15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Scooby & Gang Go To Egypt, January 1, 2006
The DVD begins with an advertisement for the Batman vs. Dracula DVD then jumps to 41BCE with the Romans sacking Egypt. Cleopatra narrates and sets the the background information for the film's curse and treasure. Immediately after the monologue the credits start with familiar voice talents,like Casey Kasem, for the main characters. (Credits for the voice talents are also shown at the end of the film but this time there's a screen shot of the character in addition to the name).
Velma discovers an ornament while working with Prince Omar on a reconstruction/refurbishment of the fabled Sphinx. The discovery leads to more discoveries and the arrival of a crew of greedy treasure-hunters lead by Dr. Amilia Von Butch. Typical of the Mystery Machine it overheats in the desert when the rest of the gang is on their the way to the site to see for themselves what Velma has been doing for the last 6 months. Cancelled TV show host Rock River of "Fear Faces" (The tie-in with actual television is hard to miss) tries to get his once-popular but now off-the-air program back on the air with photos of the gang's scared faces and hopes to get pictures of the "Army of the Undead"-Mummies who protect the riches. In a sidelight, Scooby is mistaken for a Pharoah by a group of people who have moved from around the world to live in Egypt and want to live their lives just like the ancient Egyptians. The comedy scene actually ties-in to the plot and it is funny to see Scooby & Shaggy ham-it-up.
Like previous shows there are a series of mishaps, chase scenes with musical interludes, traps, silly disguises by Shaggy and Scooby, disappearences, creepy mummies, Velma loses her glasses, Scooby snacks, split-ups, hide & seek, always hungry Scooby/Shaggy and good & false clues, etc. The only big change in the format has to do with the "good guys" at the end during the unmasking.
The DVD contains extra features:
National Geographic's "Curse of Scooby's Lost Lunch" provides some photos and cartoons of ancient Egyptian sites along with a brief history on a level intended for kids. The National Geographic character "KID Y" helps Shaggy and Scooby in this feature. There are also some advertisments for National Geographic products.
"Mummy Wrap" Music Video is a cartoon with photos of Ancient Egyptian sites and cultural items with Scooby-Doo & Shaggy that is also a learning tool for youngsters.
Three deleted scenes are next on the DVD extras. The first has the character "Triple A" and cartoon info on camel's spit (Shaggy & Scooby get hit in the face). The second deals with a King Cobra snake and music played by "Triple A" who charms the snake rather than kill it. The third deleted scene involves scorpions-everybody, even "Triple A" runs!
The next to last extra is a section on the "Mystery Voices" where the voice actors talk about doing their character (Virginia Madison as "Cleopatra", Ron Perlman as "Hotep", etc)
The last extra item on the DVD is a game called "Escape From the Ankh Chamber Challenge". The cartoon game makes you dodge booby traps, decipher codes, etc.
This DVD also had a long list of advertisements for other DVDs at the very end on the extra's section.
The DVD comes in English Audio Only, but has subtitles for English, French, and Spanish. I wish it was also available in Spanish and French Audio, in order to reach a larger audience and help kids with learning other languages in a fun way.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great Scooby Movie for kids and adults, March 28, 2006
When my 3.5 yr old fell in love with Scooby, I decided to rent DVD's instead of buying (after purchasing every Thomas the Tank engine ones, that he no longer will watch...I learned :)
Anyway we rented this one and after having it for a week, we went out the very day we returned it and bought it. The story line is very good and truly I had no idea who the "bad guy" was. The music was good and the special feature rap video is hilarious.
After seeing all the Scooby movies so far, this is the one we just HAD to buy.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Scooby Doo - Still Standing At Chapter 9!, April 8, 2006
When "Scooby Doo On Zombie Island" came out in 1998, I doubt many people thought Scooby Doo would make it up to this 9th movie. Scooby may actually hold the record as far as good sequels go. This may be because there is the gang we all know and love for consistency, but there is a different adventure everytime. No one story is ever just repeated. The original "Star Trek" movies also did very well in this category, but even they only made it up to Chapter 6. If you follow my reviews, you know I think "Zombie Island" (# 1) and "Witch's Ghost" (# 2) were the two best. I didn't much like "Alien Invasion" (# 3) or "Cyber Chase."(# 4) I thought "Legend of the Vampire" (# 5) was really good. "Monster of Mexico" (# 6) was decent at best. "Loch Ness Monster" (# 7) was a decent watch. "Aloha Scooby Doo" (# 8) was surprisingly good. Well, onto chapter 9. It grabs our attention with a flashback of Cleopatra. This is a good technique. For not only does it set the mood, but it allows us some ambiguity. (Is the curse staged? Or is it possibly real?) Well, part of the curse seems real at first. Moving on, Velmah is off doing some work in Egypt with a friend, and of course in a typical Scooby fashion, she is reunited with her gang. After the initial ice breaking, we soon meet the antagonists of this story. (A team of so called archeologists who are really thieves. Yes. The famous Indiana Jones was often thought of as this, but we won't go there.) Well, this gang of thieves basically wants to loot the tomb of Cleopatra. Additional elements of Cleopatra's curse start to come true. (Real or not?) There are several old touches with new twists. Poor Scooby and Shaggy get lost, but in a twist of fate, they find their own fan club. At first we may think this is a silly irrelevant subplot, but in the end we see it certainly isn't. I can't say much more without ruining the movie for you, but even at chapter 9, Scooby gives us enough familiar things and enough new twists. The different subplots of the movie come together surprisingly well, and we are offered a surprise twist ending that will make us want to see the movie again with hindsight. I'll conclude by saing that I seriously doubt that any other series can boast of standing this strong at 9 movies. Scooby Doo, please come back for chapter 10 soon!
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