Just to clarify the intro title card "For those who came in late" was how Lee Falk started each issue following the first comic strip, it was a fan nod, Duh!
Just about everything Doug finds fault with in this film is directly taken from the original comics strip or an homage to 30's Saturday matinee cliffhanger serials.
If only the protagonist was in Pink rather than Purple. WE NEED A FILTHY FRANK MOVIE, PEOPLE! WAKE UP, AMERICA!!! PINK GUY NEEDS TO SHOW HIS SHIT TO THE WORLD!
The Phantom doesn't wear purple to hide himself. He wears purple so his enemies can see him coming; so they know who he is; because when they do see him, he'll be the last thing they will ever see.
OK, one word on the purple costume. It's only nowadays that we associate purple as feminine or silly for a man to wear, but, for the most part of human history, it was the colour of royalty. And, since Phantom is the hereditary title, you can see why his costume is purple.
The biggest problem wasn't just the color, its just that the entire costume was purple. As NC pointed out, it makes no sense to wear a purple costume especially if you want to be stealthy (plus it looked a lot better in comic form anyway.) If the Phantom had say a black or camo costume with purple stripping or something, it would've been better imo.
He's purple because he was purple back in the pulps. So the movie makers stayed true to the source material. It would be like someone changing Superman just because they didn't like blue and red.
The Phantom is actually a cool concept for a superhero. A legacy identity passed down through the generations, that's pretty cool! The costume . . . could have used some updating admittedly.
Mr Freeze from *Batman and Robin* could have had one of those for his "neon lit ice cream pub", illuminated by multi-colored spotlights waving around. ~_~
Well to be fair, in Japan the color purple (hur-dur) is associated with death, so if The Phantom was in Japan I bet they'd think he was *really* scary.
Unfortunately no, that was a bit before my time (though of course I know the iconic line "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!). I have seen the Alec Baldwin movie though and I thought that it was quite good. I'm a huge Phantom fan though and have read the majority of the comic strips dating back to it's debut in 1936. :)
I F&%#IN' LOVE THIS MOVIE, THIS IS #2 ON MY FAVORITE LIST (my absolute favorite being The Goonies)! I friggin' love The Phantom in general, I have over 400 comics, this movie (of course), a homemade Phantom-costume, both rings, the Phantom 2040 tv-series on VHS, the Phantom 2040 video game and a lot of other Phantom-merchindise!
It's not even supposed to be purple. Back when they first started doing color comics, the black suit would have been to heavy and they made his suit dark purple to prevent ink smears. The solid black ink they used back then wouldn't dry fast enough for the high speed presses of the time and grey would have just made it looked faded. It was an aesthetic and technical compromise.
I think the horse scene is kinda badass, I mean, jumping from a crashing plane to land on a horse with a wolf by your side.... pretty fucking cool for a guy in a purple skin tight morph suit... just saying.. but yeah probably the only highlight of this movie
The Phantom is just standard cheesy superhero movie with pulp fiction action scenes, neat exotic locations, and a fun summer B-movie, but it doesn't hold up as much as they're trying to make into a cool superhero flick. Only when this person dresses up into purple Batman. If only he could dress up into a black costume which it's suppose to be a ghost who walks, that blends into an awesome movie. At least purple is not a easy choice to pick. It's mix bag movie which can be cool, but some are cheesy and stupid. By the way, it's that Kristy Swanson? Man, I like her in Dude, Where's My Car, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and The Chase with her gray bra on it. So hot.
Funny thing - I DID read a Phantom comic. Actually, I read two, but I remember well only one of them - the one about the origin of Devil (Phantom's pet wolf).
"Aside from the PacMan ghosts, how many purple ghosts have you seen?" Ahem, check the Mystery Skulls animated music video "Ghost." (I know this review was made a few years ago, but I just couldn't help it)
No powers, he's kind of like batman in that he uses stealth and wit over strength for the most part... I'm aware of the irony. This movie is a terrible showing of the phantom, the only thing they managed to get right is the costume. His original creator intended for his costume to be grey btw, but the paper that coloured it made him purple and it kind of stuck.
justinjacques766 ...Yeah kinda, but then again what superhero doesn't look stupid. The flash has practically the same costume just with the lightning bolt ear things.
