Having just seen the film. . . I'm stunned. I was absolutely floored by how amazingly awesome it really was. Hard to believe how critics are simply not seeing the beauty of this film. . . then again, it was also hard to believe how they saw anything in Matrix Reloaded while the general public was at least smart enough to realize what nonsense it was. But, that's beside the point. . .

Being a music major, so I believe I can speak for these things and to starter. . . there's no logic in everyone's hatred of Gerard Butler as the Phantom. Honestly. . . he's better than Michael Crawford, who's voice always struck me as too high. . . almost too "girly." There is emotional pain, heartache, rage, passion, and --above all-- humanity in Butler's voice that Crawford failed to grasp fully. The sensualness of Butler's voice lies in its devilish deceitfulness; it doesn't need to rest in the way it sounds, but works just fine the way it is. It's a solid, solid voice; no, it's not a perfectly-pitched voice, but I don't wanna' hear the Phantom singing like some kind of castrated, male opera star; he needs to have passion in his voice. . . conviction. I'd say he needs all the above qualities even more than he needs to sound sensual, which seems to be everyone's primary argument against him. . . too bad it's a terribly poor and ridiculous one. But, all in all, Butler's voice is stunning and I'm very glad he got to play the role. He did a phenomenal job!

Emmy Rossum's voice is gloriously beautiful and perfectly young. Sarah Brightman's original voice, while beautiful, is ultimately too old. Emmy's voice fixes this perfectly with its round clarity and poignant glory. Patrick Wilson's voice as Raoul is also quite convincing. . . it's soft-spoken, gentle, and warm. . . just as it should be. The sharp contrast to the Phantom's harshness and anguish.

So, once again, Clemmy has failed to see the beauty in a score once again and completely flabbergasted me by his opinions. I feel sorry for all those who fail to hear the beauty in the performances in this version and who fail to see the wonder that is the film. This Phantom of the Opera is the one I'll grow up on the rest of my life and will be the one people will remember (for good) for many years to come.

Just had to address the falsities of Clemmy's review and let everyone out there who has an open mind know that this is a superior recording to that of the original and I'm looking forward to watching the film for many decades to come.

Bring on the flames.

Sayonara!
Jockolantern

Thank you – finally some common sense. I can’t believe how the critics are destroying this show. Having seen the stage production 5 times – I can honestly say this movie is just as good – if not better. In fact the artists were at times better than many that I have seen. I have now seen the movie 4 times and it gets better every single time. I plan on going as many times as possible and I listen to the wonderful music every day!!!!

Thank you again
Megan

> Having just seen the film. . . I'm stunned. I was absolutely floored by
> how amazingly awesome it really was. Hard to believe how critics are
> simply not seeing the beauty of this film. . . then again, it was also
> hard to believe how they saw anything in Matrix Reloaded while the general
> public was at least smart enough to realize what nonsense it was. But,
> that's beside the point. . .

> Being a music major, so I believe I can speak for these things and to
> starter. . . there's no logic in everyone's hatred of Gerard Butler as the
> Phantom. Honestly. . . he's better than Michael Crawford, who's voice
> always struck me as too high. . . almost too "girly." There is
> emotional pain, heartache, rage, passion, and --above all--
> humanity in Butler's voice that Crawford failed to grasp fully. The
> sensualness of Butler's voice lies in its devilish deceitfulness; it
> doesn't need to rest in the way it sounds, but works just fine the way it
> is. It's a solid, solid voice; no, it's not a perfectly-pitched voice, but
> I don't wanna' hear the Phantom singing like some kind of castrated, male
> opera star; he needs to have passion in his voice. . . conviction. I'd say
> he needs all the above qualities even more than he needs to sound
> sensual, which seems to be everyone's primary argument against him. . .
> too bad it's a terribly poor and ridiculous one. But, all in all, Butler's
> voice is stunning and I'm very glad he got to play the role. He did a
> phenomenal job!

> Emmy Rossum's voice is gloriously beautiful and perfectly young. Sarah
> Brightman's original voice, while beautiful, is ultimately too old. Emmy's
> voice fixes this perfectly with its round clarity and poignant glory.
> Patrick Wilson's voice as Raoul is also quite convincing. . . it's
> soft-spoken, gentle, and warm. . . just as it should be. The sharp
> contrast to the Phantom's harshness and anguish.

> So, once again, Clemmy has failed to see the beauty in a score once again
> and completely flabbergasted me by his opinions. I feel sorry for all
> those who fail to hear the beauty in the performances in this version and
> who fail to see the wonder that is the film. This Phantom of the Opera is
> the one I'll grow up on the rest of my life and will be the one people
> will remember (for good) for many years to come.

> Just had to address the falsities of Clemmy's review and let everyone out
> there who has an open mind know that this is a superior recording to that
> of the original and I'm looking forward to watching the film for many
> decades to come.

> Bring on the flames.

> Sayonara!
:) Jockolantern

hahahha

)

I've seen the movie twice this week and plan on buying the DVD when it comes out. As everyone seems to agree, it's unfair to compare Mr. Butler to Mr. Crawford because they have very different voices. I've always admired Mr. Crawford's work and voice. And we should try to be more lenient because Mr. Butler was rush trained to sing the music with it's highs and lows in only
months. Do Clemmensen and his other harsh critics think they could have done as well as Mr. Butler did. Yes, he looked and sounded sensual and fit the role well. Mr. Webber made a good choice. Ms. Rossum was lovely in all aspects and
she carried the low note beautifully. If there should be critism, it should be
in the way the music and singing was processed by the audio technicians. Perhaps, critics should ask Mr. Webber what he had in mind because after all did he not have the final word and cut?

well being a drum major and involved with my college's drama department
> Emmy Rossum's makes my dog sound good and the phantom could not come close to being a good singer

the casting sucked and the director was pathethic who sings by only opening their mouth 1cm wide when she

> Just had to address the falsities of Clemmy's review and let everyone out
> there who has an open mind know that this is a superior recording to that
> of the original and I'm looking forward to watching the film for many
> decades to come.

I recently had the opportunity to listen to the older cast recording of PotO, and boy, it runs circles around the 2004 recording.

Being someone who has been in love with the older version of PotO, I, too, was quite disappointed by the 2004 version. True, its looks are stunning, but it has none of the charm of the older one. None whatsoever.

Also, Josh, and please don't misunderstand me... You always pound on Christian if he writes a review that isn't to your liking (this review, less than ****-reviews of Goldenthal and Randy Newman/Pixar scores), and paint him as this guy whose opinion is always flawed, but when he writes a review that -in your opinion- is spot-on, you sing his praises to no end.

You need to install some gray areas in your thought-process, my friend. It's not all black and white.

Tatata,

ck

> Just had to address the falsities of Clemmy's review and let everyone out
> there who has an open mind know that this is a superior recording to that
> of the original>

Agree with you there. Wonder what's with the man, ie Clemmy.

Good thing thousands did not listen to him.

He has ears that judges technicalities, but not emotions.

Sound Pitch and operatic voices may not appeal to the senses, when screened in movies. If the selling point is just a perfect voice, then Clemmy ought to just review operatic voices.