The Mummy (1999)
Directed by Stephen Sommers
Dashing legionnaire Rick O'Connell stumbles upon the hidden ruins of Hamunaptra while in the midst of a battle to claim the area in 1920s Egypt. It has been over three thousand years since former High Priest Imhotep suffered a fate worse than death as a punishment for a forbidden love—along with a curse that guarantees eternal doom upon the world if he is ever awoken.
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48 films that influenced The Mummy
What critics say influenced The Mummy
Director
Steven Spielberg
Critics invoke Spielberg by name, and compare The Mummy to 4 of Spielberg’s films.
Visuals
On Spielberg, rather than any one film
Director Sommers cribs a lot from Steven Spielberg…
The golden glow that pervades the film -- gorgeous desert sunsets, gilded temples, warm torchlight -- isn't just symbolic of a longing for a J. Peterman fantasy world of biplanes, khakis, and worn leather satchels hiding priceless historical treasures; it's also indicative of a nostalgia for the great rollicking movies of the past, not just the obvious Raiders of the Lost Ark but also classic adventures like Lawrence of Arabia .
Aspiring to combine the mystical epic adventure of "Raiders of the Lost Ark" with the larger-than-life Love Never Dies impetus of "Dracula," this "Mummy" comes off more like the monster of Frankenstein--a rudimentarily-stitched aggregation of elements that comes alive in spite of itself.
Advance quotes from studio-friendly reviewers trumpet The Mummy as being an exciting thrill-ride in the tradition of Raiders of the Lost Ark.
…like the boulder from Raiders of the Lost Ark rolling through the set of a screwball comedy…
…the obvious Raiders of the Lost Ark…
Think of "Indiana Jones" meeting the 1930s Boris Karloff film "The Mummy," and you'll understand my interpretation.
…hen “The Mummy” stormed into theaters in the summer of 1999, “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” was a decade old.
…not since The Last Crusade has there been such a finely balanced adventure movie…
There is also a secret society of black-garbed warriors who protect the tomb, just like the guys in "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade."
But be warned if you've seen the trailer and are looking for another "Indiana Jones And Temple Of Doom": This movie strives for that same Saturday-matinee feeling, and the results are close -- but no cigar.
…he's anything but scary and did nothing but constantly remind me of the evil high priest in the 2nd Indiana Jones film.
…her Evelyn is only a notch less shrill than Kate Capshaw's Willie Scott (Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom)…
The mummy effects -- and there are many as he regenerates his rotting flesh by sucking the life out of the party members with the least dialogue -- are the most seamless work out of Industrial Light and Magic since the last "Jurassic Park."
Think of "Indiana Jones" meeting the 1930s Boris Karloff film "The Mummy," and you'll understand my interpretation.
When you think of 1932's "The Mummy", you immediately think of Karloff.
…a big-budget remake of its 1932 horror classic, "The Mummy,"…
"The Mummy" of the title is not a silent, shambling mass of bandages but, in a nod to the 1932 Boris Karloff masterpiece of the same name, a human figure obsessed with bringing his lover of 3000 years ago back from the grave.
Despite having the same title as the 1932 Boris Karloff flick, The Mummy is only a remake in the broadest sense of the word.
…a lavish, big-budget retelling of the 1932 horror classic The Mummy…
Later he was to script Freund's other memorable directorial work, the delirious Mad Love (1935), and for James Whale he would script arguably the best of the Universal Horrors, James Whale's The Bride of Frankenstein (1935).
It's definitely not on radar-par with other 30s shockers like Frankenstein, Dracula, The Mummy, et al… but it's right up there with them in terms of quality, content, and sheer spookiness.
The golden glow that pervades the film — gorgeous desert sunsets, gilded temples, warm torchlight — isn’t just symbolic of a longing for a J. Peterman fantasy world of biplanes, khakis, and worn leather satchels hiding priceless historical treasures; it’s also indicative of a nostalgia for the great rollicking movies of the past, not just the obvious Raiders of the Lost Ark but also classic adventures like Lawrence of Arabia.
In the 1920s, American adventurer Rick O'Connell (Fraser), following a "Lawrence of Arabia" -style battle scene at the legendary Egyptian town of Hamunaptra, is about to be hanged.
Lawrence of Arabia has retained edginess, unpredictability, and authenticity (in that very little optical trickery was employed to create a sense of grandeur) for nearly forty years--it remains everything that 1999's The Mummy, directed by second-rate Spielberg Stephen Sommers (which I guess makes him a third-rate Lean), never was, despite Sommers' requisite "cutting-edge" approach.
Sommers is also out to follow the lead of the high-flying action of 1939's "Gunga Din."
…this chapter is less Raiders of the Lost Ark than Gunga Din, a pulp update of old Hollywood action movies…
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…closer in spirit to "Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy" than to the critically acclaimed horror movie from the '30s…
…ham-handed direction that often seems more suited to Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy…
"Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy" (1955): The boys met a host of horrors between the late '40s and mid-'50s…
From the morphing in "Terminator 2" to the lava in "Volcano" to basically all of "The Matrix", recent films strive to bring audiences to theatres only to keep them in enough awe of special effects so that they won't notice the lack of character or believable plot.
The special effects are mind boggling! Up there with the Matrix.
The Matrix, The Sixth Sense, Fight Club, Magnolia, The Blair Witch Project, and Election are among 1999’s best…
Although we obviously are reminded of the "Indiana Jones" films in this film's Egyptian setting and the placement of Brendan Fraser as the swaggering Legionnaire hero, there are also touches of "Big Trouble in Little China" and "The Evil Dead" series, as seen in jokes throughout the film.
…past franchises such as Halloween, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, Scream, The Evil Dead, Chucky, Alien, and Universal Monsters…
Think of a big-budget, high profile effort in the vein of Sam Raimi's Army of Darkness with less camp and better special effects.
…is no more lifelike than the nearly identical opening shot of The Prince of Egypt…
From the artificial first shot that would lead you to believe you were about to view an animated feature in which hundreds of slaves are shown working among the pyramids, to the subplot in which the plagues are set into motion, including a swarm of locusts and the river running red, the film was basically "The Prince of Egypt," but with comedy.
…as if inspired by a recent viewing of "The Prince of Egypt."
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From the morphing in "Terminator 2" to the lava in "Volcano" to basically all of "The Matrix", recent films strive to bring audiences to theatres only to keep them in enough awe of special effects so that they won't notice the lack of character or believable plot.
Imhotep is a killing machine, a millennia-old, seemingly unstoppable Terminator…
This year? Hellraiser AND The Omen.
Still, the slicker, more CGI-laden The Mummy also had a dead guy reconstituting himself, and it wasn't half this disturbing.