Eon2641 My mom actually has a few of the old comics of The Phantom and I remember reading them when I was a kid. It actually wasn't that bad, and some of them got pretty dark. I clearly remember some queen who wasn't allowed to fall in love (I, of course, forget the details) because of some curse, but of course, ends up falling in love with The Phantom in the end, which causes the curse to make her quickly age into bones and bones into dust. x_x
HalfDemonInuyasha Yeah, I was introduced to him through the video game on the sega genesis, I didn't understand most of it at the time but it got kind of twisted too. I wish I could have read the comics but living in a small Canadian town has it's disadvantages.
But seriously, NC should review The Phantom Of The Opera or Love Never Dies. I would love to see his opinion of it, even if it is negative like his Les Mis one (needless to say, I still love the Les Mis film)
ok, here is my hypothesis: maybe they wanted to use a "purple-screen" to make him...invisible? but noticed that it didn't look that well? I don't know xD
The Norwegian "The Phantom" magazines change his clothes to blue. Aparently they were red in the beginning. One day the creator went to Norway to visit the fans, and was suprised by the suit being blue and later changed it to something more similar to the Norwegian change..!
Standard villain but whoever played him was sexy looking. Also guy in purple with black mask, really Critic? No Venture Brothers joke? Bah! This review was kinda boring. :/
apparently the purple color was an accident at the printers, the Phantom was supposed to be red(how that's an improvement when it comes to camouflage is irrelevant) seems the company liked it and kept the color. as for the phrase "The Ghost who walks" it's been associated with the character for years. I mean it's not like Spider-man has a descriptive sentence associated with him... oh wait...
So basically the crazy husband from titanic dawns a life of fighting crime, when his girlfriend, Buffy the vampire slayer, is captured by air pirates led by Elena from Zorro, and gets taken prisoner by Shang Tsung. The greatest crossover before the avengers!
Hm... the Phantom, the Ghost who walks, Doug Walker, confined to his chair and... refuses to walk... I think I'm picking up a pattern... dead guy who walks, living guy who doesn't walk... hm...
The reason for the purple costume is that in the comics, when they were black and white, he was supposed to be grey, but when the comics were coloured, an artist made the character purple without consulting the original artist
Tbh I was watching this movie with my mom last night and the costume always bugged her it changed from dark purple to magenta very weird Billy Zane was great tho
This movie is so bizarre, it feels like it's stuck in limbo somewhere between "completely cheesy B-movie" and "big budget action blockbuster" in terms of quality. I mean, it's so silly in a lot of ways yet seems to still take itself seriously. My favorite part is when they get to the secret lair at the end and it looks like they're in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland. Also, I enjoyed Treat Williams' over-the-top villain, but he seems out-of-place somehow, like he should really be the evil Dean of Students/rival fraternity leader in direct-to-video "Animal House" movie.
I like that analysis. You're right, it does seem to be in the middle of b movie and blockbuster. It's like they just didn't go that extra step to perfect everything.
The Phantom is what happens when you have a superhero movie that stays faithful to it's source material. You get a guy in purple tights. Which was, of course, always what he wore in the Sunday comic strips. However, for the movie they should have made some alterations to the design of the costume. X-Men didn't have Wolverine running around in blue and yellow spandex, and maybe they could have at least looked at some other design ideas for The Phantom. However, if you actually read the comics - which I did as a kid because there wasn't shit to do on a Sunday morning in the 80s - then you can look past how silly the purple outfit is and enjoy the movie.
JustinAKABiff Syfy tried that with the costume in their The Phantom (TV Movie/Mini Series/Backdoor pilot attempt) and in my opinion it looked awful. I am a fan of the character to a degree but most of that came from Comics and the cartoons
JustinAKABiff Comic book movies aren't supposed to take themselves too seriously. Somehow we think that rubber ribbing makes the costumes less ridiculous these days, but it doesn't in any sort of real world sense. You either accept it or you don't. I, for one, was disappointed when the Xmen characters didn't look like the source material...especially Rogue. This costume is no more silly than Spiderman's, Superman's or Captain America's.
Preaching to the choir on comic book movies being too serious. That's my biggest complaint about a number of superhero movies these days. Looking at you, Christopher Nolan.
not anymore as silly as superman's costume, which was spandex as well, or Batman's or Wonder Womans or the Flash. Its a comic book movie. superheroees have all worn spandex or known as Long Underwear Superheroes since the dawn of time, sheesh!
