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Saturday, April 25, 2015

THE MUMMY RETURNS [2001]

Adventure Is Reborn 


5000 years ago, a fierce warrior known as The Scorpion King 
led a great army on a campaign to conquer the known world.
After a vicious campaign which lasted 7 long years, The Scorpion King and his army were defeated,
and driven deep into the sacred desert of Ahm Shere.
One by one, they slowly perished under the scorching sun 
until only the great warrior himself was left alive.
Near death, The Scorpion King made a pact with the dark god Anubis
that if Anubis would spare his life and let him conquer his enemies, he would give him his soul.
Anubis accepted his offer and spared his life.
Anubis gave The Scorpion King command of his army, and like an evil flood, thay washed away all that lay before them.
When his task was done, Anubis forced The Scorpion King to serve him for all time.
His army was returned to the sands from whence they came, where they wait silently, to be awakaned once again.
~Ardeth Bey

 Lock-Nah: The Book of the Dead gives life.
Meela: And The Book of the Living takes life away.

Rick: What's the catch?
 Evy: Supposedly it's the resting place of Anubis' army.
Rick: See? I knew there's a catch. There's always a catch.
And let me guess, it was commanded by that Scorpion King guy?
Evy: Yes, but he only awakens once every 5000 years.
Rick: Right. And if someone doesn't kill him, he's gonna wipe out the world.
Evy: How did you know?
Rick: I didn't. But that's always the story.
Evy: The last known expedition to actually reach Ahm Shere was sent by Ramses IV over 3000 years ago.
He sent over a thousand men.
Rick: And none of them was ever seen again.
Evy: How did you know?
Rick: I didn't. But that's always the story.
Evy: Did I mention there was a pyramid of gold?
Rick: Twice.
Evy: Alexander The Great sent troops in search of it.
Rick: Hooray for him.
Evy: So did Caesar.
Rick: Yeah, look what happened to his career.
Evy: And Napoleon.
Rick: But we're smarter than him. And taller, too.
Evy: Exactly. That's why we're gonna find it.
Rick: Because we're taller?
Evy: That's why I love you.

Ardeth: I am sorry if I alarmed your son, but you must understand,
now that the bracelet is on his wrist, we have only 7 days before The Scorpion King awakens.
Rick: We? What we?
Ardeth: If he is not killed, he will raise the army of Anubis.

Ardeth: Whomever can kill The Scorpion King can send his army back to the underworld
or use it to destroy mankind and rule the earth.
Rick: That's why they dug up Imhotep.
He's the only guy though enough to take out The Scorpion King.
Ardeth: That is their plan.


Ardeth: If I were to say to you, I'm a stranger traveling from the east, seeking that which is lost...
Rick: Then I would reply that I am a stranger traveling from the west.
It is I whom you seek. How...
Ardeth: Then it is true. You have the sacred mark.
Rick: What, that? [point to his arm's tattoo]
No, that got slapped on me in an orphanage in Cairo. 
Ardeth: That marks means you're a protector of man, a warrior for God, a medjai...
Rick: Sorry, you've got the wrong guy.

Oh, I hate mummies!
~Rick O'Connell

Imhotep: This bracelet is a gift and a curse.
The sands of time have already begun to pour against you.
Alex: Yeah, yeah, I already heard this part.
From the minute I put the bracelet on, 7 days do I have before The Scorpion King wakes up.
Imhotep: Did you also hear that if you do not enter the pyramid
before the sun strikes it on that very morning, 
that the bracelet will suck the life out of you?
Alex: That part I missed.
Hey, wait a minute, that means I've only got 5 days left.
Imhotep: Then I believe it will be best if we do not get lost, don't you?
Alex: My dad is going to kick your ass.

We taught him well.
He's smarter than you and he's tougher than me.
~Rick, about Alex

Ardeth: If a man does not embrace his past, he has no future.
Rick: Look, even if I was some sort of sacred medjai, what good does that do me now?
Ardeth: It is the missing piece of your heart.
If you embrace it, if you accept it, you can do anything.

