Product Details

• Actors: Dwayne Johnson, Steven Brand, Michael Clarke Duncan, Kelly Hu, Bernard Hill
• Directors: Chuck Russell
• Writers: David Hayter, Jonathan Hales, Stephen Sommers, William Osborne
• Producers: James Jacks, Josh McLaglen, Kevin Misher
• Format: Closed-captioned, Collector's Edition, Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: French (Dolby Digital 5.1), English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Universal Pictures
• DVD Release Date: October 1, 2002
• Run Time: 92 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (261 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00005JKYX
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #10,122 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "The Scorpion King (Widescreen Collector's Edition)" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

There's nothing original in The Scorpion King, but this derivative action franchise gets off to a rousing start by cleverly stealing from a lot of better movies. Capitalizing on his brief cameo in The Mummy Returns, Dwayne Johnson (a.k.a. World Wrestling Federation star the Rock) stars as Mathayus, an Akkadian assassin in the age preceding Egyptian pharaohs, who vows to avenge his brother's murder by an undefeated warlord (Steven Brand) prophesied to become the desert-ruling Scorpion King. Their battle for supremacy comprises most of the film's brisk 95-minute running time, punctuated by comic relief from Mathayus's obligatory sidekick (Grant Heslov), romance with a beautiful sorceress (Kelly Hu), and alliance with a massive Nubian (Michael Clarke Duncan) on the eve of their climactic showdown. There's no rhyme or reason to the film's depiction of ancient civilization (the costuming is particularly ludicrous), but the Rock demonstrates adequate action-star potential, and director Chuck Russell (The Mask) wraps it all in a slick, professional package. --Jeff Shannon

Product Description

IN AN ANCIENT TIME, PREDATING THE PYRAMIDS, THE EVIL KING MEMNON IS USING THE PSYCHIC POWERS OF HIS SORCERESS CASSANDRA TO FORTELL HIS GREAT VICTORIES. IN A LAST DITCH EFFORT TO STOP MEMNON FROM TAKING OVER THE WORLD, THE LEADERS OF THE REMAINING FREE TRIBES HIRE THE ASSASSIN MATHAYUS TO KILL THE SOCERESS.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Oddly charming and surprisingly enjoyable, April 22, 2002

By	Emily Todd (USA) - See all my reviews

I went into "The Scorpion King" with pretty low expectations. Being a lover of the first two "Mummy" films, I was terribly disappointed, like many, to learn that the next film in the series would be a prequel and not involve the usual charming cast of Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz. I also went in expecting The Rock to be boring, cheesy, and annoying. It seemed to me that "The Scorpion King" would serve one purpose, to show off The Rock's fighting ability (like we don't know already).

Boy was I wrong! "The Scorpion King" turned out to be a top quality action flick! It was funny and filled with plenty of the witty humor that made "The Mummy" and "The Mummy Returns" such enjoyable films. The story was actually quite exciting and involving, quite the opposite of what I expected!

Believe it or not, The Rock was oddly charming in his role as Mathayus, The Scorpion King. I actually ended up really loving him! Mathayus's jittery sidekick, Arpid (Grant Heslov) steals the show! Heslov is so charming and utterly hilarious, it's almost as if he was made for this role! My only complaint as far as acting goes is that of Kelly Hu, who plays the sorceress (and Mathayus's love interest). Her lines were cheesy to begin with, but an actress of greater talent could've delivered them with more enthusiasm and character.

The movie begins rather unimpressively with Mathayus rescuing his brother from some barbaric enemies. The fight sequence was fantastic, but what really turned me off about this scene (and made me question how good the rest of the film would be) was when Mathayus came barreling in to save his brother with his bow in hand and said "Boo" and everyone started screaming. Come on; how cheesy and clichéd is that line? Thank God the rest of the movie isn't like that!

Here's a quick summarization of the plot:

Mathayus is hired by a band of rebels to murder the wizard who is helping the evil Memnon win battles by seeing into the future for him. Mathayus is set on completing his mission until he sees the wizard, who is actually the beautiful witch Cassandra. Because of Mathayus's hesitation, Memnon's guards capture him and are about to kill him when Cassandra announces that she has had a vision and he is not to die by "Memnon's hand or any that he orders". Yeah, right. The movie takes off from there.

Yes, this movie is dumb and ridiculous, but it somehow manages to rise above that to bring us a truly enjoyable film.

"The Scorpion King" is short but sweet, running at a convenient 90 minutes.

