I'm just going to say it up front: I love this movie. I know that nobody else does. Most people don't even seem to like it. I can't figure out why. It's based on the comic strip, and it does everything right (from my point of view). It's set in the right period (the '30s), and it's based on some of the actual comic strip stories. It doesn't go over the top with special effects. It captures the spirit of the old movie serials (and maybe I'll talk about the serial version of The Phantom one of these days).
It has a great cast, and if you don't think Billy Zane can pull off an authentic hero, you should watch this. You might change your mind. Others include Treat Williams chewing the scenery, Patrick McGoohan, Catherine Zeta-Jones (as a female air-pirate!), and Kristy Swanson, for starters. It has the Skull Cave, Hero (the Phantom's horse), Devil (the Phantom's dog), and the Phantom's cool ring. It's set both in New York and in the jungle, and both settings look great.
And, yes, there's a plot. It's an origin story, and there's the usual MacGuffin (or three of them, mystic skulls that will supposedly allow one to rule the world if all three are brought together). It has action, it has heart, and it's fun from beginning to end. Or it was for me, if not for anybody else. Should've been a big hit, should've had many sequels. Didn't happen, more's the pity. But that's okay. I love it, anyway.
Charles Williams, one of my favorite Gold Medal writers, occasionally published in hardcover. He also knew a thing or two about sailing, and Dead Calm is a hardback suspense novel that lets him show off that knowledge. It's a good story, and Orson Welles planned to film it. Like others of his projects, this one never got done. It would've been interesting to see his take on it, but instead we get a version by Philip Noyce. It's a dandy little movie, but it's not a lot like the book, aside from the basics of the situation.
What are the basics? A man and his wife (Sam Neill and Nicole Kidman) are sailing far from the peaceful shore when they come across a boat that's sinking. There's one man (Billy Zane) aboard, and he comes over to their boat to tell them that everyone on his boat has died of food poisoning. Neill goes over to check, and Zane, being a bit of a nutter who's killed everyone else on the boat, sails away with Nicole.
After that, it's just one thing after another as Nicole tries to escape, Neill tries to keep the sinking boat he's on afloat, and Zane tries to keep Nicole from going back to rescue her husband. There's an annoying dog (HUGE SPOILER ALERT: People sensitive to animal deaths should avoid this movie. END OF HUGE SPOILER ALERT) who causes problems, too. There's a good bit of suspense, a good bit of stupidity on the parts of the characters, and (HUGE SPOILER ALERT) a villain who's not easy to kill (END OF HUGE SPOILER ALERT). Kidman, Neill, and Zane are all very good, and there's some great ocean scenery. If you haven't seen it, give it a try.
