The Phantom is a 1996 superhero film directed by Simon Wincer and starring Billy Zane, Kristy Swanson, and Treat Williams. It's based on Frank Falk's The Phantom comic strip, which started in 1936.
[00:00:10] In this episode I am talking about The Phantom, which is a 1996 superhero film directed by Simon
[00:00:37] Winster and starring Billy Zane, Christie Swanson, and Treat Williams.
[00:00:42] It's based on Frank Faulks The Phantom comic strip which started publishing in 1936 and
[00:00:50] appears to still be running to this day.
[00:00:52] It has several adaptations, different crossovers, different superheroes, there's been animated
[00:01:01] shows. Apparently there was a sci-fi original miniseries in 2009. It was two episodes, it
[00:01:09] was a four hour movie it was described as. When I looked it up it said it was a sequel
[00:01:15] to the original movie but then like the more I look into it it looked like it was
[00:01:20] its own unique original thing. I could only find that series on YouTube split up between
[00:01:28] 16 videos and it was very poor quality. I might watch them at some point, apparently they
[00:01:33] had good reviews. I couldn't find The Phantom 1996 streaming anywhere so I bought it on
[00:01:42] Blu-ray. This is a movie, another movie that I saw growing up as a kid. In fact
[00:01:52] it gave me nightmares because of one scene in particular. You know how, okay let's just say
[00:02:00] for example there is a movie that terrified you as a kid. There's a monster that leaps
[00:02:05] out and it's running and in your mind it looks so real and the monster is so scary
[00:02:11] and it gives you nightmares and then you watch it as a kid and it's like a claymation
[00:02:15] thing and you're like oh wow why was I scared of that? That's so stupid. Okay
[00:02:20] this is me while editing. Obviously I meant as an adult not as a kid. Yeah so there's
[00:02:27] a scene in the movie where the main antagonist of the film Xander Drax has played by Treat
[00:02:36] Williams. He has this microscope, a golden microscope and it shows him in one scene
[00:02:43] turning a knob and spikes coming out of the eye holes. And then I remember showing later
[00:02:51] this guy coming in and he goes hey look into this thing, this microscope I want you to
[00:02:59] look at something. The guy looks in and then he turns the knob and all you hear
[00:03:03] is screaming and my mind was like the scariest thing. I remember seeing it. I remember
[00:03:07] seeing the spikes go into his eye and it gave me nightmares as a kid. It gave
[00:03:11] me nightmares even now as an adult. I actually, I decided to cover this movie because it was
[00:03:19] nostalgic and my mind I'm thinking I'll just get through that scene and review the rest
[00:03:24] of the movie. I remember it as this really cool action packed superhero film that was
[00:03:29] like cutting edge and it was like the coolest thing ever and then it gets to that
[00:03:33] scene. It's like right at the beginning and it's like so quick that I was like
[00:03:38] oh wait that was it. Is that the only time it happens? It was like it's nothing.
[00:03:41] You don't see anything and like the spikes barely come out. It's kind of cheesy actually
[00:03:48] and in fact this movie, I think they're going for, I think they're going for like
[00:03:57] because like I said the comic strip started in 1936 and I think they were going more
[00:04:03] for like an old action hero, like old superhero form comic book movie.
[00:04:11] Because it's kind of a cheesy movie like not saying it's bad. I still really like it.
[00:04:18] It's really good. I was messaging my sisters while I was watching it and they were like
[00:04:23] all I remember is Billy Zane and I'm like okay that's fair and yeah it was
[00:04:32] what I remember it being but like again it's not a bad thing. It's just like
[00:04:41] it's like watching that old horror movie that I was talking about. Like this old horror movie
[00:04:46] that scared you as a kid, a monster so scary and you watch it now and it's
[00:04:50] claymation but you know you're laughing at it but you're still having a good time.
[00:04:55] You're still liking it. It's still like a fun time watching it and that's kind of
[00:05:01] like with this. I remember the, I remember being like the Avengers level thing.
[00:05:06] Well not like maybe not the levels. I remember it being like this big like
[00:05:13] Spider-Man Marvel's type level comic book movie and it ended up being like a,
[00:05:22] I'm not saying knock off Indiana Jones with the superhero thing.
[00:05:31] He basically wears this purple costume the whole time and he doesn't mask his voice at all.
