Graeme Crowther Movies

One of the most popular stage musicals in the history of Broadway and London's West End makes its long-awaited arrival on the motion-picture screen in this lavish adaptation directed by Joel Schumacher. Christine (Emmy Rossum) is a beautiful and gifted young woman who longs to join the company of the Paris Opera House. During rehearsals for one of the opera's grand productions, a backdrop falls and crashes to the floor, nearly crushing leading lady Carlotta (Minnie Driver). When several members of the company suggest this could be the work of the "Phantom of the Opera," a spectral presence said to haunt the building, Carlotta drops out of the show, and the fates permit Christine to step in as her replacement. Christine's performance is a triumph, and on opening night she becomes reacquainted with Raoul (Patrick Wilson), a former childhood friend who is now a wealthy and well-known nobleman. Christine soon finds herself smitten with the handsome Raoul, but the same evening she makes a startling discovery -- the story of the Phantom is not just a legend. A brilliant but horribly disfigured composer (Gerard Butler) lives deep in the depths of the opera house, and taken with the beauty of Christine's voice, he abducts her and brings her to his lair, where he offers to help her perfect her talents, offering to write an opera especially for her. As the terrified Christine is comforted by Raoul, the two fall in love, but the phantom sees her affection for Raoul as a tremendous betrayal, and the jealous phantom nearly kills Christine as he nearly killed Carlotta. When the phantom emerges to present the opera's management with the piece he has written for Christine, the singer is asked to put her life on the line in an effort to capture the mad genius once and for all. Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical version of Gaston Leroux's novel, which had already enjoyed several stage and screen adaptations in the past, opened in London in 1986 and has been a popular favorite around the world ever since; the show was still running in New York and London when the film version premiered in late 2004. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Leo Tolstoy's classic novel is brought to the screen once again in what was the first American-based production of this story to be filmed on location in Russia. Anna (Sophie Marceau) is married to Alexei (James Fox), but while their relationship is not outwardly unhappy, it's clear that neither has much enthusiasm for either their spouse or their marriage. While visiting her bother Stiva (Danny Huston), who is having marital problems of his own, Anna meets Count Vronsky (Sean Bean). An immediate mutual attraction arises between them, and soon Vronsky has left behind his mistress Kitty (Mia Kirshner) to pursue Anna. Anna is initially uncertain about her feelings, but she soon throws caution to the wind and embarks on a passionate affair with Vronsky. However, Anna's love for the Count is strong enough that Alexei becomes keenly aware of her indiscretion, and when she discovers that she is carrying Vronsky's child, Alexei offers her two options -- she can leave Vronsky, resume her marriage, and keep the baby, or stay with Vronsky and give up her unborn child. This was at least the tenth feature-length production of Anna Karenina to reach the screen, though one of the best known appeared under a different title -- Love, starring Gretta Garbo. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The third installment in the widely beloved Spielberg/Lucas Indiana Jones saga begins with an introduction to a younger Indy (played by the late River Phoenix), who, through a fast-paced prologue, gives the audience insight into the roots of his taste for adventure, fear of snakes, and dogged determination to take historical artifacts out of the hands of bad guys and into the museums in which they belong. A grown-up Indy (Harrison Ford) reveals himself shortly afterward in a familiar classroom scene, teaching archeology to a disproportionate number of starry-eyed female college students in 1938. Once again, however, Mr. Jones is drawn away from his day job after an art collector (Julian Glover) approaches him with a proposition to find the much sought after Holy Grail. Circumstances reveal that there was another avid archeologist in search of the famed cup -- Indiana Jones' father, Dr. Henry Jones (Sean Connery) -- who had recently disappeared during his efforts. The junior and senior members of the Jones family find themselves in a series of tough situations in locales ranging from Venice to the most treacherous spots in the Middle East. Complicating the situation further is the presence of Elsa (Alison Doody), a beautiful and intelligent woman with one fatal flaw: she's an undercover Nazi agent. The search for the grail is a dangerous quest, and its discovery may prove fatal to those who seek it for personal gain. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade earned a then record-breaking $50 million in its first week of release. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

In this made-for-TV thriller, a sportscaster engineers a daring escape from a Soviet prison camp after being snared by a KGB scheme. Mickey Almon (David Keith), a sports star-turned-journalist, arrives in Moscow to cover an international tournament. Soon, though, he's tempted to play the hero once again, this time not as an athlete, but as a smuggler of repressed scientific research. Against the advice of his wife (Nancy Paul), Mickey agrees to help the Russians who've approached him, but the entire intrigue turns out to be a set-up. Physically neglected and emotionally tortured in a stinking hole for several weeks, Mickey agrees to sign a confession after being told that it will guarantee his release. Instead, he receives a ten-year sentence and soon finds himself on a train bound for Siberia. Sewing rough-hewn gloves with the other foreign prisoners and living for the day each month when his care package arrives, Mickey soon resolves to escape or die trying. To that end, he enlists a cynical British spy (Malcolm McDowell) and a group of Soviet prisoners in a plan to escape via a supply train that can get them within reach of the West -- if only they can find a way to get onto it undetected. Gulag was directed by Roger Young, who previously helmed such lauded TV movies as Bitter Harvest and would go on to direct the original televised version of Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Identity. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

The second of the George Lucas/Steven Spielberg Indiana Jones epics is set a year or so before the events in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1984). After a brief brouhaha involving a precious vial and a wild ride down a raging Himalyan river, Indy (Harrison Ford) gets down to the problem at hand: retrieving a precious gem and several kidnapped young boys on behalf of a remote East Indian village. His companions this time around include a dimbulbed, easily frightened nightclub chanteuse (Kate Capshaw), and a feisty 12-year-old kid named Short Round (Quan Ke Huy). Throughout, the plot takes second place to the thrills, which include a harrowing rollercoaster ride in an abandoned mineshaft and Indy's rescue of the heroine from a ritual sacrifice. There are also a couple of cute references to Raiders of the Lost Ark, notably a funny variation of Indy's shooting of the Sherpa warrior. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Heroic earthling Flash Gordon saves the world from the nefarious Ming the Merciless in this lavish, intentionally campy adaptation of the famous sci-fi comic strip. The story is as basic as space operas get: Ming (Max von Sydow) has developed a plan to destroy the Earth, and Flash (Sam J. Jones) and his attractive companion, Dale Arden (Melody Anderson), are called upon to stop him. Along the way, Flash must battle Ming's goons and the temptations of a luscious space princess. Previously the basis for a more straight-faced 1930s adventure serial, Flash's story is mined here for exaggerated, cartoon humor by screenwriter Lorenzo Semple Jr., a central figure in the similarly campy '60s Batman television series. The simplistic plot mainly serves as an excuse for spectacular sets and cartoonish action sequences, all set to an appropriately over-the-top rock score by Queen. Certainly not a film to turn to for serious excitement, fine performances, or character development, Flash Gordon has nevertheless developed an appreciative cult of fans who admire the film's humorous approach and the detailed, colorful production design. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide