Let’s begin with Dan’s take on the film, with which I agree…

On November 4, 1922, an expedition sponsored by Lord Carnarvon and led by Howard Carter discovered Tutankhamen’s tomb. Found among the treasures that would dazzle the world was a tablet that reads, “Death shall come on swift wings to him who disturbs the peace of the pharaoh.” And death did indeed come in unexpected ways to some of the discoverers, prompting speculation about a mummy’s curse. This curse, this historical-oddity-grown-to-legend, inspired Universal Studios, basking in its success with a growing stable of horror films, to look beyond its Frankenstein, Dracula, and Wolfman characters to devise yet another horror franchise. The Mummy, with Boris Karloff in the title role, premiered in 1932; the film would spawn four sequels. Sixty-seven years later, writer/director Stephen Sommers has returned to this franchise to bring us an updated and affectionate remake of The Mummy.

The premise is drawn loosely from John L. Balderston’s original 1932 screenplay. Imhotep (Arnold Vosloo) is having a forbidden love affair with Anck-Su-Namum (Patricia Velazquez). When Pharaoh (Aharon Ipalé) discovers smeared body paint on her otherwise nude body he realizes her transgression; but, she and Imhotep assassinate Pharaoh before they can be condemned. As the royal bodyguards barge in on the crime, he flees and she kills herself in the knowledge that Imhotep has the power to bring her back to life. Later, before the ritual of resurrection can be completed, Imhotep is arrested and sentenced to the worst fate Pharaonic Law can impose. His tongue is cut out, he’s wrapped as a mummy, placed in a sarcophagus with flesh-eating scarabs, which is then locked with a six-pointed key, and buried alive. Inconveniently, this punishment creates an immortal force that, if ever unleashed, could decimate the world.

Fast forward to the 1920s. A librarian named Evelyn (Rachel Weisz) working in an Egyptian archeological museum is brought an unusual artifact by her twit of a brother, Jonathan (John Hannah). It’s a strange little case with a six-pointed lid that snaps open to reveal a papyrus map to the lost treasure-city of Hamunaptra. It is there that Evelyn believes a priceless holy book may be found. They can’t resist mounting an expedition to the site. They recruit former French Foreign Legion Colonel Rick O’Connell (Brendan Fraser) since he apparently has been there before. He gladly accepts, finding a return to that desert hellhole preferable to being hanged. The spunky Evelyn bribes his way out of jail by offering a share of the treasure to the Warden.

As this unlikely expedition boards a Nile steamer to make its way upriver, they discover that they have competition. An American team, guided by the slimy Beni (Kevin J. O’Connor), is also searching for Hamunaptra. Beni had served under O’Connell at Hamunaptra when they were overrun by local hostiles. Beni deserted when confronted with overwhelming forces to slither another day.

Unknown to both parties, there’s a secret and ancient order of warrior/priests who are sworn to keep anyone from discovering Imhotep’s burial place and the mystical book that contains the incantations that can bring him back to life. (Let’s not ask why this book wasn’t destroyed thousands of years earlier.) They repeatedly attack the expeditions until the evil Imhotep is inadvertently brought back from the dead (at which time a change in tactics seems appropriate).

Imhotep is a wonderful creation by Industrial Light and Magic. As he gains strength and reconstitutes himself with the organs and life force of the living, a nicely rendered CGI character slowly transforms back to the personage of Arnold Vosloo. This is not your grandfather’s mummy. He is swift, powerful, can control the sands of Egypt as you might wield a hammer, and can conjure up the ancient plagues at will. Naturally, he chooses Evelyn to be the sacrificial source of life energy for the resurrection of his beloved Anck-Su-Namum. It is up to O’Connell to save the day in his best Indiana Jones mode.

This is a very entertaining film, briskly paced and liberally laced with humor. In fact, if I had to criticize it at all, it would be for Sommer’s insistence at keeping things light. The humor is so prevalent that I couldn’t buy into the threat to the principal characters. The secondary characters were dropping like flies (one of the ancient plagues), but I never once felt the main players were in jeopardy. Nonetheless, it’s a zesty ride with lots of wonderfully imaginative images. The actors are very appealing, Rachel Weisz and Brendan Fraser work well together. Arnold Vosloo is menacing and has an exotic look that blends perfectly with the premise. A comic book brought to the screen to be sure, but a clever and satisfying comic book.

The Video: How Does The Disc Look?

The Mummy is among Universal’s first major Blu-Ray releases and it’s a stunner. The film’s original 2.35:1 aspect ratio is presented in a superb high-definition transfer compressed the AVC video CODEC that offers a sharp, three-dimensional and nearly flawless image. Having now seen the film in various incarnations from its theatrical debut to previous DVD versions, I can honestly say the movie has never looked this good. From the opening sequence inside the Pharaoh’s palace, which is awash in golden hues of yellow and amber, the flickering torches emit a warm glow that you can almost feel. Color balance and reproduction are remarkably accurate throughout and the black levels are all deep and consistent. Even the film’s countless state-of-the-art CGI effects hold up well to the unforgiving clarity of high-definition; the gradual reconstituting of Imhotep as his skeletal mummy adds layers of muscle and tissue looks remarkably clear and well-defined. The stark and bright daylight desert scenes all look clear without any hint of halos or blooming; while the occasional nighttime sequences also provide an uncanny level of detail and definition. There are no signs of compression artifacts. Overall, a vibrant and film-like video presentation.

The Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?

