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The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (Widescreen) | 
 enlarge | Actors: Brendan Fraser, Jet Li, Maria Bello, John Hannah, Michelle Yeoh
Studio: Universal Studios
Category: DVD
List Price: $29.98
Buy Used: $8.00
You Save: $21.98 (73%)
New (54) Used (36) from $8.00
Rating:  58 reviews
Sales Rank: 50
Format: Ac-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Dvd-video, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Dubbed), Spanish (Dubbed)
Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 112 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: 61101991
UPC: 025195015936
EAN: 0025195015936
ASIN: B001HQZJMU
Theatrical Release Date: 2008
Release Date: December 16, 2008 (New: Last 30 Days)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 12/16/2008 Run time: 112 minutes Rating: Pg13
Amazon.com
The third film in the The Mummy series freshens the franchise up by setting the action in China. There, the discovery of an ancient emperor's elaborate tomb proves a feather in the cap of Alex O'Connell (Luke Ford), a young archaeologist and son of Rick O'Connell (Brendan Fraser) and his wife Evelyn (Maria Bello, taking over the role from Rachel Weisz). Unfortunately, a curse that turned the emperor (Jet Li) and his army into terra cotta warriors buried for centuries is lifted, and the old guy prepares for world domination by seeking immortality at Shangri La. The O'Connells barely stay a step ahead of him (climbing through the Himalaya mountains with apparent ease), but the action inevitably leads to a showdown between two armies of mummies in a Chinese desert. The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor has a lot to offer: a supporting cast that includes the elegant Michelle Yeoh, Russell Wong, and Liam Cunningham, the unexpected appearance of several Yeti, and a climactic battle sequence that is nightmarishly weird but compelling. On the downside, the charm so desperately sought in romantic relationships, as well as comic turns by John Hannah (as Evelyn's rascal brother), is not only absent but often annoying. Rarely have witty asides in the thick of battle been more unwelcome in a movie. Rob Cohen's direction is largely crisp if sometimes curious (a fight between Fraser and Jet Li keeps varying in speed for some reason), but his vision of Shangri La, in the Hollywood tradition, is certainly attractive. --Tom Keoghbr>
Stills from The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (Click for larger image)
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| Customer Reviews: Read 53 more reviews...
 A Entertaining But Also Somewhat Boring Movie Sadly Lacking The Enjoyment Of The First Two Movies January 9, 2009
Rich (CA)
I like probably like a few other fans of this trilogy series found it a little sad on two parts, one is that you didn't have Oded Fehr or Rachel Weisz who were prominent characters of the first two mummy movies, and the second part of the problem is it just seemed to play to much of the storyline of the evil mummy reawakened and now wants to take over the world. You do have one returning actor from the previous mummy movies other than Brendan Frasier and that's John Hannah and while he brings some humorous entertainment to the movie it becomes stale pretty soon. Then we have Maria Bello who's the wife Evelyn in the movie and while she is a pretty decent actress I'm sorry to say it just seemed wrong to have her in that role and not Rachel. The special effects weren't bad but again with the storyline it just wasn't as much of whats happening but more on seeing the same thing technically for a third time with no true change of story plots from the previous two films. On the choice of Blu-ray or standard I say just stick with standard because sadly the movie isn't really worth the price you have to pay for the blu-ray version unless you're a real hardcore fan of these movies.
 Tomb of the cash in January 7, 2009
Micheal Hunt (Hellbourne)
This third installment expediently is just an excuse to make more money off of the Mummy franchise, with the flops of Scorpion King 1 and 2 why not make a 3rd installment that led to the spin offs.
The first notably mistake was the absence of Rachel Weisz. (Evelyn) If you can't get the whole original cast back for a movie, why bother? These things hardly ever pay off and the chemistry between Brenden Frasier & Maria Bello simply is not there.
The plot is that it takes place some time after the last Mummy movie and Evelyn had written 2 successful Mummy books based on there previous 2 adventures and is struggling to find any inspiration for a 3rd book. In her personal life her and husband Richard (Frasier) have settled down and are bored out of there mind when an opportunity to take an amulet to China comes along, where they figure they will deliver it and go see there son who has just uncovered an emperors tomb with his army that was put there after being cursed by a witch.So yadda yadda yadda, the Emperor is freed and they try to stop him from reaching a pool of eternal life to raise his army.
It sounds a bit better then it was, as it seemed all the focus was put into the FX of the movie and little in character development, story line or plot. I'm sure anyone watching this in China would wonder why the hell they cast Jet Li in a non martial arts role and why the heck he is fighting abdominal snowmen?
In the first 2 mummy movies, there was an excitement of action that they could have ended the movie a long time before they did, but it kept going on getting more exciting and a bigger finale then the last... however this one lacks that completely. The end of the movie just seemed to come, happen and it was over with no big climax to it.
