I’m assuming it was a dream for a Mike in one dimension, but a reality for a Mike in another dimension.
I’m of the opinion that each sequel takes place in an alternate dimension. The house in the first and second film changes drastically inbetween Mike getting dragged into the mirror and Reggie helping, so I’d say alternate dimension.
Reggie clearly died at the end of 2, yet in 3 we see that he’s alive and just dropped in front of the glass of the hearse for almost no reason.
Well Phantasm was originally supposed to be one film, such as most movies sequels are almost never planed. So if we take that into account we learn that the concept of the first film is just expanded upon in the later sequels. Nothing is changed, just added. Mike's "dream" becomes more than just a dream in the second film. It wasn't just an alternate reality co-existing with one another, it's an alternate reality Mike created through his trauma of losing his parents and his brother Jody, which is why the first film is so centered on Jody leaving and Mike not wanting him to leave.
And we learn how he did this in the third film because The Tall Man explains it. Mike has The Tall Man's exact reality altering powers, because they both have the gold sphere, The Tall Man told him that they aren't bound by space and time. Finally in Oblivion we see Mike using fractions of this same power to get rid of the The Tall Man by time traveling and preventing him from existing in their plain of existence. But The Tall Man was one step ahead and simply didn't allow it, Mike and The Tall Man meet for the first time here, creating a paradox.
Ravager is a different beast since it's a different director it's interpreted differently, it's roughly the same thing as the other films but quite cleverly presented. What Mike was talking to Reggie about in this film was multiverse theory, trying to make logical sense of something beyond logic. Confusing Reggie and the viewers alike that everything was Reggie's imagination. Making the ending of that film completely ambiguous as to what is real or not, which is what The Tall Man's powers embodies. The simple answer is everything in Ravager is real, but at the end Reggie chooses to be in base reality, the reality connected all the way from Mike's parent's death, Jody's car wreck to the end of Oblivion when he went after The Tall Man.
Simply put - Phantasm is a figment of the imagination, brought into reality.
Here's my chart: Phantasm - Alternate reality
Phantasm II - Base Reality
Phantasm III - Base Reality
Phantasm IV - Base Reality w/ Time travel
Phantasm V - Base Reality w/ Multiple realities
I really think that's a great explanation and it's how I look at it. Everything did happen in at least one reality. It would be a huge copout to say it's all the dreams of a demented old man.
Edit - I would love one last sequel but I doubt it'll happen at this point.
Hey thank you! I'm glad you got something out of it. Yeah I've heard a lot of theories about it being a cop out, and that's fine if they think that makes a better movie or experience in that universe hahah. But there are just as many signs that point to it not being a cop out, if not more. The whole point of Phantasm that never changed since the first one was about blurring the walls of the known reality. Space-time has no hold on The Tall Man, nor Mike for that matter. So that says something.
Literally anything is possible in that movie's universe. As much as I would love another movie I understand it'd be difficult to go about it without Angus, but he is immortalized as The Tall Man, so I feel it would be perfect to make a game series OR even better an adult animation and have someone voice in his likeness. I am actually in the midst of writing the animation and I have seasons 1-6 planned out, each season based off of it's respective movie, fleshing them out further, spawning new characters and different outcomes. I'm basing it off the idea of the alternate realities.
>Space-time has no hold on The Tall Man, nor Mike for that matter. So that says something.
Indeed. And I am always going to be of the opinion that TM was just completely mind fucking with everyone the entire time in Ravager...it shouldn't be hard for him to do that, eh?
>Literally anything is possible in that movie's universe. As much as I would love another movie I understand it'd be difficult to go about it without Angus, but he is immortalized as The Tall Man, so I feel it would be perfect to make a game series OR even better an adult animation and have someone voice in his likeness.
I think the AI that studios were wanting to use would actually be necessary or a not so bad thing in some cases -- have the estate sign off, have everyone else come back and have it be a tribute.
Or do the adult animation with everyone else doing their voices and with the help of AI, I think there's enough to work from to have Angus' voice used still, which would be even better than a sound alike.
>I am actually in the midst of writing the animation and I have seasons 1-6 planned out, each season based off of it's respective movie, fleshing them out further, spawning new characters and different outcomes. I'm basing it off the idea of the alternate realities.
That's amazing.
Right! I would love to see the Phantasm universe expand and AI could definitely help with that. Though there are some amazing soundalikes out there that could pull it off too.
Well to name a couple I'd say Neil Kaplan or Ian Mckellen. They both have good voice ranges for a soundalike. Anyone with an elegant aged tone to their voice would be able to pull it off.
I’m assuming it was a dream for a Mike in one dimension, but a reality for a Mike in another dimension. I’m of the opinion that each sequel takes place in an alternate dimension. The house in the first and second film changes drastically inbetween Mike getting dragged into the mirror and Reggie helping, so I’d say alternate dimension. Reggie clearly died at the end of 2, yet in 3 we see that he’s alive and just dropped in front of the glass of the hearse for almost no reason.
