The Mummy (1999) (Steelbook) (Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy + UltraViolet)

New 2-disc Deluxe Edition due out on July 8th, 2008
There was already a 2-disc "Ultimate" Edition of The Mummy back in 2001, but it's no longer available. The upcoming release of The Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor has prompted Universal to release a new edition of The Mummy with the major special features from the Ultimate Edition plus a few new ones. It will be only in widescreen (the Ultimate Edition had both wide and full).

The Mummy is a peculiar movie, an Indiana Jonesish adventure originally intended as a low-budget remake of a 1932 horror film called The Mummy (also being released in a new Special Edition) that got spun in several directions before Brendan Fraser and huge special effects were settled on. Fraser plays an adventurer with the French Foreign Legion in 1920s Egypt who gets into serious trouble with, among other beings, a mummy (sort of) with terrible powers. Rachel Weisz plays the beautiful Egyptologist who both causes trouble...

Terrific movie with a sharp looking transfer
"The Mummy" receives a very nice look Blu-ray transfer for this new edition of the movie. Capturing the adventurous elements of films like "Indiana Jones" and injecting it into the basic story for the 1932 film "The Mummy", Stephen Sommers creates a terrific, enteraining film. For those interested in a synposis of the plot, I'll provide it at the end of the review because you've probably already seen this.

The Blu-ray transfer looks quite good here with bold colors that more closely recall the original theatrical presentation than the DVD. The image is crisp and while there's evidently some digital noise reduction applied, Universal hasn't completely cleaned away all the film grain which is a good thing because when that's done you actually lose sharpness and clarity (it is restored with a loss of detail via Edge Enhancement like the recent reissue of "Patton" which went overboard with digitally cleaning up the film). The best thing that Universal could have done here was...

If you love action and a bit of suspense, The Mummy's a must
No doubt about it, this is a sharp flick. All the ingredients come together to make this a very entertaining film. Naturally there's plenty of action which takes place against some great sets and is enhanced by impressive special effects. But there's also a good deal of suspense (as you would expect in a Mummy movie), and plenty of humourous one-liners as well.

It's sort of like a '90s version of Indiana Jones and will probably be considered just as much a classic in years to come.

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