The Phantom Is Back! - Page 4

Christopher · June 22 2010, 01:31 AM

Valar wrote:

I must've missed the part where they explained the motivation of the traitor who held Renny hostage.

Singh did say at one point that he was paying the traitor a lot of money for his services. Sometimes that's all the motivation a person needs.

Captaindemotion · June 22 2010, 10:16 AM

Christopher wrote:

^It would've been easy enough to strike a middle ground -- something more modern in style, without the briefs, but still with a deep purple hue and headgear that was truer to the original. And something light enough to be credible for an acrobatic hero, something that isn't so restrictive for the stuntman.

Indeed. I mean, if you look at how good and traditional the Spider-man costume looked in the recent movies, it shouldn't be too hard to make a decent looking update of the Phantom's cozzie.

Christopher · June 22 2010, 01:22 PM

^Actually I have mixed feelings about the movies' Spidey costume. Sure, it looks snazzy, but it's not remotely credible as something a teenager whipped up by himself. Of course you wouldn't want something too realistic within those parameters, because it would look like a cheap Halloween costume, but they went too far in the other direction.

I think TV and movies these days always overthink superhero costumes. They're afraid of making them look like just fancy leotards, but there's a reason why acrobats and weightlifters wear leotards. Superheroes would need light costumes that granted them freedom of movement. Sure, it makes sense that they'd need some kind of body armor too, but from a design standpoint there seems to be too much fear of simplicity.

Captaindemotion · June 22 2010, 02:39 PM

^ Yeah, Spidey's costume is clearly very professionally and painstakingly made. But the point I was making is that before they made the movie, lots of people said that they ought to give him the black costume, that the red & blue look would look silly onscreen. But it didn't, IMHO. As for the feasibility of an impoverished teen making that, well, I suppose suspension of disbelief has to kick in.

The Spider-suit was also one of the few recent ones that didn't have body armour or the like, though IIRC it had padding in places to accentuate Maguire's musculature, as well as a helmet to give more of a pronounced shape to his head.

Mr. Adventure · June 22 2010, 02:42 PM

Peter could make that suit because he had enhanced sewing abilities derived from the spider's ablility to spin webs.

Or something....

Christopher · June 22 2010, 03:00 PM

Captaindemotion wrote:

The Spider-suit was also one of the few recent ones that didn't have body armour or the like, though IIRC it had padding in places to accentuate Maguire's musculature, as well as a helmet to give more of a pronounced shape to his head.

The way I heard it, the purpose of the rigid structure beneath the mask was to give the head a uniform shape regardless of whether Maguire or one of his stunt doubles was wearing it. But yeah, there was padding for the muscles as well.

KB24 · June 23 2010, 12:53 AM

Again, I just think the iconic imagery of The Phantom should be left alone. The purple, the skulls, the jungle, the period, fighting against piracy and injustice. I don't get why people think a 70 years running comic is not popular and needs to be updated. If its not broke don't fix it and leave well enough alone.

I didn't even bother watching this, I actually forgot about it. My Dad-the real Phantom obsessor who can quote you comic number and date- said the dialogue was bad but that they did attempt to connect back, but he doesn't think the show can last as is.

Why not try making something as it is before you beg for the modern appeal? I don't think the Zane movie was 'as is' either. It had too much weird skull mysticism or something. You'd think if Crystal Skulls didn't work for The Phantom that it wouldn't work for Indiana Jones but somebody thought better! ;0)

It wasn't the action, cast, or period piece settings that hurt the 94 movie or The Shadow film, they had bad storylines, that's all.

Greg Cox · June 23 2010, 04:58 AM

Did anyone else catch the bit where the tv news reporter described the Phantom as "a masked man in a purple suit"? Even though what we saw was a man wearing black body armor?

Um, I don't think the screenwriter and the costume designer were on the same page . . . .

Electric Coleslaw · June 23 2010, 04:46 PM

I just finished watching it last night. God, it was awful. Just plain awful on all counts. The casting, the villains, the dumb fight sequences, the plot, the costume. So pointless.

Kagan · June 23 2010, 07:03 PM

I watched it...it was better than expected, but then again my expectations were LOW! I liked Chris, Guran, and the residence set of the Skull Cave. However, the other characters were comical to say the least. The Manchurian Candidate(s) plotline is overworked in my opinion.

The costume? Looks far too cumbersome to be used.

Brian · June 23 2010, 07:11 PM

I watched the first half hour and was so unimpressed I skipped to the last half hour to see if the intervening three hours might be worth the viewing. They weren't. What a crap-fest.

