Michael_Elliott Mystery of the Nile (2005) *** (out of 4) Adventurer Pasquale Scaturro and kayaker Gordon Brown decided to go down the Nile River to its source in a journey that would end up lasting 114 days with over three-thousand miles being covered. The documentary shows us their journey down the river, which includes stops to see some of the people who live around the river. After viewing the film I started to read around and it seemed like there was quite a bit of anger thrown at this movie. I read that a lot of the footage was actually shot in a sound stage and I read that a few of the people in the film weren't who we're told they are but instead were just actors. I'm not sure what is true or false so I'm just going to judge the film itself and I must admit that for the most part I was entertained. I should add that I did find the narration to be rather bland and I'll admit that I really didn't care about what these people were doing or trying to do. I really didn't care about any of the mysteries that the Nile had to offer so why did I enjoy the film? Because the scenery was rather amazing. Going down the Nile gave us several great moments with some dealing with the wildlife and others dealing with the amazing body of water. There's some rather violent white water rafting and some great shots of the Nile crocodiles. It's scenes like these that make the film worth sitting through and at just 47-minutes the thing moves at a good pace.

ERuis Mystery of the Nile is a great movie, great scenery and beautiful photography. Almost to good to be true...They claim to be a documentary about a real expedition down the Nile. This is not the case. It is a fake, fictional documentary made by actors and mostly shot in a studio. Saskia Lange for instance is no Spanish journalist, but a minor German actress. That's why you only see 5 or so out of 114 expedition days: there has not been an actual expedition! The 'storm on Lake Nasser' scene is a give-away, made in a studio swimming pool. All local scenes are shot in safe, easy to reach tourist spots.I really dislike the fact that they pretend to be real. It borders a swindle. 5 points for the pretty pictures.

peder-762-520458 This movie is a marketing video for the expedition leader and a few others, who is immensely self-centered and on top factually wrong on several occasions. The expedition leader claims to be one of "few outsiders" to have ever visited the pyramids in Sudan (yes, not the ones in Egypt), but those pyramids are available for any tourist to visit – and besides "outsider" sounds quite imperialistic for a movie made in 2005. There are researchers, geologists and historians born, living and working in Sudan as well.The only reason to watch this would be to see some of the footage, which is at times quite good. Especially the flyovers. Be sure to turn off the volume first though so you don't have to hear the narrative (marketing).Don't waste your time - don't watch this.

dphelan-1 This IMAX short film tells the story of following the Blue Nile from Ethiopia to Egypt. It is also the story of past civilizations and how they prospered or suffered because of nature and their own short-sightedness or desperation. Along the way the members of the expedition see kindness and joy in places of conflict like The Sudan. Fear , danger and menace are everywhere from crocodiles to murderous bandits. The team consisting of several men and two women are geologists, archaeologists, reporters and adventurers. A cancer survivor and a "city guy" are part of the group. They face grueling challenges and flirt with danger, disease and death. Through it all they maintain a positive attitude and a real empathy for the people of the Nile and the past civilizations that both cared for and exploited the resources of this river. This is a fantastic, exciting and visually stunning film. It is full of hope and foreboding. It is amazing and inspiring.