Sphinx

1981

Action / Adventure / Mystery / Thriller

8
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 32% · 1 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Spilled 32% · 250 ratings
IMDb Rating 5.2/10 10 1952 2K

egypt based on novel or book cairo pyramid museum mummy

Plot summary

Egyptologist Erica Baron finds more than she bargained for during her long-planned trip to The Land of the Pharoahs - murder, theft, betrayal, love, and a mummy's curse!

Director

Franklin J. Schaffner Photo
Franklin J. Schaffner

Top cast

Yashaw Adem Photo
Yashaw Adem as Sergeant
Behrouz Vossoughi Photo
Behrouz Vossoughi as Mernephtah
William Hootkins Photo
William Hootkins as Don
Tutte Lemkow Photo
Tutte Lemkow as Tewfik
720p.BluRay 1080p.BluRay
1.06 GB
1280*534
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 57 min
Seeds ...
1.96 GB
1920*800
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 57 min
Seeds 3

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by ma-cortes 6 / 10

Egyptian adventure with striking use of location, lousy storyline and weak material

A luminous and glamorous production spectacularly shot in Egypt. Woman archaelogist called Erica Baron (Lesley-Anne Down) searches for hidden riches in the tomb of an Egyptian king. She is researching for a paper on Mernephtah, chief architect to Pharaoh Seti I. She meets with unscrupulous art dealer Abdu-Hamdi (John Gielgud) and witnesses him being threatened by black-market dealer Stephanos Markoulis (John Rhys-Davies). Beyond the sealed door was the last undiscovered treasure in Egypt - And it's all hers - If she can get out alive !. Someone is hunting tourists out of season !.Based on the novel by Robin Cook, and scripted by John Byrum the film benefits from an impressively brilliant scenary, wonderful production design by Oscarized Gil Parrondo and spectacular Egyptian landscapes. Easy-on-the-eye adventure hokum with a beautiful star facing more perils than Indiana Jones as she searches for the long-lost tomb of ancient pharaoh Seti I. It's plotted to maximize confusion, a messy script that takes every opportunity to work in an action sequence, mostly pursuits shot with some shaky camerawork and with a peculiar plot starred by an archeologist searching for a lost tomb. It turns out to be a workmanlike and sometimes thrilling flick that just lacks the surges of real excitement that might have turned into an adventure classy. An amazing, timely and exciting story very well set in Egypt about an archaeologist in danger because of his discoveries. On the whole this Sphinx results to be an average movie , but enteratining enough. It contains a twisted intrigue about an adventurer archeologist along with her mysterious, suspicious lover, both of them undertake a dangerous journey through pyramids , deserts , the busy Cairo , and underground vaults plenty of tombs. Together with Lesley Ann Down who gives a so-so acting, turns up a good cast, such as Frank Langella who's a suitably ambivalent hero, the french Maurice Ronet, Martin Benson, John Rhys-Davies, Saeed Jaffrey. And John Gielgud shows up, rather surprisingly, as the Egyptian owner of an antique shop . Don't bother for the lousy storyline with plenty of flaws and gaps, containing unlikely happenings and a disjointed conclusion. This is a clear case of a lame project that only a best seller, -heavily pre-sold-could have financed.Highlights the powerful and evocative musical score by Michael J. Lewis. Errnest Day's colorful photograpy makes the most seductive locations. Shot in Egypt and showing real monuments and pyramids , including wide sightseeing. Other locations include Great pyramids Giza , Keops , Kefren , Mizerinos and pyramid of Zoser , Cairo , Luxor and Budapest, Hungary. The direction, by Schaffner, is lively enough to cover most of the holes on the script. Franklyn J. Schaffner made excellent motion pictures such as "The Planet of the Apes", "Patton, " "Papillon" , ¨"Nicholas and Alexandra" , after the flop of his film titled " Islands in the Stream ", in which went on to coincide with the actor of "Patton" , George C. Scott , he decided to embark on a project more commercial and successful as "The Boys From Brazil" ; however , ¨Sphinx¨ ,¨Lionheart¨, ¨Si Giorgio¨ were other box office failures . Rating : 5.5/10 , worthwhile watching for the Egypt lovers.
Reviewed by hined 5 / 10

Lara Croft she ain't!

This could have been Erica Baron: Tomb Raider, 20 years before Lara grabbed the headlines. It's got great locations as anyone who's been to Egypt will know, and a half decent story to go with it. Unfortunately instead of being Lara Croft confident and kick-ass, Erica Baron will scream at almost anything and trip over and bump into everyone and everything in her path (and then scream again for good measure). She'll even scream when a sticking plaster is ripped off someone else's face for Christ's sake! She'll then stop, panic and then run (while flailing her arms around) when things get dangerous. Things definitely moved on in the 20 years after this was made until Lara arrived.Even as a Dr of Egyptology she's sub-standard. Despite being able to read hieroglyphics, she's clearly never been to Egypt before as she has absolutely no idea about the culture, and even when arriving at the great pyramid, she goes for a camel ride before seeing any Egyptian history! Deary me. When speaking to he locals she'll only attempt to speak English and give up on them before they've had time to gesture or try and communicate. Actually, speaking English to them just makes their faces completely blank as if they've not heard her at all!Despite this the story moves along to its relatively good ending, despite a shoot out at the end where every bullet hits a nearby jug or vase and never the target!!All in all, highly recommended!!!
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