| The Scorpion King | |
|---|---|
| File:The Scorpion King poster.jpg Theatrical release poster |
|
| Directed by | Chuck Russell |
| Produced by | Sean Daniel James Jacks Kevin Misher Stephen Sommers |
| Screenplay by | Stephen Sommers William Osborne David Hayter |
| Story by | Stephen Sommers Jonathan Hales |
| Starring | Dwayne Johnson Steven Brand Kelly Hu Grant Heslov Bernard Hill Michael Clarke Duncan Peter Facinelli Sherri Howard Ralf Möller |
| Music by | John Debney |
| Cinematography | John R. Leonetti |
| Editing by | Greg Parsons Michael Tronick |
| Studio | WWE Studios Alphaville |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
| Release date(s) | April 19, 2002 |
| Running time | 92 minutes |
| Country | United States ‹See Tfd› Germany Belgium |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $60 million[1] |
| Box office | United States $91,047,077 Worldwide: $165,333,180[1] |
The Scorpion King is a 2002 American action film directed by Chuck Russell, starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Kelly Hu, Grant Heslov, and Michael Clarke Duncan. It is a spin-off of The Mummy series, and follows the story of Mathayus the Scorpion King, the character featured in The Mummy Returns.
The events of The Scorpion King take place 5,000 years before those in The Mummy and The Mummy Returns, and reveal Mathayus' origins and his rise to power as the Scorpion King. The name itself is a reference to a real king of the protodynastic period of Ancient Egyptian history, Scorpion II.
Contents |
Plot [link]
Mathayus (Johnson), the last true Akkadian mercenary, along with his half-brother, Jesup, and friend, Rama, is hired by King Pheron (Rees) to kill a sorcerer, whose prophetic powers allow the vicious Egyptian Emperor Memnon (Brand) to rule his empire with an iron fist.
Mathayus sneaks into Memnon's camp and finds his way to the sorcerer's tent, where he discovers that Memnon's sorcerer is actually a beautiful sorceress called Cassandra (Hu). Unfortunately, Mathayus is discovered and caught by the guards, thanks to a tip-off by Pheron's treacherous son, Takmet (Facinelli), leading to Jesup and Rama being killed.
Before Memnon can kill Mathayus, Cassandra protests, claiming that the Gods favour Mathayus and killing him may incur their wrath. Unable to kill Mathayus himself, Memnon has him buried to his neck in sand for fire ants to eat his head. With the help of the horse thief Arpid (Heslov), whom Mathayus had encountered earlier, he manages to escape.
At Memnon's palace, Cassandra tells Memnon that his armies will conquer the west and that Queen Isis (Howard) and her soldiers will scatter to the four winds. Memnon then gives orders to his men to have his soldiers prepare for the final campaign. Cassandra warns Memnon that his methods will never bring about peace, but Memnon refuses to listen, and states his intention to make Cassandra his queen once he has completed his conquest.
Mathayus gets into Gomorrah with the help of Arpid and an urchin boy, Tutu, who helps him sneak inside Memnon's palace. They briefly stumble into the laboratory of Memnon's sympathetic court magician, Philos (Hill), who directs Mathayus to the courtyard where Memnon is training. Mathayus attempts to shoot Memnon from above, but Tutu is caught and charged with stealing. Reluctantly, Mathayus saves Tutu from having his hand chopped off by shooting the axe out of Takmet's hand, alerting the guards.
Mathayus flees back to Philos, who accidentally catapults him across the building into Memnon's harem, where the women disarm him and call the guards. Next, Mathayus falls into Cassandra's private quarters. After a long chase, Mathayus kidnaps Cassandra, reunites with Arpid and they escape, heading for the Valley of the Dead, where Mathayus believes Memnon will try to retrieve Cassandra. Cassandra attempts to flee from Mathayus, but he persuades her otherwise, on the basis that she is safe with him.
However, Memnon sends his right hand man, Thorak (Moeller), to kill Mathayus along with a group of soldiers. With the help of a sandstorm, Mathayus is able to kill the soldiers one by one, including Thorak, but Thorak manages to stab Mathayus in the leg with an arrow drenched in scorpion venom. At the risk of her own life, Cassandra uses her powers to heal Mathayus and they continue their journey. Memnon, meanwhile, learns of Thorak's demise and prepares to destroy his enemies the next day.
