The Scorpion King
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The Scorpion King |
| Original title | The Scorpion King |
| Country of production | USA , Germany |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 2002 |
| length | 92 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Chuck Russell |
| script |
Stephen Sommers William Osborne David Hayter |
| production |
Sean Daniel James Jacks Stephen Sommers Kevin Misher |
| music | John Debney |
| camera | John R. Leonetti |
| cut |
Greg Parsons Michael Tronick |
| occupation | |
| |
| chronology | |
|
Successor → |
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The Scorpion King is a 2002 feature film starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson . It is an offshoot of the film The Mummy Returns, but takes place before the film The Mummy . The film opened in German cinemas on April 25, 2002.
action
The action takes place around 3000 BC. BC Memnon, despotic ruler of Gomorrah , wants to subjugate all nomadic tribes. Whoever does not submit to it will be destroyed. He had won all battles so far, because through the prophetic skills of his seer he can predict the outcome of every battle.
The Akkadian Mathayus is one of the last mercenaries of his people and is assigned to kill the seer. The clients are the leaders of the last free nomadic tribes of the desert, including Queen Isis, leader of a group of women warriors, the Nubian Balthazar, king of a group of thieves, and King Pheron with his son Prince Takmet.
When Mathayus meets the seer, he hesitates to kill her and is taken prisoner. His brother Jesup is killed with his own hands by Memnon before his eyes. The Akkadian and horse thief Arpid are buried up to their necks in sand and colonies of large fire ants are exposed. Arpid manages to escape with a trick, he also frees Mathayus from the sand. Both now set out together to avenge the death of his brother and to kill Memnon.
When the planned assassination attempt on King Memnon fails, Mathayus abducts the sorceress Cassandra into the desert. She tries to escape from Mathayus, but not to return to Memnon, as he has kept her captive all her life. In a fight with Memnon's men led by General Thorak, Mathayus is hit by an arrow soaked with scorpion venom. The sorceress heals Mathayus at risk to her own life.
On their way Mathayus, Cassandra and Arpid meet the inventor Philos, who fled Memnon from Gomorrah and perfected his latest invention, an explosive powder, in the desert. The four of them arrive at an oasis, where they are captured and taken to Balthasar's secret refuge.
Mathayus and Cassandra spend a night together, the sorceress then not only loses her innocence, but also her visionary abilities. In order to dissuade Memnon from the further search for her and thus to save the people of the refuge, she decides at the end of the night to flee secretly and return to him.
Although Balthazar and Mathayus did not get along well from the start, they realize they have a common enemy and decide to invade Memnon's fortress. Mathayus is injured, but still manages to kill Memnon.
The Akkadians take control of the empire and become the new king of all the tribes.
Trivia
- The figure of the seer who loses her abilities by losing her virginity, as well as the corresponding test carried out by the main villain, is a quote from the film James Bond 007 - Live and Let Die ; there the figure is called "Solitaire".
- In an interview about 15 years after the film was shot, Kelly Hu reported that she was turned down by the casting team after her first audition, but that her agents gave her direct access to the producers. In total she had to audition six times and, according to her own statements, was in competition for the role of the sorceress Cassandra a. with models from Sports Illustrated and Victoria's Secret .
- The film grossed more than 90 million US dollars in the US alone, making it one of the most successful films of the year.
- In ancient Egypt there were actually two kings with this name, Scorpio I (around 3200 BC) and Scorpio II (around 3100 BC).
- Sherri Howard , who plays Queen Isis in the film, won the gold medal in the 4-by-400-meter relay at the 1984 Olympics .
- Production Designer Ed Verreaux has a brief guest appearance in the film: He plays a pasha who rides an elephant.
- Al Leong , who trained the actors in sword fighting, has a guest appearance in the film: He plays the Asian shooter who shoots the practice arrow at Memnon, which he catches with his bare hands.
- In contrast to the film music of the Mummy Trilogy, the focus was no longer on classical music like that of Alan Silvestri , but rather elements of Nu Metal were used by bands like Godsmack and System of a Down .
- The German-language Blu-Ray release from 2008 contains extras and a. An audio commentary each from the main actor Dwayne Johnson and from director Chuck Russell as well as the 14-minute making-of "On the set: The Making of Scorpion King".
Reviews
"Sandal epic of the naive and entertaining kind"
"[...] Charles" Chuck "Russell (" Eraser ") staged the fun action spectacle at breakneck speed, so that the numerous genre fans will get their money's worth."
