Product Details

• Actors: Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah, Arnold Vosloo, Kevin J. O'Connor
• Directors: Stephen Sommers
• Writers: Stephen Sommers, Nina Wilcox Putnam, Richard Schayer, John L. Balderston
• Producers: Kevin Jarre
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Subtitled, NTSC
• Language: Arabic, English
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Universal Pictures
• VHS Release Date: September 28, 1999
• Run Time: 125 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (852 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 0783235208
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #101,464 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #18 in	Video > Spanish Language > Horror
  #24 in	Video > Comedy > Comedy Stars > Brendan Fraser

• This is item 1 in The Mummy Series.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

If you're expecting bandaged-wrapped corpses and a lurching Boris Karloff-type villain, then you've come to the wrong movie. But if outrageous effects, a hunky hero, and some hearty laughs are what you're looking for, the 1999 version of The Mummy is spectacularly good fun. Yes, the critics called it "hokey," "cheesy," and "pallid." Well, the critics are unjust. Granted, the plot tends to stray, the acting is a bit of a stretch, and the characters occasionally slip into cliché, but who cares? When that action gets going, hold tight--those two hours just fly by.

The premise of the movie isn't that far off from the original. Egyptologist and general mess Evelyn (Rachel Weisz) discovers a map to the lost city of Hamunaptra, and so she hires rogue Rick O'Connell (Brendan Fraser) to lead her there. Once there, Evelyn accidentally unlocks the tomb of Imhotep (Arnold Vosloo), a man who had been buried alive a couple of millennia ago with flesh-eating bugs as punishment for sleeping with the pharaoh's girlfriend. The ancient mummy is revived, and he is determined to bring his old love back to life, which of course means much mayhem (including the unleashing of the 10 plagues) and human sacrifice. Despite the rather gory premise, this movie is fairly tame in terms of violence; most of the magic and surprise come from the special effects, which are glorious to watch, although Imhotep, before being fully reconstituted, is, as one explorer puts it, rather "juicy." Keep in mind this film is as much comedy as it is adventure--those looking for a straightforward horror pic will be disappointed. But for those who want good old-fashioned eye-candy kind of fun, The Mummy ranks as one of choicest flicks of 1999. --Jenny Brown

From The New Yorker

In the nineteen-twenties, in a fabled city in the sands of Egypt, in a hidden tomb, a beefy American adventurer named O'Connell (Brendan Fraser) goes looking for buried treasure. With him are a studious but sultry librarian (Rachel Weisz) and her dim but cowardly brother (John Hannah). We already know that the tomb is booby-trapped by all manner of ancient curses, and, soon enough, the massed ranks of special effects arrive to take revenge. Stephen Sommers's movie has the courage of its own clichés; he piles the silliness on with such speed that you don't have the time to notice how dead and dusty most of his themes are. The characters barely make it to two dimensions, and the Arab figures that crop up at regular intervals are a disgrace; this is the most unapologetically racist comedy that Hollywood has produced in a long while. What redeems it is the presence of Fraser, who is having a ball just now; after his subtle, unshowy performance in "Gods and Monsters," he now successfully demonstrates how to be lusty and affable at the same time. -Anthony Lane
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific movie with a sharp looking transfer, July 23, 2008

By	Wayne Klein "If at first the idea is not absu... (My Little Blue Window, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

This review is from: The Mummy [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)

"The Mummy" receives a very nice look Blu-ray transfer for this new edition of the movie. Capturing the adventurous elements of films like "Indiana Jones" and injecting it into the basic story for the 1932 film "The Mummy", Stephen Sommers creates a terrific, enteraining film. For those interested in a synposis of the plot, I'll provide it at the end of the review because you've probably already seen this.

The Blu-ray transfer looks quite good here with bold colors that more closely recall the original theatrical presentation than the DVD. The image is crisp and while there's evidently some digital noise reduction applied, Universal hasn't completely cleaned away all the film grain which is a good thing because when that's done you actually lose sharpness and clarity (it is restored with a loss of detail via Edge Enhancement like the recent reissue of "Patton" which went overboard with digitally cleaning up the film). The best thing that Universal could have done here was to leave the grain intact and dispense with the Edge Enhancement. I suspect that the same source was used for the Blu-ray as was used for the HD-DVD edition but that the Edge Enhancement is more transparent here because of higher resolution.

What does all of that mean? The film looks extremely good but could look brilliant. Still, on the whole this looks much better than the DVD edition.

The extras are still presented in 480p (which is standard DVD definition)so be aware those haven't been updated. However, Universal has made this a U-Control disc where you can customize the extras as you watch the film (something developed for and carried over from HD-DVD). You do get the ability to watch the visual commentary/extras while watching the film. All of the original extras from the DVD have been ported over for this edition. All of the extras and the film are on the single disc edition here (unlike the DVD which has most of the extras on a second disc).

Followed by the equally entertaining (and much bigger production of) "The Mummy Returns" and a fun entertaining (if lesser)spin-off film "The Scorpion King", "The Mummy" is worth picking up again even if you have the original DVD edition. Highly recommended.

Oh, and the plot? A group of explorers led by Evelyn (Rachel Weisz)and Rick (Brendan Fraiser)rush to find the riches of an Egyptian tomb and end up reviving Im-Ho-Tep (Arnold Vosloo)an Egyptian High Priest buried alive for his part in a conspiracy to kill the Pharoah. Brought back by the Egyptian Book of the Dead, Im-Ho-Tep takes revenge on those who plundered his tomb and seeks the Book of the Dead to bring back his beloved princess who helped him kill the Pharoah.