Deeper in the desert, the trio catch up with Philos, who managed to escape from the city. He has been working in the desert, where he has perfected his explosive powder by the use of Saltpeter the desert has. Overjoyed to see Cassandra safe, Philos joins forces with Mathayus. The group finds an oasis, where they are ambushed and kidnapped by a group of men working for Balthazar (Duncan), the Nubian King and the leader of Memnon's enemies, who distrusts Mathayus and intends to kill him, the other two men and Cassandra. A brutal fight ensues between Mathayus and Balthazar. Mathayus, albeit barely, wins the fight and persuades Balthazar that they are fighting on the same side. Begrudgingly, Balthazar allows them one night's sanctuary. However, Cassandra has a vision of Memnon and his army slaughtering the entire rebel tribe and informs Mathayus, also foreseeing that he will die if he faces Memnon. Mathayus assures Cassandra that he will make his own destiny, and they share a night of intimacy. The next morning, Cassandra returns to Memnon in the hopes of stopping him by herself.
Mathayus and Balthazar decide to team up to rescue Cassandra and bring Memnon's empire down once and for all. As Memnon finds Cassandra out and almost kills her, Mathayus intervenes and takes on the warlord himself. The rebels, led by Balthazar, battle Memnon's forces as Arpid and Philos plant bags of the explosive powder under the palace's foundation stone. Balthazar makes his way into Memnon's quarters and briefly helps Mathayus battle Memnon and his men, but a fire starts and they end up separated.
Balthazar encounters and kills Takmet, avenging Pheron, while Mathayus takes his fight with Memnon to the edge of the palace roof. As seen in Cassandra's vision, Mathayus is shot in the back by a soldier, but not fatally. Cassandra kills the soldier as Mathayus uses his bow which Takmet left on a nearby table and the same arrow to shoot the exhausted Memnon. The force sends Memnon falling to his death as the bags explode, killing the bulk of Memnon's forces. With their warlord defeated, the remaining soldiers bow to Mathayus and declare him the Scorpion King.
In the aftermath, Mathayus and Cassandra, now King and Queen of Egypt, bid their farewells to Balthazar, who wishes them well. Cassandra then reveals to Mathayus that her night with him did not strip her of her powers. It was a white lie to stop Memnon from taking advantage of her. She subtly warns Mathayus of a vision she has had of his horrific destiny, but Mathayus decides that they will make their own destiny.
Cast [link]
- Dwayne Johnson as Mathayus
- Steven Brand as Memnon
- Kelly Hu as Cassandra
- Grant Heslov as Arpid
- Bernard Hill as Philos
- Michael Clarke Duncan as Balthazar
- Peter Facinelli as Prince Takmet
- Sherri Howard as Queen Isis
- Ralf Möller as Thorak
- Branscombe Richmond as Jesup
- Roger Rees as King Pheron
- Conrad Roberts as Chieftain
- Joseph Ruskin as Tribal Leader
- Esteban Cueto as Rama
- Nils Allen Stewart as Torturer
- Tyler Mane as Barbarian Chieftain
Reception [link]
Critical response [link]
The Scorpion King was met with a mixed critical outcome, currently holding a 41% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 133 reviews.[2] Metacritic gave the film a weighted average score of 45 based on 30 reviews.[3]
James Berardinelli of ReelViews gave the film two stars (out of four), saying: "It's possible to make an engaging action/adventure picture of this sort, but The Scorpion King isn't it."[4] Dennis Harvey of Variety gave a positive review, saying the film "rouses excitement mostly from stuntwork and thesp agility rather than CGI excess."[5]
Nathan Rabin of The Onion's A.V. Club gave the film a mildly positive review, calling it "prototypical summer-movie fare, designed to be consumed, enjoyed, and forgotten all at once."[6] Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a score of C+, calling it "plodding and obvious" but adding that The Rock "holds it together."[7] Jonathan Foreman of the New York Post gave a negative review, saying that The Scorpion King "has none of the qualities — epic sweep, relative originality and heartfelt bloodthirstiness — that made Conan so trashily entertaining."[8]
Box office [link]
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This section requires expansion. |
With a production budget of $60 million, the film grossed $12 million on its opening day and $36 million on the weekend. Its total domestic gross is about $91,047,077 while the foreign gross it made is $74,286,103, resulting in making $165,333,180 worldwide.[1]
Soundtrack [link]
| The Scorpion King | |
|---|---|
| File:ScorpionKing.jpg | |
| Soundtrack album by Various Artists | |
| Released | March 26, 2002 |
| Genre | Heavy metal, alternative metal, alternative rock, nu metal, post-grunge, hard rock |
| Label | Universal |
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [9] |
- Track listing
- "I Stand Alone" by Godsmack
- "Set It Off (Tweaker Remix)" by P.O.D.
