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Epicurus.com - Sphinx
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List Price: N/A
Our Price: $9.99
Availability: N/A
Starring: Lesley-Anne Down, Frank Langella, John Gielgud, John Rhys-Davies
Directed By: Franklin J. Schaffner
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: Video On Demand
Release Date: 2008-11-08
Running Time: 118
Studio: Orion
Theatrical Release Date: 1981-02-11
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: Just as Good as I Remembered.
Comment: Saw this movie when it first came out ages ago and it always stuck in my mind. I confess that a couple of the main resons it stayed with me was because of the stunning images of the Egyptian countryside and monuments, the equally stunningly gorgeous Frank Langella, and finally, it was a good story about black market buying of ancient artifacts. Erica Bane, played by Lesley-Ann Down, comes to Egypt to prove a hypothosis she has regarding Pharoh Seti the First. There she meets a shop owner, played by Sir John Gielgud, and witnesses his murder, but not before he has shown her a golden statue of Seti the First with a curious cartouche inscribed on its base. Soon she too is endanger, as her investigation of the golden statue and the meaning of the mysterious cartouche draw her deeper into discovering a long ago, clever secret of Seti's tomb builder. Frank Langella is an Egyptain authority that assists her and eventually becomes her lover. Erica must deal with asassins, being locked away in a creepy desert catacomb, and trying to figure out what man she can really trust to be who they claim to be. There's much nail-biting action and mystery in this movie. I did manage to find an old VHS of this movie, but wish it would come out DVD so the sound and picture would be purer, but it was still very enjoyable to watch again.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great quality download & no problems with playback
Comment: I wanted to review this movie mainly to review Unbox. There are a lot of nasty reviews of Unbox on the Internet, most of which are a year old. It appears that Amazon has improved the software since its release, since I could turn off its running in the system tray at startup (one of the biggest complaints out there) and the player worked fine for me. I installed it on one of my XP Media Center PCs and the best way I found to play it was by running Media Center and going to the My Videos section, where it was immediately available for playback (this was after I had downloaded it). All I needed Unbox for was the download and that took about 3 hours. The playback quality was great, especially considering the original film quality of this is about 3.5 out of 5 (i.e. the bitrate quality fit the film quality). All-in-all, it was a good experience, for me. And when I'm done, the DVD won't require Unbox to play it ;)
As far as a review of the film itself, I mainly downloaded it to burn for a friend and I may or may not watch it, so no review here.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Definately Interesting and thought provoking film.
Comment: I watched this movie several times as a kid growing up and it's always stuck in my memory. Finally I located this movie and was able to get it and see it again. Still makes me wanna do some digging in egypt!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Decent story, great scenary, good acting, a little dated
Comment: This movie was made in the 70s or 80s (I forget). Some of the acting is rather dated, but the overall story was engrossing and interesting enough as a rental. Definitely different than today's standard fare. And great views of Egypt.
Lesley-Anne Down was actually fairly good in the role, as was Frank Langella. John Gielgud as a Muslim just didn't get the job done for me, and was somewhat laughable. This was his last role before he passed away.
Customer Rating:
Summary: a marvelous travelog and mediocre mystery
Comment: As a long-time Egypt-o-phile, this movie held my attention mainly because of its rich portrayal of daily life in Cairo, Karnak, Luxor, Sakkara, Giza, the Cairo Museum, and scenes many tourists don't see. I visited this area as a tourist some years ago, and the movie was a vivid reminder of many things I saw (and didn't).
The plot is stereotypic of the "Egyptian mummy's curse" genre, tho well illustrated by interesting portrayals of past and present Egyptian tomb builders and robbers; greedy, violent antiquity-smuggling crooks and dedicated government officials; and the standard beautiful female Egyptologist on a noble, solitary mission.
The various bad guys' allegiances and agendas were confusing to me (as intended?), as they menaced Lesley, the vulnerable, intrepid, beguiling female lead.
The "forbidden-love" aspect of the plot seemed artificial to me, but may appeal to others. It may add poignancy and drama to the predictable end of the heroine's quest for Seti I's lost tomb. The prior scene where the trapped heroine falls into a dim, ancient chamber full of skeletons reminded me (and so was less impactful), of the similar scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark. The similarity was bolstered by one of the male characters in this film being the same as in Raiders, with what seemed to be identical facial hair, demeanor, accent, and clothing. "Indy" does not appear here...
Overall, this is an entertaining formula mystery/action film, mainly because of the rich visual portrayal of Egyptian history, scenery, and pre-terrorist life in 1981.
Enjoy!
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