Continuity mistake: At the end when Meg steps out of the water, her pants are wet. However, when she enters the bedroom and finds the Phantom's mask, her pants are perfectly dry. (02:10:35)
Continuity mistake: As Christine and Raoul race up the stairs of the Opera House, her hair is loose. By the time they come out onto the rooftop, it's partially pulled back in an elaborate fashion. She's never off screen long enough to have done that. (01:05:35 - 01:07:05)
Continuity mistake: When Christine takes off the Phantom's mask during Don Juan, the appearance of his face suddenly gets drastically CG enhanced. (This occurs AFTER Christine has already removed the mask, as the two screenshots show.) (01:55:10)
Continuity mistake: After being abducted during the Don Juan performance, Christine changes into the wedding gown and the Phantom places the veil on her head. The veil gets thrown aside by the time Raoul arrives. Between the time Christine leaves and the mob arrives, there is a shot of the mannequin with the veil perfectly positioned on the head (although it is highly unlikely that someone took time to put it back.) When Meg walks through the lair and retrieves the mask, yet another shot of the dummy shows that the veil has disappeared. (02:00:50 - 02:09:55)
Continuity mistake: In the last scene, Christine pulls the cover off one mirror. The coverings stay like this till the Phantom leaves, when both mirrors are uncovered.
Continuity mistake: After Think of Me, when Christine is in the chapel, it shows her light a match on a candle, then use the lit match to light the candle next to it. In the following shot, the camera shows all of the candles on that stand-only one is lit. (00:22:25)
Continuity mistake: At the end of the music of the night scene, the Phantom lays Christine down on the bed and sings the line, "help me make the music of the night." While singing this, he moves his finger down Christine's jaw line, and his finger comes off her chin. Yet when the camera angle changes, he is just starting to move his finger down her jaw, starting up near the ear. He wouldn't have had time to move his finger back up that quickly.
Continuity mistake: During the Masquerade, there is a close-up of two of the dancers, who sing "But who can name the face?" while standing next to each other, without moving. Next shot, they are several feet apart and the lady is dancing towards where the male dancer is standing. (01:18:50)
Continuity mistake: When Raoul is tied to the gate, the ropes across his chest change frequently. Sometimes there are 3 running parallel to each other, from his shoulder to the waist. Other times there is a big knot in the top rope. Still others there appear to be 2 ropes across with a third running straight down his chest between them. (02:02:50)
Continuity mistake: During the scene where Meg is looking for Christine backstage, we see her pass Firmin and Andre. Behind her Raoul approaches the managers and they turn to greet him. In the next shot they are turned round flirting with the chorus girls, Raoul is nowhere to be seen, and Meg passes behind them again. (00:22:00)
Continuity mistake: When Christine goes back to La Carlotta's dressing room the flowers by "The mirror" are pink, but when the Phantom shows up and she walks toward the mirrors the flowers are white.
Continuity mistake: As Carlotta is saying "I hope he is as excited by the dancing girls as your new managers", she holds her hand up with one finger in the air, but in the next shot, her hand is near her waist with no fingers protruding. (00:12:15)
Continuity mistake: When Christine approaches her family mausoleum, behind her you can see an above-ground tomb that has chains around the top cover. There is something on top of the cover that looks like a bouquet of flowers covered in snow, and there is not a lot of snow on the tomb. Later, when Raoul and the Phantom are fighting and the Phantom slashes Raoul's arm. Raoul falls backward onto this same tomb, and when we see him from above, rising, the chains on his side are missing, and there is suddenly lots more snow all over the tomb. The bouqet (or whatever it is) is missing. However, in the next shot that shows the same tomb, now there is much less snow, the bouquet is back, and one-half of the side chains have reappeared. You can see the continuity by the tree at the head of the tomb, and the triangular wreath laid at the head of the tomb. (01:39:05 - 01:40:45)
Continuity mistake: At the end of the first part of Don Juan Triumphant, Carlotta throws her right arm towards her back right, holding a fan. In the next shot, her right arm is at her side and her left arm is pointing forward to her left. (01:47:20)
Continuity mistake: When Christine is in the Phantom's lair for the second time, after the Phantom puts the veil on her head, the camera has a close up of him (during the lines 'an eternity of this before your eyes') and the back of Chirstine's head can be seen not wearing the veil. When the camera pans back to her, she is wearing the veil and removes it a little later.
Continuity mistake: When Christine is taken to the Phantom's Lair the first time (at roughly 38 minutes into the film), as the Phantom sings, he leads her by the hand from the gondola to the "Christine" mannequin. On their way, near the pipe organ is a Roman-style bust of a man's head with a dark strip of cloth askew over its left eye. When the Phantom sings "Let your soul take you." and "Savor each sensation." the strip of cloth is wide (like a sweat band), but when he sings "Let the dream begin." a 10th of a second later, the cloth has become very narrow - thin, like a bow tie. It turns back into the sweat band version again after Christine's nap.
Continuity mistake: When Christine enters Carlottas dressing room after Hannibal, there are two stands of roses by the door. After she's changed there is only a small vase of roses, but the stands must have been way too heavy for her to move herself.
Continuity mistake: When the Phantom first brings Christine to his lair, just as he walks up the steps note the four piece candelabra in the background, it has candles much smaller than they appear later in the scene.
Continuity mistake: After "Think of Me", Meg is pushing through the crowd backstage, searching for Christine and she finally makes her way out of the crowd. Their actions repeat in a shot from a different angle. The next shot is a close up of Andre sharing a cigar with a woman and in the background, you can see Meg pushing through the crowd again, even though she already passed Andre. (00:22:00)
Continuity mistake: In the last part of the movie, when Raoul is all tied up, the Phantom pulls the rope around his neck, and mucous comes out of Raoul's nose. The camera turns, and then goes back to him, and the mucous is gone.
Answer: During "Point of No Return, " the Phantom shares a stage with the very vulnerable Christine. He is still masked, though it is a mask other than his trademark white face covering. The Phantom is well known as a murderer and an escape artist. This is the the equivalent of a hostage situation. To rush the stage might risk lives, and everyone in the know is proceeding with caution. During the song, we do get glimpses of police moving about, and Raoul and others looking concerned, subtly signaling one another and considering their next move. The stage crew seems confused. The dancers go on with the show. And law enforcement officers await the right moment to advance. It also gives us the opportunity to enjoy a dramatic musical number that rushing the stage would interrupt.
Michael Albert