Directed by:
Stephen SommersScreenplay:
Stephen SommersCinematography:
Adrian BiddleComposer:
Jerry GoldsmithCast:
Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah, Arnold Vosloo, Kevin J. O'Connor, Oded Fehr, Jonathan Hyde, Bernard Fox, Erick Avari, Stephen Dunham, Corey Johnson (more)VOD (3)
Plots(1)
Dashing legionnaire Rick O'Connell and Beni, his weasel of a companion, stumble upon the hidden ruins of Hamunaptra while in the midst of a battle in 1923--3,000 years after Imhotep has suffered a fate worse than death--mummification, in which his body will remain undead for all eternity as punishment for forbidden love. Some years later, as O'Connell languishes in prison awaiting an almost certain execution, he finds that his knowledge of the exact location of Hamunaptra becomes a bargaining tool to save his life. The legendary riches buried beneath the sands of Hamunaptra have become an obsession with both treasure-hunters and archeologists, and O'Connell finds himself in an unlikely alliance with the beautiful, but clumsy Egyptologist Evelyn and her ne'er-do-well brother, Jonathan. The trio leave Cairo for a journey which will take them down the Nile, across the treacherous expanse of the Sahara and to an encounter with a malevolent force with power beyond their imagination. (official distributor synopsis)
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Reviews (9)
Stephen Sommers is very good at this kind of films. This one has a reasonable mix of action, humor, and tension, which unfortunately is sometimes overly disjointed and mainly quite boring. The onslaught of visual effects and action scenes is truly impressive, and Jerry Goldsmith's music is beautifully atmospheric. But The Mummy is ultimately a one-time affair, as I have no desire to watch it again. The Egyptian mythology is distorted and the main villain, Arnold Vosloo, is quite an annoying caricature. However, the chemistry between the actors is excellent. Both Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz are great and interact excellently on screen. Pity about the deficiencies in the direction and especially the scriptwriting, as visually the film is practically perfect.
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I can unashamedly call The Mummy one of the seminal films of my childhood, and I'll try to capture its magic as simply as possible: a fearless and likeable hero in Brendan Fraser, a really cool and scary bad guy played by Arnold Vosloo, plus a lot of great one-liners and tons of catchy and dynamic action – or how little it takes to make kids happy.
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A fantastic adventurous tangle of many supporting characters, a charismatic villain, a characteristically courageous protagonist, and a beautiful and clumsy girl in distress. I could watch this heartfelt affair from morning to evening, Jerry Goldsmith's music and Stephen Sommers' enthusiastic directing helped create an unforgettable flick.
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If you take away the over-the-top digital effects, this film doesn’t have much to offer. Yes, Sommers knows how to give the impression that his films are epic. His work is filled with beautiful views of sandstorms, Egyptian cities in their heyday, or in a kind of eye-catching splendour of their ruins (the set of the crumbling Egyptian mansion must have been terribly expensive), and the dungeons full of treasures are also eye-catching. But the film has otherwise aged terribly, unlike its predecessors, because much of its charm is based on digital attractions, and those no longer impress anyone in the face of today's technology. The Mummy in its early stages is downright digitally awful (but not in the good creepy sense of the word), and Arnold Vosloo overacts like a pig until he becomes a caricature of himself. The only thing that survives unscathed to this day is Jerry Goldsmith's music; it's beautiful, even after repeated listens. It's also quite nice that the film doesn't take itself too seriously and is surprisingly funny in places, like when the offending skeleton heads are blown off like in a baseball game, or when Rachel Weisz demolishes an entire library in a domino effect – that’s the first scene I always remember when I think of Sommer’s The Mummy.
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When it hit movie theaters and especially television, it absolutely hooked me, and I was completely immersed in it. However, some time has passed, and the magic has faded a bit. Still, I enjoy it, and I always like to reminisce about it, just not as often as before. The characters are fine - I mean especially Rick and Eve - the others not so much. Well, except for the mummy, that one is still divine.
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Gallery (65)
Photo © 1999 Universal Pictures
![The Mummy - Lobby Cards](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w663/files/images/film/photos/158/817/158817652_fda393.jpg)
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