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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More akin to that film than its ghoulish predecessors of the same name -- most notably 1932's "The Mummy" with Boris Karloff as the title character or Hammer's 1959 remake starring Christopher Lee as the old guy in wraps -- this remake's many striking similarities to "Raiders" seriously undermine its efforts before it ever gets a chance to get going.
"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.
1932's The Mummy cast Karloff as Im-ho-tep (alias Ardath Bay), an ancient Egyptian prince brought back to life.
This year, that film is "The Mummy" a loose-as-a-goose remake of the 1932 Universal horror classic.
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 .
Writer-director Stephen Sommers wisely cast aside most of the silly horror flavor of earlier Mummys and has opted for a bargain-basement version of Raiders of the Lost Ark. Truth to tell, the new Mummy offers few legitimate frights.
A cross between a third-rate Raiders of the Lost Ark and a Dracula movie, The Mummy is definitely bad--downright awful, in fact.
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.
Sommers is a pure pop Stephen Spielberg but this chapter is less Raiders of the Lost Ark than Gunga Din, a pulp update of old Hollywood action movies.
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.
Although Boris Karloff made his reputation with Frankenstein (1931) and further consolidated it with The Old Dark House (1932), The Mummy was his first starring role (after appearing in seventy films).
3. “The Mummy” (1932) Basically the Dracula story set in Egypt.
As "Frankenstein" director James Whale's yard man in "Gods and Monsters," he sympathetically, and touchingly, identified with the monster.
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Although Boris Karloff made his reputation with Frankenstein (1931) and further consolidated it with The Old Dark House (1932), The Mummy was his first starring role (after appearing in seventy films).
An improvement on the Boris Karloff-starrer, it's still no The General Died at Dawn (Lewis Milestone's pre-serial artifact noir), and Industrial Light & Magic's computer manipulations are neither realistic enough nor stylized enough to transcend.
Novice director Karl Freund is best known as the legendary German cinematographer who filmed many of F. W. Murnau's films including Der Letzte Mann (1924), several of Fritz Lang's films including Metropolis (1927), and E. A. Dupont's Variety (1925).
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).
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I also remember seeing a preview for a new Arnold Schwarzenegger movie that didn't even dare put his name on it after him having been in the double-trouble combination of Eraser and Jingle all the Way .
This brought him to America at the dawn of the sound era, where he shot Tod Browning's Dracula (1931) and Robert Florey's Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932) before embarking on The Mummy.