Product Description

See how the legend of The Scorpion King began! When a young Mathayus witnesses his father's death at the hands of the king (UFC Champion Randy Couture), his quest for vengeance transforms him into the most feared warrior of the ancient world. From the director of Resident Evil: Extinction and Highlander comes a heroic adventure filled with heart-stopping action and thrilling visual effects!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6467 in DVD
• Brand: Universal Studios
• Released on: 2008-08-19
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, French, Spanish
• Dubbed in: French, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 109 minutes

Amazon.com
The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior is a dazzling prequel to the 2002 adventure movie The Scorpion King, the latter starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as Mathayus, the warrior who takes on an evil army attacking his homeland. The Scorpion King 2 stars Michael Copon as a young Mathayus, who trains to become one of his king's warriors and then declares vengeance on the evil Sargon after the latter kills Mathayus' father. The hero's ascension as a noble fighter coincides with Sargon's usurping of the throne, leading Mathayus to seek a supernatural means to destroy him. His quest leads him to the infamous labyrinth in which the Minotaur feasts on men, and to the underworld itself, a horrifying place in which people become ensnared and die very slowly. Accompanied by a childhood friend-turned-warrior (Karen Shenaz David) and a philosopher-huckster (Simon Quarterman), Mathayus bravely but uncertainly battles through one obstacle after another to complete his journey. Directed by Australian filmmaker Russell Mulcahy (Resident Evil: Extinction), The Scorpion King 2 is a suspenseful and sometimes startling feature, with art direction and special effects that evoke the mysteries of ancient Greece and indeed make the underworld look like a most unearthly and nightmarish place. --Tom Keogh



Stills from The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior (Click for larger image)

Customer Reviews

a Rock, junior?
Ok, having read the other reviews about this movie,- scorpion king 2, i can concur, - the acting was bad, the story could have been better, - true true -- BUT, i was happy to see that the little baldheaded mathyias had the mannerisms of the older mathyias down pat, - down to the eyebrow lift - i enjoyed alot of that. - i watched the whole movie. - i cringed some, i laughed some at some stupidness, - but i watched it, and will give it to my grandkids --

Some good....lots of bad
First of all they picked a non-interesting baby face actor to be the
major character...oh my ...The bad guy was ok but sounds like he needs more acting roles by the way he delivered his line... the bad witch or whatever...too cute....
And now for the good stuff....At one point the movie resembled a sword
and sandal quest movies that was popular in the 1960's... the desert
land of the dead scenario was the best. The other surprise was the actor that portrayed the scribe /writer in this movie...Reminded me of a young Roddy McDowall character from Alladin movies to the planet of the apes movies.
So the 2 stars are for the Bad guy, the scribe and the limited budget special effect personel.
Rent it....dont buy it

DECENT - GOOD THING RANDY COUTURE IS IN THIS
THE SCORPION KING 2
RISE OF A WARRIOR

When watching this film I couldn't help but think three things, one is that how awesome is it that Randy Couture has a starring role in this, two this would have made a better episode of Hercules The Legendary Journeys, and three this is in no way as good as the first. Ok maybe that last one is a bit false since this one has great production value going for it like the first but that is about it. When I first found out about this film all I could think was that I needed to buy it because of Randy and that I owned the first one. After watching all I could think was that was all right I guess, if it would have been a stand alone it may have faired better. In fact what is up with a prequel to a prequel, oh well I guess it was worth exploring. Still this isn't as bad as I am making it sound if you go into it knowing what type of film you are in for.

Our story this time sees a young Mathayus [Michael Copon] wanting to join the ranks of the Black Scorpions which is the king's army. But all does not go according to plan as his friend Layla [Karen David] joins in on the try outs which is only for boys, of course the head of the guard Sargon [Randy Couture] is not about to let that happen. As she is about to be punished Mathayus steps in and therefore must be punished as well. This does not set well with Ashur [Peter Butler] Mathayus's father so he steps in to save his boy and get into it with Sargon, the king has to break it up before it gets ugly. It is this moment that sends Sargon into a rage that ends with Ashur dead and a young Mathayus wanting revenge.

So off he goes to join and train as a Black Scorpion so that one day he will have the skills necessary to defeat the murderer of his father. Once back things don't go as planned and he as well as Layla are off on a quest to find some magical sword in the underworld that can defeat Sargon's black magic. It is here were they run into a young poet/writer named Aristophanes or Ari as the obvious short. It is also here that the film contradicts the first one but more on that later. Here our group of young heroes travel across sea, deserts, a labyrinth, and even the dreaded underworld [which actually looks really cool]. They also do battle with minotaur, other people, and the queen of the underworld, sounds like quite the adventure. All of that is fine and well and is entertaining but it comes off as a TV show like Hercules more so than a feature film.

This is far from a perfect film as there are plot holes every were and this film actually contradicts the first. I won't go into a list or any thing but the most obvious is the Egypt thing. I am pretty sure that at the beginning of the first one the voice over says something like "in a time before the pyramids" right? Well when they are getting their tickets for the boat they say they are taking a trip to Egypt to see the pyramids, now if the first was before the pyramids and this is before the first, well. I won't go into any more of those but that is a big enough one right there at least for me, I hate when they do that. I guess the fault would be with writer Randall McCormick, he should have at least watched the first one and noticed that. His writing isn't all bad though because unlike most people I really don't mind the mixing in of all the other myths like the Minotaur and such. Sure it doesn't make full sense with this film, but hey at least it is entertaining.

Director Russell Mulcahy did ok with this film but his direction seemed uneven at times, but watching the behind the scenes and listening to the commentary it is obvious that he wanted to make a good film. I guess my biggest complaint is that I really did not see the character of Mathayus coming up like this, I don't know but it seems like he would have came up a little harder and in a more realistic struggle. And while Michael Copon did a good job with what he was given to play Mathayus I just didn't see that same character in him. But that may been due to the writing of the character, but at the same time the performance should have been there. Karen David was good as Layla and as the romantic interest of Mathayus and Tom Wu was excellent as Fong. Still the stand out characters were Ari played by Simon Quarterman and like I said in the last one I am a sucker for comic relief. And of course Sargon played by Randy Couture who does a good job for what is first major role, you can see flaws at times but for the most part he is good as the evil lead.

This is a decent movie over all and is worth a rental to see if you are into it first, but if you didn't like the first you will most likely hate this one. One thing I must say though is that the production value was good on this, the underworld looked awesomely creepy with those faces and stuff sticking out moaning in pain and loneliness.