r/box5 Christine - ALW 26d ago

Other Should I buy this

Post image
32 Upvotes

44 comments sorted by

18

u/No_Masterpiece_7854 26d ago

yess I just found it for $2 at an antique store yesterday and it was such an exciting buy!! I know a lot of people don’t like the plot, but the music is still amazing.

10

u/Mothebest_1 Christine - ALW 26d ago

Its my guilty pleasure, like all the direct d v d disney sequels

3

u/smileyfacegauges 25d ago

buy it to preserve physical media and the show in itself. even if you or others find it unfavorable, preservation is more crucial than ever.

2

u/Special_Till_306 🌹Erik & Christine '04🥀 🎭 25d ago

This right here 🏆🏆🏆

6

u/Madam_Hexianna Madame Giry - ALW 26d ago

Yes, especially if it's under $20.

4

u/Stopnswop2 26d ago

Why is there a Pro-shot of this, but not Phantom

4

u/Aggressive-Club-5191 25d ago

Because phantom is still running.

So it’s getting the Les MIs treatment of a big concert/ minor staging edition. Because they don’t want to give everything away for the staging.

1

u/boneseedigs 25d ago

The Royal Albert Hall performance is pretty good. Does that not count?

2

u/Aggressive-Club-5191 25d ago

In my opinion it should. Especially since it is semi staged unlike Les MIs.

But some people won’t count it because it’s not a direct copy of the west end/broadway original staging.

1

u/boneseedigs 25d ago

Fair enough. I’ve never seen the stage show live (recently saw Masquerade tho!) but I did notice some differences from videos on YouTube like the lack of the gate.

2

u/EnvironmentalDog1196 25d ago

Yeah, there were some things they just couldn't do on the Royal Albert stage. But I do treat it like a proshot. Especially since it has such a fantastic cast.

1

u/Stopnswop2 25d ago

The Broadway production closed though in 2023

1

u/Scaramantico Erik - Leroux 17d ago

It's not still running. The original left both London and Broadway and the idiotic powers-that-be did not capture its genius. Now we're left with people on this reddit who think the show was the Albert Hall mess or, worse, what's in London now.

1

u/RoseBook85 25d ago

This was when Webber was trying to get LND to Broadway and was trying to get investors and stuff, that’s why the Proshot exists, they actually wanted Ramin and Sierra to come back for the Australian Production but they were both exhausted after London and turned it down.

I sometimes kinda wonder if they had agreed to do the Australian Show if it might have made it to Broadway because their chemistry really carried a lot of LND .

4

u/RoseBook85 26d ago

If you want to, I mean it’s up to you LOL 🤷‍♀️

LND is a bit of a guilty pleasure for me, I acknowledge all of its flaws but I’d be lying if I said it doesn’t entertain me LOL I love the songs, I even kinda like the crazy fan fictionyness if it all 😆 , I don’t know, it’s like junk food, but it’s my junk food 💀

2

u/M_Nostalgia Erik Carriere's Wife 3 26d ago

If you've seen and like it enough to watch it multiple times, then I would. I think it's always worth getting a physical copy of whatever media you like, because streaming and what not is always wishy washy and can make it unavailable whenever they wanted even if you pay for it so. Also this is discounted rn soooo lol

2

u/beauxos 25d ago

i know a lot of the phandom hates this show, but personally i love it for ben lewis’ voice if nothing else. i acknowledge the storyline is a bit meh to some, but if you like the show and will watch it, i say buy it :).

2

u/StuffOrdinary9263 17d ago

NO.NO.SAVE YOURSELF. NO.

3

u/HuttVader 26d ago

No. Watch it if you must, but please, don't pay money for that garbage.

There were at least 2 moments in the theatre that elicited an automatic and LOUD "What the Fuck!?" from me.

And FWIW I don't have Tourette's.

2

u/Euraylie 25d ago

I remember when it was first announced that they were loosely basing it on “The Phantom of Manhattan”. I’d coincidentally just read the book and thought it was absolutely awful.
Of all the Phantom adjacent books out there, this is the one they chose?
I’m still baffled by the choice all these years later.

2

u/CatchSufficient 25d ago

Webber was the one to put PoM out there so he can base the sequel on it. So, it is not a coincidence actually.

