The Mummy (1999)

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

Director:

Stephen Sommers

Writers:

Stephen Sommers (screen story), Lloyd Fonvielle (screen story),

Stars:

Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 4 wins & 18 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Brendan Fraser	...	Richard 'Rick' O'Connell
Rachel Weisz	...	Evelyn 'Evy' Carnahan
John Hannah	...	Jonathan 'Jon' 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

Storyline

An English librarian called Evelyn Carnahan becomes interested in starting an archaeological dig at the ancient city of Hamunaptra. She gains the help of Rick O'Connell, after saving him from his death. What Evelyn, her brother Jonathan and Rick are unaware of is that another group of explorers are interested in the same dig. Unfortunately for everyone, this group ends up unleashing a curse which been laid on the dead High Priest Imhotep. Now 'The Mummy' is awake and it's going to take a lot more than guns to send him back from where he came from.

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Plot Keywords:

priest | mistress | mummy | treasure | tomb | 

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Taglines:

Uncover the secret. Unlock the legend. Unleash the power.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English Egyptian (Ancient) Arabic

Release Date:

7 May 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

La momia

Filming Locations:

Ait Benhaddou, Morocco

Box Office

Budget:

$80,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$197,100,000 (Non-US) (13 August 1999)

Gross:

ESP 2,222,069,457 (Spain) (29 June 2001)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Alphaville Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

125 min 115 min (cut)

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The opening voice-over was originally intended to be read by Imhotep. Director Stephen Sommers later realized that Imhotep wouldn't be able to speak English, and gave the voice-over to Ardath Bey instead.

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Goofs

When the yellow car pulls up to the hotel, the wheels on the car are not turning.

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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.

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Crazy Credits

At the end credits of the film, the main cast and crews' names are first presented in hieroglyphics, then change into Roman(English) fonts that have a hieroglyphic-like look to them (the rest of the credits are also in this font). After the main cast and crew is named, the rest of the credits, instead of scrolling down in traditional straight lines, are staggered in snake-like patterns, while hieroglyphics are placed in various areas of the credits and on the screen.

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Connections

Referenced in The Rotten Tomatoes Show: Monsters vs Aliens/The Haunting in Connecticut/12 Rounds (2009)

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Soundtracks

"'Al Bahr Al Gharam Wasah (Love Is As Vast As A River)"
Written by Mohamed Murad, Yunis Al Hilali
Performed by The Musicians of the Nile
Courtesy of Real World Records Ltd.

User Reviews

Bit Overlong, But Still The Word Is 'Fun'

It seems like a long time ago when this came out, but I remember it being the first DVD I had ever bought sight unseen, meaning I had never seen the film in the theater. I was pleased. I got what I had hoped for: a fun, special-effects extravaganza.

In fact, if you read a number of reviews, you see the word "fun" more than anything. That best describes this film.

This was an Indiana Jones-Jason And The Argonauts combination adventure story. It's cartoon-like in nature with an absurd swashbuckling hero, outlandish action scenes and the occult theology that filmmakers love so much. (The Mummy has God-like powers, even producing Old Testament plagues.)

However, the film isn't all good news. It's too long by about 10-15 minutes and there is simply too much action and too much noise. The film needs more lulls.

Brendan Fraser is pretty good as the Indiana Jones figure and Rachel Weisz, a new face at the time, makes a solid impression in her debut. The DVD offered a sharp picture which highlighted a number of jaw-dropping scenes. It's pure escapist fun and not meant to be anything else.