You don't need to be an explorer or an adventurer or a treasure-seeker or a gunfighter to appreciate the charms of The Mummy.
The 1999 film starring Brendan Fraser at his swashbuckling best came out 25 years ago and has yet to gather dust, subsequent generations happily discovering the same humor, thrills and crackling chemistry between the actor and costar Rachel Weisz that originally dazzled theatergoers.
"I loved being part of a movie that we didn't know if it was an action, comedy, horror, adventure, romance—all of the above," Fraser told Popverse in 2022. "I think it had so much appeal because everybody wanted a little bit of all of those things I just mentioned. And by whatever movie magic, it came together for us."
The Oscar winner also starred in 2001's The Mummy Returns and 2008's The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor and has said he's open to reprising the role of charming rogue Rick O'Connell, "if someone came up with the right conceit." (And he knows what the wrong conceit looks like, pointing to the unfortunate 2017 effort to revive the IP starring Tom Cruise.)
But even if Rick and Evelyn had only awakened one undead prince with an axe to grind, Fraser's place in cinematic history would've still been set in stone. Not to mention, there's enough lore behind the original film to fill a precariously stacked library.
So though you should probably stay away from anything titled "Book of the Dead," no harm ever came from reading these tightly wrapped secrets about The Mummy:
The Mummy is currently back in theaters in honor of its 25th anniversary. Check your local listings.
(E! and Universal Pictures are both members of the NBCUniversal family.)