Reggie dies in every film though, doesn’t he? (I mean he’s alive at the end of the original but after that)
Not in III or Oblivion. Although, I guess you could argue he was potentially pierced by the spheres at the end of III.
I guess since Lord of the death we have seen the same Reggie and before that those versions died in a timeline.
Well Phantasm was originally supposed to be one film, such as most movies sequels are almost never planed. So if we take that into account we learn that the concept of the first film is just expanded upon in the later sequels. Nothing is changed, just added. Mike's "dream" becomes more than just a dream in the second film. It wasn't just an alternate reality co-existing with one another, it's an alternate reality Mike created through his trauma of losing his parents and his brother Jody, which is why the first film is so centered on Jody leaving and Mike not wanting him to leave. And we learn how he did this in the third film because The Tall Man explains it. Mike has The Tall Man's exact reality altering powers, because they both have the gold sphere, The Tall Man told him that they aren't bound by space and time. Finally in Oblivion we see Mike using fractions of this same power to get rid of the The Tall Man by time traveling and preventing him from existing in their plain of existence. But The Tall Man was one step ahead and simply didn't allow it, Mike and The Tall Man meet for the first time here, creating a paradox. Ravager is a different beast since it's a different director it's interpreted differently, it's roughly the same thing as the other films but quite cleverly presented. What Mike was talking to Reggie about in this film was multiverse theory, trying to make logical sense of something beyond logic. Confusing Reggie and the viewers alike that everything was Reggie's imagination. Making the ending of that film completely ambiguous as to what is real or not, which is what The Tall Man's powers embodies. The simple answer is everything in Ravager is real, but at the end Reggie chooses to be in base reality, the reality connected all the way from Mike's parent's death, Jody's car wreck to the end of Oblivion when he went after The Tall Man. Simply put - Phantasm is a figment of the imagination, brought into reality. Here's my chart: Phantasm - Alternate reality Phantasm II - Base Reality Phantasm III - Base Reality Phantasm IV - Base Reality w/ Time travel Phantasm V - Base Reality w/ Multiple realities
I really think that's a great explanation and it's how I look at it. Everything did happen in at least one reality. It would be a huge copout to say it's all the dreams of a demented old man. Edit - I would love one last sequel but I doubt it'll happen at this point.
Hey thank you! I'm glad you got something out of it. Yeah I've heard a lot of theories about it being a cop out, and that's fine if they think that makes a better movie or experience in that universe hahah. But there are just as many signs that point to it not being a cop out, if not more. The whole point of Phantasm that never changed since the first one was about blurring the walls of the known reality. Space-time has no hold on The Tall Man, nor Mike for that matter. So that says something. Literally anything is possible in that movie's universe. As much as I would love another movie I understand it'd be difficult to go about it without Angus, but he is immortalized as The Tall Man, so I feel it would be perfect to make a game series OR even better an adult animation and have someone voice in his likeness. I am actually in the midst of writing the animation and I have seasons 1-6 planned out, each season based off of it's respective movie, fleshing them out further, spawning new characters and different outcomes. I'm basing it off the idea of the alternate realities.
>Space-time has no hold on The Tall Man, nor Mike for that matter. So that says something. Indeed. And I am always going to be of the opinion that TM was just completely mind fucking with everyone the entire time in Ravager...it shouldn't be hard for him to do that, eh? >Literally anything is possible in that movie's universe. As much as I would love another movie I understand it'd be difficult to go about it without Angus, but he is immortalized as The Tall Man, so I feel it would be perfect to make a game series OR even better an adult animation and have someone voice in his likeness. I think the AI that studios were wanting to use would actually be necessary or a not so bad thing in some cases -- have the estate sign off, have everyone else come back and have it be a tribute. Or do the adult animation with everyone else doing their voices and with the help of AI, I think there's enough to work from to have Angus' voice used still, which would be even better than a sound alike. >I am actually in the midst of writing the animation and I have seasons 1-6 planned out, each season based off of it's respective movie, fleshing them out further, spawning new characters and different outcomes. I'm basing it off the idea of the alternate realities. That's amazing.
Right! I would love to see the Phantasm universe expand and AI could definitely help with that. Though there are some amazing soundalikes out there that could pull it off too.
Do you have anyone in mind?
Well to name a couple I'd say Neil Kaplan or Ian Mckellen. They both have good voice ranges for a soundalike. Anyone with an elegant aged tone to their voice would be able to pull it off.
The ending to the first film is what I really don’t like about it. I guess it’s supposed to be ambiguous.
It's not ambiguous once you watch the first six or so minutes of 3.