“Fans will be enthusiastic about the routinely staged combat interludes. Because nothing else is the rapid muscle meat inspection: the non-action film version of a wrestling show in the sandpit. "
“Colorful adventure film that tells of an ancient bounty hunter who helps oppressed peoples to overthrow a cruel despot. [...] Without compelling dramaturgical density, he completely relies on the naive presentation of old-fashioned show values. "
In addition, the Rhein-Zeitung, based in Rhineland-Palatinate, judged the film much more critically: The action set in pharaonic Egypt was "hard to beat in terms of unbelief and clichés". Nevertheless, "the Schmonzes [...] are tempered by self-irony and tricky scenes that are worth seeing."
The nationwide daily newspaper Die Welt also received it not very positively and referred to it as a “screen noise”, which “as an unofficial prequel to the two“ Mummy ”films“ is a “captivatingly simple (r) film” and is “rather disgusting Fantasy-Action-Schnack à la Conan the Barbarian “orient.
In the simplified review with which the television magazine TV Spielfilm rates films, The Scorpion King received three out of three possible points in the "Action" category, two points in the "Humor" category, one point each for "Eroticism" and "Suspense" and a thumbs up as a positive overall rating. However, no point was awarded in the “Claim” category. In a list of why the main actor Dwayne Johnson stayed so successfully in Hollywood over a longer period of time, TV feature film editor Michael Fischer described the film in 2018 as a “trash cannon”, with which Johnson (would) have his career “back early” can finish ".
The readers of the TV magazine Prisma found The Scorpion King more interesting than the editorial team and gave it 3 out of 5 possible stars, one more than the editorial team in their review. In terms of content, the work was “otherwise dumb spectacle”, which simply completely ignores “a string of battle scenes” and historical facts. In addition, "logic or even plausibility [...] are disregarded". Director Chuck Russell only staged a trash film with a fairly high budget.
The editorial team of Cinehits.de gave the film 2.9 out of 5 possible points and concluded that it was "not really bad, but not really good either."
Awards
- In 2003 , John Debney won an ASCAP award for film music .
- The film was nominated in 2003 for a Saturn Award in the Best Fantasy Film category.
Sequels
The prequel Scorpion King: Rise of a Warrior is a direct-to-DVD production and was released on August 19, 2008 in the United States and on August 28, 2008 in Germany. In the lead role, however , Dwayne Johnson was replaced by Michael Copon . Russell Mulcahy was involved as a director .
The sequel The Scorpion King 3 was released as a direct-to-DVD production in 2012. The main role was again cast with Victor Webster as Mathayus. The director took Roel Reiné .
The fourth sequel, The Scorpion King 4 - The Lost Throne , also starring Victor Webster in the leading role of Mathayus, was released on February 26, 2015. The film was directed by Mike Elliott.
Don Michael Paul turned the 2018 sequel Scorpion King: The Book of Souls ( The Scorpion King: Book of Souls ). Zach McGowan took the lead.
Web links
- The Scorpion King in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Official Homepage (English)
- Criticism and detailed information about the historical background
- The Scorpion King at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Kelly Hu on the Scorpion King and working with the Rock on YouTube , January 31, 2018. Retrieved March 4, 2019.
- ↑ Blu-Ray Reviews - 'The Scorpion King' (Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, Mummy Spin-Off). In: blurayreviews.ch. November 28, 2008, accessed March 4, 2019 .
- ↑ The Scorpion King. In: kino.de. April 25, 2002, Retrieved March 4, 2019 .
- ↑ The Scorpion King. In: videoworld.de. Retrieved March 4, 2019 .
- ↑ The Scorpion King. In: cinema.de. April 25, 2002, Retrieved March 4, 2019 .
- ↑ The Scorpion King. In: filmdienst.de. Retrieved March 4, 2019 .
- ↑ Catcher in the desert - antique action spectacle with a fun factor , in: Rhein-Zeitung, April 26, 2002.
- ^ Eve: The Scorpion King. In: welt.de . April 24, 2002, accessed March 4, 2019 .
- ↑ The Scorpion King - Film Review. In: tvspielfilm.de. Retrieved March 4, 2019 .
- ↑ Maximilian Fischer: Five reasons: That's why Dwayne The Rock Johnson is so successful. In: tvspielfilm.de. July 30, 2018, accessed March 4, 2019 .
- ↑ The Scorpion King - Trailer, review, pictures and information about the film. In: prisma.de. April 25, 2002, Retrieved March 4, 2019 .
- ↑ The Scorpion King - Content, Review and Facts. In: cinehits.de. April 25, 2002, Retrieved March 4, 2019 .