Opera

Rating:
Summary: Dario Argento....The Horror Film Scientist!!!!!!!!
Review: Don't expect any "out of your seat jumper"scenes or super gore in this movie,remember,this is an Argento movie and he is one of the few Italian directors that doesn't have to use extreme gore closeups or hard core death scenes to get your attention.This movie is 2nd to his masterpiece, "Susperia". Opera is not a slow film with a dragging story line that takes forever to build up.From the opening Argento moves in for the kill and grabs the viewer,and then rocks your brain with bold effects and stunning camera wizardry.I highly reccomend the unrated version with the extra sountrack disc.You just don't see horror like this any damn more...what a shame.

Rating:
Summary: Dario Argento....The Horror Film Scientist!!!!!!!!
Review: Don't expect any "out of your seat jumper"scenes or super gore in this movie,remember,this is an Argento movie and he is one of the few Italian directors that doesn't have to use extreme gore closeups or hard core death scenes to get your attention.This movie is 2nd to his masterpiece, "Susperia". Opera is not a slow film with a dragging story line that takes forever to build up.From the opening Argento moves in for the kill and grabs the viewer,and then rocks your brain with bold effects and stunning camera wizardry.I highly reccomend the unrated version with the extra sountrack disc.You just don't see horror like this any (...) more...what a shame.

Rating:
Summary: One of Argento's greatest achievements
Review: Borne from an abortive attempt to mount his own unique stage version of Verdi's 'Rigoletto' in Macerata in 1985, director Dario Argento transforms the backstage setting of a magnificent opera house into the lair of a psychopathic killer in "Opera" (1987), his last truly great film until "Sleepless" (Nonhosonno) in 2000. Spanish model-turned-actress Cristina Marsillach plays the young ingenue who's suddenly thrust into the lead role of a dramatic new theatrical presentation of Verdi's 'Macb...', er, I mean, 'The Scottish Play' (ahem!), whereupon she's immediately targeted by a hooded, black-gloved maniac who abducts her at regular intervals, ties her up, and forces her to witness the brutal murders of various friends and colleagues.

Fans will relish the familiarity of Argento's voyeuristic obsessions and the frequent references to his earlier productions, while everyone else will simply marvel at the visual and thematic excesses conjured by the movie's outlandish backdrop (it was filmed at the spectacular Teatro Regio Opera House in Parma, just outside Milan). The overripe production design by Davide Bassan and Gianmaurizio Fercioni fills the wide Super 35 frame with a feast of classical architecture which often threatens to overwhelm the stick-figure characters, and Argento allows the operatic theme to dominate virtually every aspect of the production, transforming a Gothic nightmare into an ultra-modern shock-machine, brilliantly captured by Ronnie Taylor's constantly roving camerawork. Outside of his splendid efforts for Richard Attenborough ("Gandhi", "Cry Freedom", etc.), "Opera" represents one of Taylor's most innovative achievements, utilizing state-of-the-art techniques to convey the director's wildest flights of fancy, most notably a vertiginous 'raven's-eye-view' of the opera house towards the end of the film as it swoops and dives across the audience in search of the killer. Veteran editor Franco Fraticelli (who's worked with almost all of Italy's major directors since the 1950's, from Argento to Wertmuller) also excels himself here, cutting the film to the rhythm of a deafening music score which combines classical opera and thrash metal to disorientating effect, hurling the narrative forward with unstoppable force.

Despite widespread reports of her temperamental flare-ups during production, Marsillach is restrained but effective as the focus of the killer's attention, while Ian Charleson ("Chariots of Fire") makes the most of his role as a hard-bitten movie-turned-opera director. Elsewhere, though most of the international cast speaks English throughout, the performances of William McNamara ("Copycat"), Coralina Cataldi Tassoni, Urbano Barberini and Daria Nicolodi in crucial roles are compromised by fairly obvious dubbing, though the results aren't too distracting. In a fascinating documentary which accompanies Anchor Bay's DVD, Argento explains that the cynical, loveless people described in his script (co-written with Franco Ferrini, a longtime Argento collaborator) were his response to the AIDS crisis which dominated headlines throughout the 1980's, undermining the foundations of interpersonal relationships and transforming the carefree sex act into a potentially lethal activity. This extraordinary revelation explains much about the characters and their motivations, particularly Marsillach's odd, low-key response to the horrific murders.