In case anyone is wondering, "For Those Who Came In Late" is what the strip used to say when it recapped previous events. It's just meant to show that there have been many Phantoms before this one and we're not seeing the beginning of the story. It's just a way to catch up on the backstory and it's based on the comics so that's why it's there. I know some people get confused by that.
It's funny to think that Catherine Zeta-Jones was in two movies about masked vigilante's. Only difference is The Mask of Zorro is great and doesn't suck.
Honestly, this is my favorite kind of Nostalgia Critic review. When he reviews something I actually really liked, but points out the flaws in an open-minded way. I still really love this movie, and I feel that a lot of the problems he had with this film are things that go back to the source material. Obviously, he's not as familiar with the Phantom as I was, and I can easily understand how this movie might not be as entertaining for those unfamiliar with the lore. Personally, I love this film. But that's just my opinion!
Plus, the reason he’s considered a ghost is because his ancestors have been pulling the same Phantom racket for 500 years - so everyone thinks he’s immortal!
The Phantom is a character who shouldn't be judged by his movie. The comic strip (which is still running to this day after an impressive unbroken 79 year run, since 1936) is far superior to the movie. I don't mind the movie despite it's silliness but the Phantom in the comics is strong, stealthy intelligent, intimidating and full of wit and unfortunately they didn't quite pull it off in this movie (although I think Billy Zane gave it a good try). It doesn't help that they changed aspects of the comic, such as showing the Phantom's face which is never supposed to be seen (he always wears sunglasses as Kit Walker), making the first Phantom a boy rather than a young man, changing Guran from a tribal chief who grew up with the current (21st) Phantom to an Indian house boy and of course, giving the Skull ring magic powers and treating magic as real, when the Phantom is always logical and any 'magic' is always revealed to be false. I'm not saying that the comic is for everyone but don't judge it based on this movie version, after all he served as the prototype for all the superheroes who followed.
I still love this movie, it's my guilty pleasure. It's cheesy and breaks the only rule you HAVE to follow when making a phantom movie (lets us see his face) but I still enjoy this movie.
It's a perfectly decent homage to 30s/40s Saturday matinee cliffhangers. Not nearly on the level of Indiana Jones or even The Rocketeer, but definitely not a bad movie.
don't know if there is any connection at all (purpleness) but Ninjas did wear purple clothes what ever was the closing called it was supposed to fit in well in crowd of people and also didn't stand out too much in the dark so if jungle suddenly chooses to turn in to japanese people from alternative latex past it might actually work
My biggest question is: Why are people hating on the Phantom. i admit the movie wasnt spectacular, but it was good. i would be curious if they ever decided to re make the phantom, discounting the 2010 film, if they gave some of the earlier phantoms there backstory, unless they did that in the comics.
LOLEGACYnumah1 Because black clothes are often darker than the environment and the shadows you'd be trying to hide in. Depending on you're surroundings you'd be better off with dark brown/grey/green/blue/purple. Hell in some settings hot pink can make good camo, but black really doesn't.
lmao I can't stop laughing at the transition from sophisticated killer microscopes to just casually chucking a spear in front of several eye witnesses. character development at its finest.
I'm a god of timing, yeah, but some serious notes on the purple: So, the movie is based on 30s comics. The print quality way back then was freaking cheap and awful, so in order to be able to read Phantom's silhoutte crystal clear against all other colors you need something that stands out. Here comes your purples. BTW, awfuls print quality is also the reason we have inkers and Superman's underwear over his pants - just so the parts of the body and the figure of the hero could be read easily.
"HA! What a cheap jungle trick!" That line always cracks me up.
"Ha! I am *act-ing!* "
Just to clarify the intro title card "For those who came in late" was how Lee Falk started each issue following the first comic strip, it was a fan nod, Duh!
Right on man!
Everything was a fan nod. Especially the purple.
Just about everything Doug finds fault with in this film is directly taken from the original comics strip or an homage to 30's Saturday matinee cliffhanger serials.
If only the protagonist was in Pink rather than Purple. WE NEED A FILTHY FRANK MOVIE, PEOPLE! WAKE UP, AMERICA!!! PINK GUY NEEDS TO SHOW HIS SHIT TO THE WORLD!
***** This guy fucking gets it.
***** I want the Pink Panther as the new hero in movies. I mean the Pink Panther from cartoon sketches, not the boring movie.
