Sphinx (1981) User Reviews

Lara Croft she ain't!

[hined · 5/10 · 8 July 2020]

This could have been Erica Baron: Tomb Raider, 20 years before Lara grabbed the headlines. It's got great locations as anyone who's been to Egypt will know, and a half decent story to go with it. Unfortunately instead of being Lara Croft confident and kick-ass, Erica Baron will scream at almost anything and trip over and bump into everyone and everything in her path (and then scream again for good measure). She'll even scream when a sticking plaster is ripped off someone else's face for Christ's sake! She'll then stop, panic and then run (while flailing her arms around) when things get dangerous. Things definitely moved on in the 20 years after this was made until Lara arrived.

Even as a Dr of Egyptology she's sub-standard. Despite being able to read hieroglyphics, she's clearly never been to Egypt before as she has absolutely no idea about the culture, and even when arriving at the great pyramid, she goes for a camel ride before seeing any Egyptian history! Deary me. When speaking to he locals she'll only attempt to speak English and give up on them before they've had time to gesture or try and communicate. Actually, speaking English to them just makes their faces completely blank as if they've not heard her at all!

Despite this the story moves along to its relatively good ending, despite a shoot out at the end where every bullet hits a nearby jug or vase and never the target!!

All in all, highly recommended!!!

Great Scenery

[boblipton · 6/10 · 8 January 2023]

Lesley-Ann Down is an Egyptologist making her first trip to Egypt, fascinated by the Carter Expedition. A statue vanishes, and she goes on a search for it, with lots of locals, like Frank Langella, John Gielgud, and John Rhy-Davies showing up as she heads down to Luxor.

It's a very slow-moving film, with the magnificent camerawork of Ernest Day and Claude Renoir up and down the Nile valley keeping things visually interesting, if not always in terms of plot. There are vistas of scree, with a single magnificent building on it around Luxor, apparently, with the green of the river's shore a distant promise. Director Franklin Schaffner may have been the cat;'s pajamas as the 1960s ended and the 1970s began, but he was in a slide here; his next movie would be YES, GIORGIO.

SPHINX (Franklin J. Schaffner, 1981) **

[Bunuel1976 · 4/10 · 2 May 2008]

Rather foolish attempt at a Hitchcock-type mystery-thriller, improbably exchanging espionage for archaeology and based on the Robin Cook novel; incidentally, I’ve recently acquired another adaptation of his work – COMA (1978) – in honor of the late Richard Widmark. For the record, director Schaffner had just made THE BOYS FROM BRAZIL (1978) – a similarly fanciful but much more engrossing suspenser and, unfortunately, SPHINX was a false step from which his so-far impressive career would not recover.

Despite its scope and reasonably decent cast, however, this one proved a critical and commercial flop – mainly because the narrative just isn’t very thrilling: in fact, it’s quite dreary (feeble attempts at horror – the archaeologist heroine having to put up with entombment, rotting corpses galore, and even an attack by a flurry of bats – notwithstanding). Lesley Anne-Down is the lovely leading lady, stumbling upon a lost treasure – it’s actually been hidden away by a local sect to prevent it from falling into the hands of foreigners, who have appropriated much of the country’s heritage (under the pretext of culture) for far too long. Sir John Gielgud turns up in a thankless bit early on as the antique dealer who puts Down on the way of the loot, and pays for this ‘act of treason’ with his life.

Typically, it transpires that some characters are the opposite of what they claim to be – so that apparent allies (such as Maurice Ronet) are eventually exposed as villains, while an ambiguous figure (Frank Langella, whom I saw at London in early 2007 in a West End performance of “Frost/Nixon”, which has now been turned into a film) goes from Down’s antagonist to her lover and back again, as he determines to keep the wealth belonging to Egyptian high priest Menephta a national treasure.

Slow, really slow

[witsend64 · 12 January 2002]

This is probably the slowest movie I have ever seen, and that's saying a lot since I watch BBC TV on satellite. The story is confusing, the acting is poor, and the casting is unbelievable. Lesley-Anne Down is the movie's only redeeming quality, and she spoils it by having to speak that innane dialogue! I've watched worse, but I've never sat through a slower movie!

