La Malédiction de la pyramide

Decided to watch this on a bored Saturday thinking maybe it'll be a bit like The Mummy, how wrong I was. The editing was amateur, the characters were just unappealing & the acting was either over the top or absent. The use of cheap CGI didn't do it any credit & the "Mummy", well I've been more scared by my cats jumping on my bed while I'm sleeping.

The only appealing thing that got my attention was the "historical" storyline involving Egypt & Osiris which should really have been expanded on & possibly used to great effect. I've given the film 2 out of 10 because of this, but I would advise you to avoid watching as you really won't be missing anything.

I remember a time, when I used to love movies like this. Low budget, weird characters, easy to follow, clear cut characters, who'd be either good or bad. It does feel like a throwback, but not in a good sense. Of course there have been worse movies and considering the budget this movie (probably) used, this is pretty decent.

Still it would be too much to say, you have to watch this. Even as a party movie it doesn't really work. You have Mr. Davies in it though, who while still acts as if this is something important. Producers got their money worth there. Judging the other actors on this movie alone would be a bit unfair though. Sometimes you have to start small ...

If you don't expect too much from this movie, then "Prisoners of the Sun" is actually entertaining enough for what it is. But just a word of warning, don't get your expectations up too high.

"Prisoners of the Sun" is about professor Masterton (played by John Rhys-Davies) who is uncovering an ancient pyramid, just in time for a celestial event that takes place only once every 5000 years. Deep within the heart of this ancient pyramid is the secrets of the lore of ancient Egypt and the visitors from beyond our world who brought civilization and marvels to mankind. But the trek to the heart of the pyramid is a perilous one.

Essentially, then the storyline was alright, cheesy, yes, but still fun enough to watch. The storyline was very predictable and didn't really offer much in any kind of surprises or grand moments.

The effects in the movie were good enough, although don't expect to be dazzled or blown away.

As far as the acting in the movie went, well, then once again don't get your hopes up too high, because this is most definitely not award-winning performances. People did fair enough jobs with their roles, but it just didn't feel wholeheartedly.

The ending of the movie was really a slap in the face, especially after having sat through an hour and a half only to have the movie end with such an anti-climatic shut down.

And with their constant descent and venture into the pyramid, it was surprisingly amazing that once it all collapsed that they were right back up to the ground level in a blink of an eye.

If you enjoy adventurous movies that include spelunking, treasure-hunting and ancient civilizations, then there are far better movies available.

Prisoners Of The Sun has Professor John Rhys-Davies astronomer organizing an expedition to Egypt to view from the pyramids or one specific pyramid a celestial event that only takes place every 5000 years or so. A perfect alignment of some stars. Since they're going in the tomb itself or will attempt same he's needing an archaeologist. The one he has in mind is Joss Ackland.

But Ackland suffers a heart attack and he sends his young assistant David Charvet in his place. Reluctantly the rest agree to have him along.

Others in this merry band are Gulshan Grower,, Michael Higgs, Nick Moran, and Mohamed Akszham and one of them killed for the privilege of going along.

Prisoners Of The Sun borrows from several other sources including Indiana Jones and all the mummy films you can name going back to Boris Karloff. Any cliche you can think of is there.

John Rhys-Davies must have been in competition for an award in overacting because he trundles and bellows his way through most of the scenes. He makes this whatever else it is, not dull.

Still it's one lame movie for Mummies.

I'm potty about Egypt movies so I couldn't resist this one especially if they have a little bit of monsters and a little bit of SF, which this seems to have both and how can you resist a movie with both Joss Ackland and John Rhys-Davies? But it's a free movie on Prime and as expected the plot is a bit weak, and aside from the two big name actors, well, while the others do a competent job certainly the writing for the dialogue is very weak; but hey it's free and you got a fast forward button so skip some of the corny dialogue and pseudo intrigue and it's not a bad free movie to watch. I suppose one more area to consider is real archaeology; here also the movie is a joke because among other things, a how many thousands of year old stone slab with cartouches blocks their entrance, and they're smashing it with a hammer? Obviously they have the Heinrich Schliemann Playbook, smash first ask questions later. Hey buddy maybe I could take a photo of that first you know and like publish it or something? Nah just smash it! Who cares what it says! Don't show it to your archaeology students but it's a lot of fun. Hey don't miss the hornets who happen to live in a dark totally sealed tomb and they've been there for how long? What's their food source? Wait while I whip out my handy-dandy flamethrower! It might work better with a mystery 3000 overlay audio.