TrollMalefico1984 I wouldn't get your hopes up. Dost thou remember the films of the Smurfs and Alvin and the Chipmunks?
I remember those awful pieces of shit, but their problem is not the subject but how it has been used.
***** GET OUT
The Phantom doesn't wear purple to hide himself. He wears purple so his enemies can see him coming; so they know who he is; because when they do see him, he'll be the last thing they will ever see.
+Sly Ngn Rofl...
LOL
+Sly Ngn Exactly. He doesn't need to camouflage or hide because he has nothing to fear. If anyone should be hiding it is pirates and criminals.
+Nikodimos Triaridis Purple is the greatest color!
+Nikodimos Triaridis No.
OK, one word on the purple costume. It's only nowadays that we associate purple as feminine or silly for a man to wear, but, for the most part of human history, it was the colour of royalty. And, since Phantom is the hereditary title, you can see why his costume is purple.
Exactly....
Not only that, but I think the Phantom is the first hero to wear a one-piece costume that is now commonplace with comic book superheroes.
There is also the fact that this was based off of a 1940s comic with the same costume
The biggest problem wasn't just the color, its just that the entire costume was purple. As NC pointed out, it makes no sense to wear a purple costume especially if you want to be stealthy (plus it looked a lot better in comic form anyway.) If the Phantom had say a black or camo costume with purple stripping or something, it would've been better imo.
Don't forget the pimps! The color is also associated with classic pimps :3
The actor who plays Shang Tsung is just awesome. He has one of the best looks for a villain I've ever seen.
The titanic joke killed me 😂😂😂😂
He's purple because he was purple back in the pulps. So the movie makers stayed true to the source material. It would be like someone changing Superman just because they didn't like blue and red.
Music that plays when we see Zeta Jones is
Populous - Bon Bon Pour Les Rappers
Like so everybody will see it
It just boils down to one thing, know when to change it, and know when to leave it alone.
The Phantom is actually a cool concept for a superhero. A legacy identity passed down through the generations, that's pretty cool!
The costume . . . could have used some updating admittedly.
The costume and the silly acting made the movie too cheesy and forgettable unfortunately
They might as well had a large neon sign saying 'THIS IS NOT MY HIDE OUT!!!'
Mr Freeze from *Batman and Robin* could have had one of those for his "neon lit ice cream pub", illuminated by multi-colored spotlights waving around. ~_~
That fedora wearing schmuck from the first scene also played Rayden in Mortal Kombat 2!
Funny that Doug notices Shang Tsung but forgets about Raiden with the fedora hat
lol "okay, Ray. If that's how you feel about it." that spear kill scene had me dying. I think I rewinded like 4 times. Beautiful.
I was frozen today!
Bhola Locke turns to you and says, "OF COURSE!"
So I guess that's who the Phantom Limb from Venture Bros. is based off of.
In the flesh.
You have to be Australian or Swedish to appreciate The Phantom
Well I’m Australian and I don’t like this.
@@obiwankenobi9141 it’s not the best phantom movie, but he’s an awesome character
With the movies setting, the film reminds me a lot of The Rocketeer, but minus the fun
Well to be fair, in Japan the color purple (hur-dur) is associated with death, so if The Phantom was in Japan I bet they'd think he was *really* scary.
I saw this movie as a kid in the theaters and I actually read the comic before hand.
i actually enjoyed that one, like the shadow. they tell the story like a pulp magazine in the 40s:)
Agreed!
Have you ever listened to the 1930s radio show "The Shadow" its actually pretty good.
Unfortunately no, that was a bit before my time (though of course I know the iconic line "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!). I have seen the Alec Baldwin movie though and I thought that it was quite good. I'm a huge Phantom fan though and have read the majority of the comic strips dating back to it's debut in 1936. :)
And here I was, thinking I was in the minority, liking this movie.
Yeah, but purple? In the jungle, really?
This movie was an attempt to cash it in the popularity of an animated show called Phantom 2040.
Turey Taino Actually the show was based on the same comic book that took place in the 20's.
At least the Iron Shadow looks badass in purple... I think it's the mask that ties it all together...
I F&%#IN' LOVE THIS MOVIE, THIS IS #2 ON MY FAVORITE LIST (my absolute favorite being The Goonies)! I friggin' love The Phantom in general, I have over 400 comics, this movie (of course), a homemade Phantom-costume, both rings, the Phantom 2040 tv-series on VHS, the Phantom 2040 video game and a lot of other Phantom-merchindise!
