Mummies, usually the stuff of those fun old late night horror movies, have now been presented to us as they really are in this great film, narrated by Christopher Lee called Mummies: Secrets of the Pharoahs.

Like Dinosaurs Alive!, this is another film that was originally made for presentation in IMAX theaters, only this one covers the secrets of the mummies, their burial places, the secrets of the mummification process and the quest to find some usable DNA so that information can be gathered that could potentially lead to cures for some of the diseases of today.

The film itself is presented using a variety of methods including dramatically beautiful cinematography, large scale re-creations of historical scenes, old footage from expeditions that took place in the 1920's, CGI showing how some of the areas looked in ancient times and comments from scientists trying to learn more about the mummification process and to search for that ever elusive DNA.  It all adds up to a spectacularly interesting production that also includes a casual accounting of the history of some of the pharaohs talked about in the film.  For me though, it was the re-enactments and the old 1920's footage that really made the whole thing just fascinating.

This is another brilliant film, like Dinosaurs Alive!, that should be a staple in school classrooms.  Like Dinosaurs Alive! however, it suffers from the same problem.  It's just too short!  There's so much interesting information here presented in such a great way that it could have run two hours or more without even the slightest hint of boredom creeping in.

This DVD was also released by Image Entertainment an has similar special features to the Dinosaur one.  It's got a "making of" documentary shot in HD, a "meet the mummies" educational section and a mummies quiz.  Also like Dinosaurs Alive, it comes with Dolby Digital 5.1 audio in English, French and Spanish.

If you're a parent or just interested in archaeology or mummies in particular, then this is a film you'll definitely want to add to your collection.  You can pick it up from any of the usual outlets, and if you'd like to find out more about it, you can visit the film's website at http://www.mummiesfilm.com.