Horst in Translation ([email protected]) "Mysteries of Egypt" is an award-winning 40-minute documentary from 1998, so this one will have its 20th anniversary next year. It is perhaps the most known work by writer and director Bruce Neibaur and a lot of that has to do with the fact that it features Oscar-nominated actor Omar Sharif, perhaps Egypt's most known in the center of it all. The idea of having him explain some of Egypt's most important historic stuff to his (of course not real) granddaughter was fairly solid and makes it easier accessible. And honestly, even if it says "mysteries" in the title, there aren't really that many mysteries in here and it is nothing too deep or scientific you will hear while watching. But that's fine. Plus the video recordings of the Egyptian desert are somewhat nice to watch most of the time. So all in all, I would say this was a success. It is somewhat typical for IMAX documentaries like this one to be not the most groundbreaking or innovative exactly, but they are still fairly informative most of the time. This one is no exception. By the way, there also seem to be versions of this one that are considerably longer than 40 minutes and exceed short film territory, but the one I saw was not that long. All in all, I give it a thumbs-up and recommend checking it out, even if you don't have the very biggest interest in ancient Egypt by nature. You won't be disappointed.

Lee Eisenberg Omar Sharif returns* to his native country in Bruce Neibaur's "Mysteries of Egypt", about the ancient civilization at the northeast corner of Africa. The revolution in Egypt earlier this year that ousted Hosni Mubarak has made the country even more relevant since the documentary first got released. No matter, it's fascinating to see all the stuff about the creation of the society. The IMAX movie has an elderly man (Sharif) telling his granddaughter (Kate Maberly) about what happened in Egypt 3,500 years ago: pyramids, pharaohs, the works. A lot of fun.*I don't actually know whether or not any part of the movie got filmed in Egypt. Egypt's government revoked Omar Sharif's passport after he co-starred in "Funny Girl", due to Barbra Streisand's support of Israel.

doctor-38 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

KV & BSt Although I love Egypt and have already been there, I almost fell asleep during this film: It's a pity that they did not succeed to make it a little more interesting: If even those who like documentaries about Egypt can hardly force themselves to pay attention til the end... But nevertheless, the pictures of the Victoria Falls were marvelous!