Starring: Ben Lewis, Anna O’Byrne
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Distributed by: Universal Studios
Release Date: May 29, 2012
Running Time: 121 minutes
Film: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Extras: 2 out of 5 stars
When it comes to “The Phantom of the Opera” it is a hard act to follow. So pretty much it doesn’t matter how good “Love Never Dies” is, it will be hard to compare to its predecessor. Luckily, it doesn’t disappoint and still captures some of the charm. I really enjoyed the show’s music and it’s production scale was out of this world. The sets on this show spared no expense and looks beautiful…even on Blu-ray, you still feel like you are there. If you are fan of “The Phantom of the Opera” and expect the same kind of magic, you might be disappointed. But if you are open-minded and looking for a stunning wonderful journey revisiting the wonderful story, you will enjoy this quite a bit.
“Love Never Dies” takes place in the year is 1907, 10 years after the Phantom’s disappearance from the Paris Opera House. He has started new in New York, where he setup show living in Coney Island. In this new electrically-charged world, he has finally found a place for his music to soar. The Phantom still yearns for his love, Christine. When she travels to New York and perform at a renowned opera house the Phantom lures Christine in a final attempt to win her love.
If you have ever been a Broadway film, there is nothing like seeing a live production. Of course luckily Blu-ray is the closest way to experience this. With shows like “Love Never Dies”, it is presented in beautiful 1080p transfer with an aspect ratio of 2.35:1. Since this is a musical, the audio presentation is very important and sounds amazing with its DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. The special features on this release are lacking with only one behind the scenes feature “The Making of Love Never Dies”, running just shy of 15 minutes. It features not only cast and crew but also Andrew Lloyd Webber focusing on the musical’s extensive production.