I guess Billy Zane really needed a PAYCHECK at the time 😏😏😏
Tommy Siro Well after all, he was running in a bright purple spandex. If I had to do that, I would ask for quadruple pay.
The movie is brilliant... It's for the fans. And the hilarious part... The Phantom has outlived Channel Awesome.
Honestly I always liked this movie, it's super corny and cheesy but really feels like those old 30s comics.
I thought the microscope only put the guys eyes out. Regardless, it was contrived and unpleasant to imagine. Like the movie in general.
Actually, a cheetah from Krypton, would be fast, maybe faster, just saying....
It's not even supposed to be purple. Back when they first started doing color comics, the black suit would have been to heavy and they made his suit dark purple to prevent ink smears. The solid black ink they used back then wouldn't dry fast enough for the high speed presses of the time and grey would have just made it looked faded. It was an aesthetic and technical compromise.
Saw this movie when it came out and I was a kid. Hated it then. Kill it with fire now.
Jalon M. Gordon yup,but I really like the comics.
Brian Gade Agreed, but those shouldn't have been made into a mid-90s movie.
+Jalon M. Gordon This was the late-90s, probably.
I think the horse scene is kinda badass, I mean, jumping from a crashing plane to land on a horse with a wolf by your side.... pretty fucking cool for a guy in a purple skin tight morph suit... just saying.. but yeah probably the only highlight of this movie
Better "Phantom" related review than the "Phantom of the Opera" one. Who's with me?
the phantom wasn't bad i enjoy it a lot but also a huge phantom fan
same here, i still have a ton of the comics and I had the video game on Super Nintendo to
I liked this movie as a kid and still do for Nostalgia reasons. :)
Insult my 2004 PotO again, and you won't live to see morning.
^_^
The Phantom is just standard cheesy superhero movie with pulp fiction action scenes, neat exotic locations, and a fun summer B-movie, but it doesn't hold up as much as they're trying to make into a cool superhero flick. Only when this person dresses up into purple Batman.
If only he could dress up into a black costume which it's suppose to be a ghost who walks, that blends into an awesome movie. At least purple is not a easy choice to pick. It's mix bag movie which can be cool, but some are cheesy and stupid.
By the way, it's that Kristy Swanson? Man, I like her in Dude, Where's My Car, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and The Chase with her gray bra on it. So hot.
I actually ❤️ This Movie It's What got me too Study the law of the phantom
“The ghost who walks” is such a cheesy name...not bad, just really silly lol
Strange how Channel Awesome hasn't uploaded this yet...
0:53 it’s a reference to the comic book.
Funny thing - I DID read a Phantom comic. Actually, I read two, but I remember well only one of them - the one about the origin of Devil (Phantom's pet wolf).
"Aside from the PacMan ghosts, how many purple ghosts have you seen?" Ahem, check the Mystery Skulls animated music video "Ghost." (I know this review was made a few years ago, but I just couldn't help it)
I can't believe he didn't make a LOTR reference with a "ring of unbelievable power".
The main chick was Buffy in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie. Huh.
According to the books, the ring was merely symbolic and the Phantom didn’t have any superpowers!
I don't understand why he's complaining about the purple costume? Does he not want the movie to stay true to the comic book?
was i the only one who started laughing every time the phantom pop up out of no were?
So what exactly at the Phantom's powers? It seems like all he does is get held up at gunpoint and punch people.
No powers, he's kind of like batman in that he uses stealth and wit over strength for the most part... I'm aware of the irony. This movie is a terrible showing of the phantom, the only thing they managed to get right is the costume. His original creator intended for his costume to be grey btw, but the paper that coloured it made him purple and it kind of stuck.
Eon2641 he still would've looked stupid, grey, blue or purple lol
justinjacques766 ...Yeah kinda, but then again what superhero doesn't look stupid. The flash has practically the same costume just with the lightning bolt ear things.