So Stupid It's Entertaining

[lisado · 3/10 · 19 February 1999]

When this movie was released, it spawned one of the all-time great capsule movie reviews: Sphinx Stinks. It does, but in a mesmerizing sort of way. The casting is silly, starting at the top: Frank Langella and Sir John Gielgud as Egyptians? Not enough makeup in Cairo for that, at least not while this film was being made. But it's rather amusing to see them try. The performances run the gamut from mummy-like (sorry, the obvious observation) to over-the-top, with very few stops in between. The Lesley-Anne Down character seems as though she couldn't find Egypt on a map, much less expound upon its archaeological treasures. That's due at least in part to some really bad writing, one of the curses that will be visited upon every viewer of this movie. It's my opinion that movies involving a curse or that draw their basis from a subject that is somewhat esoteric, such as Egyptology, are ripe for silly, overwritten dialogue. It doesn't disappoint, and the convergence proves a double-whammy. The plot has one driving source of dramatic tension: Can this get dumber and less believable? The answer is, usually, YES. The location shots are beautiful, and the set design is generally very good, the only consistent reminders that this wasn't some low-budget production. That and the fact that there are so many well-known faces doing service in such an unintentional laugher. Cheap, no; cheesy, yes.

Stand back! I'm an Egyptologist!

[Colorado Boja · 1/10 · 27 August 2001]

Some nice scenery, but the story itself--in which a self-proclaimed Egyptologist (Lesley-Anne Down) visits Egypt and, in the course of doing Egyptologist things in the most un-Egyptologistic of ways (e.g., flash photography in the tombs, the handling of old parchment, etc.), uncovers a black market turf war and somehow (in the span of two days, no less!) becomes that war's jumpsuit-wearing epicenter--is more puzzling than any riddle the Sphinx ever posed. Down is simply awful as the visiting British scholar (that she seems to know absolutely nothing about the culture of Egypt and even less about antiquities is the fault of the writers, certainly; but that she's annoying as all get out is her own fault entirely), and the rest of the cast, including Sir John Gielgud and Frank Langella, seem as downright confused by the proceedings as I was. In short, not what you'd expect from Schaffner (Planet of the Apes, Patton) and co.

Worth watching for a laughably dated scene in which Down rails against all male scholars, blaming them for her failure as an academic, while bathed under the softest light Hollywood could muster. To top it off, she spends the next hour of the film shrieking and harried and running into the arms of any dude she can find. Wow, talk about your performative irony!

*Note to would-be Egyptologists: take a year or two of Arabic in grad school. It'll really help out in the long run...

Nothing to do with the Sphinx

[robert-temple-1 · 2/10 · 23 June 2008]

