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Dario Argento's Phantom of the Opera | Year: 1998 Classification: Horror Actors/Actresses: - Julian Sands - Asia Argento Dario Argento's worst effort This is easily Dario Argento's worst movie. It's got very little of his signature traits (most notably the cinematography), Ronnie Taylor's assistance (from Opera) doesn't help a lot either. It's biggest asset is easily Ennio Morricone's awesome musical score. my least favorite dario flick I recently saw Darios' Phantom of the Opera after hearing all of the bad reviews on it. The film is not bad, rather its just not what we've come to expect from Dario. There were a number of things that I didn't like, the lighting being the first. The film is just too bright and direct, you never get drawn in. When you watch 'Suspiria', you forget your watching a movie and become mesmerised by what you're watching and hearing on the screen. This film never quite accomblishes that. The second thing i don't like about this film is the fact that Julian Sands is in it. I HATE JULIAN SANDS. The third and final thing i didn't like was the score. I became extremley excited when i saw that Enno Morricone did the music, but it doen't draw you in or create any kind of atmosphere. That being said there are still traces of Argentos' brilliance as a director. The camera work is outstanding (as always), the editing is tight and the set pieces and locations are top notch. Could have been a whole lot worse. The Phantom of the Opera (Dario Argento, 1998) Okay, so both Julian Sands and Asia Argento are pretty standard definitions of sex on a plate. Put them together in one of history's finest love stories, add in a director whose work is called 'operatic,' you've got a formula for success. The existing reviews of this film seem to be polarized. There is the crowd who liked either the book or the loathsome Rice/Webber monstrosity that managed to mass-hypontize Broadway into thinking it was worthwhile. They all hate the movie. And then there is the crowd who worships Dario Argento. They... well, like the movie. Kind of. And there are a core of fans who think it's the best thing since sliced bread. I think I fall into the middle section. I thought it was enjoyable, if a bit amateurish (Asia Argento's lip-synching in the singing scenes is quite painfully amusing, for example). A very interesting take on the story. Argento keeps to gore to a minimum here, at least, for Argento, preferring to take the 'operatic' moniker and apply it to the cinematography, the performances, etc. It works well enough, but it just doesn't say 'Argento.' One wonders if there were another fledgling director under whose name they were planning on releasing the movie (e.g., Demons, directed mostly by Argento but bearing the name Lamberto Bava); Asia, perhaps? In any case, one of my rules of film viewing is 'never pass up a chance to see Asia Argento naked.' And this is one of them. *** Buy Dario Argento's Phantom Of The Opera at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on Dario Argento's Phantom Of The Opera Search with the Priority Search Engine on Dario Argento's Phantom Of The Opera This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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