We’ve all heard the name before, most of us have seen it on stage or in its horrendous movie form, but we all know about The Phantom Of The Opera. The Andrew Lloyd Webber musical based on the novel by Gaston Leroux has spawned many different variations, some of them masterpieces and some, not so much. Thankfully Universal has managed not to screw up this Blu-Ray transfer, as this is one of the most masterful renditions of Phantom that I think I’ve ever seen. Ramin Karimloo and Sierra Bogges are powerful in their roles, the backdrops are breathtaking, and the music reverberates emotion on stage and within you down to your very soul. Honestly, as clichéd as that sounds Universal’s audio delivery of Phantom, despite having a few flaws, is quite powerful, as if you are sitting in the front row.

PICTURE QUALITY:
Very nearly perfect. You always have to give a bit of leeway to live BD transfers because there is so much ambient elements that tinker with picture; lights, atmospheric effects, and more. Aliasing pops up a bit on the set due to some of it being made up of lengthy monitors that display a digital picture for each setting, some grain (but hardly a nuisance), and black levels being toyed with by stage lighting and focus. Other then those small issues detail is fantastic, colors are brilliantly alive, and when black levels are on they are spot on looking deep and solid providing a nice backing to put forth the elaborate costumes and set designs.

Audio has it’s issues here. The opening pieces of dialogue in the play are almost whisper soft. I had to boost my surround sound up considerably to hear what was being said and then just gave up and put on subtitles. When the first musical number breaks out, if your like me and you have your audio way up to compensate for the lack of dialogue control, your very nearly blasted out of your seat. I quickly set my volume to a reasonable level and was finally able to enjoy the play. LFE output for the music was very deep and resonating providing enough boom to really rattle the bones but not so much that it overpowered the rest of the music or singing. It’s not perfect in the sense that it has a good balance for all elements of sound but it works if you don’t mind having sound levels at a present capacity.

BONUS FEATURES:
~HD Trailer for Love Never Dies, the sequel to Phantom Of The Opera.
~Getting Past The Point Of No Return: Behind The Scenes of Phantom At 25: Here we get a 17+ minute glimpse at the production, actors, orchestra, and story.