The Mummy (1999)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Stephen Sommers

Writers (WGA):

Stephen Sommers (screen story) and
Lloyd Fonvielle (screen story) ...

Release Date:

7 May 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Fantasy | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

The sands will rise. The heavens will part. The power will be unleashed.

Plot:

An American serving in the French Foreign Legion on an archaeological dig at the ancient city of Hamunaptra accidentally awakens a Mummy.

Plot Keywords:

Priest | Mistress | Mummy | Treasure | Tomb

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 4 wins & 18 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Thur. July 9	9:00 PM	SCIFI
Fri. July 10	6:00 PM	SCIFI
Sat. July 11	9:00 PM	Telemundo

Cast

Brendan Fraser	...	Richard 'Rick' O'Connell
Rachel Weisz	...	Evelyn Carnahan
John Hannah	...	Jonathan Carnahan
Arnold Vosloo	...	High Priest Imhotep
Kevin J. O'Connor	...	Beni Gabor
Oded Fehr	...	Ardeth Bay
Jonathan Hyde	...	Dr. Allen Chamberlain
Erick Avari	...	Dr. Terrence Bey
Bernard Fox	...	Captain Winston Havlock
Stephen Dunham	...	Mr. Henderson
Corey Johnson	...	Mr. Daniels
Tuc Watkins	...	Mr. Burns
Omid Djalili	...	Warden Gad Hassan
Aharon Ipalé	...	Pharaoh Seti I
Patricia Velasquez	...	Anck Su Namun

Also Known As:

La momia (Argentina) (Mexico) (Peru) [es]
A Múmia (Brazil) (Portugal) [pt]
La momie (Canada: French title) (France) [fr]
Мумия (Russia) [ru]
Der Fluch der Mumie (Austria) [de]
Die Mumie (Germany) [de]
Hamunaptra (Japan: English title) [en]
Hamunaputora: Ushinawareta sabaku no miyako (Japan) [ja]
I moumia (Greece) [el]
La mummia (Italy) [it]
Mumia (Romania) [ro]
Mumia (Poland) [pl]
Mumien (Denmark) [da]
Mumien (Sweden) [sv]
Mumija (Serbia) [sr]
Mumya (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Muumio (Finland) [fi]
The mummy - La momia (Spain) [es]

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for pervasive adventure violence and some partial nudity.

Runtime:

125 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Arabic

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Brazil:12 | Iceland:12 | Philippines:PG-13 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Belgium:KT | Canada:PG | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 (re-rating) | Finland:K-14 (original rating) | France:U | Germany:12 (w) | Hong Kong:IIB | Netherlands:12 | New Zealand:M | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | South Korea:12 | Spain:7 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:12 (cut) | UK:15 (DVD) (uncut version) | USA:PG-13 | Greece:K-13

Filming Locations:

Ait Benhaddou, Morocco

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

The line "think of my children!" given by Beni in the scene aboard the riverboat was ad-libbed by Kevin J. O'Connor.

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: Beni jumps out of the window and breaks it. When Imhotep breathes out the flies, Rick and Jonathan close the unbroken shutters, not the broken window.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Ardeth Bay: [narrating] Thebes, City of the Living. Crown jewel of Pharaoh Seti the First. Home of Imhotep, Pharaoh's high priest, keeper of the dead. Birthplace of Anck Su Namun, Pharaoh's mistress. No other man was allowed to touch her. But for their love, they were willing to risk life itself.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Building a Better Mummy (1999) (V)

Soundtrack:

'Al Nahla Al 'Ali (The Tall Palm Tree)

Fun adventure film

Here, the makers took the original stock horror film and turned it into an Indianajonesesque adventure in the tradition of Raiders of the Lost Ark. The most visually rich part of the film was the opening scenes set in ancient Egypt. I would love to see an entire film built around that. The sets and costumes were brilliant.

Especially tantalizing is the strictly painted-on attire of Patricia Velazquez as Anck-Su-Namum; what a stunning visual; but it completely upstages her performance. I have heard people talking about it. Some have mistakenly guessed her top was a mesh costume of some sort; not true, it is entirely - and only - paint.

But Velazquez isn't the only thing to turn heads in the film, Rachel Weisz is appropriately attractive, though not as startling; her character is as solid and believable as she is lovely.

The newcomer, Oded Fehr as Ardeth Bey, set quite a few female hearts aflutter; in our party, at least. The internet was lit-up searching for more photos of this guy.

At first, I didn't particularly care for Brendan Fraser as the primary character (he's too well kept and cutesy for a rugged guy-type for me), be he grows on you. He seems to be developing into a versatile actor who will be around for a long time. His work here is good too.

The special effects were the real star of the film, and they were visually rewarding and complimented the story in the right way in the right places. How Arnold Vosloo dealt with those in his role as the mummy Imhotep should be acknowledged. He must have had to imagine quite a bit of what he was interacting with to pull it off, and he does so with great style and substance for this type of role. He was nothing short of excellent.

In fact, most of the remaining characters were well chosen. Jonathan Hyde and Kevin J. O'Connor added to the film in important ways, too. Together, everyone painted an enjoyable film, delivering exactly what it promised; fun, action, and adventure.