The Scorpion King Widescreen Collector's Edition + CD Soundtrack (Limited Edition)

Amazon.com

There's nothing original in The Scorpion King, but this derivative action franchise gets off to a rousing start by cleverly stealing from a lot of better movies. Capitalizing on his brief cameo in The Mummy Returns, Dwayne Johnson (a.k.a. World Wrestling Federation star the Rock) stars as Mathayus, an Akkadian assassin in the age preceding Egyptian pharaohs, who vows to avenge his brother's murder by an undefeated warlord (Steven Brand) prophesied to become the desert-ruling Scorpion King. Their battle for supremacy comprises most of the film's brisk 95-minute running time, punctuated by comic relief from Mathayus's obligatory sidekick (Grant Heslov), romance with a beautiful sorceress (Kelly Hu), and alliance with a massive Nubian (Michael Clarke Duncan) on the eve of their climactic showdown. There's no rhyme or reason to the film's depiction of ancient civilization (the costuming is particularly ludicrous), but the Rock demonstrates adequate action-star potential, and director Chuck Russell (The Mask) wraps it all in a slick, professional package. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

Had potential, but wears on over time.......2007-08-25

I must first say that when I first saw this movie I was really excited about it, and I thought it was good. I rushed out to buy the DVD when it came out in order to support it, because I love ancient movies with a good mix of cultures in it.

Over time it began to lose its luster. I won't go into the details of what the movie is about, but the problems I had with it.

1) The deleted scenes on the DVD made the film more unstandable and leaving them out hurts the movie. I didn't like how on the DVD you couldn't access the deleted scenes as a part of the movie. Instead you access them, by clicking a button when an image of a sword pops up. After you view the scene you are taken back to an earlier scene instead of just continuing.

2) I feel that the story line is a bit weak, and over time it becomes boring. There should have been more intrigue in the story. The whole idea of a sorceress who can see the future, but is held prisoner seems illogical to me.

3) The movie was missing one of those real epic army vs. army battle scenes, that I was expecting based on the Mummy Returns movie where the Scorpion King is introduced.

Seeing that this movie has been out for a while, I doubt that most people now will find it very entertaining. My suggestion is rent and don't buy.

So bad it's actually lots of fun.......2007-06-18

This isn't the type of movie you watch to gain a greater understanding of human nature, it's the type of movie you watch when you want to zone out for 90 minutes & just have fun. While there may really have been an ancient King named Scorpion, this movie is among the most historically inaccurate flicks I've ever seen. The fighting styles are wrong, the peoples are wrong, the times are, the weapons are wrong, heck the costumes are wrong & so are the horses (stirrups didn't arrive until the mid first millenia AD). The dialogue at some points is just awful, but through it all the actors never take themselves too seriously and The Rock is able to pull it off. I enjoyed this movie not because it makes an attempt at authenticity, but because it simply doesn't care and goes out to enjoy itself. Thats what makes this movie fun.

Bad Acting By Cast Members!.......2007-04-06

"The Rock" can't act! Some of the other characters weren't that great either in terms of their acting abilities, but "The Rock" was the worst offender. Basically, this is my only gripe with this film--- Poor acting performances by the cast!

Otherwise, the action, stunts, costuming, make-up, special effects/computer graphics and storyline were all fine.

Scorpion King- movie.......2007-03-21

I ordered this movie for a friend but I watched it before I gave it to him. It is not my kind of movie but I did enjoy it. The production was quite good. Some of the acting could have been a little better.

A Fun Film.......2007-03-12

I like these films, and this oe is just as good. Fun, a bit campy and good action.

DVD:

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