The Mummy

Leave it to Stephen Sommers to create an action movie out of the sleepiest of monster movie icons. Under his direction, it's an adventure film through a yesteryear Egypt right out of the movies but with a modern sensibility. Brendan Fraser is a bit callow in the lead, a wise-guy soldier of fortune who teams up with a cute librarian (Rachel Weisz) and her reckless gambler brother (John Hannah), and the script is almost too tongue-in-cheek for its own good. But Sommers' thrill-a-minute cliffhanger is a tribute, a parody, and a high-energy period adventure all in one, and the mummy Imhotep (incarnated by Arnold Vosloo when he's not an elaborate digital effect) is a veritable walking plague. In anticipation of a new sequel, Universal has re-released both the 1999 "The Mummy" and the 2001 sequel "The Mummy Returns," co-starring the Rock as the ancient warrior demon Scorpion King, in new special editions, though the new supplements may not be enough to inspire owners of the previous releases to trade up. They include a couple of new featurettes and a digital copy that can be downloaded to PC, iPod or other compatible players. A Blu-ray release of both films will follow later this month.