"Opera" contains some of Argento's finest set-pieces, especially the infamous 'keyhole' sequence (referenced by John Woo in "Hard Target" [1993], a hundred times less effectively) which forms the breathtaking centrepiece of a terrifying scene in which Marsillach is stalked through her unlit apartment by the maniac. Though inevitably reduced on the small screen, the director's bravura technique remains wholly intact, though an early sequence in which a number of ravens are abused by the killer looks uncomfortably realistic.

Original distributors Orion trashed the movie as the worst they'd ever seen, leading them to edit the print considerably for US release under the clumsy new title "Terror at the Opera". After years of pan-scan versions on home video, a recent Italian DVD presented the film at 1.78:1, altering all of the original compositions. As such, Anchor Bay's region-free, THX-approved disc - which runs 107m 18s and is correctly framed at 2.35:1, anamorphically enhanced - is the first definitive video version of the film anywhere in the world! After the appalling audio job which ruined their DVD of "Suspiria" (1977), it's a joy to report that "Opera"s soundtrack - there's a choice of 2.0 stereo or 5.1 surround, with a 6.1 option for those with the necessary decoders - is strong and vivid, augmenting a handsome-looking print which seems just a little too dark in places, especially compared with footage from the two terrific trailers included in the package. Closed captions are provided, along with an audio CD of the soundtrack, much sought-after by collectors. Viewers unfamiliar with the film's contents are urged not to read Michael Felsher's terrific essay (printed on the chapter-insert) before watching the movie, because it includes spoiler details of the 'keyhole' sequence.

Rating:
Summary: A real eye-opener . . .
Review: Dario Argento movies aren't noted for their plausibility or realism, and this entry is no exception. Critics and fans have complained endlessly about Argento's earlier work (SUSPIRIA and DEEP RED) being classic examples of the horror genre, whilst his latter efforts (TRAUMA and PHANTOM OF THE OPERA) sadly lacking in any department. This 1987 production has the unfortunate position of being sandwiched in between the 'old' Dario and the 'new'. The story has a young opera singer taking over the leading role in a 1980s 'style over content' rendition of MACBETH. Unknown to her, she has attracted the attention of a crazed fan who first kidnaps her, then forces her to stand and watch as he butchers and murders her friends, lover, etc. in front of her very eyes (in a clever trick - the killer cellotapes needles under her eyelids to keep her watching the graphic carnage). The film goes on like this for about an hour, (a) the killer shows up (b) he kidnaps the singer and (c) a murder scene (accompanied by a terrible heavy rock soundtrack which destroys any tension the film had built up). Argento uses Point of View camerawork, which at first is diverting, but at around the 20 minute mark you become lost and wish he would have held back on this device.

Argento's 'inventive murder' sequences which have trademarked the directors work are evident in OPERA. The show-stopper has to be the bullet through the key hole scene, which is truly stunning. Infact, all of the film is technically excellent and inventive, it's just a shame the screenplay isn't very involving and the UK 'Cockney style' dubbing never helps the viewer connect to the characters in the movie. The film isn't disturbing or particularly that gory (which in itself is strange, as the movie has been unavailable in the UK for a long time - I hope the BBFC and Anchor Bay remedy this soon), and one wishes that the cast would act a little more naturally, ie: When the singer witnesses the graphic stabbing of her boyfriend, she hardly seems to be bothered about the whole event! (I don't know, perhaps the translation was wasted on me after all!)

Anchor Bay's 2 disc edition is another triumph. The transfer is superb and the movie looks like it was just made, and not 14 years old. The trailers are interesting to see how the marketing differs in the Orion released US version to the original italian ad. An informative documentary holds things together and a bonus disk offers the soundtrack (which I really should get around to playing one time!) All in all, a great disc for Argento fans, but if you are a casual horror fan looking for cheap thrills - this movie ain't it.

Rating:
Summary: DID NOT WORK IN DVD PLAYERS
Review: i tried to watch this DVD in both my DVD-Rom & DVD player & it didnt work. i exchanged it & that copy was messed up too! the dvd is gold & looks like a burnt copy! BEWARE!

