Mummies: Secrets of the Pharaohs

I do not have 3-D yet, so I had to settle for Blu-ray.

As I have implied this is a quickie overview of Egypt. It is claimed the same as the astonishing graphics. And they do a decent job of showing Egypt from different views at various times of day under different lighting. While you are enjoying the way that it looks this condensed version of history borrows from much longer programs and introduces us to major people that are still involved in Egyptology in the history of people that participated in Egyptology. The only thing that it lacks is a reading reference.

The disc does have however the standard DVD extras such as "Meet the Mummies" and a 22 minute "making of" Featurette. There was a quiz, but I did not take it.

Even if you already know the contents of the disk and even if you seem the longer programs this disc is still worth having for quick synopsis is worth re-watching periodically. I kept trying to figure out where the music came from it sounded like things from 10 Commandments Lawrence of Arabia and other various pictures. It turns out that it was originally written for this presentation.

It's an IMAX forty minute short meant for the museum science theaters. Visually, it has some of the epic grand vistas with recreations. It examines the art of mummification and the Egyptian afterlife. I don't care about the modern day mummification scientific experiment. It's not visually interesting and the results could be explained easily. It doesn't actually need those scenes. I'm more intrigued with Egypt locations even if they're recreations. I wouldn't mind if this could show the mummification process in more detail although the medical TV show aspect may be off-putting for little kids in museums. It's a good science short. The IMAX could be used to greater effect.

This was my first experience with IMAX, as well as with 3D. I'm a few years late, i know.

So, having the experience was the only reason why i went to see this. I was, and still am amazed at the possibilities of the medium. I couldn't know what to expect, though i thought about it several times. What fascinated me was not how "real" the experience is, but how "beyond real" it may become. Cinema lives on enhancing common sensations to degrees in which we react. In cinema, colours bust be highlighted, contrasts as well, well, even drama and narrative dynamics (like in theater). The 3D, associated with the super screen opens new windows to those possibilities, it's a technical possibility that creates a whole vast area of dark places for clever filmmakers to explore. How exciting is that? As a first experience, i recorded to aspects, which i think may be of great interest.

One is the power of a landscape, not because it is enlarged, not because it is "real", but because the right image, edited in the right sequence, can be of a higher impact. Imagine the explosions in Antonioni's Zabriskie Point, with all those points of view, enhanced to the point that they blow your head. I hope the market and film industry will turn to IMAX with enough strenght to make it usable for our "authors" to think specifically for it, to explore the depths of the medium, instead of the superficial effects i imagine have been used so far.

The other aspect is how this medium might revolutionize the relations between space and cinema. How we might rephrase the way we make a film become "spatial" through the way we move around space. I mean, even in a documentary with such mundane footage as this one i watched i felt the power of moving around. Of course here we have the depiction of Egyptian architecture, which lives on mystery, on moving around, and that is highly cinematic. And the film was also thought to produce certain effects associated to its format. But i kept thinking about the possibilities. What would the best filmmakers do with this? Can you imagine what would Orson Welles have done, if he ever had the possibility to shoot for IMAX? Or Hitchcock, or de Palma, who actually is around and still working, who knows.

The documentary in itself, is leveled after the History channel model, with off voices telling facts, footage of the remains of the old civilization, and stagings of old happenings. Mundane, except for the effects thought specially to work on the medium, which were new to me, but which i suspect will be vulgar, as soon as i repeat the experience enough times, with other films.

My opinion: 2/5 http://www.7eyes.wordpress.com

I'm usually bored by this kind of movie aimed at a science center crowd, but this one had me taking it all in.

Visually stunning but full of substance too. Great use of IMAX in the desert and tombs. Weaves stories of discoveries old and new together with amazing shots, and scientific information.

Makes complicated science easy to understand, and thrills with the story of the Rasul brothers. I would like to learn more about the DNA experiments and how they can help today.

Great timing with the King Tut exhibit in Philadelphia. Looking forward to any follow-ups on the subject.

Mummies: Secret of the Pharaohs is an exceptional Imax film. The cinematography is beautiful (Egypt in Imax, need I write more?!), the recreations convincing, and most importantly, the film is engrossing. Intertwining three separate but related stories, Mummies: SotP, explores the far and near past in a fresh fashion all the while keeping an eye on their payoff - these separate pasts' unexpected role in advancing our future (no revelations will be made here. It's worth it to see the film!)

Films should be entertaining, that is a given. When they are educational as well...well you just can't help but leave the theater thinking that your dollar went far further than you've come to expect, and that, in my book, is always a reason to recommend a film!