Eon2641
My mom actually has a few of the old comics of The Phantom and I remember reading them when I was a kid. It actually wasn't that bad, and some of them got pretty dark. I clearly remember some queen who wasn't allowed to fall in love (I, of course, forget the details) because of some curse, but of course, ends up falling in love with The Phantom in the end, which causes the curse to make her quickly age into bones and bones into dust. x_x
HalfDemonInuyasha Yeah, I was introduced to him through the video game on the sega genesis, I didn't understand most of it at the time but it got kind of twisted too. I wish I could have read the comics but living in a small Canadian town has it's disadvantages.
But seriously, NC should review The Phantom Of The Opera or Love Never Dies. I would love to see his opinion of it, even if it is negative like his Les Mis one (needless to say, I still love the Les Mis film)
i happen to like this movie, so did all my friend, its such an obvious mockable thing, its fun to watch while LOLing all the way
Every Phantom story started with 'For those who came in late '.
Poes from zelda
To be fair, the Phantom's creator originally intended him to wear grey but the publisher said 'No that doesn't stand out enough, make him purple'.
Is it me or is the pirates hideout looks exactly like the setting of the Pirates show on Treasure Island on Las Vegas
That git doz nots knowz wat iz sayin! Purpl' iz da sneakiest color evar! ]:
ONE DAY YOU'LL BE MINE!!!
ok, here is my hypothesis: maybe they wanted to use a "purple-screen" to make him...invisible? but noticed that it didn't look that well? I don't know xD
The Norwegian "The Phantom" magazines change his clothes to blue. Aparently they were red in the beginning. One day the creator went to Norway to visit the fans, and was suprised by the suit being blue and later changed it to something more similar to the Norwegian change..!
Standard villain but whoever played him was sexy looking.
Also guy in purple with black mask, really Critic? No Venture Brothers joke? Bah! This review was kinda boring. :/
apparently the purple color was an accident at the printers, the Phantom was supposed to be red(how that's an improvement when it comes to camouflage is irrelevant) seems the company liked it and kept the color.
as for the phrase "The Ghost who walks" it's been associated with the character for years. I mean it's not like Spider-man has a descriptive sentence associated with him... oh wait...
So basically the crazy husband from titanic dawns a life of fighting crime, when his girlfriend, Buffy the vampire slayer, is captured by air pirates led by Elena from Zorro, and gets taken prisoner by Shang Tsung. The greatest crossover before the avengers!
Hm... the Phantom, the Ghost who walks, Doug Walker, confined to his chair and... refuses to walk... I think I'm picking up a pattern... dead guy who walks, living guy who doesn't walk... hm...
I love how he says "Catherine Zeeeeeta Jones~"
He had to wear purple in the movie, because that is what he wore in the comics. If he changed color, the fanboys would shout "it's not canon!"
LOL that scene @6:09 just killed me XD
14:36 WHAT A CHEAP JUNGLE TRICK 😂
5:47
Okay, here's what I don't get: WHY did Diana take Sala's helmet off? What purpose could it possible serve?
It’s so we could see Catherine’s beautiful face.
The reason for the purple costume is that in the comics, when they were black and white, he was supposed to be grey, but when the comics were coloured, an artist made the character purple without consulting the original artist
Tbh I was watching this movie with my mom last night and the costume always bugged her it changed from dark purple to magenta very weird Billy Zane was great tho
Oh so purple isn't a great color for camouflage?
Have YOU ever seen a purple soldier?...no you haven't? exactly!
He's colored purple because he wants you to know he's coming. He wants to be the last thing you see.
Oh come on,purple is the best stealth color.Did anyone ever seen somebody in purple,sneaking around? Exactly.
+XellosDarkSlayer Okay, you got a point!
that's because nobody's dumb enough to sneak around in one of the most obvious to spot colors like purple, let alone that bright of an purple
Now now, when being found you get the element of suprise always to get the first hit!
And they turned the Phantom into god damn pussy
+Quinton Dorsey that's what they want you to think
I liked the Phantom in all it's cheesiness. I do wish, with all the remake nowadays they would remake these. You know the Phantom, the Shadow, etc.
i agree with u 100% it would be interesting to see a updated version
Especially since the CGI has gotten way better than it was in the 90's. I mean that end scene in The Shadow with the knife, we can do better.
+Matt Boyd totally, i mean look at some of the things hollywood has done with CGI, it is much easier and could be done better nowadays
There is a newer Phantom movie that came out years ago on Syfy.
It would be good if they took the dark and gritty road, especially The Shadow, a character I really like.