This film has nothing whatever to do with the Sphinx, and the title is just a come-on. The story concerns an imagined true and concealed tomb in the Valley of the Kings, of King Seti I, second pharaoh of the 19th Dynasty, New Kingdom period. It is not a bad yarn, and a great deal of the film is shot on location. Even the scenes in the Winter Palace Hotel lobby in Luxor were really shot there, and not in a studio. The second unit stuff is endless, and they must have been let loose on Egypt for weeks. Frank Langella is very good indeed as a sophisticated Egyptian. He should take it up as a sideline. The film is essentially ruined by one of the world's most irritating actresses, Lesley Anne Down, who plays the lead. She spends the whole film wondering how she looks, are her blue eyes refracting light at the correct angle, do all the fellas lust after her, etc. Having started life as a model at the age of ten, what hope could there be for her? She epitomises everything that is most revolting about female vanity and dim-witted inanity. And to think that this film was directed by Franklin Shaffner, who won an Oscar for 'Patton'! He allows this terrible actress to whimper and simper through the film, hysterical one moment, flirting the next, in a kind of hurricane of idiocy as she reels from one man to another, either screaming or making bedroom eyes, it matters not. She is supposed to be a young Egyptologist. But she has never been to Egypt before! She takes a taxi to Giza and catching her first glimpse of the pyramids, gushes in ecstasy: 'But they're so BIG!!!!' Barf! OK, so that was the script, but she takes to the banality too readily, giving the impression that it is her natural element, which I don't doubt for a minute. Elements of the story are sound. There is, indeed, a serious problem about a black market in antiquities there. True! Well done! The novel by Robin Cook, which I have not seen, may be OK for all I know. It was fun to see the name of Cyril Swern as sound recordist on the film, as I knew him pretty well long ago. Stanley Kubrick's step-daughter Katharina is described as 'draughtswoman'. I wonder what that means? Maybe she did some set work. Anyway, the antiquities in the film are pretty good, actually. And we get to see lots of the Cairo Museum and numerous scenic locations. They actually go inside King Tutankhamun's Tomb! I don't imagine that would be allowed today for a movie. A lot of inappropriate scenes take place in mosques. That would not go down well today, but in 1981 such things were not on the agenda. The music for the film is absolutely appalling, worse than Lesley Anne Down in fact! But there were sound track elements which were surprisingly authentic, one being the cacophony of traffic noise of Cairo, which is accurately rendered in the background, and would make anyone who knows Cairo chuckle nervously. Also, the loudspeaker calls to prayer are there the whole time, another touch of authenticity. Why didn't they get this right? It could have been good.

Not the Mummy

[adlibitum6 · 6/10 · 10 December 2001]

Sphinx isn't the greatest movie about Egypt, but it is somewhat entertaining. I'd probably buy it if it came out on DVD, but it wouldn't be my first choice. It's worth it to watch Leslie Ann Down, she's not the smartest Egyptologist, but she's still very easy on the eyes.

Hopelessly silly Egyptian adventure. Nice to look at, but absolute hell to watch.

[barnabyrudge · 2/10 · 23 June 2007]

The Robin Cook novel "Coma" had already been turned into a pretty successful movie in 1978. A couple of years later it was the turn of another Robin Cook bestseller to get the big screen treatment , but in the case of "Sphinx" virtually everything that could go wrong does go wrong. This is a dreadful adventure flick consisting of wooden performances, stupid dialogue, unconvincing characters and leaden pacing. The only reason it escapes a 1-out-of-10 rating is that the Egyptian backdrop provides infinitely more fascination than the story itself. Hard to believe Franklin J. Schaffner (of "Patton" and "Planet Of The Apes") is the director behind this debacle.

Pretty Egyptologist Erica Baron (Lesley Anne-Down) is on a working vacation in Cairo when she stumbles across the shop of antiques dealer Abdu-Hamdi (John Gielgud). Hamdi befriends Erica and is impressed by her enthusiasm and knowledge. Consequently, he shows her a beautiful and incredibly rare statue of Pharoah Seti I that he is keeping secretly in his shop. The very existence of the statue arouses intense excitement in Erica, for it could provide vital clues in locating Seti I's long-lost tomb, a prize as great as the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922. Before Hamdi can tell Erica any more he is brutally murdered in his shop, with Erica watching in silent terror as he meets his grisly end. Afraid yet tantalised by what she has seen, Erica attempts to track down the treasure. She finds herself helped and hindered in her quest by various other parties, none of whom are truly trustworthy. For one there is Yvon (Maurice Ronet), seemingly a friend but perhaps a man with sinister ulterior motives? Then there is Akmed Khazzan (Frank Langella), an Egyptian for whom Erica feels a certain attraction but who may also be hiding dangerous secrets from her.

