Product Description

Widescreen Blu-Ray PG 13. Starring: The Rock, Steven Brand, Michael Clarke Duncan. In an ancient time, predating the pyramids, the evil king Memnon is using the psychic powers of his sorceress Cassandra to fortell his great victories. In a last ditch effort to stop Memnon from taking over the world, the leaders of the remaining free tribes hire the assassin Mathayus to kill the sorceress. But Mathayus ends up getting much more than he bargained for. Now with the help of the trickster Arpid, tribal leader Balthazar and an unexpected ally, it's up to Mathayus to fufill his destiny and become the great Scorpion King.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #17505 in DVD
• Brand: UNI DIST CORP. (MCA)
• Released on: 2008-07-22
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Dubbed, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, French, Spanish
• Dubbed in: French, Spanish
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 92 minutes

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

From The New Yorker
This film was put into production just seconds after "The Mummy Returns" wrapped, and it shows. The script and the costumes are threadbare, the special effects sloppy, and the sets look like they escaped from a high-school science fair. In what is ostensibly a prequel to the "Mummy" movies, every effect and set piece of those films gets recycled with such dismal results that it all looks like a series of outtakes. The director, Chuck Russell, bets the bank on the appeal of his star, the W.W.F. wrestler the Rock. As an action hero he's not the swiftest-he seems to be fighting gravity with every step-but he has a sense of humor that shows up onscreen, a good thing when you're sword-and-sandal deep in epic trouble. -Bruce Diones
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker