KnotMissPriceless Why so much hype?

Lollivan It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Kodie Bird True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Sarita Rafferty There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Peter Swanson I'd never seen this movie until a couple of months ago, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. I've since seen it twice more, and still enjoy it! What some reviewers don't seem to grasp is that it is supposed to be fun, not serious. It's not competition for Indiana Jones, it's simply the story of the Phantom. If the over-the-top performance of Treat Williams was not enough to tell viewers that it is just entertainment, the performance of Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa should have let them know that this is not Hamlet. Watch and enjoy.

jc-osms I'm sure I've read the odd "Phantom" cartoon strip in a newspaper, although never in a full- length comic, but that was enough to tempt me to watch this boy's own adventure brought to life. I gather the film was a major flop on original release and I can see it slightly uneasily balancing itself somewhere between the likes of the sublime "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and the later, less-so "National Treasure". In fact the film it most resembles is the soon-come "The Mummy" which of course was a commercial smash and spawned a similarly cash-generating sequel.No such luck for the team here though which is a little bit of a shame as it's an entertaining romp and with better timing may have caught a similar wave of success. It's a touch light on the special effects but then again, "The Phantom" isn't super-powered anyway, just being very athletic, a good horseman and nifty with his two-toting guns. The cinematography is excellent throughout, from the recreation of 1930's New York streets, to the climactic scenes in the Brotherhood's underground cave and in particular, some excellent landscape shots of the Bengalla jungle, the Phantom's habitat.Billy Zane makes for an energetic but genial hero, knowing that he's not really scary- looking in his purple onesie, Kristy Swanson does well as his spirited tomboy girlfriend and Treat Williams scores as the dastardly villain Xander Drax. Catherine Zeta-Jones is less convincing as a bad-girl-turned-good and the great Patrick McGoohan is wasted as the Phantom's ghostly father who makes intermittent appearances as his son's conscience. There are fight scenes a plenty and especially a fine duel between the hero and major baddie at the end which respects the traditions of swashbucklers of Hollywood's golden age.A little like its eponymous hero then, this movie was a little out of time but was otherwise light, enjoyable old-fashioned entertainment.

Darrell Till At the time of its release The Phantom had a lot going against it. The recent renewed interest in superhero movies had not yet begun. The only such movies that had enjoyed any success by 1996 were the original Superman and the Tim Burton Batman series. Fact is, unless you were a complete comics nerd nobody had really heard of any other characters. Add to that the fact that the Phantom was not particularly well known outside of the USA where it did not begin life as either a Marvel OR a DC comic and you realise how brave it was to make this movie without any A-list actors in it either. Fact is, I enjoyed this at the time of its release because it successfully achieved the feat of telling a classic comic yarn without requiring any particular special effects. It is completely story driven. The script isn't a work of genius but there is a lot to enjoy. It doesn't spoon-feed you the story or bore you with an 'origin' story - a quick 2 minute recap is given and then its on with the story. This won't please everybody - but if you can get around the faults with mid-nineties film-making in general, and that comics place other values way above realism, then you might enjoy this even now. I recently re-watched this after it appeared on Netflix and I stand by my original opinions after nearly 20 years!

Phil Hubbs If you cross Indiana Jones with Tarzan and mix in some 'Goonies' type pirate tomfoolery then you pretty much have this fun cheesy boys own adventure. Actually if I think about it some more you could also throw in some camp Batman and Robin from the classic 60's series in certain sequences, it does get a little bit too hammy in places I must say hehe.Like Batman the Phantom has no super powers, he merely relies on his strength, intelligence and the fact people think he's an immortal ghost...oh and he lives in a cave. So basically he is Batman but with less cash to have hi-tech...and minus Robin for a couple of wild animals he trained.Of course it is suppose to be almost a pantomime type flick with lots of silly lines and caddish villains, but it is a touch too childish for me in places, where as other pulp comicbook character adaptations like 'The Shadow' are a bit more serious. The Phantom's world is a pretty looking universe I must say, the jungle lair, 30's New York and the museum set where one of the skulls is kept, are all really well created. They have that lovely thick structured wooden stylish design with that nice dark noirish colour range (much like 'The Shadow').The story of this character is just as cheesy as his attire. A boy (400 years in the past) witnesses the murder of his father by some pirates who attack their ship. The boy is washed ashore and gets looked after by some tribes folk. They give him the Skull Ring for some reason and because of this he decides to dedicate his life to stopping naughty people...by becoming the masked avenger The Phantom. This role is passed down from father to son over generations (along with the Skull Ring) and leads to the rumour that the Phantom is an immortal crime fighter (everyone thinks all these Phantoms over the hundreds of years are the same one person). So its all a bit Batman-ish really (but Batman came first!), the rest of the plot mainly involves the Phantom searching for skulls that have great power of destruction and stopping bad guys from getting their hands on them (in the present day of 1938). Simple clichéd stuff really.Effects are dated now of course and the fights do look rather gentle, hell even back when the film was released it wasn't that great effects and stunts wise. I almost expected Kapow! to flash across the screen when Zane punched one of the cookie cutter henchmen baddies. Its a good fun film which kids will enjoy and is set totally within the classic period of the comicbook action genre, old school superheroes. You just have to look at the main villains name...'Xander Drax', could that be anymore ridiculously over the top? Oh and pools of man eating sharks? is this a Bond movie?In all honesty the Phantom isn't really a great character to put on film as he's a bit too dated and soft looking with his natty purple tights and simple black face mask which only covers his eyes. The fact he has a wolf and horse as his loyal sidekicks is also kinda odd really, odd combination wouldn't you think, plus he does look a bit daft on that horse in his purple catsuit. Didn't really think much of the pirates that make up the bad guys either, especially at the end which really turns into Schumacher-esque type affair. I must say I think Treat Williams was miscast as the main villain, I'm sure they could have found someone more caddish looking. But overall its all taken from the original source material (three stories) so that's good I suppose, its just the original stories and ideas are predictably very out of time now.I love how no one recognises 'Kit Walker' when he dons his Phantom black mask, just like Robin its so stupid that no one see right through it...figuratively speaking. Despite the rather familiar plot involving mystical skulls and ancient tribes ('Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom'?), the film doesn't beat around the bush and gives you exactly what it says on the tin. A very light-hearted period set superhero flick with lots of charm dames cads and a dashing hero in a tight purple catsuit.6/10