This movie is so bizarre, it feels like it's stuck in limbo somewhere between "completely cheesy B-movie" and "big budget action blockbuster" in terms of quality. I mean, it's so silly in a lot of ways yet seems to still take itself seriously. My favorite part is when they get to the secret lair at the end and it looks like they're in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland.
Also, I enjoyed Treat Williams' over-the-top villain, but he seems out-of-place somehow, like he should really be the evil Dean of Students/rival fraternity leader in direct-to-video "Animal House" movie.
I like that analysis. You're right, it does seem to be in the middle of b movie and blockbuster. It's like they just didn't go that extra step to perfect everything.
"How many purple ghosts do you know outside of PACMAN?"
....Haunter and Gengar from pokemon?
Gastly is purple too.
Mismagius
He's not a Pokemon fan and the Anti-Pokemon jokes he made in the past several years were strong indications of that
The Phantom is what happens when you have a superhero movie that stays faithful to it's source material. You get a guy in purple tights. Which was, of course, always what he wore in the Sunday comic strips. However, for the movie they should have made some alterations to the design of the costume. X-Men didn't have Wolverine running around in blue and yellow spandex, and maybe they could have at least looked at some other design ideas for The Phantom.
However, if you actually read the comics - which I did as a kid because there wasn't shit to do on a Sunday morning in the 80s - then you can look past how silly the purple outfit is and enjoy the movie.
JustinAKABiff Syfy tried that with the costume in their The Phantom (TV Movie/Mini Series/Backdoor pilot attempt) and in my opinion it looked awful. I am a fan of the character to a degree but most of that came from Comics and the cartoons
JustinAKABiff Comic book movies aren't supposed to take themselves too seriously. Somehow we think that rubber ribbing makes the costumes less ridiculous these days, but it doesn't in any sort of real world sense. You either accept it or you don't. I, for one, was disappointed when the Xmen characters didn't look like the source material...especially Rogue.
This costume is no more silly than Spiderman's, Superman's or Captain America's.
Preaching to the choir on comic book movies being too serious. That's my biggest complaint about a number of superhero movies these days.
Looking at you, Christopher Nolan.
tomatodamashi nah it is sillier
not anymore as silly as superman's costume, which was spandex as well, or Batman's or Wonder Womans or the Flash. Its a comic book movie. superheroees have all worn spandex or known as Long Underwear Superheroes since the dawn of time, sheesh!
In case anyone is wondering, "For Those Who Came In Late" is what the strip used to say when it recapped previous events. It's just meant to show that there have been many Phantoms before this one and we're not seeing the beginning of the story. It's just a way to catch up on the backstory and it's based on the comics so that's why it's there. I know some people get confused by that.
13:45 he looks more like Shang Tsung in this movie than he did in Mortal Kombat
It's funny to think that Catherine Zeta-Jones was in two movies about masked vigilante's. Only difference is The Mask of Zorro is great and doesn't suck.
She's in 3.
She was in The Legend of Zorro too.
But that movie sucks too apparently.
Yep, I aslo come here cause I can't find half of the reviews at channelawesome site. Thanks for keeping them here, alive. The Golden Age of NC.
Honestly, this is my favorite kind of Nostalgia Critic review. When he reviews something I actually really liked, but points out the flaws in an open-minded way. I still really love this movie, and I feel that a lot of the problems he had with this film are things that go back to the source material. Obviously, he's not as familiar with the Phantom as I was, and I can easily understand how this movie might not be as entertaining for those unfamiliar with the lore. Personally, I love this film. But that's just my opinion!
What is the lore?
LOOK OUT! IT'S THE GAYYEST THING YOU'VE EVER SEEEEEN!!!! OMG that caught me way off guard and cracked my s*** up
outside Pacman, there's the Gengar family
but Gengar's the only ghost who walks, though
Gengar would still be scarier.
Gengar is a bit scary atleast
How about Banette? Dusclops? Altered form Giratina?
Killer Kirby I said Purple ghost
jrpludacrous oh yeah, imma idiot
I'd like to see NC do 'The Shadow'. Kinda of similarly themed.
Jay Akuma It's been a while, but at least the The Shadow looked and acted a bit more intimidating.
Also, that dagger was bitchin'.
Fair enough.
As, I said, it's been a while.
3:16
"How does purple blend into anything in the jungle?"
Maybe, he thought the jungle was full of eggplants or something?