The biggest problems with "Sphinx" generally result from its total disregard for plausibility. Down couldn't be less convincing as a female Egyptologist – one assumes she would be quite well-educated and resourceful, yet she spends the entire film screaming helplessly like some busty bimbo from a teen slasher flick. On those rare occasions that she actually isn't running from a potential villain, she does other brainless things such as taking Polaroid flash photos in a 4,000 year old tomb! The plot twists are heavy-handed to say the least, mainly comprising of revelations and double-crosses that can be predicted well in advance. One can't even try to enjoy the film on the level of dumb but entertaining action fare, because the pacing is awfully sluggish. What little action can be found is separated by long stretches of tedium. A famous review of the movie declared: "Sphinx stinks!" Never before has a 2-hour film been so aptly summed up in 2 words.

Pure Hokum but entertaining

[greene515 · 6/10 · 6 March 2011]

Lesley Anne Down plays Egyptologist Erica Baron who gets more than she bargained for when she becomes involved with the plundering of Egyptian artifacts on the black market, thrown in to this mix is murder, betrayal, love, and a mummy's curse! 'Sphinx' is one of those enjoyable films which is pure hokum which makes for a passable rainy day film.

Frank Langella plays Down's mysterious love interest. John Gielgud who is credited as 'Sir' has a small role as an antique dealer, it's interesting to see John Rhys Davies in this production before he appeared in the similarly themes 'Raiders' the Egyptian locations look great as photographed by Ernest Day it's great to see this film in it's original aspect ratio, as i've seen this on television in dreadful 'pan and scan''Sphinx' would make a great 'drinking game' for instance take a drink every time Lesley Anne Down screams!

The film where nobody walks like an Egyptian.

[mark.waltz · 5/10 · 18 May 2022]

A silly adventure set in the Valley of the Kings, this is entertaining but filled with a lot of nonsense, starting with Lesley Anne Downe's hair and continuing with her screaming every time she's in trouble even though she claims to be a tough Egyptologist. The film starts off in 1300 BC and then switches to the present day, the flashbacks to the past really inconsequential other than to show some of what happened during the days of the Pharaohs as far as tomb invasion was concerned. The poor young man trying to get Invaders out of the tomb is drawn and quartered for his trouble and puts a curse on anyone in the future who will invade the pyramids, and somehow we're supposed to believe that the people fighting over tomb treasure are somehow connected to this curse. It starts with Downe visiting antique shopkeeper John Gielgud (fine in his acting but ridiculously cast as an Arab), witnessing a brutal murder then all of a sudden being followed around everywhere she goes and finally under the protection of local law enforcer Frank Langella. He's a little bit more believable as an Arab, but not by much. For fans of the same year's "Raiders of the Lost Ark", John Rhys-Davies is present, although here he's definitely a bad guy, although every character at one point or another in this film seems to be pretty evil.

Certainly loaded with a lot of realistic looking Egyptian treasures, it's easy to watch yet just as easy to forget once it's done because there's nothing new about it, very similar to the previous year's "The Awakening" as far as budget and artistic merit is concerned. There's a lot of comic relief too, starting with someone slapping Downe when she screams, allowing for her to slap him back, only to get that slap minutes later to her declaration of "I don't like being slapped even when I'm frantic." If she got slapped every time she was frantic in this movie, there would be a line of people waiting to do so, just like the hysterical woman in the previous year's "Airplane!"

I've seen more annoying females intruding where they shouldn't be in other films, but the situations that she gets herself involved in arr ridiculous, starting with her trapped in a cave overnight then all of a sudden finding herself in the midst of Seti's tomb. Langella plays the most complex of all the characters, and you're never quite sure which side that he is on oh, eventually revealed to be related to tomb raiders from his childhood. His magnetism on-screen is undeniable, and he is quite stunning to look at. But the film overall is preposterous and clunky, reminding me of the type of adventures that Hollywood used to put out in the 1950's, a great popcorn flick but filled with more holes than all the grooves in the stones of all the pyramids put together.

This movie REALLY does the book justice. VERY well made movie!