Ardeth: Now, do you believe, my friend?
Clearly, you were destined to protect this woman.
Rick: Right, she's a reincarnated princess, and I'm a warrior for God.
Ardeth: And your son leads the way to Ahm Shere. 3 sides of the pyramid.
This was all preordained thousands of years ago.
Evy: And how does the story ends?
Ardeth: Only the journey's written, not the destination.
Rick: Convenient.
Ardeth: How else do you explain Evy's visions?
That it is your son who wears the bracelet?
How do you explain your mark?
Rick: Coincidence.
Ardeth: My friend, there is a fine line between coincidence and fate.


Rick: It's not easy being a dad.
Alex: But you do it really good.


*****

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

28 DAYS LATER [2002]

 The Days Are Numbered


Scientist: The chimps are infected. They're highly contagious.
They've been given an inhibitor.
Activist: Infected with what?
Scientist: To cure, you must first understand.
Activist: INFECTED WITH WHAT?
Scientist: Rage.

The animals are contagious.
The infection is in their blood and saliva.
One bite...
~Scientist

Mark: I've got some bad news.
Selena: It started as rioting, and right from the beginning you knew this was different.
Because it was happening in small villages, market towns.
And then it wasn't on the TV anymore.
It was on the street outside.
It was coming through your windows.
It was a virus.
An infection.
You didn't need a doctor to tell you that.
It was the blood. There was something in the blood.
By the time they tried to evacuate the cities, it was already too late.
The infection was everywhere.
The army blockades were overrun.
And that's when the exodus started.
The day before broadcasting stopped, there were reports of infection in Paris and New York.
We didn't hear anything more after that.
Jim: What's the government doing?
Selena: There's no government.
Jim: Of course there's a government!
There's always a government.
They're in a bunker or a plane...
Mark: No, there's no government, no police, no army.
No TV, no radio, no electricity.
You're the first uninfected person we've seen in 6 days.


My parents and my sister, we went to Paddington Station, 
hoping maybe we could get on a plane, maybe we could buy our way onto a plane.
I remember my dad had all this cash, even though cash was completely useless.
About 20,000 other people had the same idea.
Crowd was surging.
I lost my grip on my sister's hand...
I remember the ground was soft.
I looked down and I was standing on all these people, like a carpet, people who had fallen and...
Somewhere in the crowd there were infected. It spread fast.
No one could run.
All you could do was climb. Climb over more people.
So I did that. I climbed.
And I got up on top of this kiosk.
Looking down, you couldn't tell which faces were infected and which weren't.
Then I saw my dad. Not my mum or my sister. My dad.
His face...
Selena's right. You should be grateful.
~Mark

If someone gets infected, you've about 20 seconds to kill them.
It might be your brother, your sister or your oldest friend. It makes no difference.
Just so you know where you stand, if it happens to you, I'll do it in a heartbeat.
~Selena

Plans are pointless.
Staying alive's as good as it gets.
~Selena

Jim: I think they're good people.
Selena: Good people?
You should be more concerned about whether they're gonna slow you down.
Jim: Because if they slowed you down...
Selena: I'd leave them behind.
Jim: In a heartbeat.
Selena: Yeah.
Jim: I wouldn't.
Selena: Then you're gonna wind up getting yourself killed.

Selena: If it's a recording, the soldiers who made it could be dead.
Frank: It's possible.
Selena: That stuff about the answer to infection... I mean there is no answer!
It's already done all the damage it can!
Jim: Maybe they have a cure.
Selena: Maybe they've got nothing!
Frank: The only way to find out is to reach them.
Selena: We could die trying, Frank!
Hannah: Or die here.
And anyway, it isn't true what Dad said.
You need us just the same as we need you. We need each other.
And we'll never be safe in the cities.
The soldiers could keep us safe.
So we have to try and get there.

This is what I've seen in the 4 weeks since infection.
People killing people.
Which is what I saw in the 4 weeks before infection, the 4 weeks before that...
as far back as I care to remember, people killing people.
Which to my mind puts us in a state of normality now.
~Major Henry West


*****