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Review added January 13, 2005.
The
Mummy Returns
:: DVD Review |
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Studio:
Universal/Columbia TriStar |
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>> Review
Equipment |
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Video:
2.35:1 (Enhanced for 16:9) |
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Length:
124
Minutes |
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Audio:
Dolby Digital 5.1 (384kbps) Eng |
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Subtitles: Eng |
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DTS
5.1 (754kbps) Eng |
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Disc Format:
RSDL DVD-9 |
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Video Format:
PAL |
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Disc Capacity Utilised:
6.89GB |
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Layer Change:
71:42 |
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Region Coding:
4 |
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Average Bit-Rate (A+V):
6.95Mbps |
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:: The Film
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>> Skip to
Audio/Video Details
There are some things in life that
are givens; that the sun rises in the morning and the
seasons change, for example. After watching The Mummy, the
certainty that a Mummy 2 would eventually grace our screens
joined this illustrious list. Sure enough, here it is:
larger than life and with twice the budget.
The original Mummy's plot was
pretty ludicrous, but amazingly this sequel manages to far
exceed the silliness of the first, introducing Pygmy mummies
and rocket powered balloons, among other things. Wisely, the
film's makers have chosen to throw in an equally ludicrous
number of action sequences to keep the film's pace up and
avoid any pauses that might allow one to consider the
fundamental ridiculousness of the story. The Mummy Returns'
basic story centres on the Bracelet of Anubis, a mythical
object able to summon the Egyptian god Anubis' invincible
army of sand warriors under the leadership of the Scorpion
King.
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The O'Connells, now married and with a
young son in tow, discover the bracelet while excavating an
Egyptian temple and return to their home in England with it
in their possession. In hot pursuit of the pair is a gang
led by Mummy Imhotep's reincarnated girlfriend Anck-su-namun
(as first met in the original 'The Mummy'). Anck-su-namun
and her cohort plan to raise Imhotep (the original mummy)
from the dead (again) to battle the Scorpion King and seize
control of Anubis' army. In order for their plan to succeed
they must locate the Scorpion King's resting place, for
which they must have the bracelet. In short order the group
steal the bracelet along with its wearer, the O'Connell's
young son, Alex. The O'Connells must now rescue their son
and prevent Imhotep from ruling the world.
Character development, something the first
film at least tried is virtually absent here as are many of
the added touches that made the first film so endearing.
Nevertheless, this sequel still has a great deal of
entertainment value, even if at its heart this is a film of
very little actual substance (even less than its
predecessor, which is saying something).
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Video
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This is a superior anamorphically-enhanced 2.35:1
transfer. The print used for the transfer is virtually
spotless, with nary a hair to be seen throughout the
film's two hours plus duration. I did spot a couple of
very small blemishes, but only after rewinding and
carefully examining the frames in question. For all
intents and purposes this is a pristine transfer. Colours
are vivid and clear, with the film's broad pallet of
saturated reds and oranges, deep blue filtered night
sequences and golden hued exterior desert shots rendered
flawlessly. There is no colour bleed or oversaturation.
Contrast is similarly superb, as is shadow detail and
black level; all were about as good as it gets as the
format stands. A few scenes were ever so slightly soft,
but fleetingly so.
Compression artefacts are virtually absent,
as is aliasing and grain and although edge enhancement is
occasionally present, it is never overbearing. My only
concern was with what appeared to be some slightly
inconsistent colour timing that saw faces and skin tones
appearing slightly too yellow in a handful of sequences,
although this could conceivably be a stylistic choice of
the filmmakers' part. With the benefit of the doubt, this
transfer nets five stars.
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| :: Audio
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Like the disc's image, this soundtrack is exemplary and
presented in both Dolby Digital 5.1 at the lower 384kbps and
DTS 5.1 at the lower 754kbps. Both soundtracks are remarkably
similar in character, although the DTS soundtrack seems to
have a slight edge in terms of deep bass reproduction. The
soundtrack is aggressive, with constant use of all channels
and impressively wide dynamic range. The front soundstage is
broad, with an enveloping three-dimensional ambient atmosphere
supported by all five main channels.
Rick O'Connell's introduction from
4:33 is but one of many fine examples of this superior ambient
envelopment; similarly convincingly acoustic environments are
maintained at all times, and never allowed to collapse into
mono as is so common in lesser soundtracks. Dialogue is free
of distortion and of very high quality, although ADR inserts
are clearly identifiable. Overall fidelity is impressively
high, with no high frequency harshness. The surround channels
are used frequently (almost constantly, in fact) to support
the soundtrack's acoustic environment, reproduce the film's
many full-volume directional split-surround audio pans and the
film's (uninspiring) score.
Bass reproduction is solid from all
channels and well blended into the LFE channel, although truly
deep bass punctuation (below 30Hz) was less frequent than I
had anticipated, if consistent with the original 'The Mummy'.
Clipping is infrequent and minor when detected (as at 18:12).
An impressive production to be sure, and deserving of a full
five stars.
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