- "Break You" by Drowning Pool
- "Streamline" by System of a Down
- "To Whom It May Concern" by Creed
- "Yanking Out My Heart" by Nickelback
- "Losing My Grip" by Hoobastank
- "Only the Strong" by Flaw
- "Iron Head" by Rob Zombie feat. Ozzy Osbourne
- "My Life" by 12 Stones
- "Along the Way" by Mushroomhead
- "Breathless" by Lifer
- "Corrected" by Sevendust
- "Burn It Black" by Injected
- "27" by Breaking Point
- "Glow" by Coal Chamber
Prequel [link]
A prequel titled The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior was released on August 19, 2008 on DVD and Blu-ray Disc. Michael Copon replaces Dwayne Johnson as a younger Mathayus.
Sequel [link]
A sequel titled The Scorpion King 3: Battle for Redemption was released on January 10th, 2012 on DVD and Blu-ray Disc with Victor Webster as Mathayus.[10]
References [link]
- ^ a b c "The Scorpion King". Box Office Mojo. https://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=scorpionking.htm. Retrieved January 4, 2010.
- ^ "The Scorpion King". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/scorpion_king/.
- ^ "The Scorpion King". Metacritic. Amazon.com. https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-scorpion-king. Retrieved 2010-06-07.
- ^ Review by James Berardinelli, ReelViews
- ^ Dennis Harvey (April 18, 2002). "The Scorpion King". Variety. https://www.variety.com/review/VE1117917485.html.
- ^ Nathan Rabin (April 29, 2002). "The Scorpion King". The A.V. Club. The Onion. https://www.avclub.com/articles/the-scorpion-king,17437/.
- ^ Review by Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly
- ^ Review by Jonathan Foreman, New York Post
- ^ "The Scorpion King [Soundtrack]". Allmusic. https://www.allmusic.com/album/r580844.
- ^ "Film News : Hollywood Insider - 6/10/10". What's Playing. June 10, 2010. https://www.whatsplaying.com.au/2010/10/film-news-hollywood-insider-61010/. Retrieved 2010-06-10.
External links [link]
- Official website
- The Scorpion King at the Internet Movie Database
- The Scorpion King at the TCM Movie Database
- The Scorpion King at AllRovi
- The Scorpion King at Rotten Tomatoes
- The Scorpion King at Metacritic
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The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior
The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior (previously known as The Scorpion King: Rise of the Akkadian) is a 2008 direct-to-DVD prequel to the 2002 film The Scorpion King, itself a prequel to the 1999 reimagining of The Mummy. Filming for the film began on October 1, 2007, in Cape Town, South Africa. The film had a scheduled release date of August 19, 2008, in the United States, and was released on Blu-ray Disc and DVD.
When young Mathayus witnesses his father's death at the hands of an evil military commander, his quest for vengeance transforms him into the most feared warrior of the ancient world.
Plot
Mathayus aims to avenge the death of his father at the hand of Sargon, now king of Akkad, by taking service in his Black Scorpions squad. After completing his training he is tasked by Sargon to kill Noah, Mathayus's own brother. He saves him and escapes the city, but a magic arrow follows them and kills Noah.
Mathayus boards a ship to Egypt, accompanied by his childhood friend Layla. He intends to get the Spear of Osiris in Egypt, which he believes will be able to pass through Sargon's black magic protection. A fellow traveller, Greek poet Aristophanes (Ari), tells Mathayus and Layla that the Spear only kills Egyptian creatures, but the Sword of Damocles will work. The trio travels to Greece, where they can enter the Underworld to retrieve the Sword of Damocles. On the way, they fall into a cell and are surrounded by men left as sacrifices for the Minotaur. Some of the sacrifices are mercenaries who owe allegiance to Mathayus' father, so they help him and Layla to defeat the Minotaur, with help from a Chinese captive named Fung.
The Scorpion King 3: Battle for Redemption
The Scorpion King 3: Battle for Redemption (previously known as The Scorpion King: Book of the Dead) is a 2012 direct-to-video film released on January 10, 2012. It is the third installment in The Scorpion King franchise and stars Victor Webster in the title role with supporting roles by Bostin Christopher, Temuera Morrison, Krystal Vee, Selina Lo, Kimbo Slice, Dave Bautista, Billy Zane, and Ron Perlman. This film continues the story of Mathayus, after he becomes the Scorpion King at the end of The Scorpion King and focuses on Mathayus battling Talus and trying to stop him from claiming the Book of the Dead.