Plus, the reason he’s considered a ghost is because his ancestors have been pulling the same Phantom racket for 500 years - so everyone thinks he’s immortal!
The Phantom is a character who shouldn't be judged by his movie. The comic strip (which is still running to this day after an impressive unbroken 79 year run, since 1936) is far superior to the movie.
I don't mind the movie despite it's silliness but the Phantom in the comics is strong, stealthy intelligent, intimidating and full of wit and unfortunately they didn't quite pull it off in this movie (although I think Billy Zane gave it a good try).
It doesn't help that they changed aspects of the comic, such as showing the Phantom's face which is never supposed to be seen (he always wears sunglasses as Kit Walker), making the first Phantom a boy rather than a young man, changing Guran from a tribal chief who grew up with the current (21st) Phantom to an Indian house boy and of course, giving the Skull ring magic powers and treating magic as real, when the Phantom is always logical and any 'magic' is always revealed to be false.
I'm not saying that the comic is for everyone but don't judge it based on this movie version, after all he served as the prototype for all the superheroes who followed.
Critic points out the suit being purple as his main hang up about it, but it'd still look stupid in any other color.
Good point.
The irony is he'd look even stupider. I mean, can you imagine that douchebag in black? He'd look like the stupidest thing ever.
He is usually in blue
@@Ntittare in Scandinavia, his suit is blue. in America, it's purple. :)
I watched this as kid, and I got to admit.... I liked it... a lot
I still love this movie, it's my guilty pleasure. It's cheesy and breaks the only rule you HAVE to follow when making a phantom movie (lets us see his face) but I still enjoy this movie.
This movie isn't supposed to be taken seriously. It thrived on camp and goofy shenanigans, which I'm surprised NC couldn't pick up on.
Armin.
It's a perfectly decent homage to 30s/40s Saturday matinee cliffhangers. Not nearly on the level of Indiana Jones or even The Rocketeer, but definitely not a bad movie.
Why purple?
Did you ever see a guy wearing purple spandex in the middle of the street?
No? HE'S REALLY SNEAKY THAT'S WHY!
“That douche left me!”
“What an asshole!”
🤣
don't know if there is any connection at all (purpleness)
but Ninjas did wear purple clothes what ever was the closing called
it was supposed to fit in well in crowd of people and also didn't stand out too much in the dark
so if jungle suddenly chooses to turn in to japanese people from alternative latex past it might actually work
***** I think that purple dye was imported from China, making it very rare. Purple robes were used only by the highest ranking political figures.
My biggest question is: Why are people hating on the Phantom.
i admit the movie wasnt spectacular, but it was good. i would be curious if they ever decided to re make the phantom, discounting the 2010 film, if they gave some of the earlier phantoms there backstory, unless they did that in the comics.
16:40.
To quote Cinemasins: "The Power of boners is stronger"
I remember when this movie came out shortly after the animated futuristic series version, Phantom 2040. The whole time period thing baffled me.
At night that color purple would make great camo because its dark but not darker than the shadows.
Why not just use fucking black?
LOLEGACYnumah1 Because black clothes are often darker than the environment and the shadows you'd be trying to hide in. Depending on you're surroundings you'd be better off with dark brown/grey/green/blue/purple. Hell in some settings hot pink can make good camo, but black really doesn't.
Mike Mac But......... purple! What widespread naturally occurring substance is PURPLE? It may not be as dark, but NOTHING IS PURPLE!
It's more effective as an urban night camouflage, blue or grey may be better depending on the man made environment.
That may be, but this is The Phantom. Takes place in the jungle. No man made environment to speak of.
lmao I can't stop laughing at the transition from sophisticated killer microscopes to just casually chucking a spear in front of several eye witnesses. character development at its finest.
"Purple condom" , "Grimace's anorexic brother" I can't anymore lolol!!!
Ok the suit looks stupid but Billy Zane really does pull it off somewhat honestly. Like he's kinda sexy....and stupid looking but still.
I'm a god of timing, yeah, but some serious notes on the purple:
So, the movie is based on 30s comics. The print quality way back then was freaking cheap and awful, so in order to be able to read Phantom's silhoutte crystal clear against all other colors you need something that stands out. Here comes your purples.
BTW, awfuls print quality is also the reason we have inkers and Superman's underwear over his pants - just so the parts of the body and the figure of the hero could be read easily.