Cover Art for Image Phantom

[Michael O'Regan]

This is like complaining that SAFETY LAST sports a picture of Harold hanging from the clock.

Oh, come now. That's a poor comparison.

[Jim Reid]

I had seen pictures of it non-stop for years in Famous Monsters magazine and even had the Aurora plastic model before I saw the film.

[rollot24]

I had seen pictures of it non-stop for years in Famous Monsters magazine and even had the Aurora plastic model before I saw the film.

Ditto and - as I said before - when I finally did see the film it still scared the daylights out of me.

[Darren Nemeth]

Same here.

I first saw Phantom in a Super 8mm Blackhawk digest and it freaked me out despite my seeing stills of Chaney for years previous in books and magazines.

[Joe Migliore]

Michael O'Regan wrote:
Joe Migliore wrote:
This is like complaining that SAFETY LAST sports a picture of Harold hanging from the clock.

Oh, come now. That's a poor comparison.

If you want to convince me, you'll have to do better than that. They are both iconic images, both films are cultural reference points, and they both got their digital make-overs in the 21st Century. You can't put the toothpaste back in the tube, my friend.

[jrichard88]

With all the discussion about the spoiler, may I offer an altogether different observation?

That art just looks way too...modern. It's like Lon Chaney time-traveled 86 years into the future to star in Twilight. Now, I don't think movie companies should always have to use the original artwork for an older film, but at the very least, it should be befitting of both the film and the era in which it was made. Kino, for example, does a great job of this with their silent releases. While I understand this art is trying to attract modern film fans, I'm just not feeling it.

[augustinius]

Michael O'Regan wrote:
Joe Migliore wrote:
This is like complaining that SAFETY LAST sports a picture of Harold hanging from the clock.

Oh, come now. That's a poor comparison.

If you want to convince me, you'll have to do better than that. They are both iconic images, both films are cultural reference points, and they both got their digital make-overs in the 21st Century. You can't put the toothpaste back in the tube, my friend.

How about this?

Safety Last does not structurally build to a surprise reveal of the clock as a peak in the action. The clock is just one of several jaw-dropping stunts that got remembered well in cultural memory.

The Phantom of the Opera builds momentum for the entire film around the unmasking scene and it arguably is the high point of the movie, and in 1925 would have been the major calling card for people to see it.

That said, yeah, hard to "spoil" a movie that is 86 years old. Some things are public domain now, and it isn't like telling someone the end of a mystery. It doesn't ruin the movie.

[Joe Migliore]

augustinius wrote:
Safety Last does not structurally build to a surprise reveal of the clock as a peak in the action. The clock is just one of several jaw-dropping stunts that got remembered well in cultural memory.

The Phantom of the Opera builds momentum for the entire film around the unmasking scene and it arguably is the high point of the movie, and in 1925 would have been the major calling card for people to see it.

That said, yeah, hard to "spoil" a movie that is 86 years old. Some things are public domain now, and it isn't like telling someone the end of a mystery. It doesn't ruin the movie.

A valid point, and well argued, but your last sentence sums of the whole matter: It doesn't ruin the movie.

[sc1957]

That art just looks way too...modern.

I like the original posters that were discussed earlier in this thread, but I don't think most of the modern movie-buying public would give them a second glance.

[Michael O'Regan]

Michael O'Regan wrote:
Joe Migliore wrote:
This is like complaining that SAFETY LAST sports a picture of Harold hanging from the clock.

Oh, come now. That's a poor comparison.

If you want to convince me, you'll have to do better than that. They are both iconic images, both films are cultural reference points, and they both got their digital make-overs in the 21st Century. You can't put the toothpaste back in the tube, my friend.

How about this?

Safety Last does not structurally build to a surprise reveal of the clock as a peak in the action. The clock is just one of several jaw-dropping stunts that got remembered well in cultural memory.

The Phantom of the Opera builds momentum for the entire film around the unmasking scene and it arguably is the high point of the movie, and in 1925 would have been the major calling card for people to see it.

You beat me to it. Thanks.

[Jim Reid]

How can the whole film build to the unmasking scene when it occurs halfway through the film? I think it's an iconic moment, but it's not the whole point of the film. This is much aggravation over nothing.

[Mike Gebert]

[Jim Reid]

Brilliant!

[Darren Nemeth]

Quit your bitching!!

I am glad that ANY film from the 1920s is on ANY mainstream video format!

Go out and get a life. Bunch of SHUT INS.

[Dan Oliver]

I wish Nitrateville had a Like button. I literally laughed out loud, Mike.

[Michael O'Regan]

How can the whole film build to the unmasking scene when it occurs halfway through the film? I think it's an iconic moment, but it's not the whole point of the film. This is much aggravation over nothing.

I don't think the poster said it builds TO the unmasking scene, but that the films momentum is built AROUND the scene, which I think is pretty accurate. It's like a pivot point in the film.

[Michael O'Regan]

I wish Nitrateville had a Like button. I literally laughed out loud, Mike.

Me too. Excellent

[Michael O'Regan]

This is much aggravation over nothing.

Oh, but we do it so well.

[augustinius]

This is much aggravation over nothing.

Oh, but we do it so well.

Yeah, that was my intent in my hypothetical argument -- we can argue a point in theory, just for fun, but then at some point admit that the point is pretty useless.

[silentfilm]

That's a funny BluRay cover, but "mother" is not unmasked until the end of Psycho.