Slam Evil! Cult Icon Billy Zane stars in the 90s cult pulp action film The Phantom. New to 4K UHD loaded with special features from Kino Lorber.
The Film
Even in 1996, you could feel the weight of Raiders of the Lost Ark heavy in film and theaters. One just needs to look at Simon Wincer’s delightfully zany The Phantom to see the Spielberg masterpiece’s influence. From the crackerjack set pieces to the propulsive score to its plucky heroine, and its devilish comic book style villains, everything bleeds Henry Jones Jr. Though The Phantom’s (aka the ghost who walks) origins aren’t just some studio concocted hero.
The character’s roots in the same pulpy comic books and novels that Raiders was riffing on in 1981. Created by Lee Falk for Newspapers in 1936, it still runs today (in the Newspapers that are left), is the kind of character like Dick Tracy (who also got his own film in the 90s) that studios loved to make films around, banking on nostalgia (though there was hardly anyone who remembered or knew of The Phantom).
As in all these types of adventure films, some lost treasure with world-dominating powers is at stake. The film begins in the middle of the search for that precious artifact by lower-level goons (played by Casey Siemaszko and James Remar) on behalf of Xander Drax (Treat Williams), a tycoon who’s as evil as his mustache is pencil-thin. Stopping them or at least saving a young kind in distress is Kit Walker (as played by Billy Zane and his sculpted abs), who is the Phantom, aka the ghost who walks, a protector of the Bengalla islands in the South Pacific.
This sets in motion a race for the treasure, including the plucky reporter Diana Palmer (Kristy Swanson), also Kit’s ex-lover, and Sala (Catherine Zeta-Jones), the leader of Drax’s army of female sky pirates. It all ends on a mysterious island called Devil’s Vortex, with a swords and laser beam faceoff against the Phantom’s century-long villains, the Brotherhood, led by The Great Kabai Sengh (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa).
The clever and witty script by Jeffrey Boam gives everyone more to play off of than your standard action dialogue. Treat Williams runs circles around Zane and most of the cast with his zany William Powell-esque performance. Xander Drax isn’t a real threat, but in Williams’ hands, he’s a hell of a lot of fun to watch chew scenery. The biggest beneficiary of the script is Catherine Zeta-Jones as Sala, who practically steals the entire film from everyone, including Treat Williams. Watching Zeta-Jones in the film and her exuberant performance delivering the clever coded (and not so coded) dialogue is like watching a star rising before your eyes. The rest of the cast is fun and cut to type with moments of wit and charm, but nothing Williams and Zeta-Jones are leaps and bounds ahead.
What elevates The Phantom beyond your average 90s action film is director Simon Wincer’s eye for staging kinetic, wonderful action scenes. Working with a crack stunt team, everything is done with physicality and realism. Trucks are hung from suspension bridges, explosions happen, planes are flown, horses are driven in heavy traffic, chase and fight actually happen. That practicality that Wincer brought to all of his films in the 90s (see Lonesome Dove, Quigley Down Under, Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man, and Operation Dumbo Drop) at the time placed him in the norm, but with thirty years distance, we can see how special this work was and how special it was.
The Transfer
The all-new HDR/Dolby Vision Master – From a 4K Scan of the 35mm Original Camera Negative, Approved by Director Simon Wincer, is a flawless transfer. The on-location photography by cinematographer David Burr positively glows with a Technicolor sheen on 4K. The Dolby Vision Encoding brings a level of fine detail to the color reproduction and black levels that only adds to the cinematic feel of the transfer. Kino has spent the time and care to ensure that the film comes to 4K UHD properly with a hugely cinematic 35mm feel, a true upgrade to previous iterations of the film on home video.
The Extras
They include the following;
DISC 1 (4KUHD):
- NEW Audio Commentary by Director Simon Wincer, Moderated by Filmmaker Douglas Hosdale
DISC 2 (BLU-RAY):
- NEW Audio Commentary by Director Simon Wincer, Moderated by Filmmaker Douglas Hosdale
- Kismet in the Jungle: Starring Billy Zane
- Slam Evil – Scoring The Phantom: NEW Interview with Composer David Newman
- Theatrical Trailer
The all-new Audio Commentary by Director Simon Wincer, moderated by Filmmaker Douglas Hosdale, opens with introductions and how he got involved with the rushed production, having a little under a year to produce the film. Some of the details include how much development he did with writer Jeffery Boam; the work he did with George Lucas on The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles prepared him for the kind of work he did here; a detailed discussion of the bridge stunt work, and just how much the logistics involved in accomplishing the real-life stunt; the various touchstones of the comic strip that he brought to his screen adaptation being a fan of the comic; how he ended up working with cinematographer David Burr; a discussion of his own career and where he began with Australian Television working his way into feature films and eventually making big budget films like The Phantom; how they casted Kristy Swanson; working with Treat Williams which leads to a discussion of rehearsal and working with actors; working with Catherine Zeta-Jones – and the amazing screentest she had – both this and Young Indiana Jones Chronicles; his love of working with Alan Ladd Jr.; working with costume designer Marlene Stewart; a great discussion of the collaboration between 1st Unit and 2nd Unit on a big budget film that was under a time crunch like this; a larger discussion throughout about his collaboration with stunt coordinator Billy Burton on all the various action set pieces; a larger discussion of the various countries and locations they worked in for the production, including Thailand, Australia, New York, and Paramount Studios; a larger discussion throughout about the cast and crew; and much more.
Kismet in the Jungle: Starring Billy Zane (27:07) – the all-new interview with Zane begins with his love of the character, even collecting the comic well before being cast. The star goes on to discuss his love and passion for the early era heroics of Classic Hollywood that he imbued into the performance; what he loved about the character, and the lack of trauma that he had to play to; the collaboration with director Simon Wincer and screenwriter Jeffery Boam; his love and reverence for producers Robert Evans and Alan Ladd Jr.; the physical training he did in preparation for the film; a larger discussion of the stunt work and the real life animals he worked with; the various locations around the world the production used; working with his various co-stars Kristy Swanson, Treat Williams, Catherine Zeta-Jones, James Remar, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, and Patrick McGoohan; and much more.
Slam Evil – Scoring The Phantom (14:49) – the all-new interview with composer David Newman begins with how he rushed the score and film to complete. The composer goes on to discuss how he approached the score with a modern (for the time) sensibility; how he built the main theme for the film; the lack of time during the production, and how much chaos it caused in his score and the composition of it; and much more.
Rounding out the special features are trailers for The Phantom (1:23); Treasure of the Four Crowns (2:00); Remo Williams (2:18); Hudson Hawk (2:05); Mystery Men (2:24);
The Final Thought
Kino Lorber has given The Phantom the 4K UHD upgraded edition it rightfully deserves. Highest Possible Recommendations!!