Where Can I Watch The Mummy 1999

[Ashely Wolfgram]

The studio announced Friday that it will re-release The Mummy, the 1999 blockbuster starring Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz, in theaters nationwide starting April 26, setting the stage for a dose of throwback fun at the box office this spring as fans new and old can experience the swashbuckling tale as many of them never have before.

Released in early May of 1999, The Mummy emerged as an action-heavy update to the story of one of Universal's classic movie monsters, and follows treasure hunter Rick O'Connell (Fraser) and academic Evelyn Carnahan (Weisz) as they run afoul of an ancient cursed mummy named Imhotep (Arnold Vosloo) who, once released, threatens to cover the world in his particular brand of darkness. On the strength of its star power, action, and humor, the film went on to gross more than $400 million worldwide (and that's 1999 money we're talking about), spawning two direct sequels, a spinoff franchise, and more.

Beyond the drinking, there is not much offensive behavior. Americans (shown mostly as cowboys) are portrayed as less clever, noble, or powerful than the rest. People of color are treated with respect.

Parents need to know that The Mummy is an extremely violent 1999 movie. Men are killed by gunfire, sword wounds, fatal acid, insect bites, and numerous magical plagues. There is virtually no blood or gore and much of the violence is directed toward the "undead," whose bones shatter when struck with swords or fists. In a series of scenes, many characters (including the lead) drink shots of bourbon whiskey. Two characters have an affair and the woman's bare bottom is visible. A man stumbles drunk throughout the film and another vocally lusts after the whiskey. Swearing includes "bitch" and "bastard."

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In THE MUMMY, American explorer Rick O'Connell (Brendan Frasier) leads a Cairo librarian Evelyn Camahan (Rachel Weisz) and her brother Jonathan to the lost city of Hamunaptra where they discover treasure that accidentally awakens a three thousand-year-old cursed mummy. The undead creature -- once the high priest Imhotep -- is bent on resurrecting his mummified former lover, Anck-su-Namun, by sacrificing Evelyn and bringing forth Bible-size plagues and undead armies. This film is filled with rich content and is a worthy heir to the action-adventure/archaeology-meets-swashbuckling genre made famous by Harrison Ford in the Indiana Jones series.

Action, comedy, and the captivating romance between O'Connell and Evie are at the heart of this movie. At times, the out-of-this-world special effects and battle-sequences have one longing for the old-school charm of Lawrence of Arabia or The Ten Commandments. Regardless, The Mummy is extremely exciting, and at times educational. The juxtaposition of intricate Egyptian history and spirituality, with contemporary Hollywood spirit, might inspire teens to learn more about ancient Egypt.

Families can talk about the way women and indigenous people are portrayed in The Mummy. How does Evie's strength as a scholarly, cultured, biracial librarian compare to other lead female roles in cinema today? How are people of different races depicted? Are they respectful of their cultures?

When the protagonists leave Giza aboard a riverboat heading for Hamunaptra, we see Evy reading a book during the journey. This is actually The Dwellers on The Nile by E. A. Wallis Budge published in 1885. Even though his works are not well regarded today, it would be wholly appropriate for Egyptology scholars of the 1920s to be reading Budge. The art department could have used any book but chose to use something historically accurate which the character would likely have been reading, even though only a tiny handful of people would ever realise the significance.

There are plenty more examples of accurate and otherwise interesting Egyptological details in both The Mummy (1999) and also in its sequel The Mummy Returns (2001). It can be enjoyable to watch the films and only look at the background, endeavouring to work out what references were used. Some of the origins of those props and sets, especially the ones used for hieroglyphic texts, can be equally surprising and obscure!

I firstsaw The Mummy (1999) at the age of eleven. It was by complete chance; aside-effect of my mother deciding one evening that there was nothing to watchand switching our television to a channel she never normally used. I do notthink she particularly wanted to watch The Mummy (and I strongly suspectthat she did not want to hear about it endlessly from me for months), but Iwill have to assume it was preferable to the other options that presentedthemselves that evening. Whatever the circumstances, however, the film caughtmy eye immediately.

Admittedly,by this time, I was already a voracious reader. Books had been my primarypassion for as long as I could remember, and there was no easier way into mylittle heart on birthdays or at Christmas than with a new book or, dare I sayit, a book voucher. So, I cannot entirely credit a character from The Mummywith the genesis of my interest in stories and storytelling but, inencountering this movie, I consciously realised the power of character within anarrative for one of the first times. Moreso, it was also one of the first timesthat a film, and not a book, struck me so deeply.

At anyrate, it was safe to say that I was quickly interested in The Mummy fromthe first few moments. Then, some minutes later, enter Rachel Weisz asEgyptologist Evelyn Carnahan, surrounded by books as she scaled a ladder inperhaps the most precarious manner possible. Immediately, it was over for me. Iwas utterly smitten, even as Evy managed to topple a succession of enormousbookshelves by way of a filing incident that, in the moment, I truly thought tobe comedy gold.

In theyears between then and now, I have watched The Mummy and its 2001 sequelThe Mummy Returns more times than I would ever want to count. I had yetmore notebooks full of printed-out stills of the movies (the pre-smartphoneequivalent of saving gifs to your camera roll). I wrote fanfiction. I went onthe Universal studios ride and plundered the gift shop.

This, too,is arguably another charge against these films. They both lack this element ofself-awareness, even as in other ways they understand exactly what they need tobe to entertain their audiences. They know that their strengths lie in nottaking themselves too seriously, not pretending that they have the strongestnarrative with which to defy many, if any, tropes of the genre. The relativelyquick pacing of these films works in their favour by moving the narrative alongrather rapidly, and the action sequences seem to effectively straddle thestrange line between comedy and mild horror.

In short,these films are silly, funny, flawed, and at times frankly nonsensical. Foranyone with a willingness to suspend all disbelief, The Mummy and TheMummy Returns can be enjoyable adventures without having to be anythingloftier than that.

That theyfulfil these criteria at the expense of certain groups should never be ignored,but unfortunately it took me a while before I could even see the problem, letalone consider a solution. As I have grown (for it has been much more than adecade since I was eleven years old), I have taken these films with me,learning over time to understand exactly what it is they have taught me; bothin what I want to do as a storyteller, and what I absolutely do not.

Here it isthen, the magic in storytelling as I saw it at eleven years old. These strange,mishmash films that, I think, never entirely knew what they wanted to be;Hollywood adventure or German horror-esque chiller? These films that wereculturally tone-deaf and centred the wrong narrative, the wrong heroes. Thesefilms that somehow still gave me a woman to aspire to, amongst a cast that isotherwise almost entirely male.

Somehow, Ihad found her. The woman that, as a precocious, preteen child I would latchonto indefinitely and decide I wanted to become. (That I also wanted to be withher was an epiphany that took a fair while longer).

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Imhotep was the original mummy portrayed by Boris Karloff in 1932, but had not graced the silver screen since that film. In the time between Universal Mummy movies would star Kharis (or in one case, Klaris). This makes Vosloo only the second actor to portray the character outside of Boris Karloff, a big responsibility which the actor takes on very well.

The sympathy for Imhotep is dialed up considerably, as we get a better sense of his motivation and love for the dead princess. Vosloo, without speaking a word of English, portrays that sympathy greatly while also being an intimidating force. He has great physical presence and emotion, making him a memorable villain/title character for the 1999 flick.

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