And even tho the last 2 movies may have had you suspend disbelief, this one seemed like they would just try anything, no matter how outlandish just to get the movie over and done with.
Even Brendan Fraisor shows signs of no interest in being in this movie, as he performers one of his most lamest performances to date with cheap little stale jokes thrown in between with bad timing, or drowned out by the musical score trying to somewhat add live to a flat-lining movie.
 Unconvincing performances, non-existant chemistry January 7, 2009
Furiae (USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Rachel Weisz was smart to stay away from this movie. The leads give unconvincing, wooden performances, and Bello and Fraser have zero chemistry. The actor who portrayed the son gave a terribly one-note performance (the type that usually befits straight-to-DVD movies). John Hannah's Jonathan is still warm and funny, but that doesn't make up for the fact that the movie is just plain underwhelming. The only relationship that seemed genuine was the one between Michelle Yeoh and Isabella Leong, which, I'll admit, was convincing and tender. Jet Li was woefully underused as he gave as intense a performance as his limited role would allow. Most importantly, however, removing the Mummy franchise from Egypt also removed all of the charm of its predecessors. The first two films were fun, charming, and a joy to watch. The plot sprawls and the movie makes you wonder how the heck the lovable Rick and Evie could become so unlovable and boring. It's not that I disliked the characters--they were just so one-note and uninteresting that I couldn't bother to care. Rent before you buy.
orrendo January 7, 2009
Patrizia Facchetti (italy)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Gesù, non è possibile dare zero quindi mi tocca mettere una stella ma un film così brutto non l'ho mai visto! e pensare che è pure preso in considerazione per gli oscar nella sezione effetti speciali! spero sia uno scherzo altrimenti si sono bevuti tutti il cervello..............
Unworthy release trying to leech off the franchise January 6, 2009
B. Etnyre (SugarLand, TX)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
For those of you who have read my reviews (for which I am grateful, by the way), you will undoubtedly have noticed the trend for these that has emerged over the time since I began writing them. Initially, they consisted of two or more paragraphs which gave a general description of the film/s plot, followed by some commentary of the film's production aspects such as acting, writing, directing, etc. Over time, the reviews grew longer and had more baroque lead-in & transitional paragraphs, accompanied by elements of editorial commentary.
For this review, I will try to keep the commentary (relatively) brief and won't incorporate lengthy editorializing:
THE MUMMY (1999) was a very creative and interesting film with a fantastic trailer, a great script, and very good dialogue. It was a suspenseful action film that was able to ably integrate elements of horror and humor. The acting was very effective all-around. This highly effective combination made for not only an enjoyable film and impressive cinematic achievement, but is one of the few that could claim the overused and often undeserved title of "New Classic".
The first sequel (2001) was less clever and at least a little annoying. The funniest (unintentionally) part of the film was the central notion to the theme of the wife suddenly becoming aware of "oh that's right, I just remembered that I am a reincarnation of the evil queen's main rival and can take her on in a highly stylized and well-choreographed fight scene". It was literally almost that blatant. In addition to the substitution of excessive CG effects in place of a well-written story, the film also had the clichéd stereotype of the whiney/frightened Black sidekick.
Its second sequel (2008's THE MUMMY: TOMB OF THE DRAGON EMPEROR) had a poor script, bad acting (from good actors, which means lousy directing) and was just a lame and somewhat tedious & tired film altogether. The lead actress was replaced (Maria Bello for Rachel Weisz), which was the closest thing to good acting (seeing Maria Bello do a passable British character). Otherwise, it was wholly implausible that the two main characters were parents to an adult son. All dialogue between the son (Luke Ford) and the cute Asian good quasi-ninjette (Isabella Leong) consisted of loud and campy declarative affectations that came straight out of a bad Neil Simon play (is there any other kind?) or a 1930's film. Brendan Frazier's dialogue was reduced to stock theater gruntings as if lifted from a 1940's or 50's film. John Hannah was reduced to saying loud bewailments every time he spoke. The addition of Michelle Yeoh and Jet Li was ostensibly for some impressive chop-socky action scenes, even though both are average and subpar actors respectively. In fact, there was only a brief wire-fu sequence which was a long way from impressive. The story was banal and insipid. In spite of some impressive visuals, the film just wasn't all that good.
The first film required a significant suspension of disbelief, but was a competently written & filmed story. What all three have in common is the idiotic notion that an evil guy will be banished in death with a terrible curse which is somehow escapable, and allows that he will have super powers once he comes back to life. How about in place of a super-curse, you just kill the guy and make sure he stays dead or powerless. I suppose that is just naïvely wishful thinking...
By the way, the last line of the film suggests there's a fair to decent chance there will be another sequel. Yikes.
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