Rated PG-13 for "intense sequences of action violence and some sensuality". Would be acceptable for around 10 and up.

21 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great action, good story., April 18, 2002

By	James Robert Dator (Greensboro, NC USA) - See all my reviews

When WWF superstar 'The Rock' decided to use his worldwide wrestling stardom as a segue into acting it was an enormous risk that paid off in 'The Mummy returns', but now it's time for Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson to step out in his own film, a prequel to the 'Mummy', 'The Scorpion' king.

The film was released on the 17th April in Australia and I had the chance to catch the first session in the country, and I have to admit I was very exited. I mean who wouldn't be? 'The Mummy' and 'The Mummy Returns' that have been dubbed `silly' by many were I feel two fabulous films. A wonderful mixture of action, comedy, romance and overall fun. 'The Scorpion King' follows this same formula, but misses the mark ever so slightly and thus loses marks in my books.

The film takes place before any of the pyramids have been built, back in the ancient land where warlord Memnon has conquered all the lands of the Old Kingdom, and where few people stand to fight his forces. When the scorpion king and his brother are sent to assassinate Memnon's sorcerer (who provides much of his power) they are caught and the scorpion king's brother is killed. This needless to say makes him very mad, and yearning for revenge. The story from here takes a turn when the scorpion king kidnaps the sorceress and consequently they fall in love.

The biggest plus the film offers is the amazing fight scenes, which are some of the best seen in a long time. In fact for a movie that has a run time of 110 minutes, probably 40 minutes of this is just the fighting. Wrestling fans may perhaps be disappointed that 'The Rock' doesn't do one 'Rock Bottom' or a 'People's elbow' is the course of the film, but in my mind this may have made the film feel a little hokey, relying on the wrestling angle too much.

So where does the problem fit in? Well 'The Scorpion King' isn't directed by Stephen Sommers (director of 'The Mummy' and 'The Mummy returns') and believes me it shows. The screenplay has all the wit and sparkle the other films had, but often the directing lets it down, at times making the story line fit into the action, rather than the other way around. Occasionally the film suffers for this.

'The Rock' Dwayne Johnson puts in a commanding performance as 'The Scorpion King' and in my mind his style can be likened to Arnold Schwartzenegger, hey, lets not forget just as 'The Rock' is using wrestling as his foot in the door Arnie did the same with his bodybuilding. His characterization is commanding and his knowledge of choreographed action is visible, as the fight scenes are some of the best around. It also need to be seen the Michael Clarke Duncan ('The Green Mile') playing Balthazar is hilarious, I mean the guy is 'The Rock's' biggest fan in real life and here they are fighting together.

Arguably the most popular character in the other two films was Jonathan (John Hannah) in 'The Scorpion King' the character is rehashed in the form of an all but nameless horse thief. Admittedly the character is hilarious, but on occasion his quips fall a little flat, plus part of Jonathan's charm in the other films is his flawed British attitude towards life.

While 'The Scorpion King' lacks some of the charm 'The Mummy' and 'The Mummy returns' possessed the film is nevertheless competent. The fight scenes are amazing and it easily holds up to any other action film out there. Even more so the film may serve Vince McMahon (executive producer) a way to gain some of his lost funds after the failure of XFL. This film is one that has to be watched in order to see the first major work of one of the futures greatest action stars in Dwayne Johnson. Overall a 3.5 star film.

20 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars easy on the brain, good fun, April 24, 2002

By	David Koski "b-movie fan" (San Jose, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If you liked Kull the Conqueror, I am sure you will enjoy the Scorpion King. It has a lot of the same tongue in cheek action/comedy elements. In theory it is a prequel to The Mummy Returns, although the connection is week. It is not as over the top and action packed as The Mummy Returns, but I enjoyed every minute of it.

Wrestling superstar, The Rock, plays Matthias the Acadian who is a pretty dangerous fellow. The opening sequence was incredible - Matthias rescues his brother from the evil horde of crooked-teeth-folks single handedly. The bow that fires five arrows at once and knocks the people halfway across their camp was just what I was hoping to see. Unfortunately this same type of action is really not repeated later in the movie, it tends to get more realistic (hah, I feel ashamed for saying that, but note the use of the word more). Also, I have to admire the ancient sub-bikini styles and technology. From what I saw, modern times have really lost a lot in that area.

If you are looking for some good old fashioned entertainment, then I find no shortcomings in this movie. If you are looking for high drama or an intriguing plot, look elsewhere.