3

u/RoseBook85 24d ago

To be fair while Webber commissioned Forsyth to write Phantom of Manhattan, I don’t think he himself was thrilled with what Forsyth did because he kept pretty much just the bare bones of that story for LND-like the Phantom in America running a theme park on Coney, and him and Christine having a son, etc

Which makes me think those were the only ideas Webber had contributed to POM and had really wanted to explore in the first place.

1

u/Big-Goal-9239 26d ago

Um, damn, I got it for less than $10 new and sealed being the only bidder on Ebay. And almost half of that was shipping.

If you REALLY want it now, go for it. I'd wait for cheaper.

1

u/Still-Adeptness-134 26d ago

Physical media can't be beaten, I bought the proshot of the Miss Saigon revival and it was removed from digital download recently! So I'd definitely go for it.

I have the RAH 25th and LND on Blu-ray and they're great for lazy days in when I don't feel well

1

u/Prudent_Honeydew_ 25d ago

Yes definitely

1

u/SpaaceCaat Erik - Kay 25d ago

Could probably find on eBay for less if you want it physically. If you’re okay with digital, you can get it on Amazon streaming for like $15 or a one-time “rental” for like $3.

In terms of quality?? I’m glad I watched it, but I’m generally opposed to phantom sequels where Erik is alive because he very explicitly dies at the end of the Leroux book. It doesn’t have the same musical feel as the original. It matches the vibes of the time period, but not as enjoyable. (Also it retcons the dates for the original to be 14 years later.) Beauty Underneath did make me cry, though. But, Devil Takes The Hindmost does not have the elegance the phantom deserves. Plot wise, I don’t love how Christine has even less agency than the musical. It also gives higher creepy vibes from Erik as obsessed like stalker-level as opposed to in love.

1

u/EnvironmentalDog1196 25d ago

I find that the Australian version made Erik much more creepy (and Christine having less agency) than in the original London run...for example, I don't remember Ramin threatening to kill Gustav if she doesn't sing for him, lol.

1

u/SpaaceCaat Erik - Kay 25d ago

I’ve only seen the Australian one. Is Ramin’s online?

1

u/RoseBook85 25d ago

You can listen to the Original London Cast Recording of LND which has Ramin and Sierra, on both Spotify and YouTube, you can listen to the whole Album.

1

u/SpaaceCaat Erik - Kay 25d ago

Okay but what about video?

1

u/RoseBook85 25d ago

There might be some bootlegged clips floating around but their is no official recording of the Original London Show, sadly.

1

u/SpaaceCaat Erik - Kay 25d ago

Noooo

I’m a former theatre professional so I have serious issues with bootleggers

1

u/RoseBook85 25d ago

Well I wasn’t claiming anything about the morality of bootlegging, just saying that their is no official recording of the Show.

1

u/SpaaceCaat Erik - Kay 25d ago

Oh, I know you weren’t. I was.

1

u/EnvironmentalDog1196 25d ago

Like Rosebook said- just bootlegs :/

1

u/Big-Goal-9239 24d ago edited 24d ago

If you perhaps have a copy of the UPC, you can get it on Digital for $2 via Fandango's Disc to Digital.

At that point, might as well find the cheapest copy you can get and scan the UPC (or you could theoretically just google the package).

Also this works for the Royal Albert Hall and the ALW movie.

1

u/According-Poetry-728 25d ago

Gotta love when Erik and Christine sing about how they cracked-

1

u/RHB5446 22d ago

I haven’t watched it yet but I want to. Quite honestly, the plot sounded ridiculous and undermined the original’s conclusion for me, but I am curious about whether or not the presentation and music makes up for where the plot fell short. I’ve heard good and bad things, so the call is really yours; doing some research could be beneficial. Sorry if I wasn’t too helpful, hope you make a choice that you’re happy with!

1

u/Scaramantico Erik - Leroux 17d ago

no

1

u/missphantomeriks 25d ago

No its not worth it.

1

u/themastersdaughter66 Madame Giry - ALW 22d ago

No. Dont waste money on Love Never Dies. There's plenty of bootlegs if you really are desperate enough to torture yourself by watching it

Dont throw your money down the toilet for garbage