The Mummy Collector's Set (The Mummy (1999)/ The Mummy Returns/ The Scorpion King)

The premise of the movie isn't that far off from the original. Egyptologist and general mess Evelyn (Rachel Weisz) discovers a map to the lost city of Hamunaptra, and so she hires rogue Rick O'Connell (Brendan Fraser) to lead her there. Once there, Evelyn accidentally unlocks the tomb of Imhotep (Arnold Vosloo), a man who had been buried alive a couple of millennia ago with flesh-eating bugs as punishment for sleeping with the pharaoh's girlfriend. The ancient mummy is revived, and he is determined to bring his old love back to life, which of course means much mayhem (including the unleashing of the 10 plagues) and human sacrifice. Despite the rather gory premise, this movie is fairly tame in terms of violence; most of the magic and surprise come from the special effects, which are glorious to watch, although Imhotep, before being fully reconstituted, is, as one explorer puts it, rather "juicy." Keep in mind this film is as much comedy as it is adventure--those looking for a straightforward horror pic will be disappointed. But for those who want good old-fashioned eye-candy kind of fun, The Mummy ranks as one of choicest flicks of 1999. --Jenny Brown

The Mummy Returns
Proving that bigger is rarely better, The Mummy Returns serves up so much action and so many computer-generated effects that it quickly grows exhausting. In his zeal to establish a lucrative franchise, writer-director Stephen Sommers dispenses with such trivial matters as character development and plot logic, and charges headlong into an almost random buffet of minimum story and maximum mayhem, beginning with a prologue establishing the ominous fate of the Scorpion King (played by World Wrestling Federation star the Rock, in a cameo teaser for his later starring role in--you guessed it--The Scorpion King). Dormant for 5,000 years, under control of the Egyptian god Anubis, the Scorpion King will rise again in 1933, which is where we find The Mummy's returning heroes Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz, now married and scouring Egyptian ruins with their 8-year-old son, Alex (Freddie Boath).

John Hannah (as Weisz's brother) and Oded Fehr (as mystical warrior Ardeth Bay) also return from The Mummy, and trouble begins when Alex dons the Scorpion King's ancient bracelet, coveted by the evil mummy Imhotep (Arnold Vosloo), who's been revived by... oh, but does any of this matter? With a plot so disposable that it's impossible to care about anything that happens, The Mummy Returns is best enjoyed as an intermittently amusing and physically impressive monument of Hollywood machinery, with gorgeous sets that scream for a better showcase, and digital trickery that tops its predecessor in ambition, if not in payoff. By the time our heroes encounter a hoard of ravenous pygmy mummies, you'll probably enjoy this movie in spite of itself. --Jeff Shannon

The Scorpion King
There's nothing original in The Scorpion King, but this derivative action franchise gets off to a rousing start by cleverly stealing from a lot of better movies. Capitalizing on his brief cameo in The Mummy Returns, Dwayne Johnson (a.k.a. World Wrestling Federation star the Rock) stars as Mathayus, an Akkadian assassin in the age preceding Egyptian pharaohs, who vows to avenge his brother's murder by an undefeated warlord (Steven Brand) prophesied to become the desert-ruling Scorpion King. Their battle for supremacy comprises most of the film's brisk 95-minute running time, punctuated by comic relief from Mathayus's obligatory sidekick (Grant Heslov), romance with a beautiful sorceress (Kelly Hu), and alliance with a massive Nubian (Michael Clarke Duncan) on the eve of their climactic showdown. There's no rhyme or reason to the film's depiction of ancient civilization (the costuming is particularly ludicrous), but the Rock demonstrates adequate action-star potential, and director Chuck Russell (The Mask) wraps it all in a slick, professional package. --Jeff Shannon
 

Customer Reviews:

Great set, although the box change was not too smart...

I really enjoyed purchasing this set. Great packaging, and very good movies.

The Mummy: Great transfer, looks and sounds great.
The Mummy Returns: Same as The Mummy, although the movie wasn't as great.
The Scorpion King: Looks and sounds the best, although the movie wasn't so good.

HOWEVER, Universal studios made a big mistake by changing the box to this set. Back when this was released in 2005, Universal released this and the Jurassic Park Adventure Pack. Both sets were included in a really nice box that folded open and had the discs kept in a tri-fold case. Unfortunately, in 2007/2008 Universal changed the looks of these boxsets. The JP pack had the tri-fold case in a slipcover, with the bland discs that can be found in the individual releases. The Mummy set is now in a normal DVD case, but considerably thicker to house the contents of the set. Luckily, for me, I purchased mine at the mall, where I could actually SEE what box it had. This is why I HIGHLY suggest to go to a store and purchase this. Anyway, a great buy for the money.

2008-09-30

The Mummy

One of my all time favorite movies. Great to have the whole series of the Mummy movies in one set.

2008-08-20

LOVE THAT MUMMY

JUST LOVE BRANDAN FRASER MOVIE'S. GETTING ALL THREE IN ONE PACKAGE WAS GREAT.CAN;T WAIT TO SEE THE THIRD ONE, HOPE YOU GET IT SOON. THESE ARE ACTION NEVER ENDING, GREAT VISUALS AND STUNTS GALORE, A FIVE STAR COLLECTION FOR SURE.

2008-08-02

another perfect adventure, but where is the 1.78 aspect ratio

I think this is even better then the Indiana Jones movies. Super fun adventure with spine tingling special effects.
A must see movie, but I will wait for the blu-ray, 1.78 aspect ratio release before I buy.

2008-05-24

Decent movies but lousy packaging!

I bought this collector's set for my wife. The movies are clear and decent (except for Scorpion King, which suffered from a chronic lack of script), but the packaging is really lousy. It feels like one of those cheap cases you get at a flea market. But then again, you get 30% of what you pay for, and it holds good in this case.

2008-05-04