I caught "Mysteries of Egypt" on New Orleans' IMAX screen, and I must say that visually, it doesn't disappoint at all. The camera work, the scenery, the vistas were all magnificent, as they are in many IMAX travelogues.
Then they turned on the sound, and things went downhill. To tell the story of the discovery of King Tut's tomb, they enlisted Omar Sharif and lil' Kate Maberly. This gives it a family feeling, and allows for some of the most insipid dialogue ever heard on the ten-story screen. This in itself wouldn't be so bad, but the filmmakers allowed some very questionable facts about the creation of the pyramids to slip through. (They were built by legions of happy Egyptian farmers during the off-season, not by the throngs of Israelites they enslaved? C'mon, guys.)
When the film ended, there was a general murmur of dissatisfaction from the crowd, as people felt that they were shown something magnificent... but treated like idiots as they were watching it. By my estimation, that feeling was right on the money.
Rating: (visuals) 8 out of 10 (storyline) 3 out of 10
Then they turned on the sound, and things went downhill. To tell the story of the discovery of King Tut's tomb, they enlisted Omar Sharif and lil' Kate Maberly. This gives it a family feeling, and allows for some of the most insipid dialogue ever heard on the ten-story screen. This in itself wouldn't be so bad, but the filmmakers allowed some very questionable facts about the creation of the pyramids to slip through. (They were built by legions of happy Egyptian farmers during the off-season, not by the throngs of Israelites they enslaved? C'mon, guys.)
When the film ended, there was a general murmur of dissatisfaction from the crowd, as people felt that they were shown something magnificent... but treated like idiots as they were watching it. By my estimation, that feeling was right on the money.
Rating: (visuals) 8 out of 10 (storyline) 3 out of 10