Film

The Phantom

Name: The Phantom
Genre: Adventure, Action
Released: 1996
Cast: Billy Zane, Kristy Swanson, Treat Williams, Catherine Zeta-Jones, James Remar

Superhero

A pulpy 1996 adventure that swings for the fences with pure comic-book earnestness. Billy Zane prowls in purple spandex as a masked vigilante battling for three mystical skulls, all of it played with a wink and a grin. It's deliberately silly, gorgeously shot, and utterly unashamed of wanting to be fun.

TMDb rating

2.7

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you have a soft spot for lavish, cheerfully old-fashioned pulp adventure, the kind with a masked hero, a cackling villain and a comic-strip sense of fun that doesn't apologise for itself.

Skip it if you want a tight, modern superhero film; this one moves at a leisurely pace, its action is dated, and its tone wobbles between earnest and goofy.

What it asks of you: It runs about 100 minutes and asks for little beyond your willingness to go along with its colourful, unhurried storytelling and its broad, playful villainy.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

The Rocketeer1991

Shares the same retro-adventure DNA: a hero in a mask, impossible stunts, Golden Age pulp energy, and the understanding that spectacle and sincerity aren't enemies. A real crowd-pleaser that knows exactly what it is.

But Pacing feels languid by modern standards, and the romantic subplot takes up more screen time than some would like.

The Shadow1994

Another masked pulp hero from the same era, with the same commitment to style over realism. Both films love their own premise and refuse to be embarrassed, which is precisely their charm. Alec Baldwin leans into the camp.

But The plot gets genuinely convoluted, and the film assumes you're having as much fun with the absurdity as it is. If you want coherence, you'll bounce off it.

Flash Gordon1980

The spiritual ancestor of this kind of adventure film: bold primary colours, a hero who's ridiculous but game, and a director (Mike Hodges) who understands that sincerity and silliness can coexist. It's a joyride without apology.

But Queen's soundtrack dominates everything, which is great or distracting depending on your patience. The special effects are explicitly retro, which works against it if you need technical polish.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Phantom

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Barbarella1968

Both films embrace rather than hide their pulp roots. Both celebrate colour, style, and sincere ridiculousness as virtues rather than flaws.

The template for what The Phantom was trying to do. A film so committed to its own camp aesthetic that it becomes genuinely charming. Candy-coloured, absurd, sexy, and completely aware of itself. Jane Fonda plays the hero with absolute conviction.

But The sexual politics and gender dynamics are firmly of their era. If you're looking for substance, the self-aware surface is all there is.

Johnny English2003

Takes spy-movie tropes and plays them for maximum fun, the way The Phantom treats superhero mythology. Rowan Atkinson's committed silliness and the movie's refusal to wink at the camera too hard make it endearing rather than cloying.

But Atkinson's physical comedy won't land for everyone, and the plot genuinely doesn't matter—if that bothers you, this isn't your film.

Bulletproof Monk2003

Carries the same adventure-serial tone into East-meets-West action territory. Chow Yun-fat and Sean William Scott play it with the same committed earnestness The Phantom brings. It's unpretentious fun with fight choreography that actually impresses.

But The cultural mixing is clumsy by design, and modern sensibilities around it may ping awkwardly. The script is thin to transparency.

Sky High2005

A superhero film for an audience that isn't pretending superheroes are serious. Bright, silly, colour-saturated, and genuinely charming about its own premise. It captures what The Phantom was trying: pulp adventure that doesn't apologize.

But It's a Disney Channel movie, which means the stakes stay low and the emotional beats are obvious. Some will find it too earnest for its own good.

The Mask1994

Both films operate in that mid-90s sweet spot where CGI was still novel, style mattered more than realism, and a hero could be both ridiculous and likeable. Jim Carrey's commitment to absurdity parallels Zane's pulp sincerity.

But The film relies heavily on 90s comedy sensibilities that don't age gracefully. The green-screen work shows, which breaks the spell for some.

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen1988

Terry Gilliam's commitment to practical spectacle and impossible imagery over narrative coherence. It's gorgeous, audacious, and completely uninterested in whether you follow the plot, which is exactly The Phantom's energy.

But It's visually overwhelming and genuinely hard to follow. The pacing is glacial, and Gilliam's personal obsessions can overshadow the story.

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen poster

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen2003

Takes pulp heroes seriously as a concept, stacks them into one film, and commits to the adventure-serial tone. It's messy and overstuffed, but in a way that suggests the filmmakers were having more fun than the final product suggests.

But It's genuinely poorly structured, with characters that feel like action figures lined up rather than people. Critics and audiences rightfully took issue with almost everything about it.

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen poster

Kung Fu Hustle2004

Both refuse to apologize for genre premises. Both understand that style IS substance when deployed with this much conviction and imagination.

Stephen Chow's Hong Kong action-comedy that treats superhero premises with deadpan seriousness while being visually absurd. The same tonal balance: sincere about the spectacle, funny about the stakes, but never cynical. Wildly inventive action.

But It requires patience with Hong Kong cinema's pacing and editing rhythms. If you want American clarity of action, this will feel chaotic.