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Imagine a beautiful, breathtaking piece of architecture whose brilliance can be easily seen for miles around Paris. It is the nineteenth century and this wonderful theatre is frequented by hundreds of people every night looking to be entertained. While the owners count their cash, their changes and refusal to accept the existence of the Phantom who dwells underneath this theatre are causing this ingenious "ghoul" to become increasingly irate, with some devastating consequences.

Imagine no more. Now you can see for yourself! The theatre is far less frequented these days, largely owing to the popularity of the cinema, which is a far more accessible, convenient and cheaper form of entertainment. I was lucky enough to see a theatre production of this in Manchester, but I know most have not.

I love Andrew Lloyd Webber's work. I think the man is a genius. Because of this, I was very wary of watching a cinema adaptation of arguably Lloyd-Webber's best piece. Having seen previous adaptations of it, I had been left believing that they simply ruin the story and leave the viewer completely unsatisfied.

However, noting that Andrew Lloyd-Webber had himself contributed greatly to this production, I decided to stump up the cinema ticket money and give it a go. I went back a further three times as well, I was so amazed! So, of course, when the DVD came out I was first in the queue to buy it, at a very reasonable 14.99, considering the extras it comes with. I purchased my copy from Tesco and noticed that the price of this DVD, as with most chart DVDs ranged from 14.99 - 22.99, depending where you buy it. It is definitely worthwhile shopping around.

The characters are portrayed just as brilliantly in this production as they are on the stage, with Gerard Butler playing a perfect Phantom, whose genius has clearly crossed the line of madness and whose love of Christine (played by the very talented Emmy Rossum, who was 16 at the time of filming and has the most amazing voice) combined with his horrendous childhood, has led him to become violent and terrifyingly threatening. Gerard Butler has a fabulous voice which can hit the aggressive notes just as perfectly as the softer ones. I am incredibly impressed with his voice, especially given some of the difficult pieces of music. Patrick Wilson's portrayal of Raoul (a character I really cannot bring myself to like for some reason) is sublime, while Minnie Driver gives Carlotta the slice of humour needed to top of this film marvellously.

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