[00:05:39] It's Billy Zane and when he's out of the costume he's Kit Walker and he goes back to New York.
[00:05:47] There's an old friend of his from college Diana Palmer played by Christy Swanson
[00:05:55] and so like she actually goes to where he is. He's basically headquartered station living whatever in
[00:06:05] the jungle. It like never really specifies where exactly I actually look at the Wikipedia and
[00:06:11] it's like the jungle. I'm like okay generic as it is and and so like she, Diana is the
[00:06:21] daughter, the niece of like a newspaper tycoon and he's going to go investigate these skulls.
[00:06:30] They're not crystal skulls they're like crystal skull stand-ins basically. There's supposed to be
[00:06:35] three of them. They come together. They're very powerful whatever and he's going to go investigate
[00:06:39] it but she's like no you can't, it's dangerous. I'll go and he's like okay fine and so she goes
[00:06:46] and she ends up being captured and then the phantom comes and rescues her but it's kind of like
[00:06:52] Princess Leia she takes over the rescue and I love it because he's like trying to take charge.
[00:06:58] She's like oh I'm coming to rescue and she's like okay thanks for that I'm in charge now
[00:07:02] and then yeah she takes over and she rescues them. In fact he even goes to the credit and
[00:07:06] he's like you did well phantom and he was like actually Diana did all the work and
[00:07:12] so they're talking, they're talking to each other. He takes her to the to his headquarters,
[00:07:16] take the base of operations or whatever and then she goes back to New York and then
[00:07:21] she opens the door. She sees him from across the room and goes, Kit? Oh we're old friends from
[00:07:27] college and then they're talking and it's like in my mind I'm thinking how does she not recognize
[00:07:32] his voice he's literally using the same voice. Billy Zane does not have like a common voice.
[00:07:37] I recognize Billy Zane's voice anywhere basically and she doesn't recognize him like his voice,
[00:07:43] he doesn't recognize his voice. She recognizes his face from across the room, she's standing in
[00:07:47] front of him but the only thing that's really covered are his eyes like his nose, his mouth,
[00:07:53] all that. It's still completely seen but she doesn't recognize him because he's got his eyes
[00:08:00] covered. Of course at the end she's like uh take off your mask so I can see her face, Kit?
[00:08:09] Which makes me wonder, why did she know it was him? She never really reacted like I know you.
[00:08:13] So like it never really explained the when she, I think I think I kind of know when she figured
[00:08:20] it out because I'm thinking that he just give away his secret identity while they're still in New
[00:08:25] York. He's Kit, he's running like they're chasing Kit. The like the Hinchman are chasing Kit.
[00:08:32] He goes into this closet thing and they open the door, there's clothes on the ground
[00:08:36] and then the phantom swoops in and starts kicking them. And I'm thinking well you just give away
[00:08:42] your identity, they're all going to know it's you. And so I'm wondering if that's when she
[00:08:47] figured it out because the phantom was in the jungle and how did he get here? Wait,
[00:08:51] Kit was this here? Wait that voice kind of sounded familiar. Hmm but I also didn't go into
[00:09:01] like the story of the phantom. Like they, the legends of the phantom say that he's immortal because
[00:09:13] he's been you know he's been protecting that jungle for 400 years but really like the introduction
[00:09:20] of the film shows that there was a little kid that his family was attacked and killed by pirates
[00:09:26] and he washed up on shore and then this tribe instead of killing him like he thought it was
[00:09:32] going to happen they were like we're going to appoint you a hero and he gives them a skull ring
[00:09:37] and it's been passed down father to son ever since. And Kit Walker Billy's hands character is the 21st
[00:09:46] phantom. In fact one of the Hinchmans like whenever a phantom shows up he's like no way I
[00:09:53] killed this guy years ago. Yeah uh he killed Kit's father and that comes up later obviously
[00:10:01] as he's killing him. He's like you killed my father and the guy's like wait what? Like yep
[00:10:11] and yeah that's basically the story of the phantom and how like his his whole thing it's a really
[00:10:17] interesting premise honestly. You never really know what the ring's for like he has a ring in it
[00:10:25] like they basically like stress like oh this is important this is his thing is he wears this
[00:10:30] ring that has a skull on it and doesn't it's not really explained until like the very end the skulls
[00:10:36] are brought together and then like shoots a beam and like destroys people but then like the guy shoots
[00:10:42] it at the phantom and then the ring deflects it and it's like that's the whole purpose 400 years
[00:10:46] you've been carrying this ring for this one specific purpose it never shows him like
[00:10:51] obviously it's not like the green lantern where he can make whatever out of it or
[00:10:55] do whatever like shoot lasers out of it or something.
