The Phantom

First superhero in a very nice movie.

I grew up as a kid reading Indrajal Comics depicting superheros including series on Phantom - The ghost who walks. The role played by Kristy Swanson as Diana Palmer did not disappoint me as she looked just as cute as seen in comics, and Catherine Zeta-Jones who played the role as Sala a hench-woman to the villain Drax is equally attractive making a potent combination along with Billy Zane in the title role of Phantom. The movie is fast paced, much like watching Indiana Jones series, filled with action, adventure and a strong story-line that never disappoints you. This is one such movie which you can watch with the whole family for a fun filled adventure. Despite financial failure in its theatrical release back in the 90s This movie is totally underrated on IMDB and in my opinion must be one of the best when it was produced back in the early 90s. Call it nostalgic or whatever, I did enjoy this movie from start to finish. Much much better than Marvel superheros that are popular today. I am waiting for a reboot of this superhero and love to see more of these in the future. Rating the movie experience with five stars!

Great movie

I caught this film on cable in the summer of 98 in Panama on vacation at she 12. With Titanic ruling the box-office, I recognized Billy Zane(Cal) stepping out of a period cab and negotiating a fare with diamonds. Zane plays Kit, I think, a modern descendent of an ancient protector of the jungle called the Phantom. Turns out he has received a classical education and is aquainted with a fiesty New York socialite and traveler Diana Palmer who goes to the jungle to investigate wrongdoings of some corporate dude before corporate villains were a thing, pre post-WW2 Military Industrial Complex and all if you like and escape numerous marriage proposals from a decent looking chap who could have played more prominently in the story. He rescues her from a band of South Pacific Air Pirates financed by the Corporate dude and headed by a gorgeous Catherine Zeta-Jones pre-Mask of Zorro and perhaps after Titanic(haha, not the Cameron film, but a 96 miniseries that hardcore Titanic buffs universally detest). Turns out that Drax, the Corporate dude and cheekilly played by the underrated Treat Williams in his prime for a shot at stardom that never came, wants three mystical and magic skulls to produce a weapon capable of ruling the world. The rising action occurs in an underutilized New York with Kit and Diana trying to steal the skulls before Drax gets them. Anyway, what we have is an old school adventure serial that with a higher budget, some more world building, and perhaps deeper character arcs, who knows, maybe we would have gotten a sequel out of it. It really is inexcusable that the film only briefly alludes to the conflict, uncertainty and rising storms across both oceans in the 1930s. Should we have had the Phantom dealing with the growing imperial menace of Japan also threatening his region? Could the Air pirates have played a bigger role being employed as mercenaries to Drax and local pacific freedom fighters for the atrocities and espionage of the time from Japan? I wanted to know more about Diana's father who is apparently a big time rival to Drax in industry, labor union development and some other schemes that could have rounded out the plot for some deeper development. Unfortunately no one saw this and this to me was the closest I had to contemporary Marvel fanboys obsession with The Rocketeer, another flop that was intended to jumpstart a live action franchise. I understand a good deal of scenes in the South Pacific were cut and perhaps lost, pre-digital age and all. Decent film for a boring Saturday afternoon.

For those who don't know, The Phantom began as a comic strip in the golden age of comics - the 1930's. The Phantom is the "ghost who walks" and is the defender of the downtrodden, mortal enemy of pirates everywhere. How can you beat a guy who carries two Colt .45 autos? The film has all the charm of those old 1930's adventure films. Kit Walker, alter ego of the Phantom, is played by Billy Zane who pulls off the role with ease. The Ghost Who Walks is equally at home in the jungle or the concrete jungle of New York City. The "damsel in distress", Diane Palmer, is played by Kristy Swanson and is an eminently capable person in the same mold as Amelia Earhart and is one tough cookie! Catherine Zeta Jones plays the evil aviatrix in league with Xander Drax, the modern criminal mastermind. Whether it's flying a biplane that just ran out of fuel, riding a horse through the jungle with the bad guys right behind him or shooting it out with pirates, the Phantom never fails to right wrongs, defeat evil and uphold the right! This is good, fun adventure that can be enjoyed by the whole family. Is there a certain amount of belief that must be suspended? Yep...and that's okay occasionally. I think this is a good, fun adventure film which all ages can enjoy and is faithful to the tone of the original comics. I recommend this with five stars.

It was a fun, engaging movie, also sow it in theater. The ending was lame. I used to have & read a lot of Phantom comics when I was a kid. I bought the CD to see again & have. I went looking around for phantom on Amazon & found several Phantom reprints are there. On my Wishlist.... expensive. I checked out Phantom at Wickepedia. They regard the Phantom as the 1st masked semi-super hero. NOT SO! Zorro (the fox so cunning & free...) debuted in 1919 by Johnston McCulley. And what about the Scarlet Pimpernell in the French Revolution? Any others?

Great movie, kinda hard to find on TV boxes so I ordered it at added. to my collection. Love these old forgotten movies before AI and CGI took over.

This product is Excellent!

I really enjoyed this film. Being a huge Phantom fan I, did hope that they would not ruin the character by making a film. I am glad to say this was a good if a little underrated film. Good comic book style action, in the Indiana Jones type genre. The film is set in 1938. No need to over modernise a classis character. Kit Walker was the last survivor of a pirate attack that killed his whole family. Adopted by the Bandar tribe in Bengala he swears to fight piracy, greed and corruption in all its forms and passes this legacy on to his sons and their sons after him. So the world always thinks they is only one Phantom. The story is of the 21 Phantom. The Phantom must stop a mad man from joining 3 ancient skulls, while saving Kit Walkers former girlfriend, and fending off the advanced of the Sky Queen Pirate. The film has the right blend of story, action, and adventure. The whole cast do an excellent job, Zane is perfect as the Phantom, Jones plays the jealous pirate queen well in a mean girl sort of way. The only criticism of the film is that the Phantom does not seem to understand the secret identity thing very well. Anyone who meet him would know he is the Phantom, even though he does a much better job of keeping his mask on than Spider-man. All in all a good entertaining film.

Als kind las ik iedere zondag de avonturen van "Fantoom" in de krant. Deze film is misschien niet zo bekend bij het grote publiek maar blijft wel een leuke.

Buena

Minns när jag läste Fantomen hos mormor & Fick syn på Att fantomen filmen finns på VHS 📼 att hyra. Jag tjatade på mina föräldrar att få hyra filmen men jag fick inte se den... I flera veckor tjatade jag på dom & Till slut så fick jag äntligen hyra Fantomen på VHS av mina föräldrar & Jag var som ett barn på julafton helt överlycklig! För några år sen fick jag tag i den på DVD & Nu 2023 Så har jag den äntligen på Blu-Ray 😍 - Detta är lite av en barndomsfilm för mig som ligger mig väldigt varmt om hjärtat ♥️ Underbar bild & Ljud! Detta är verkligen en härlig äventyrsfilm att titta på! Synd att det inte gjordes fler efter den här.

A fun and fabulous comic book adaptation of a golden age superhero...