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(http://www.impawards.com/1996/posters/phantom_ver1.jpg)

Widely regarded as a total flop, I rather enjoyed this flick. Billy Zane actually made a decent hero and the action scenes were great. Treat Williams as bad guy Drax was simply amazing in his over the top scenery-eating.

Stuff I liked:

-The opening scene in the jungle, particularly the bit where the skeleton comes to live and kills one of the bad guys.
-The fact the bad guy with the gold tooth was played by Billy Zane's Back to the Future costar Casey Siemaszko.
-The scene of the Phantom being summoned by the drums. "Devil. Someone needs us." Epic.
-The truck chase and the part where the Phantom and the little boy are dangling off the bridge.
-The binocular microscope that's rigged to blind people when they look into it. It's the most impractical death trap ever, but I like it anyway.
-The bit where the Phantom busts into a women's dressing room by mistake. He made it classy somehow with how gentlemanly he was about his error. Smooth guy.
-The escape in the biplane.
-How self-aware the film was about the bad guys being incapable of hitting anything with their guns.
-David Proval. He makes any movie more awesome just by being in it.
-The scene where Drax kills that guy with the spear, then complains that he threw his arm out doing it and inspects where it hit the wall, and looks annoyed at the cut in the wood.
-Drax just having a joygasm about the skulls' power in the museum. He was like an excited little kid.
-There need to be more chase scenes with horses in cities.
-Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as Kabai Sengh. Like David Proval, Mr. Tagawa improves any movie he's in.
-"Just ancient pirate talk for 'fire the cannon.'" BOOM!

Okay... I love this movie. It's cheesy as all hell, but it has an old-school charm to it that I like. Sue me.

My favorite part of this movie is this little dialogue exchange:

Pirate Guy (in impenatrable Cary Hiroyuki Tagawa accent):  You don haf da forf skull!  Withough it, you just wast-in you time!
Drax:  FOURTH SKULL!?!?  WHAT FOURTH SKULL!?!?

Brilliant.

I agree, this is an overlooked movie with a very high fun-factor.  Thanks for the reminder, I will watch it again soon!

And for the curious, he's the infamous killer microscope. You turn the knobs and razor blades come out:

(https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/821x359q90/707/ddfj.png)

(https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/821x358q90/534/iubm.png)

This guy is screwed:
(https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/821x356q90/837/u3aw.png)

It reminds me of something Dr. Phibes would use.

     They may have gotten the idea from HORRORS OF THE BLACK MUSEUM (1959)

(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_v0fV15P7uQo/SxUFo9xEDOI/AAAAAAAAGpQ/sMGVlEG-Cdg/s1600/black+binoculars.jpg)

I actually saw this movie in a theater. Considering its fast box office fade, I may be one of only a few people who can make that claim.  :teddyr:

I remember liking it well enough, but haven't seen it since so I recall very little of it now aside from a vague memory that the Phantom's purple costume looked kinda silly on an actual human being (what looks good on a comic strip page doesn't always translate to "real" life very well...), and that Kristy Swanson was hot, as usual.

Now that you've got me thinking about it again, maybe I should re-visit it.

It is a fun enjoyable adventure romp.  I had heard of the Phantom character prior to the movie, but I love the back story.  That this family had been playing this character for centuries.  It gives the him a nice sense of legacy.

Always circled around that one because I heard it was so bad. Guess I'll have to check it out in the near future.
I also don't have a problem with the character itself, because I watched Defenders of the Earth as a kid...I even own it on DVD and I still enjoy it from time to time.