The Mummy Returns: Collector's Edition (2001) |
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The Mummy Returns: Collector's Edition (2001) |
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| BUY IT |
| General | Extras | ||
| Category | Action |
Main Menu Introduction Menu Animation & Audio Audio Commentary-Stephen Sommers (Dir/Writ), Bob Ducsay (Exec Prod) DVD-ROM Extras-Games, ScreenSavers, Wallpapers, Additional Info, Web Links DVD-ROM Extras-Unlock The Secrets Of The Scorpion King dts Trailer-Piano Interviews-Cast-An Exclusive Interview With The Rock Featurette-The Scorpion King Featurette-Spotlight On Location Featurette-Visual And Special Effects Formation (4 x 5) Outtakes Notes-Egyptology 201 Music Video-Forever May Not Be Long Enough-Live Featurette-The Mummy Returns Chamber Of Doom Theatrical Trailer Trailer-The Mummy Returns Playstation 2 Game Trailer Production Notes Biographies-Cast & Crew |
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| Rating |
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| Year Of Production | 2001 | ||
| Running Time | 124:13 (Case: 129) | ||
| RSDL / Flipper |
RSDL (71:42) Dual Disc Set |
Cast & Crew | |
| Start Up | Programme | ||
| Region Coding | 4 | Directed By | Stephen Sommers |
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Studio
Distributor |
 Sony Pictures Home Entertain |
Starring |
Brendan Fraser Rachel Weisz John Hannah Arnold Vosloo Oded Fehr Patricia Velasquez The Rock |
| Case | ? | ||
| RPI | $36.95 | Music | Alan Silvestri |
| Video | Audio | ||
| Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None |
English Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s) English dts 5.1 (768Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) |
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| Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 2.35:1 | ||
| 16x9 Enhancement |
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| Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
| Original Aspect Ratio | 2.35:1 | Miscellaneous | |
| Jacket Pictures | No | ||
| Subtitles | English | Smoking | No |
| Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
| Action In or After Credits | No | ||
Here we are considering the sequel to The Mummy (see my review of The Mummy Ultimate Edition here). The Mummy was the first decent horror / comedy / adventure movie made in quite a while. It was inevitable that they would make a sequel, and in fact they put a trailer for the sequel onto the Ultimate Edition DVD. I fully expected this movie to appear on DVD quite rapidly, so I quite deliberately avoided seeing it in a cinema - saving up the experience for the home theatre. It was well worth waiting. The result is a DVD package that makes it quite clear why we have spent our money on home theatre equipment.
The Mummy Returns is set nine or ten years after the original. Unlike most sequels, where the love interest has broken up so we can see a new love interest, Rick (Brendan Fraser) and Evelyn (Rachel Weisz) are married, quite happily, with a young son (an excellent performance by Freddy Boath). Evelyn is not the timid librarian she was in The Mummy - she has matured substantially (perhaps from trying to manage their son?) and has considerable self-confidence. Rick already had almost over-weening self-confidence; he is a little more cautious now, but not enough to bridle his tendencies to charge in like a bull at a gate. Evelyn's brother Jonathan (John Hannah) is exactly how we left him - happy-go-lucky, and a bit unscrupulous. We catch up with Rick and Evelyn as they break into a chamber which hasn't been opened for over 3000 years - so how come Evelyn knows how the locks work? Anyway, they uncover the Bracelet of Anubis, key to locating the Scorpion King and the army of Anubis.
Meanwhile, Imhotep (Arnold Vosloo) is being dug up by Meela (Patricia Velasquez) and her cronies. Meela is the reincarnation of Imhotep's lover - the beautiful Anck-su-namun (remember her? The beautiful girl dressed in a layer of paint?). Our good friend Ardeth Bay (Oded Fehr) is spying on this process. Turns out that the bad guys need the Bracelet of Anubis...
Given the scale of the original movie, this one would have to be bigger, bolder, and louder to succeed. It is.
This movie hits the ground running, with a battle in 3067 BC, between the army of the Scorpion King (played by a wrestler called The Rock) and Egyptian forces. These are not small armies - looks like thousands of combatants. Lots of directional sound, lots of subwoofer, lots of vast expanses - it would be a crime to show this panned 'n' scanned with sound through a TV speaker.
I expected to see some opening credits - there aren't any. At all. The first credits start 5 minutes from the end of the film. Quite unusual.
Anyway, after the big opening we cut to the intros of Mr and Mrs O'Connell (Rick and Evelyn). That's got some excitement in it, including the obligatory "scare the pants off the audience" moment. Then we build up to some more excitement, a big fight, and lots of action. Then a car chase and more fight action. Then a brief moment of calm, followed by some more action...
This movie, viewed in the right setting, at the right volume, is exhausting to watch. About the only chance you get to breathe is when they're reloading.
There are some moments which pay homage to some of the great adventure movies of the past, including Harryhausen. There's one scene that reminded me strongly of Jurassic Park II. There's a sequence filmed in the place that was the Canyon of the Crescent Moon in The Last Crusade. Apparently there are numerous references to other movies - I'm sure someone is collating them all on a website somewhere.
There are a few holes in the plot, and one or two things that defy the laws of physics, as we know them in the real world. But in the world of horror / comedy / action / adventure, they fit perfectly. This is not a movie to analyse - it is a movie to experience.
