written by Fritz / photos by Fritz

Asia once again beats out the western world with an exclusive special edition. The 2004 production of "Andrew Loyd Webber's The Phantom of the opera" (Yes, that's the actual title) arrives in a sumptuous box fitting it's subject matter, and with only 2000 pieces reportedly produced, makes a nice addition to any "limited edition" collection. This region 3 Hong Kong edition was only announced a couple weeks prior to release and now appears sold out from most major retailers. The price was reasonable, around HK$250, so I guess they went fast.

What's inside.

The inside is lined with a nice deep red velvet, a lush evocation of the set design of the movie itself. The lid has a slot for the customary numbered certificate and displays well when the box is open. Lying on the velvet cushion you'll find the DVD jacket, a red plastic rose and a pin in the shape of the phantom's mask. A foam rubber mat fills up the box so nothing bumps around in there. Underneath the velvet there are some cardboard trays that help keep everything in it's proper place. Not wanting to rearrange the velvet kept me from investigating the innards more closely. In the lower right corner the edge of the cardboard had worn a hole in the velvet on my sample. Big as the box is, it still is a bit cramped and could do with a little more breathing room to fit everything in.

The double disc set comes in a triptych gatefold jacket. The jacket is illustrated with images from the film, printed on glossy, heavy stock paper. Finished mostly in black, handling it will leave visible fingerprints. The jacket is held closed by the dreaded stickytape but I had no problems removing it and it left no glue residue. You may just want to slice the tape neatly and leave it if you're squeamish about tearing something off of your precious limited editions. The opening flap has a pocket that fits a 16 page booklet. All text is in english and consists mainly of excerpts from the lyrics of the musical. The two discs are held in adjoining digipack trays and as usual take some effort to pry loose. I'm assuming the actual discs are identical to the 2-disc set of the regular R3 edition, but the contents seem to differ slightly from their region 1 and 2 equivalents.

The rose doesn't rate highly for authenticity, but has a nice tactile feel to it. The petals and leaves are made of cloth while the stem is plastic and looks it. Getting the rose back in it's little hole took some fiddling. There's also a black bow tied around it which is one of the Phantom's calling cards in the film. Nice touch.

The pin is, pardon me, pinned to the velvet lining with the sort of locking mechanism you get on buttons. It feels heavy and is made from something resembling cold cast porcelain, at least it doesn't come off as plasticky. On the back there's some copyright info and the movie's title. The heavy pin has a nice and smooth finish but tends to droop slightly when worn. Just for display purposes I suppose.

Summary.

The set is well made and leaves a more expensive impression than it actually is. Opened, the velvet bedding makes this a fine display piece and the rose and pin actually make sense in the context of the film (as opposed to the wristwatch which came with King Arthur!) The price is right and you get a cracking double disc set of the movie to boot. Get it if you can find it.