[00:10:59] The only other thing I could think of is um there's several people throughout the film that shows I
[00:11:06] at least I think there's at least two people that shows that have like the mark of the skull
[00:11:10] on their face so I guess where he punched them so hard it left an imprint but like other than
[00:11:15] that like what's the point of the ring? Oh but I also didn't normally I talk about
[00:11:22] what the other things people have done that are in the movie. I'm going to talk about that
[00:11:27] after I've already talked about the movie. Simon Winster was the director and he also directed
[00:11:33] Quickly Down Under, Harle Davidson and the Marlboro Man, Free Willy, Lightning Jack, Crocodile
[00:11:39] Dundee in Los Angeles and Episodes of Young Indiana Jones which I forgot to tell my sisters
[00:11:46] this but they're gonna freak out. Lightning Jack is another one of those movies that are
[00:11:51] virtually unknown but we grew up with it and yeah the fact that the guy that directed the Phantom
[00:11:58] directed Lightning Jack is insane to me. Also Billy Zane, he was in Back to the Feature 1 and 2.
[00:12:09] He was one of Biff's buddies. He wasn't going overboard. He was in Tombstone, Pocahontas
[00:12:15] 2, Zoolander 1 and 2. He was in Episodes of Twin Peaks. He was in Robot Chicken. He was in an
[00:12:22] episode of Community and he was in something called Titanic. I don't know if I'm pronouncing that right.
[00:12:30] Treat Williams. He was in Marathon Man once upon a time in America, Flashpoint,
[00:12:36] Miss Congeniality 2, 127 hours which I don't know who he could have been
[00:12:40] because there's like four characters in that movie and the only thing I can think of is he's
[00:12:46] probably the father because there's Aaron, the guy that fell down the thing and got his arm crushed.
[00:12:54] There's the two girls he ran into and then the father so he had to have been the father.
[00:12:59] He was also in American Outlaws which is coming out this year I believe and then his final
[00:13:05] role is Feud, Capote versus the Swans. Unfortunately he passed away last year.
[00:13:12] He passed away on June 12th 2023. He was in a motorcycle crash. He was 71 but he was probably
[00:13:24] my favorite character in the movie because you could tell he was just having so much fun in the
[00:13:30] role. Like every time he was in the scene I'm just thinking how much fun it was to play that
[00:13:35] for him because you could just see how much fun he's having and I loved it. So like because
[00:13:39] that was my favorite character in the film. And then Kristie Swanson who played Diana she
[00:13:50] has been in Pretty in Pink, Faris Bueller's Day Off, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the movie. She
[00:13:57] was the original Buffy. She was also in Big Daddy, Dooders My Car and it was like a bunch of
[00:14:04] other movies I'd never heard of and a lot of them didn't have Wikipedia articles so I
[00:14:09] would look further. But yeah like I will say that even though I haven't heard of most of them
[00:14:16] there's a lot of them so she's staying active. She's like I think her most recent
[00:14:20] movie was like 2001 so it's like she's staying active. I'll end this by saying like even though
[00:14:26] like I said like it's not the action-packed superhero whatever that I thought it was as a
[00:14:32] kid it's still a really fun movie and it's kind of like Campy and Cheesy. I think I got
[00:14:37] told my sister the only thing that's really missing is like the 60s Batman style POW! Wow!