This movie is presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, 16x9 enhanced. This is the original theatrical ratio.
The picture is sharp and clear, with good (but not perfect) shadow detail. There is absolutely no low level noise.
Colour is perfect. There's plenty of deeply saturated red (the bad guys wear red headgear). There are lots of rich colours, and not the slightest trace of colour bleed.
There are no film artefacts. There's a moment at 13:56 which looks like a film artefact - I studied it in slow motion, and worked out that it is actually the flickering flame of a torch that is hidden behind a pillar. There is some aliasing, but most of it is very well controlled. There is no shimmer - I was especially looking for this because of the annoying shimmer in The Mummy. There are no MPEG artefacts.
There are two sets of subtitles. One is the conventional English subtitles, provided in a normal simple sans-serif font, in white, placed normally. These are perfectly acceptable subtitles, subtitling the English dialogue. The other set of subtitles are for the Ancient Egyptian. These use the same attractive font that was used for the same purpose in the R1 version of The Mummy. These subtitles are burned into the film, and cannot be dismissed (perhaps they assumed that none of us speak Ancient Egyptian well enough to understand the mispronounced version in use?).
The disc is single-sided and double-layered (RSDL formatted). The layer change occurs at 71:42, and it's not easy to spot - it happens on a cut to a shot where there's nothing moving.
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There are three soundtracks to choose from, all English. The audio commentary is provided in English, Dolby Digital 2.0. The film soundtrack is provided in both Dolby Digital 5.1 and dts 5.1. Although neither provides a centre rear speaker, the decoder in my amp managed to find enough information common to the two rear speakers to synthesize an excellent facsimile.
The Dolby Digital soundtrack is excellent, but I will be playing this disc in future with the dts soundtrack. It offers more refined fidelity (understandable, given the higher data rate), and what sounds like a little more dynamic range. The difference is not huge, but it's enough.
Dialogue is generally clear, although one or two words are not easy to make out.
The score, by Alan Silvestri, is admirably suited to the movie. It greatly enhances the mood, and helps with the roller-coaster experience that is this movie.
I hope you have good surround speakers. You will certainly find out when you play this disc - this has some of the most active directional content I have ever heard. The subwoofer gets a marvellous workout, too - some excellent tension building low-frequencies, and plenty of bangs, rumbles, and crashes.
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The extras are excellent. This is not an Ultimate Edition (I'm sure that's coming), but there's plenty on offer.
The menus open with attractive transitions, are animated, and have theme music. Evocative.
The first three extras listed below are on the same disc as the movie. The remainder are on the second disc. The extras on the second disc are not 16x9 enhanced.
This is a good commentary, much like their commentary on The Mummy. They discuss all aspects of the film, including pointing to many of the mistakes they made - entertaining and interesting. They even mention that some of the climactic shots were lit using flame-throwers. I recommend listening to this.
They do take the opportunity to respond to a couple of criticisms of the movie that came from film critic Roger Ebert - basically their response is: "it's a mummy movie - don't expect complete realism" - I have to agree.
There are several DVD-ROM extras listed here. You need a PC with a DVD-ROM drive to use this.
This is another DVD-ROM extra. All I can tell you is that you need a PC with a DVD-ROM drive to use this, too.
This is a brief chat concerning the spin-off movie called The Scorpion King - coming soon.
This is basically a trailer for The Scorpion King movie.
This is basically a "making of" featurette. It is not boring, but it contains much of the usual promotional material.
This is divided into coverage of four brief sequences in the movie:
Each sequence is divided into five pieces:
This extra is really interesting, because it explains the amount of work that goes into a few seconds of film - each of these final sequences lasts around 30 seconds.
This is a sequence of outtakes, strung together into what I believe is called a "gag reel".
This is a continuation of material found on The Mummy DVD. The topics covered are:
This is a music video of a group called Live performing the song that is performed over the closing credits. It contains considerable footage from the movie.
This is a walkthrough of the Universal Studios attraction - not too exciting if you aren't going to Universal Studios, and a bit of a spoiler if you are.
A normal trailer, presented 2.35:1, but not 16x9 enhanced.
A trailer for the game on the Playstation - an advertisement.
Quite detailed notes on the production of this film - 26 pages.
Brief bio and recent filmography for:
There is censorship information available for this title. Click here to read it (a new window will open). WARNING: Often these entries contain MAJOR plot spoilers.
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
The R1 and R4 releases are almost identical, except that we get a dts soundtrack in place of the French soundtrack (I guess they get that for Canada). Unless you want French, the R4 wins - the dts soundtrack offers slightly better fidelity.
The Mummy Returns is an excellent adventure film, presented superbly on DVD with some wonderful demo sequences.
The video quality is superb, but not perfect.
The audio quality is excellent, with marvellous directional sound.
The extras are plentiful.
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| Review Equipment | |
| DVD | Arcam DV88, using Component output |
| Display | Sony VPH-G70 CRT Projector, QuadScan Elite scaler (Tripler), ScreenTechnics 110. Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable. |
| Audio Decoder | Built in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials. |
| Amplification | Denon AVC-A1SE |
| Speakers | Front Left and Right: Krix Euphonix, Centre: Krix KDX-C Rears: Krix KDX-M, Subwoofer: Krix Seismix 5 |