Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #39532 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-02-08
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Collector's Edition, Subtitled, NTSC
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: English
• Running time: 255 minutes

On the DVD
"Building a Better Mummy"
Feature commentary with director Stephen Sommers and editor Bob Ducsay
Visual and special effects formation
Egyptology 101
Deleted scenes
Theatrical trailers
Universal showcase
Interactive mummy game
Two screensavers
Electronic postcards
Conversation with the Rock
DVD-ROM link to the movie production
The making of "The Mummy Returns"
Visual and special effects formation
Feature commentary
Outtakes
Live's "Forever May Not Be Long Enough" music video
Egyptology 201
Theatrical trailer

DVD Menu

• Side #1 -- The Mummy
  • Chapter List
  • Bonus Materials
    • "Building a Better Mummy"
      • Play
      • Languages
        • Spoken Languages: English
        • Captions: English
        • None
    • Feature Commentary With Director Stephen Sommers and Editor Bob Ducsay
    • Visual & Special Effects Formation With Visual Effects Supervisor John Berton
      • City of Thebes
        • Plate Photography
        • Visual Effects Elements
        • Composited Shot
        • Final Feature Sequence
      • Scarab Burial
        • Plate Photography
        • Visual Effects Elements
        • Composited Shot
        • Final Feature Sequence
      • Serious Trouble
        • Plate Photography
        • Visual Effects Elements
        • Composited Shot
        • Final Feature Sequence
      • Imhotep Eats Scarab
        • Plate Photography
        • Visual Effects Elements
        • Composited Shot
        • Final Feature Sequence
      • Rick Rescues Evelyn
        • Plate Photography
        • Visual Effects Elements
        • Composited Shot
        • Final Feature Sequence
    • DVD-Rom Materials: Including the Mummy Game, Screensavers, and Universal Web Links
    • Cast and Filmmakers
      • Brendan Fraser as Rick O'Connell
      • Rachel Weisz as Evelyn
      • John Hannah as Jonathan
      • Kevin J. O'Connor as Beni
      • Arnold Vosloo as Imhotep
      • Jonathan Hyde as The Egyptologist
      • Directed by Stephen Sommers
    • Deleted Scenes
    • Egyptology 101
      • Artifacts
        • Ankh
        • How To Make a Mummy
        • Canopic Jars
        • Book of the Dead
        • Scarabs
        • Sarcophagus
        • Hieroglyphics
      • The Gods
        • Amon
        • Anubis
        • Bastet
        • Bes
        • Hathor
        • Horus
        • Isis
        • Khnum
        • Maat
        • Min
        • Nephthys
        • Nut
        • Osiris
        • Ptah
        • Sekhmet
        • Seth
        • Thoth
      • The Immortals
        • Imhotep
        • Seti
      • Plagues
        • First Plague: Water Turned to Blood
        • Second Plague: Frogs
        • Third Plague: The Gnats
        • Fourth Plague: The Flies
        • Fifth Plague: The Pestilence
        • Sixth Plague: The Boils
        • Seventh Plague: The Hail
        • Eighth Plague: The Locusts
        • Ninth Plague: The Darkness
        • Tenth Plague: Death of the First-Born
      • Map
        • The Nile
        • Cairo
        • The Sphinx
        • Pyramids
        • Valley of the Kings
        • Thebes
        • Luxor
        • Aswan
    • Universal Showcase
      • End of Days
      • For Love of the Game
    • Production Notes
    • Theatrical Trailers
  • Languages
    • Spoken Languages: English
    • Spoken Languages: Fran�ais
    • Feature Commentary With Director Stephen Sommers and Editor Bob Ducsay
    • Caption: English
    • None
  • Play
• Side #2 -- The Mummy Returns
  • Scenes
  • Bonus Materials
    • An Exclusive Conversation With the Rock
    • The Scorpion King
    • Unlock the Secrets to the Scorpion King
    • Spotlight on Location
    • Feature Commentary With Director/Writer Stephen Sommers and Executive Producer/Editor Bob Ducsay
    • Visual and Special Effects Formation
      • Imhotep Returns
        • Conceptual Stage
        • Reference Plate
        • Plate Photography
        • Visual FX Elements
        • Final Feature Sequence
      • Pygmy Mummies Attack
        • Conceptual Stage
        • Animation Test
        • Plate Photography
        • Visual FX Elements
        • Final Feature Sequence
      • Anubis Warriors Rising
        • Conceptual Stage
        • Animation Test
        • Plate Photography
        • Visual FX Elements
        • Final Feature Sequence
      • Scorpion King Revealed
        • Conceptual Stage
        • Animation Test
        • Plate Photography
        • Visual FX Elements
        • Final Feature Sequence
    • Outtakes
    • Egyptology 201
      • An In-Depth Look At Mummification
      • The Most Famous Mummy: King Tut
      • Animals of Ancient Egypt
      • Myths & Magic of Ancient Egypt
      • The Scorpion King: Myth or Reality
    • Live Forever May Not Be Long Enough: Music Video
    • The Mummy Returns Chamber of Doom
    • Theatrical Trailer
    • Special Message From Oded Fehr
    • The Mummy Returns Special Offer
    • The Mummy Returns Playstation 2 Game Trailer
    • Production Notes
    • Cast and Filmmakers
      • Brendan Fraser- Rick O'Connell
      • Rachel Weisz- Evelyn 'Evie' O'Connell
      • John Hannah- Jonthan Camahan
      • Arnold Vosloo- Imhotep
      • Oded Fehr- Ardeth Bay
      • Patricia Velasquez- Anck-Su-Namun
      • The Rock- The Scorpion King
      • Written and Directed by Stephen Sommers
    • Recommendations
    • DVD-Rom Features
    • DVD Newsletter
  • Languages
    • Spoken Languages: English 5.1
    • Spoken Languages: French 5.1
    • Feature Commentary With Director/Writer Stephen Sommers and Executive Producer/Editor Bob Ducsay
    • Captioned: English
    • None
  • Play