It is a great popcorn flick.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you love action and a bit of suspense, The Mummy's a must, December 17, 1999

By	Andrew Glenn (Wellington, New Zealand) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Mummy (Widescreen Collector's Edition) (DVD)

No doubt about it, this is a sharp flick. All the ingredients come together to make this a very entertaining film. Naturally there's plenty of action which takes place against some great sets and is enhanced by impressive special effects. But there's also a good deal of suspense (as you would expect in a Mummy movie), and plenty of humourous one-liners as well.

It's sort of like a '90s version of Indiana Jones and will probably be considered just as much a classic in years to come.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Motherload of Fun!, May 3, 2000

By	Mark Hills "Nobody gets me, I'm the wind, baby!" (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Mummy (Widescreen Collector's Edition) (DVD)

When it comes to movie genres, horror is in my top five,probably after science fiction. However, the remake of the Mummy isnot a horror in the traditional sense. Most people associate modern horror with gore-laden special effects, forgetting that true fear comes from the unknown and urgency developed from carefully built up suspense. The 1999 remake of the Mummy isn't a horror film, unlike perhaps the Sixth Sense-which I wouldn't show my nieces or nephews, but the Mummy is just good clean fun. We are treated to a great ensemble of actors, breath taking sets and funky special effects, thanks to Industrial Light and Magic. The film also doesn't take itself at all seriously, making you laugh just as surely as you will thrill to the action sequences.

The film opens with a stunning view of Thebes-city of the Seti the First where we see the sphinx under construction (okay, so they missed by a few hundred miles on that one!). Anck-su-namun, the Pharaoh's untouchable mistress is continuing her affair with Imhotep (Arnold Vosloo)-a priest of probably Anubis. Getting caught in the act by Seti, they kill him just as the Medjai (who were actually the Egyptian police force) break down the doors. Anck-su-namun then kills herself as Imhotep escapes after promising to resurrect her. He and his priests steal Anck-su-namun's body and take it to Hamunaptra where he attempts to do that, but all is lost when the Medjai storm the sarneche where her body was being prepared. Imhotep is mummified alive for his crimes-cursed to spend an eternity undead locked within a sarcophagus, being eaten by nasty little scarab beetles.

Brendan Fraser stars as Rick O'Connell, a down on his luck Legionaire who led his garrison to the legendary city of Hamunaptra-the city of the dead in 1923 (Note: the city didn't really exist and is based possibly on the Necropolis of Egypt). They find the city, oh yes, but they also find hundreds a Tuareg warriors bent on killing everyone to prevent them from find the evil that dwells beneath the sand. O'Connell escapes after being chased too close to the statue of Anubis where Imhotep is buried and a small sand storm that whips up around the statue that frightens off his attackers, allowing O'Connell to escape with his life. The next time we see him it's three years later and he's about to be hanged for having a very good time.

It is in Cairo where we meet Evelyn Carnahan (Rachel Weisz), a beautiful and befuddled librarian desperate to prove herself an archaeologist to the sexist old-boy network in England. Rachel delivers a beautiful performance of the slightly nerdy expert of Egyptology. We also meet her lush brother, Jonathan Carnahan (John Hannah), who has stolen a puzzle box key from O'Connell that has a map to the fabled city of Hamunaptra. The two rush to find Rick after Evelyn's boss `accidentally' burns the map in a candle flame. They find him at the Cairo Prison where Evelyn must bargain with sleazy warden for O'Connell's life by promising him 25% of the riches they find in the fabled city.

From there the adventure of a life time comes to life as O'Connell reluctantly agrees to lead Evelyn and her brother, and the sleazy warden, across the desert sands to the ancient city. They also have a run in with the `bloody Americans', who are out to plunder Hamunaptra's riches, and the two groups must work together in order to survive-first by an attack by the Medjai, then after finding the Book of the Dead, Evelyn incants a spell that kind of...sort of...brings Imhotep back to life, whose sarcophagus they found earlier that day. The Americans steal Anck-su-namun's canopic jars-the vessels that stored her organs after they were removed. As the mummy comes back to life, it becomes a race to escape back to Cairo, followed by Imhotep who begins to kill the American thieves one at a time for their crime, using their life essence to rejuvenate himself in the process. Imhotep also develops a crush on Evelyn, who he plans to sacrifice so that Anck-su-namun many live again.

The Mummy, start to finish, is a wild romp that doesn't take itself too seriously. Thanks mostly to the interplay between the main characters who play off each other magically. It doesn't set out solely to scare, but does offer up some genuinely creepy moments. With exemplary production values-be they sets, effects or costumes, The Mummy delivers heaps of action, laughs and adventure of a type akin to Raiders of the Lost Ark, a fine pedigree to follow. But the Mummy also harkens back to a time when movies were made with a certain eye to quality-there is nothing in the film that made me lose my suspension of disbelief, because it is a solidly written yarn. It has unforgettable moments, be it O'Connell's back stabbing friend Beni as he runs through a collection of holy symbols and prayers in attempt to stave off the advancing mummy. Or Rick and Evelyn's budding romance and the interplay that captures these pleasantly goofy characters wonderfully.

The Mummy stands out as my favorite action film of 1999-beating out the Phantom Menace and the Matrix by a fair margin. The other bit of good news, besides this gem of a movie, is that they are making a sequel, and one can only hope that it is every bit as good as the first. This is an excellent film and can easily take a place next to some of the best action films of all time-like Raiders of the Lost Ark, Die Hard, The Terminator, Big Trouble in Little China, and Aliens. It delivers at every turn-excitement, adventure, a few scares, and romance. Great fun and I highly recommend the letter boxed version over the pan-and-scan so that viewers can see everything. END