The Mummy (1999) (DVD)

Released by:

Universal Home Video

Features:

1999; 125 Min; Rated PG-13; Dolby Digital: 5.1 English; Dolby Surround: French; Anamorphic Widescreen  (2.35).

Extras:

"Building a Better Mummy" documentary; Audio Commentary by director Stephen Sommers and editor Bob Ducsay; Visual  and Special Effects formation of five major scenes with commentary by John Burton of ILM; Egyptology 101; Deleted Scenes; 2 Theatrical Trailers from The Mummy; Universal Showcase with Trailers from End of Days and For Love of the Game; DVD-Rom content: Interactive Mummy game, 2 screensavers, electronic postcards.

Review:

1999 is shaping up to be the year of the Mummy... wasn't last year the year of the asteroid? Anyhow, the newest edition of The Mummy has arrived. Not only is this title significant because it's the first major summer title to arrive this fall, but it is also the first major test to see how well a pan and scan edition will sell, with the same exact supplements as the widescreen edition.

Let me get this out of the way now. I watched about 15 to 20 minutes of the piece o' shit edition at work, and I'll give the disc presentation a 2. It only earns it's 2 points because it has the same supplements as the normal widescreen edition, and it's picture was ok, for a pan and scam. I also felt sorry for it and felt a rating of 1 would be overly harsh.

On to the real review...

The Mummy is the newest re-make of an old classic. Unlike the previous Dimension release, this is more of a straight adventure. While there are some disturbing elements to the film, (What are you going to do? a man is buried alive.) this film is much lighter in tone than the previously reviewed, Tale of the Mummy.

This edition of the Mummy opens with Imhotep, played by Arnold Vosloo, betraying his pharoh by having an affair with his princess. He and his fellow priests are sentenced to be mummified, while he will be buried alive, in the ancient city of Hamunaptra.

Flash forward three thousand years, and we find Rick O' Connel (Brendan Fraser) leading his men into battle over their quest to find this city. His army is completely wiped out, and his sidekick Beni, played by Kevin J. O Conner, runs off to save himself. Later, O' Connel is recruited by Evelyn (Rachel Weiz) and her brother (John Hanna), to help them find the lost city of Hamunaptra.

After a rousing attack on a boat on which, in no small coincidence, they find Rick's friend, Beni leading a group of American cowboys to also find Hamunaptra, Rick and his fellow adventurers finally race across the desert to find the city of Hamunaptra, and it's hidden treasures.

To move along, Rick, Evelyn, John, Beni and the American's find Imhotep's tomb, unearth him, along with the book of the dead, and accidentally let him loose in Egypt. Along with plagues and the like. The rest of their special effects filled quest lead them on the adventure to stop the evil of the mummy.

This was one of the first "summer" films to be released this year. To everyone's amazement, this little picture drew in a lot of people  into theaters. After watching this disc, since I never saw it in the theater, I can see why. Hollywood hasn't released an adventure film of this type for quite some time, and this was really fun. The Mummy, if you really want to break it down is Indiana Jones lite. It can never be taken that seriously, and the cast knows it. Brendan Fraser delivers his cheesy dialogue, knowing that the audience is going to laugh at it. The true stars of the film are the special effects.

This brings us to the supplemental section of The Mummy. Universal delivers with both guns blazing. The documentary "Building a Better Mummy" is a wonderful breakdown of the process it took to keep this popcorn movie done. This documentary focuses completely on the technical aspects of completing this film. ILM even had to run some tests before Universal would green light the project.

Almost every major effects sequence is broken down in this documentary. If that wasn't enough, ILM's John Burton does a brief commentary for the visual and special effects formations of the film's five major effects sequences. While it is a little repetitive, it's nice to see SFX's broke down this way. It has been a long time since I've seen a supplement be this detailed about the SFX's.

I will admit, I would have like a little bit more behind the scenes footage with the actors, but they really weren't the stars of the show. A few of the other cool features of The Mummy's supplements were the Egyptology 101 and Egyptian map menus. For once you can actually learn something from a DVD that just isn't about the movie.

I've got a sneaking suspicion, that these two supplements may be a hint of what will come from Lucasfilm's DVD's of the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. The whole series was originally designed to be part of Lucasfilm's education division, and released to schools on LD... Hmm, could this be the delay?

Other little tidbits packed on this disc were two trailers from the Mummy, one for Gods and Monsters as well as two trailers from the "Universal Showcase," End of Days and For The Love Of The Game.

What was the best part of this SE from Universal? Well, unlike Warner Brother's, Universal seems to get the idea that supplements shouldn't be hard to access. Everything, excluding the computer programs, was accessible via the main menus. The wasn't any "Follow The White Rabbit" crap, where you have to re-watch the film to find other supplements. Look, I don't mind re-watching a film for an audio commentary. Having to watch a film to access more making of material is bull shit. So is requiring a DVD-Rom...

As I stated earlier, this is Indiana Jones lite, the film is fun but not serious, I'll give it a 7.5.

Universal strikes DVD gold again. The overall disc presentation gets a 9, with a bonus biscuit for not hiding anything. Warner should start taking lessons from Universal on how to make user friendly DVD's.

Dan Linzmeier, FIT Productions
Fitprod@aol.com
Home
Reviews
Copyright 1999-2000, FIT Productions