DVD Chapters
Side #1 -- The Mummy
1. The Living Death
2. Sand and Blood
3. The Key to Hamunaptra
4. The Expedition
5. The Magi Strike
6. The City of the Dead
7. Chambers of Death
8. Leave or Die!
9. The Black Book
10. The Bringer of Death
11. A Curse in Cairo
12. The Regeneration
13. Evelyn's Choice
14. Back to Hamunaptra
15. Against the Dead
16. The Gold Book
17. Death of a Mortal
18. End Titles
Side #2 -- The Mummy Returns
1. Legend of the Scorpion King
2. The Family O'Connell
3. Visions of the Past
4. The Bracelet of Anubis
5. The Unholy Treasure
6. Alex's New Bracelet
7. The Siege of O'Connell Manor
8. Resurrection
9. The Soldier Mummies
10. Kidnapped
11. Izzy's Magic Carpet
12. Visions of Nefertiri
13. The Wall of Water
14. The Pygmy Mummies
15. A Death in the Family
16. Face-to-Face
17. The Scorpion King
18. To Kill a Scorpion
19. Return to the Underworld
20. End Titles

Customer Reviews

Adventure is Reborn
"Oh, I REALLY hate mummies."
- Rick O'Connell

After cutting his teeth on family friendly adventures like Disney's Huck Finn and The Jungle Book, writer/director Steven Sommers was given the task of remaking The Mummy for a new generation of moviegoers. Taking pages from Raiders of the Lost Ark and drawing on his own experience from previous movies, Sommers crafted a fun supernatural adventure that plays like a true matinee. And it is a true wonder.

It is the 1920's. Rick O'Connell, adventurer and mercanary, is sprung from jail by a beautiful British librarian and her questionable brother in the hopes that he will lead them to the lost city of Hamunaptra, City of the Dead, said to contain the wealth of Egypt. However, there is a twist. 3000 years ago, the High Priest Imhotep was imprisoned in the Hamunaptra for his part in murdering the Pharoh. Cursed with the Hom-dai, he would become incredibly powerful should he ever be awakened. Guess what happens.

The plot is fairly cliched and predictable, but enjoyable nontheless. Imhotep is, while rather evil, a person whose actions can be at least understood as he tries to ressurect his true love. The main cast is equally entertaining and impressive, with Brendan Frasier doing a fantastic Harrison Ford impersonation as O'Connell, Racheal Weis showing depth in her female lead character, and John Hannah providing some great physical comedy. Special note goes to Oded Fehr as the Med-jai warrior, Ardeth Bay. There are some great one-liners and some fantastic banter.

Like Raiders, The Mummy is an action movie, and the action delivers. Sommers has a specific style of directing that is equally reminiscent of Spielberg and Micheal Curtiz, and he knows how to do GOOD adventure. The action pieces are just as tense and enjoyable as anything from Dr. Jones's exploits, but it never feels recycled or tired. From the opening confrontation between the French Foriegn Legion and the bandit Tuaregs (which is reminiscent of Van Damme's Legionaire, only not bad) to the final fight and escape from the City of the Dead, Sommers keeps the pace tight and exciting, and the characters impressive, entertaining, and funny.

This movie does NOT take itself seriously, it's honest about it, and it is does so for a reason. It only asks that we have fun while watching. And this is a very easy thing to do. 5/5

2001 saw a sequel to The Mummy hit theaters, featuring the return of the entire principal cast from the first movie, and adding Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson to the mix as the evil Scorpion King.