[00:14:43] Bang! Things that pop up. That's basically the only thing missing because it's that kind of it's
[00:14:48] that level of cheesiness but again that doesn't mean it's bad. I really liked it and I highly
[00:14:53] recommend it if you could find a copy of it. Like I found it on Amazon on Blu-ray for like
[00:14:58] $10 so if you want to do that I highly recommend watching it because unfortunately like I said
[00:15:05] it's not streaming anywhere and it's not you can't rent it anywhere either I looked I was going to
[00:15:09] rent it on YouTube Prime or something so I pretty much had no choice but to buy it. I uh
[00:15:17] I don't pirate movies I know people that like you could have just pirated it and they like
[00:15:22] send me the link I'm like do not send me those links I do not do that I either stream them
[00:15:28] watch them on Hoopla which is streaming or buy them physically I have a lot of movies physically
[00:15:38] in fact I look there's seven movies that I bought this season just to cover on the podcast
[00:15:44] and I'm not even done yet there's still more that are on my Amazon cart. Oh one last thing
[00:15:54] I want to say this movie actually made me a little behind on my recording schedule
[00:16:05] because like I said I had that that I was not looking forward to watching it because of that
[00:16:10] fear as a kid that's I it's like when I got to that scene I'm like really that's it
[00:16:17] and then the rest of the movies went by and I kind of forgot about that scene but like it
[00:16:21] was that traumatizing as a kid so it's like I think it was kind of therapeutic to watch
[00:16:25] because like oh I can stop having nightmares about that but um because I wasn't looking forward
[00:16:31] to watching it I it's been like two weeks since I had watched a movie I haven't recorded an episode
[00:16:38] in a couple weeks um so that does not mean I'm behind technically uh because this episode isn't
[00:16:48] going to come out till the end of September and it's currently middle of July I it's right now it is
[00:16:58] July 20th 2024 and I recorded all the episodes up to this point in this season I've recorded
[00:17:07] either in May or June and I so like I'm trying to record way ahead of time and so yeah there was
[00:17:19] that delay because I didn't I was like I want to watch this movie but I I was there were you
[00:17:25] like skip past that part but like nope I went ahead and just watched it because I'm looking
[00:17:31] forward to the Halloween movies that I have coming up the films for October I'm looking
[00:17:36] forward to that and I want to get to that so I'm glad I got through this movie so I get to that
[00:17:41] in a way it was kind of uh just get it over with type of watch but I'm glad I saw it and uh
[00:17:48] there's also the thought that I could have just not covered it at all but like for two reasons
[00:17:56] I really wanted to because like it's a lesser known movie and I'm doing a lot of lesser known
[00:18:01] movies this year there are some well-known movies like 51st days but you know how
[00:18:05] people talk about it anymore but most of the movies I have for this this season are either
[00:18:09] lesser known movies or movies that people don't talk about anymore and that definitely falls like
[00:18:14] I don't know anybody that talks about the phantom and the other reason I already bought it so
[00:18:20] it's like it's just sitting on the shelf if I don't cover it it's like might as well
[00:18:26] but anyway uh next uh let's just say next season next week uh I think it's
[00:18:35] so from June to September the episodes are bi-weekly and then starting October through December
[00:18:45] the episodes are weekly because I want to get through a lot of like
[00:18:49] that's like the holiday films and like in October I cover more horror themed films and
[00:18:57] and then in December it's more like Christmasy holiday films November I was originally trying
[00:19:03] to do more like Thanksgiving-y films or just general holiday films like I did frozen the
[00:19:09] first year I'm like that's not a holiday film but now I because I was looking at my analytics
[00:19:16] and I realized that like there are people in other countries that what that listen to this podcast
[00:19:21] and Thanksgiving isn't celebrated anywhere but here in America the United States
[00:19:28] I'm trying to stop saying America it's the United States because when you say America
[00:19:32] elsewhere they're like north or south I'm like uh west I'm in San Francisco and they're like
[00:19:37] ah North America oh right so United States I'm in the United States there are people
[00:19:43] outside who don't celebrate Thanksgiving so for November I'm mostly covering like
[00:19:50] autumn type movies there's not really any like strict theme I'm I'm doing with that I'm not
[00:19:59] like strictly like this has to be said in the autumn it just there's like a certain feel I'm
[00:20:04] for for the November films however there is one film I bought on Blu-ray just to cover
[00:20:16] because there's an anniversary coming up in November and I bought a movie solely for that it's
[00:20:25] not an autumn film I mean well technically it is an autumn film because it takes place in November
[00:20:34] so that counts I don't know but anyway I just thought I would would would make a little kind of
[00:20:43] announcement about that that's how I've been doing it the last couple years but like it can
[00:20:47] apparently confuse some people because like wait you're posting that much and then you started
[00:20:52] posting that much and then I showed someone my posting schedule and they're like but why does
[00:20:56] it speed up at that point this is why this is this is why and now you know why instead of posting
[00:21:04] biweekly from starting with the next episode to the end of the year it's going to be weekly
[00:21:09] instead of biweekly and cut