Rating:
Summary: Masterpiece!
Review: ... Dario Argento's Opera is nothing less than a wickedly entertaining dark thrillmachine.

Opera is a complete fantasy. It is not to be taken completely seriously but rather experienced, felt. This is not a film that you'll understand, where all the pieces of the puzzle fall nicely into place. This is an Argento film. It makes very little sense at all. But it doesn't matter - it's a film that is so beautifully crafted, so unrelenting and intense, so dark and brutal that it is absolutely impossible to take your eyes off it. From the very first frame - which, in my opinion, is one of the coolest opening shots ever - to the very last, Opera is a work of art. I don't say that about a lot of films, but freeze any frame of the film and you'll be impressed.

The story is perhaps not the greatest ever told but Argento's subtext - that of voyeurism and how the heroine represents the moviewatching audience etc. - is perhaps his greatest achievement yet. This is a film worthy of a lengthy scholarly discussion, a film that you cannot see only once and leave it at that. It's a complex, strange and compulsive film. I give it my best recommendation. It's a film you will never forget and even though the very ending seems a bit strange, I've actually learned to like it - especially the cinematography.

If I were to name any flaws I'd mention Argento's blatant use of cheesy, outdate heavy-metal rock music. Unlike Phenomena, where the rock-music actually made a kind of weird sense, Opera is far to classy and elegant for this kind of rubbish music. There are only four scenes with rock music (and only one of them really suffers from it) but it is enough to make you cringe. But since I love the rest of the film to death, I won't let that bother me too much and neither should you.

Rating:
Summary: ARGENTO'S FINEST HOUR
Review: Surely Dario Argento's "magnus opus"? This is a film that rises so far above it's 'horror' label that it defies classification.
A deranged killer tries to arouse a blood-lust in his one true love, but in a triumph of human nature his victim goes to the other extreme and begins to see the beauty of the world around her instead of the darkness.
While the film IS violent and sadistic, these elements are truly important to the plot and rarely gratuitous. Argento was deeply upset with the treatment of OPERA by US distributers ORION, and quite right too. They chopped off the ending and negated the whole point of the film, but here it is now - pristine and complete in glorious widescreen. My only critism is the lack of an original Italian soundtrack with English subtitles. As with all films of this nature, diabolical dubbing lessens the impact of the film significantly. The two-disc set with the gorgeous soundtrack is much better than the standard edition, too.

Rating:
Summary: Great Argento classic
Review: Not much to say except that the transfer is wonderful, the documentary is very interesting, the sound is excellent, and that sequence with the eye-peephole will always be one of the best Argento moments committed to film!
NOW---- if somebody out there could PLEASE explain to me what the track-listing is on the 'bonus CD soundrack'?!! (...)

Rating:
Summary: Don't look through the peephole!
Review: This is truly a gorgeous masterpiece by my favorite director, Dario Argento. If you haven't seen this movie, I can guarantee you'll love it for the brilliant camerawork alone. The other reason to see it is to experience the tensely paced, smoothly elegant action firsthand - it is masterfully timed and even the first few minutes will leave you feeling as if you've been swept up into a whirlwind. The overwhelming flurry of activity is almost percussive in itself - if you have any sense of musical timing you'll know exactly what I mean.

The main reason to buy this limited edition disc is to own the soundtrack - it's one of my favorites. While many people have criticized the jarring heavy metal music used in certain scenes, I think it strikes a perfect audio parallel to the brutality it accompanies, considering that the film is otherwise filled with lush, haunting opera music. After all, how can one know beauty without also knowing of the beastly underbelly?

I highly recommend this DVD to anyone who can appreciate unique, stylish horror that doesn't need to resort to self-deprecating humor to be edgy.

Rating:
Summary: Stunning
Review: This the way to watch this Argento Classic on DVD, before we were treated to bootleged version if we wanted to see this uncut. The scenes where the stalker forces his victim to watch her kill her close friends is with out a doubt one the most disturbing ever in a giallo. The music is errie too and the gore scenes are truly shocking. Whatever you do don't watch the making of documentary before the film because it gives away the killers identity.