Eight years after the events of the first movie, Rick O'Connell and Evylyn Carnahan have settled down, married, and have a son. A son who takes after his parents FAR too much. After accidentally beginning a countdown to Armageddon by opening the bracelet of the Scorpion King, young Alex is kidnapped. Imhotep has been awakened once again, and it's up to the adventurous parents to rescue him.

Aided by the super-cool Arab ninja, Ardeth Bay, the pair set off on a race across Egypt to reach the Oasis of Am Sher before the Scorpion King's army of Anubis Warriors is used to enslave the world. The audience gets more background about each of the main charcters, from a strange tatoo that could signal Rick as a sacred warrior, to strange visions of the ancient world that show Evy as an Egyptian princess. It all ties into the story cohesively and systematically, but it is nice to get a fresh view of the characters that worked so well in the first film.

Just like its predecessor, The Mummy Returns is a saturday matinee style adventure movie where the fate of the main characters, and often the world, hang in the balance again and again. There are more set pieces, bigger special effects, nastier monsters, and generally more of EVERYTHING. However, it never feels like it's only "more of the same," because Sommers always manages to make it fresh, like the chase through London on a double-decker bus, or the skirmish in Am Sher with a savage tribe of Pygmy mummies. Additionally, in the pre-Lord of the Rings era of early 2001, The Mummy Returns featured two of the biggest and most impressive battles scenes on screen, reminiscent of Spartacus and Braveheart in their scope.

Most importantly, however, The Mummy Returns does not suffer from sequelitis. The story and characters translate so seamlessly from the first film that it feels as though is is merely a continuation of the first movie, rather than a sequel made to make some extra cash. The relationships have evolved, the characters, though wiser, are still just as endearing, and the story ties in more with the first movie than you would think. Additionally, it's nice to see an adventurer stick with his love interest, rather than finding new hubbies each movie, ala Indiana Jones and James Bond.

All the acting in the second film is equally solid as the first, with the same tongue-in-cheek situational humor that makes the movie subtely poke fun at itserlf even as the characters are in dire peril. This kind of attitude toward the adventure movie keeps the mood light, even through some of the darker twists the plot takes. We know how it's going to end, and it's a heck of a lot of fun to watch this movie get there. Like its predecessor, The Mummy Returns is a case study in great matinee adventure, adding a modern twist to the genre. 5/5

The extras on the DVDs are worth the price of admission and then some. Along with the falleries and trailers, the "Making of" segments on both movies are comprehensive and informative, with behind-the-scenes looks at the cast, locations, and visual effects. However, the commentary tracks on both Mummy movies are the best segment. Steven Sommers and editor Ducsay share experiences about the shoot, stories about the actors, and keep the back and forth both entertaining and interesting, and they seem to be having a generally good time all the way through.

The complete package is one of the best adventure sagas in Hollywood today. The DVD quality is fantastic, and the extras are some of the best available. It's not going to become a timeless classic, but The Mummy Collection is the best way to kill an afternoon since Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Fun and fabulous
I'm certainly no fan of Brendan Frasier, but in these two movies, well, he sort of grew on me. I actually didn't like the first movie originally, but after seeing the second one I gave the first another try, and now I almost like it better than the sequel. What draws me to these is the atmosphere - everything dealing with the ancient Egyptian ruins is wonderfully portrayed. I really felt as if I was in some fabulous, lost civilization. And when they do flashbacks to ancient times, the imagery is breathtaking. The special effects - which are either as subtle or spectacular as the scene calls for - are blended so seamlessly with the live-action stuff that you don't even notice they're special effects.

The action in both movies moves along nicely, and the characters are likable and sympathetic. I found myself rooting for them - yes, even Frasier's character. In the second movie the bad guys (Imhotep and Anck Su Namun) steal the show, but it's just the sort of release from the goody-goody lead characters that is needed to keep the movie from getting too sugary sweet.

I've watched these movies every time they'e been on TV, so I've seen both probably five times, but still feel the need to buy the DVD's. They're just that good. If you want to forget all about reality for a couple of hours and travel to an exotic place for an exciting adventure, check these out.

Lots of good stuff here, almost as good as the first
Okay, lot of comments on this movie from others. Let me just say that one of the things I'll give them credit for is taking a lot of chances with stuff in this movie, many of which succeed, and some fail. Yes, I agree some of the special effects are downright distracting. I really dis-liked the hot-rodded air balloon. But, weigh those annoyances against the absolutely awesome dueling scene between the two woman in ancient Egypt. Buy the DVD just to watch that scene over and over. Nice to have some talented action females, not just poseurs (Charlies Angels, ugh). Also, there is some really decent non-action stuff going on - a kid actor that does a nice job, especially interacting with his captors. Lots of positives with this flic, so don't let some glaring special effect errors ruin having a good time.