Plot
A handful of years after giving Mathayus the prophecy that his peaceful kingdom wouldn't last forever, Cassandra dies. Mathayus allows his kingdom to fall apart in the aftermath of the deadly plague which claimed his wife's life and he believes his reign of nobility to be over. Mathayus then becomes a mercenary once more, just as he was prior to his war with Memnon. Talus who is the younger brother of Horus, a powerful king of Egypt wishes to conquer his brother's kingdom since Horus was made the king over him. In order to do so, Talus along with an army goes to the Far East to steal the Book of the Dead from Ramusan, a king who is an ally of Horus. To stop Talus, Horus hires Mathayus and pairs him up with the Scandinavian warrior Olaf. In turn, Talus kidnaps Ramusan's daughter, Silda. Ramusan then tells Mathayus that if he can save his daughter, he will have the right to wed her and once again raise a kingdom.
Scorpion (disambiguation)
A scorpion is a predatory arthropod animal.
Scorpion may also refer to:
People
Arts, entertainment, and media
Comics
Films
Gaming
Literature
Saturday Night Slam Masters
Saturday Night Slam Masters, known in Japan as Muscle Bomber – The Body Explosion (Japanese: マッスルボマー ザ・ボディー・エクスプロージョン), is a 1993 pro wrestling arcade game released for the CP System by Capcom. The game features character designs by manga artist Tetsuo Hara, famous for Fist of the North Star.
The game was followed by an updated version titled Muscle Bomber Duo in 1993, and a sequel called Ring of Destruction: Slam Masters II in 1994.
Gameplay
The original Slam Masters plays like a traditional wrestling game, only the game used a view similar to that commonly used in the fighting game genre. The game uses a three button configuration (grab, attack, and jump).
Each character has two special attacks: a non-grappling technique and a finisher. When an opponent's life meter is depleted, he must either be pinned for a three-count or forced to submit. Defeating all of the other wrestlers results in winning the championship belt, which must then be defended against the entire roster.
The Scorpion (album)
The Scorpion: Live at the Cadillac Club is an live album by jazz saxophonist Lou Donaldson recorded in Newark, New Jersey in 1970 for the Blue Note label featuring a performance by Donaldson with Fred Ballard, Leon Spencer, Melvin Sparks, and Idris Muhammad.
The album was awarded 2 stars in an Allmusic review by Scott Yanow who states "The repertoire is dominated by lengthy funk grooves that are quite danceable but never develop beyond the obvious".
Track listing
Personnel
References
Scorpion II
Scorpion II (Ancient Egyptian: possibly Selk or Weha), also known as King Scorpion, refers to the second of two kings or chieftains of that name during the Protodynastic Period of Upper Egypt.
Identity
Name
King Scorpion's name and title are of great dispute in modern Egyptology. His name is often introduced by a six- or seven-leafed, golden rosette or flower(?)-sign. This emblem can be found on numerous objects from dynasty 0 and dynasty 1; it vanishes until the end of the 3rd dynasty, when it re-appears under high-ranked officials, such as Khabawsokar and A'a-akhty (both dated to the end of 3rd dynasty). Its precise meaning has been intensely discussed; the most common interpretation is that of an emblem meaning 'nomarch' or 'high lord'. During the protodynastic and early dynastic eras, it was evidently used as a designation for kings; in much later periods, it was bestowed on high-ranked officials and princes, especially on those who served as priests for the goddess Seshat. Thus, the golden rosette became an official emblem of Seshat. The reading of the rosette sign is also disputed. Most linguists and Egyptologists read it Neb (for 'lord') or Nesw (for 'king'), and they are convinced that the golden rosette was some kind of forerunner to the later serekh.
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The King
by: Eternal RyteAll eyes will see him, coming from the clouds.
The King of King's arriving, with a mighty shout.
And all will stand before him, upon his royal throne.
And every tongue confess he is lord, and every knee will bow.
Hey bride to be, yeah, get ready for your groom.
Your world's so cluttered up, you haven't left him any room.
He's the King!
Worship His Majesty.
The King of Kings!
Then you'll see.
His the King, the King of Kings.
We all live together, here on this old earth.
Don't you even revere him? Who will you serve?
Rebellion will be judged, the King can save your soul.
Don't throw it away boy, you'll reap as you've sown.
Double standard morals, fit your every need.
You're tightrope dancing, straight to hell.
All the while saying your free.
He's the King!
Worship His Majesty.
The King of Kings!
Then you'll see.
His the King, the King of Kings.
Guitar Solo
The King of Kings.
Hey bride to be, yeah, get ready for your groom.
Your world's so cluttered up, you haven't left him any room.
Want to whore around, until the wedding day?
But God will not be mocked, don't throw it all away.
He's the King.
The King of Kings, tonight.
Worship His Majesty.
The King, oh.
He's the King.
Worship His Majesty.
The King of Kings, can't you see he's the King of Kings.