The Phantom
Slam Evil!
Billy Zane stars as The Phantom in this thrill-a-minute actioner based on one of the most successful comic series of all time!
The story begins as an expedition lands on the island of Bengalla, seeking the legendary skulls of Touganda. Believed to harness an energy force of incalculable power, the skulls could spell disaster for mankind. And that's exactly what ruthless tycoon Xander Drax has in mind. . . Unless one man can save it.
Now evil has met its match and great movie adventure has a new name - The Phantom!
Member Reviews
A True Hidden Gem - Old_Video_Man
This is an outstanding movie. It's a good old-fashioned comic book adventure. It isn't a huge budget, mega promoted film, but it's solid, honest, and a lot of fun.
You hate the bad guys, love the good guys, and hope the good guy gets the girl, even if he has to tell her his secret identity.
The plot is simple - he's the 21st person the be the Dread Pirate Roberts - oops, Phantom - and he has to save the world from the bad guy, Treat Williams, and his henchmen. He has hoops and hurdles to go through and its just a great ride. Perfect movie for the whole family.The Phantom - Pat_Mtl
It's a movie that is a bit misunderstood. Far from being bad, it offer's a nice adventure. Go into it with a relax brain and you will have fun. Billy Zane does a wonderful job to bring Lee Falk's Phantom to life. Also the performance of Rip Thorn as Xander Drax is pure cheese and over the top. Featuring a young Catherine Zeta JonesA great B-movie! - Jay-
Unfortunately this movie was poorly marketed. Mistake number 1 — it was released on June 7, 1996 but it isn’t even close to being a blockbuster like Batman Begins. Mistake number 2 — the trailer is terrible and doesn’t convey the campy nature of the film.
Once I realized that The Phantom was a B-movie I started to really enjoy it. It’s actually a great film in my opinion and a lot of fun to watch.
The sets and costumes are excellent. I don’t normally pay a lot of attention this kind of detail in a film but everything from the furniture to motorcycles look very authentic. The production value is quite high but unfortunately some of the special effects were distracting.
When special effects are done well they should be invisible to the viewer. There is a scene where The Phantom is riding through the jungle, dodging bullets from the bad guys. A close-up shot shows a bullet hitting a tree and exploding into colourful fragments as if the tree was a box of Fruit Loops! I had to watch this several times, frame by frame to make sure I was seeing things correctly. Maybe this was intentional? I thought it took away from the scene.
For some reason the directory of photography chose a camera lens that gives off a really bad lens flare that looks like a blue laser. This had me confused in a few of the earlier scenes and just became annoyingly visible throughout the rest of the film.
Billy Zane as a super hero? You bet! He’s perfectly cast and hilarious! He always has a goofy grin and smart ass comment for every situation. I found myself laughing out loud several times. Treat Williams as bad guy Xander Drax is great as well.
If you passed this film over 10 years ago then it’s time to give it a second look. The DVD is anamorphic widescreen but the video quality is average. The audio is 5.1 Dolby Digital and quite good. There’s nothing but a trailer in terms of extras but this wouldn’t prevent me from purchasing the disc. I’ll be adding thi
Member Reviews
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A True Hidden Gem - Old_Video_Man
This is an outstanding movie. It's a good old-fashioned comic book adventure. It isn't a huge budget, mega promoted film, but it's solid, honest, and a lot of fun.
You hate the bad guys, love the good guys, and hope the good guy gets the girl, even if ...The Phantom - Pat_Mtl
It's a movie that is a bit misunderstood. Far from being bad, it offer's a nice adventure. Go into it with a relax brain and you will have fun. Billy Zane does a wonderful job to bring Lee Falk's Phantom to life. Also the performance of Rip Thorn as Xander ...A great B-movie! - Jay-
Unfortunately this movie was poorly marketed. Mistake number 1 — it was released on June 7, 1996 but it isn’t even close to being a blockbuster like Batman Begins. Mistake number 2 — the trailer is terrible and doesn’t convey the campy nature of the film.
Once ...