Das Phantom von Budapest

Jane Seymour and "Phantom" fans beware!!! This made for T. V. movie has to be the worst adaptation of the famous Gaston Leroux story filmed to date. Ms. Seymour plays two roles: Elena, a suicidal soprano, and Maria, a bitchy soprano. Maria (the Christine Daae character) hasn't one good quality about her, making the viewer wonder what the Phantom is so in love about. Michael York plays the equally irritating director of "Faust", the show that the opera company has been rehearsing for ever. In a nutshell, Ms. Seymour's hair gets bigger with each scene, her costumes look like a third rate community threatre production of "My Fair Lady" (...she usually looks so beautiful in period costumes!) and her lip-synching only works in wideshots. Mr. York's hair gets more and more like Orphan Annie's as the film progesses and his costumes look like Oscar Wilde's cast offs. The one redeeming moment in this film, is when the Phantom's face is finally shown. Stan Winston's make-up is quite good.

I am a fan of both Jane Seymour AND "The Phantom of the Opera". After seeing this film, I just wanted to call her up and ask her why she made this!!!!

I love this movie, is very close to the original novel, and the actors, Oscar winner, Maximillian Schell (from DEEP IMPACT)

Jane Seymour (from Judgment AT NUREBERG) and Michael Your (from THE HAUNTING OF HELL HOUSE) are fantastic!

The set was wonderful, and the music is good to! I think, Schell makes the most darkest and original Phantom, this time named Sandor Korvin, a deformed maestro, who lives on the catacombs below the Budapest Opera House.

This is the best phantom, but why do not have it Oscars? This is the only disappointment thing. But this don't stops to make this film, not only the best, but with best actors of all!

I really recommend "The Phantom of the Opera" of 1983 to any, one, I am saying, really any one! And remember this is the best!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There is some singing in this version, but the 1983 The Phantom of the Opera is not a rock musical. The songs are from Faust, the opera being performed on the stage, with a very unbelievable dubbing for Jane Seymour. She may be a beautiful woman, but she is not believable as an opera singer. Another oddity is that Michael York, the opera director, continually insults Faust - so why not pick a different one? Faust happens to be my favorite opera, so I didn't appreciate the little insults.

In contrast with the other versions of Phantom, Jane's character isn't written to be sweet and innocent. She's actually quite the hussy! She admits to using her looks to get ahead while on a dinner date with Michael, and she's pretty quick to relinquish her honor with him as well. Also, there's an interesting backstory as to how the phantom got his disfigured face. Maximilian Schell, the future phantom, is a conductor who believes in his wife's (Jane Seymour in a double role) ability to succeed as a soprano opera singer. However, nerves often get the better of her, and she receives a scathing review for her opening night's performance. She commits suicide, and to get revenge, Maximilian confronts the critic. There's an accident involving fire and acid, and the rest is history.

It had a good cast, and there were some interesting moments, but all in all, it definitely felt like a television attempt. I felt a little sorry for Maximilian Schell, an Academy Award winner, who was probably excited to play such a famous role - until he started watching the dailies.

DLM Warning: If you suffer from vertigo or dizzy spells, like my mom does, this movie might not be your friend. There are some POV camera angles throughout the movie, and that will make you sick. In other words, "Don't Look, Mom!"

This was a horrible and disastrous version of Gaston Leroux's love story. There are now completely different characters, which means goodbye Erik Destler, goodbye Christine Daae, and goodbye Roaul de Chagny, and there is also a completely new storyline. Let me make the comparison.

Gaston Leroux's Version of the Story:

A hideously deformed "phantom" known as Erik Destler is born with facial deformity and distortion, which causes him to hide his face away in a mask. When he sets sights on the beautiful Christine Daae, a soprano at the Opera Populaire, he decides that he loves her and therefore teaches her to sing and gives her lessons daily. This is all well and good up until the point where Roaul de Chagny, a man who is also in love with Christine and was childhood sweethearts with her, comes into the picture. Then a love triangle forms and a war begins because of it.

This Version of the Story:

A man loses his wife to suicide after she receives a bad review, and as a result of his anger and frustration, he is burned in a chemical spill. The burn causes his face to appear horrifying and frightening, and he hides it away with a full face mask and returns as The Phantom of the Opera five years later to avenge his wife. He sets sights on a woman who possesses almost identical features of his wife and falls in love with her, but unfortunately, she already has a lover, which results in the final showdown.

This version of the story is distorted and untrue, which brings the value of the movie down by far. It is also incredibly boring and slow-paced, and that's a lot to say coming from an obsessed freak of the story.

5/10

I was younger when I saw this, before I saw any other version, maybe, and definitely before I read the book. I remember a scene with a quote that has come back to me powerfully. The phantom comes into the room with the young singer to meet her for the first time after watching her rehearse many times. He says to her, "The mask frightens you? The mask protects you!"