While the BD only offers one English audio option, it’s DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is more than capable of handling the film’s aggressive and active surround mix. This dynamic audio track offers relentless directional effects that pan across the front and rear channels, and a driving and bombastic score courtesy of Jerry Goldsmith keeps things moving at a brisk pace. Dialogue is clear and concise through the center channel while the subwoofer kicks in with some nice, rumbling low-frequency effects such as when the lost city of Hamunaptra ultimately caves in on itself at the climax. There are also some great ambient echo effects when Rick and his team first enter the tomb looking for the legendary book of incantations. This dynamic and consistent audio presentation perfectly matches the top-notch video presentation.

The alternate languages are in French and Spanish, both in Dolby Digital 5.1. The optional subtitles are in English SDH, French, and Spanish.
 
The Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

Almost all the supplements have been ported over from previous DVDs. First is an excellent screen-specific audio commentary by writer and director Stephen Sommers and editor Bob Ducsay. This one has been issued twice before, but it’s worth sitting through for the information about the production and some technicalities. The next two commentaries have only been issued once before.

The second track features actor Brendan Fraser solo. Fraser has an odd sense of humor, but one that is totally in touch with a film like The Mummy. He is frequently amused with the work of Kevin J. O’Connor in the film, and has several moments when his comments are flat out hysterical, if in a dorky, Bedazzled sort of way. Fraser, several times through the track, gives what he terms “his version and the truth” about a few scenes. I really enjoyed his commentary.

The third track is with actors Oded Fehr, Kevin J. O’Connor, and Arnold Vosloo. Since The Mummy was a large, sprawling epic that was filmed in various locations, interaction among certain cast members was limited. This track plays very well because of that. Vosloo asks all sorts of questions about scenes he wasn't involved in and there’s more of the same from the other actors. The three are at ease with one another and keep the track brisk, informative, and entertaining. There’s a bit of a letdown during scenes in which none of the three were involved, but on the whole, they do a really great job.

There are three deleted scenes (2:22), which all seem to have merit and worth watching, but were deleted for pacing.

We now come to some new content, the marketing of The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. The first is a Sneak Peak (3:02). This is clearly EPK level stuff, and it’s entirely too short to be substantive. But we do learn that Rob Cohen directs and, if you hadn’t seen any trailers, the action has been moved from the Mideast to Asia, China to be exact. The principal players are back, except Maria Bello has replaced Rachel Weisz as Evelyn O’Connell; I admire Bello’s work, but I think I’m going to miss Weisz. And as in Indy 4, we now have a father/son team working together; Alex O’Connell (Luke Ford) is now eighteen. A more significant bonus within the keepcase is a certificate that allows you to go online to obtain a free ticket to the new film.

An Army to Rule the World – Part 1 featurette (4:03) puts the focus on the priest mummies and the soldier mummies, revealing men in suits blended with CGI.

Unraveling the Legacy of The Mummy featurette (8:08) is a short course in the history of the franchise, from the original film of 1932, through its lesser sequels, and on to the modern, CGI-rich, productions of The Mummy and The Mummy Returns.

Next is the Visual and Special Effects Formulation feature, in which you can select one of five sequences and observe the building of the special effect in four stages of development. This supplement is presented in full screen.
 
Building a Better Mummy is a quite fine documentary (49:53) from documentarian J.M. Kenny that highlights the work of Industrial Light and Magic. Cast and crew are interviewed concerning their feelings about the new film and the film on which it was based. We then move to a tribute to ILM and how the special effects company contributed to the film. The philosophy of the design of Imhotep and how its complexities were served is described. You’ll learn about how artists’ conceptions were transformed into maquettes and they were transformed into a full CGI character. There’s the usual discussion of skeleton and musculature to enhance realism. And we see that early motion capture was used to enhance the organic movement of the CGI. Scarabs, locusts, flies, and other special effects are also discussed. Interesting stuff, but if you have a previous release, you’ve seen it before.

You’ll find seven Storyboard to Final Film Comparisons. These give you the usual split-screen showing the concept storyboards below and the final product above. It’s interesting, but not overwhelming.

There are several other minor supplements ported over from previous DVDs. A Photograph Montage (4:19) sequences through an album of continuity and publicity photos along with frames from the film; it’s accompanied by Jerry Goldsmith’s fine orchestral score. There are some interesting text screens called Egyptology 101 in which we’re given background information on six myths and facts related to ancient Egypt. Pharaoh Lineage provides terse historical background in text form for three time periods, Old Kingdom (2700-2200 BC), Middle Kingdom (2000-1800 BC) and New Kingdom (1576-1069 BC). The Mummy theatrical trailer (2:19) has been included, presented in 480p and Dolby Digital 5.1 sound.

The supplements have their own dedicated optional subtitles in English SDH, French, and Spanish.

Final Thoughts

Diehard fans of The Mummy series will certainly want to replace their previous DVD copies with this excellent high definition version, while those who have yet to add this title to their collections now have an opportunity to own it with the finest video and audio presentation to date. When you factor in the free ticket for the third movie installment (which must be redeemed before the end of August 2008), outstanding visual and aural presentations, and a generous and substantive collection of bonus material, this BD is highly recommended.


Here’s a note about the apparent duplicate Buy Guide. Our I.T. people are still hard at work on a large project and have not yet had the time to modify the underlying site database formatting code to accommodate the new 0-to-10 rating scales. So until they do, for HD on disc, I’ll insert this note and a Buy Guide at the end of the review text and leave the conventional 0-to-5 Buy Guide blank.