THE MUMMY (1999) Revisited

[AndyDursin]

What a delight.

Seriously, it had been a few years since I had sat through THE MUMMY as well (I went through KULL THE CONQUEROR the other day), and I was happy to find this one has held up extremely well.

Before the silliness of the sequels set in, Stephen Sommers' 1999 box-office hit really nails the old Universal Monster formula, updates it with then-cutting edge CGI, adds lots of humor and coasts along on very strong chemistry between leads Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz. They're terrific together, especially Weisz, who provides a very fetching, attractive heroine and plays perfectly off Fraser's broadly played lead. Sommers' performances are all broad, but they function splendidly in this setting, enabling for some light scares that wouldn't frighten too many kids and special effects that are actually pretty strong even by the standards of '90s CGI.

As for Jerry's music -- the love theme is strong and memorable, though truthfully, it is a very, very overscored movie with lots of Mickey Mousing. Even the bit when Weisz knocks over the library stacks has underscore! In that sense, it's a very modern, and at times unnecessarily frantic, film score, inferior to Goldsmith's strongest work -- but unlike all the junk we hear today, it's written on a higher level than its current contemporaries -- proof that even second-tier Jerry (which most of the score is) is superior to what we have now.

BTW I watched the movie in Universal's 4K UHD release -- an utterly gorgeous transfer that blows the doors off Universal's tepid Blu-Ray, which was an early format release with loads of noise reduction. Bouncing back to check out the Blu-Ray afterwards, it's striking how awful it is, and also how a good 4K release can better 1080p with colors and pinpoint detail. 4K or not, Universal ought to remaster the Blu-Ray as well, as the film deserves better than that junky release whose flaws are very obvious by today's standards (back at the time, it was better than DVD...but not nearly as strong as what the format would be capable of).

[Monterey Jack]

Not a fan of the Sommers Mummy movies...found the first to be silly and broad, and not in any charming way, and the sequel is HORRENDOUS, one of the most punishingly overwrought, frenetic, shrill blockbusters of the last 20 years. Granted, I have not seen either movie since their initial theatrical releases, but my reaction to the second film in particular was so wildly negative I still have no desire to ever subject myself to it again. The "Rock Scorpion" at the end is still my go-to example of horrible early CGI...I literally busted out laughing when I saw it.

Aside from his fine Jungle Book movie from 1994, I have never been a fan of Sommers...he is to Steven Spielberg was Michael Bay is to Ridley or Tony Scott, the poor-man's approximation. His films are jittery, obnoxious, and so crammed with wall-to-wall CGI it's like watching a two-hour ILM F/X demo reel. Van Helsing was definitely the nadir of the Sommers style...all flash and sound and fury, signifying nothing. Just like Brendan Fraser, his career has gone nowhere lately.

[Paul MacLean]

In that sense, it's a very modern, and at times unnecessarily frantic, film score, inferior to Goldsmith's strongest work -- but unlike all the junk we hear today, it's written on a higher level than its current contemporaries -- proof that even second-tier Jerry (which most of the score is) is superior to what we have now.

For me this score and the 13th Warrior were a return to "the old Jerry" whose work had begun to sag in the late 80s (and atrophy in the 90s). True, The Mummy's main theme appears in an occasionally clunky guise, but I thought this score was some of Goldsmith's best work in years. The title sequence and prologue were superbly scored, as were the attack on the boat and the climactic sequence. The end title is perfectly gorgeous as well. It may not be Poltergeist or Legend -- but it was a darn sight better than The Shadow, Air Force One or Mulan.