Tale Of The Mummy (1999)

Jason Scott Lee	Riley
Louise Lombard	Samantha Turkel
Sean Pertwee	Bradley Cortese
Lysette Anthony	Dr. Claire Mulrooney
Michael Lerner	Professor Marcus
Jack Davenport	Detective Bartone
Honor Blackman	Captain Shea
Christopher Lee	Sir Richard Turkel
Shelley Duvall	Edith Butros
Gerard Butler	Burke
Jon Polito	Parsons
Ronan Vibert	Young

Director	Russell Mulcahy
Producer	Silvio Muraglia Tom Reeve Daniel Sladek Sterling Belefant Phil Botana
Writer	Keith Williams Russell Mulcahy John Esposito

Best known for his Highlander series, Russell Mulcahy pays homage to the Hammer films of the 1960s with this all-star recreation of the Mummy story. Centuries ago, a sadistic prince named Talos was buried and his tomb was infinitely cursed so that no man would ever again suffer from his evil ways. But hundreds of years later, a group of archeologists break the seal of the tomb and are brutally massacred. The bandages of Talos are discovered years later by the head archeologist's daughter and brought back to London to be displayed in a museum. But the bandages go on a violent rampage. His evil threatens to spread around the world when the approaching alignment of the planets will raise the legendary Talos to a level of immortal power. The American detective in charge of the affair and the daughter of the archeologist race against time to defeat the malicious mummy. Russell Mulcahy has modern computer graphics techniques on his side in this remake of the classic Mummy monster story. At the same time, he has invited the legendary Christopher Lee to appear in the role of the ill-fated archeologist who discovers Talos. Shelley Duvall and Jason Scott Lee round out the main cast. — Gönül Dönmez-Colin

Edition Details
Distributor	Dimension
Chapters	30
Release Date	8/1/1999
Packaging	Keep Case
Screen Ratio	2.35:1
Subtitles	English
Audio Tracks	ENGLISH: Dolby Digital 5.1
Layers	Single Side, Single Layer
No. of Disks/Tapes	1

Personal Details
Purchase Date	9/10/2001
Owner	Thomas Eisenmann
Store	Best Buy
Purchase Price	$17.99
Condition	Excellent
Reviewed	Widescreen Review
Bit Rate	384 KB
Anamophic	No
Links	IMDB DVD Empire Amazon US Tale Of The Mummy at Movie Collector Connect

Color Closed-captioned Widescreen

Story Synopsis:
In Russell Mulcahy’s Tale Of The Mummy an archaeological expedition foolishly opens the tomb of the cursed pharoah Talos and unleashes his evil, but the brave team leader Sir Richard Turkel (Lee) sacrafices his own life to save the others. Years later, his granddaughter (Lombard) decides to finish the work that he started, not realizing that she, too is in danger of releasing the immortality mad pharaoh. Horror-movie legend Christopher Lee looks and sounds great in this interesting mixture of ancient times and modern problems.

DVD Picture:
Though not anamorphically enhanced, the 2.32 :1 DVD exhibits a picture that is often solid, with sharp and detailed images. Colors are accurately rendered, with natural fleshtones and deep, pure blacks. Contrast and shadow delineation are accurately delivered, with a natural gradation between darkness and picture black. The DVD exhibits good depth and definition. There is little pixelization or artifacts, though minor aliasing is apparent.

Soundtrack:
The soundtrack is discrete Dolby® Digital. However, the sound mixers seem to have utilized the 5.1-channel sonic palette somewhat below its full potential. In general, the soundfield has a bias towards the screen soundstage. The surrounds are usually limited to ambient fill-in and to provide envelopment, but usage of split surrounds is lacking. There are exceptions, but overall the sense of being engulfed into the sonic environments is wanting. The dialogue is clearly the weakest aspect, with voices characteristic of a studio ADR-production. The .1 LFE, while not intense, is noticeable with some poignant sound effects.