[snortch · 10/10 · 16 December 2002]

I first read Robin Cook's book "Sphinx" while in the Army, stationed in Mainz, Germany in the late '80s. I mentioned the book to a friend recently and he said "Oh, they made a move from the book". I found the movie on the net and plugged it into the VCR with some trepidation. NEVER are movies as good as the book. Well, this movie proved me wrong. The movie follows the book quite closely, but the lavish sets and great acting make for a very enjoyable viewing.

not really any relation to the Sphinx itself

[lee_eisenberg · 6/10 · 7 August 2007]

OK, so we should all know by now that any westerner who sticks even a hair strand into an Egyptian tomb is forever cursed. So many movies have dealt with this that another one hardly registers. "Sphinx" consists mostly of Lesley-Anne Down shrieking whenever something unpleasant happens (and with how she was dressed - without a veil - the people in Egypt would have taken her for a prostitute). I couldn't tell whether or not Frank Langella's character was supposed to be Arab or white: he had an Arab name but looked and talked like a Euro-American. And then John Gielgud plays an Egyptian man; was it still acceptable to cast white people as non-white people by this point? For the record, the title statue only appears in one or two scenes.

I should say that the movie isn't terrible. I learned some interesting stuff about archeology. But a far cooler movie in this genre is the Charlton Heston movie "The Awakening". This one is the sort of movie that you rent if there's absolutely nothing else to rent. I read that director Franklin J. Schaffner (most famous for "Planet of the Apes", "Patton", "Papillon" and "The Boys from Brazil") ended his career on a down-slide; with this sort of movie, I can see why. Also starring John Rhys-Davies (Sallah in the Indiana Jones movies) and Victoria Tennant (Steve Martin's first wife; she co-starred with him in "All of Me" and "L.A. Story").

Not that this is really related, but I wanted to talk about this movie getting released through Warner Bros. When I was little, I always associated WB with Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, etc. Had I known then that the studio also released this movie - plus horror movies like "The Exorcist", "The Pack", "The Shining" and "The Nesting" - I probably would have asked something like "Why did Bugs Bunny make a bunch of scary movies?" This movie however, is not scary.

Pull up a seat and go to sleep...

[paul_haakonsen · 2/10 · 15 June 2021]

Right, well, where to begin?

I sat down in 2021 to watch the 1981 movie "Sphinx" from writer John Byrum and director Franklin J. Schaffner without ever having heard about the movie before now as I sat down to watch it.

And given the fact that the movie was set in Egypt and was titled "Sphinx", I must admit that I was expecting a bit more focus on the Egyptian lore and history, but instead found myself in for a very, very boring murder mystery of sorts.

Needless to say that the fact that the movie also had Lesley-Anne Down, Frank Langella and John Rhys-Davies on the cast list helped win me over. But it seemed that not even they could manage to do much with the inferior and inadequate script and storyline they had to work with.

I gave up on "Sphinx" shortly after having suffered through a bit more than one hour of virtually nothing interesting happening. I wanted to give the movie a fair chance and I wanted to enjoy it. But I just couldn't. This movie was definitely not my cup of tea. It was incredibly slow paced, uneventful and just downright uninteresting and unappealing.

My rating of the 1981 movie "Sphinx" lands on a mere two out of ten stars. This movie was nothing near what I had hoped or expected from it. And it definitely wasn't a movie that entertained me in any way. And I can honestly say that I am not returning to watch the remaining half hour of movie that I skipped on; I just simply don't care about the storyline - or lack thereof, rather.

dull

[bob the moo · 4 January 2002]

Erica Baron travels to Egypt to search for the lost treasure of Tutencamin. Once there she finds treachery and secrets are very common as she searches for the treasure. Who can she trust to help her?

This is a very dull archaeology movie, made before Indiana Jones made it all very much more lively. However this has a reasonable plot involving several twists and double crosses - some of which you'll see coming and some you won't, though don't get your hopes up, the twists are earth shattering but merely double crosses and the like. However it's delivered with so little life or excitement that I started to get bored and only really noticed the plot whenever a new character came in or something like that. When you think about the story afterwards you realise that the plot was actually quite interesting but that the delivery seemed to suck all life out of it.