KB24 · June 24 2010, 02:05 AM

Anyone have ratings numbers or announcements from 'SyFy' about it? I think since it had such low reception on the Canadian airing that was why there was little buzz here. I guess they dropped any series hopes.

What happened to the movie that was supposedly happening?

Temis the Vorta · June 24 2010, 03:41 AM

The guy they cast in the lead was good, anyway. But I fastforwarded thru the first 40 minutes (which is how long it took to get to the frakkin' story!), paid attention to the Skull Island stuff (pretty cool) and then lost interest again when the interminable and dull training scenes started. Couldn't even whomp up the motivation to ff to the end and see the kid kick the cartoon villains' asses. Delete, delete.

Since I saw maybe half an hour of this thing total, I might have missed the part where they explain why the Phantom must be embodied by a member of the Walker family, and why they couldn't just start auditioning likely prospects from the general population. Genetics? Ancient spell cast by a witch doctor?

Looked like a very standard comic book/superhero approach. At this point, isn't everyone completely sick of such standard stuff? At least come up with interesting villains who have a shred of credibility. Or have a superhero who doesn't give a shit about saving the world and just wants to make a buck. Something, anything new!

KB24 · June 24 2010, 11:08 PM

Exactly Temis! In my mind The Phantom is the furthest thing from the standard comic book trappings, so why turn it into just that? This is why I think a storyline from the historical phantom about piracy and the family mantle would be different.

Captaindemotion · June 25 2010, 08:32 PM

^ I agree. A period piece superhero in an era we've never seen would be great. Most modern movies are set in the present day and we've had 30s-set ones like the previous Phantom or The Shadow. But that's really it.

I suppose you could count the likes of Zorro & Robin Hood as period piece superhero movies. But with The Phantom you can set it in numerous eras that haven't been seen onscreen before in a superhero movie. Why not take advantage of that to distinguish your movie from the herd?

June 22 2010, 01:22 PM	#48
Christopher Writer	Re: The Phantom Is Back! ^Actually I have mixed feelings about the movies' Spidey costume. Sure, it looks snazzy, but it's not remotely credible as something a teenager whipped up by himself. Of course you wouldn't want something too realistic within those parameters, because it would look like a cheap Halloween costume, but they went too far in the other direction. I think TV and movies these days always overthink superhero costumes. They're afraid of making them look like just fancy leotards, but there's a reason why acrobats and weightlifters wear leotards. Superheroes would need light costumes that granted them freedom of movement. Sure, it makes sense that they'd need some kind of body armor too, but from a design standpoint there seems to be too much fear of simplicity. __________________ Christopher L. Bennett Homepage -- Includes purchasing links for Only Superhuman, on sale now! Updated 12/30/12 with annotations for the novel. Written Worlds -- My blog

June 22 2010, 02:39 PM	#49
Captaindemotion Vice Admiral Location: Ireland	Re: The Phantom Is Back! ^ Yeah, Spidey's costume is clearly very professionally and painstakingly made. But the point I was making is that before they made the movie, lots of people said that they ought to give him the black costume, that the red & blue look would look silly onscreen. But it didn't, IMHO. As for the feasibility of an impoverished teen making that, well, I suppose suspension of disbelief has to kick in. The Spider-suit was also one of the few recent ones that didn't have body armour or the like, though IIRC it had padding in places to accentuate Maguire's musculature, as well as a helmet to give more of a pronounced shape to his head. __________________ Hodor!!!!!!!

June 22 2010, 02:42 PM	#50
Mr. Adventure Admiral Location: Mr. Adventure	Re: The Phantom Is Back! Peter could make that suit because he had enhanced sewing abilities derived from the spider's ablility to spin webs. Or something....

June 23 2010, 12:53 AM	#52
KB24 Fleet Captain Location: NJ, USA	Re: The Phantom Is Back! Again, I just think the iconic imagery of The Phantom should be left alone. The purple, the skulls, the jungle, the period, fighting against piracy and injustice. I don't get why people think a 70 years running comic is not popular and needs to be updated. If its not broke don't fix it and leave well enough alone. I didn't even bother watching this, I actually forgot about it. My Dad-the real Phantom obsessor who can quote you comic number and date- said the dialogue was bad but that they did attempt to connect back, but he doesn't think the show can last as is. Why not try making something as it is before you beg for the modern appeal? I don't think the Zane movie was 'as is' either. It had too much weird skull mysticism or something. You'd think if Crystal Skulls didn't work for The Phantom that it wouldn't work for Indiana Jones but somebody thought better! ;0) It wasn't the action, cast, or period piece settings that hurt the 94 movie or The Shadow film, they had bad storylines, that's all. __________________ FATE and FANGS: Tales from the Vampire Family Kindle Available Now! http://vampfam.blogspot.com I Think, Therefore I Review- Criticism, Conjecture, Rants http://ithinkthereforeireview.blogspot.com

