For the past few years, I've stubbornly resisted viewing the movie, not wanting to overlay happy memories of the stage performances with a potentially lackluster cinematic version. I finally bought the movie last month; alas, I was indeed disappointed. I cannot really express exactly what it was that fell flat...it was as though they tried to stuff "too much" into the movie. It was so full of visual eye-candy that it was difficult for me to stay with the story. I guess that this is the basic difference between a stage show and a (CGI-saturated) movie. Such a movie will frequently attempt to address every little nuance so that my own imagination is unnessary. (Ironically enough, I really like the movie version of Evita, but perhaps this is because I've never seen the Broadway stage version.)

At any rate, I was not overly impressed with any of the cast members of The Phantom of the Opera movie save Minnie Driver. I thought she really brought the role of Carlotta to life. Funny that she would be my favorite; from what I've heard, she is the only lead character who did not do her own singing--she was dubbed. But golly, she can act! I thought her Italian accent, gestures, and attitude were spot on.

So I am giving this movie an "average" rating. I'm glad I finally saw it, but much prefer the stage version.