The Phantom (1996)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The Phantom |
| Original title | The phantom |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1996 |
| length | 96 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Simon Wincer |
| script | Jeffrey Boam |
| production |
Robert Evans , Alan Ladd Jr. |
| music | David Newman |
| camera | David Burr |
| cut |
O. Nicholas Brown , Bryan H. Carroll |
| occupation | |
| |
The Phantom (Original title: The Phantom ) is an action and adventure film from 1996 by Simon Wincer with Billy Zane in the lead role. The film is based on the comic series Phantom by Lee Falk, first published in 1936 .
action
Long ago in the 16th century , a merchant ship was ambushed by pirates from the Singh Brotherhood and its leader, the evil Kabai Singh . A young boy watched helplessly as his father and the entire crew were killed. He jumped overboard and was washed ashore on the island of Bengalla. There he met the Touganda tribe, who presented him with a ring in the shape of a skull in a ceremony. The boy understood that he was chosen to avenge his father's death by fighting piracy, greed and cruelty in all forms. When the boy became a man, he became The Phantom .
The masked avenger, also known as "The Walking Spirit", is respected and feared because he has been fighting for justice for centuries and is therefore considered immortal. In fact, for generations, the male descendants of the Walker family inherited the phantom's secret identities. In the 20th century , Kit Walker embodies the walking spirit. He lives in a cave on the island with his faithful servant Guran and his wolfhound Devil.
In the Bengalla jungle in 1938, four men around the criminal Quill are looking for a silver skull. They force a local young boy to guide them. The phantom manages to free the boy and hand over the companion Quills to the Jungle Patrol . Quill, however, manages to leave with the skull in the USA , where he hands the skull over to the seedy businessman Xander Drax. He has been looking for the three skulls of Touganda for some time: one made of silver, one made of gold and one made of jade. Legend has it that when they come together, they develop an unimaginable power.
Drax's search caught the attention of newspaper publisher Dave Palmer. A symbol in the form of a spider's web falls into his hands, but he cannot interpret it. He sends his niece Diana to Bengalla to meet with Captain Horton of the Jungle Patrol and learn more about it. Diana's plane is forced to land by two fighters, and she herself is hijacked. When Quill and the pilot Sala are to be interrogated below deck of a cargo ship, the phantom appears and frees Diana. During an adventurous escape, they manage to get rid of their pursuers by plane and on horseback. Back in the skull cave, he learns who is behind the events. Diana shows him the spider web symbol, which he identifies as the hallmark of his archenemies: the Singh Brotherhood. The Phantom sends Diana back to New York without revealing that she knows his alter ego, Kit Walker, from before.
The Phantom travels to New York City as Kit Walker , where Drax is now planning to search for the second skull, which is in a New York museum. Kit meets Diana again, with whom he was at the beginning of a love affair six years ago and whom he left without news because his father was murdered by Quill and he had to assume the identity of the phantom. Diana, however, has no idea of his secret. Together with her he wants to get the second skull from the museum, but is surprised by Drax and his henchmen and has to give him the jade skull. He manages to escape, but has to leave Diana in the hands of Quill and Sala.
After Drax has two skulls, these show him the position of the third skull: In the Devil's Triangle (original sound: Devils Vortex ), where numerous ships have inexplicably disappeared, there must be a hitherto unknown island on which the skull is located. Drax and his crew, including Diana, fly there on a seaplane . Kit Walker, meanwhile back in the mask of the phantom, can cling to a swimmer and thus travel unnoticed. On the volcanic island, Drax and his people are captured by pirates of the Singh Brotherhood. Its leader Kabai Singh, descendant of the evil Kabai Singh , is in possession of the golden skull that his ancestor stole from the island of Bengalla 400 years ago.
When Drax tries to negotiate with Singh, Singh reveals that there should be a fourth skull that can control the power of the other three skulls. The phantom cannot prevent Drax from taking possession of all three skulls, but now he realizes that he himself has always owned the fourth skull: it is his own skull ring.
The phantom can bring Diana and Sala, who meanwhile switched sides and helped them, to safety in a submarine. In a battle with the power of the three skulls, Singh, Quill and Drax are killed. The phantom can just hang onto the fleeing submarine and let it be pulled into the open air before the pirates' underground refuge on the island blows up.
Back at the skull cave, the phantom finally reveals himself to Diana as Kit and tells her that he wants to marry her. She then leaves for New York.
background
- The Palmer family's butler is called Falkmoore. This name is composed of the creator of the comic series Lee Falk and the first draftsman of the comics Ray Moore .
- Instead of Sengh, Kabai's name in the original comic is Singh, and accordingly it is also called the Singh Brotherhood there.
- Filming began on October 2, 1995 and ended on February 1, 1996. The film was shot in the USA ( California ), Australia ( Queensland ) and Thailand ( Krabi ).
- Production costs were estimated at around $ 45 million. The film grossed around $ 17 million in US cinemas.
- It was released in theaters in the USA on June 7, 1996. In Germany, the film did not come into theaters and was released on video on April 20, 1998.
Reviews
Roger Ebert wrote in the Chicago Sun-Times , referring to the design and production, " The Phantom is one of the best looking films of any genre I've ever seen." He also gave the film an excellent entertainment value in terms of story. The plot would basically be a series of adventure sequences. “ The Phantom was written by Jeffrey Boam, who wrote Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade . The film has the same breakneck energy as the Indiana Jones films. But it's not an Indy in a purple suit. It has a distinctive tone and its own atmosphere - and a certain innocence. The PG rating shows that it refrains from unnecessarily excessive violence and is also suitable for families. "
James Berardinelli compared the film on ReelViews to the early Batman films . The phantom is something for the eye, but does not offer the mood of the Batman films. In his view, it would be unfair to characterize The Phantom as a would-be Batman, as Lee Falk's comic came out before Batman's, but the film adaptation came later. While the phantom's purple costume didn't look as stylish as Batman's , the movie would be more fun than Tim Burton's 1989 Batman . Berardinelli praised the portrayal of Billy Zane, who was an excellent choice for the lead role .
Awards
- Cinematographer David Burr won an award in two categories from the Australian Cinematographers Society in 1997.
Individual evidence
Web links
- The Phantom in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The Phantom atRotten Tomatoes(English)