June 23 2010, 04:58 AM	#53
Greg Cox Vice Admiral Location: Oxford, PA	Re: The Phantom Is Back! Did anyone else catch the bit where the tv news reporter described the Phantom as "a masked man in a purple suit"? Even though what we saw was a man wearing black body armor? Um, I don't think the screenwriter and the costume designer were on the same page . . . . __________________ www.gregcox-author.com

STAR TREK

CSI

ABOUT US

June 23 2010, 04:46 PM	#54
Electric Coleslaw Rear Admiral Location: Ohio, USA	Re: The Phantom Is Back! I just finished watching it last night. God, it was awful. Just plain awful on all counts. The casting, the villains, the dumb fight sequences, the plot, the costume. So pointless. __________________ In the end everything will be okay. If it's not okay, it's not the end.

June 23 2010, 07:03 PM	#55
Kagan Commodore Location: Between Rigel VII and Talos IV	Re: The Phantom Is Back! I watched it...it was better than expected, but then again my expectations were LOW! I liked Chris, Guran, and the residence set of the Skull Cave. However, the other characters were comical to say the least. The Manchurian Candidate(s) plotline is overworked in my opinion. The costume? Looks far too cumbersome to be used. __________________ We're not going to go? To be certain? - Spock, The Cage

June 23 2010, 07:11 PM	#56
Brian Vice Admiral Location: Brian	Re: The Phantom Is Back! I watched the first half hour and was so unimpressed I skipped to the last half hour to see if the intervening three hours might be worth the viewing. They weren't. What a crap-fest. __________________ Rut nga’chuq loDpu’, rut nga’chuq be’pu’. yiqimHa’!

June 24 2010, 02:05 AM	#57
KB24 Fleet Captain Location: NJ, USA	Re: The Phantom Is Back! Anyone have ratings numbers or announcements from 'SyFy' about it? I think since it had such low reception on the Canadian airing that was why there was little buzz here. I guess they dropped any series hopes. What happened to the movie that was supposedly happening? __________________ FATE and FANGS: Tales from the Vampire Family Kindle Available Now! http://vampfam.blogspot.com I Think, Therefore I Review- Criticism, Conjecture, Rants http://ithinkthereforeireview.blogspot.com

June 24 2010, 03:41 AM	#58
Temis the Vorta Fleet Admiral Location: Tatoinne	Re: The Phantom Is Back! The guy they cast in the lead was good, anyway. But I fastforwarded thru the first 40 minutes (which is how long it took to get to the frakkin' story!), paid attention to the Skull Island stuff (pretty cool) and then lost interest again when the interminable and dull training scenes started. Couldn't even whomp up the motivation to ff to the end and see the kid kick the cartoon villains' asses. Delete, delete. Since I saw maybe half an hour of this thing total, I might have missed the part where they explain why the Phantom must be embodied by a member of the Walker family, and why they couldn't just start auditioning likely prospects from the general population. Genetics? Ancient spell cast by a witch doctor? Looked like a very standard comic book/superhero approach. At this point, isn't everyone completely sick of such standard stuff? At least come up with interesting villains who have a shred of credibility. Or have a superhero who doesn't give a shit about saving the world and just wants to make a buck. Something, anything new!

June 24 2010, 11:08 PM	#59
KB24 Fleet Captain Location: NJ, USA	Re: The Phantom Is Back! Exactly Temis! In my mind The Phantom is the furthest thing from the standard comic book trappings, so why turn it into just that? This is why I think a storyline from the historical phantom about piracy and the family mantle would be different. __________________ FATE and FANGS: Tales from the Vampire Family Kindle Available Now! http://vampfam.blogspot.com I Think, Therefore I Review- Criticism, Conjecture, Rants http://ithinkthereforeireview.blogspot.com

June 25 2010, 08:32 PM	#60
Captaindemotion Vice Admiral Location: Ireland	Re: The Phantom Is Back! ^ I agree. A period piece superhero in an era we've never seen would be great. Most modern movies are set in the present day and we've had 30s-set ones like the previous Phantom or The Shadow. But that's really it. I suppose you could count the likes of Zorro & Robin Hood as period piece superhero movies. But with The Phantom you can set it in numerous eras that haven't been seen onscreen before in a superhero movie. Why not take advantage of that to distinguish your movie from the herd? __________________ Hodor!!!!!!!