Another problem is the actors. First of all the two leads are terrible. Lesley-Anne Down is a ridiculous archaeologist! And she is a terrible lead - here all she does is run around in a jump suit with groomed hair screaming and running, running and screaming, finding a statute, running, screaming etc. Also it is very irritating the way that she looks down at Arabs as savages. In fact almost all the Arab characters in this film are portrayed as bad men or savages when compared to the white, angelic Down - the few trustworthy Arabs being played by white or western actors, such as Sir John Gielguld. Frank Langella gives a drab, uninteresting performance as Khazzan. He manages to show almost no emotion and only one facial expression throughout the film - as a mysterious romantic character he totally fails.

Overall an interesting story is delivered with all the excitement of a traffic jam and is spoilt by a bad performance by an actress better suited to TV movies, an actor that is almost totally without character and a support cast that are portrayed as savages. Go watch Indiana Jones instead.

Never really gets going.

[lost-in-limbo · 4/10 · 25 December 2021]

Flat, and overlong adventure-thriller filmed on location. So it doesn't disappoint when it came to the local Egyptian landmarks and the extravagant scope of its craftsmanship. Even the production was given permission to film Tutankhamen's treasure.

However for a thriller, it wasn't particularly thrilling. More so, it meandered through story threads with its uninteresting mix of espionage-like spills and archaeology groundwork/mythology. In the first half-hour there are a few brutal depictions of violence, but it soon moves away from it.

Caught up in the middle of this possible occult-laced mystery involving the last undiscovered Egyptian tomb with treasure is a headstrong anthropologist (Leslie Ann Down). Quite a bunch of names also show up, but no one really stands out from each other. Interesting to see John Rhys-Davis in a minor role here, as in the same year he appeared in the much better received 'Raiders of the Lost Ark'.

Movie ruined by hair color

[knittinglady67 · 3/10 · 30 July 2013]

I've seen the movie more than once and whether on the big screen or TV, Lesley-Anne Down's hair coloring was so red that it took the attention off whatever was happening in a scene. I kind of got that it made her character more visible in crowd scenes, but it was really an annoyance. Don't know whose idea it was to give her hair such a jarring color, but it was so distracting. The romantic storyline with Frank Langella lacked any chemistry between the characters, it could have been stronger. Loved the Egyptian location and the archaeological treasures, tombs, etc. Made me want to visit and explore the Valley of the Kings. Overall it was a disappointment , not as interesting as the Robin Cook novel.

Hollywood Egypt

[Koceny · 5/10 · 9 August 2021]

Generally ok movie, with some remarks: first of all Egyptologist who is afraid of skeleton? When she sees one, she cries and screams in terror. I don't think so!

Second, in some parts the movie is not so good directed; i.e. One moment she is trapped in a tomb, the next second she is walking down the path, without ever knowing how she got out of there. Very strange!

And the last thing but not the least- the main actress (Egyptologist)- one moment she is acting ok, the other she forgets how to act. It's a mystery!

But all in all, ok movie... I've seen worse...

Rather Unfairly Maligned Escapism

[bkkaz · 7/10 · 5 January 2023]

Okay, so Sphinx is not a great movie, but it's not a bad one, either. Funnily enough, with better film craft, it would be no worse than Raiders of the Lost Ark given they traffic in a lot of the same cliches. But that movie had a comic book nostalgia that gave it energy this film lacks. Without the window dressing, all that's left is the simplistic story. Notice I said story. There's not much here in terms of that, but there's a lot of plot. The characters never seem to tire of doing and saying any number of things to keep the movie going. Some are more interesting than others.

Leslie-Anne Warren, who looks particularly lovely here, plays an Egyptologist who gets pulled into various factions of graverobbers hoping to loot ancient Egyptian treasures. If you're a fan of old movies, you've seen this set up a million times before, the difference being this movie tries hard -- mistakenly -- to give it some solemnity that all those cliffhangers in the 1930s and 1940s did not. There's really no need. This is escapism, not drama, something that by the 1970s and 1980s, the people making the movies had forgotten.

Take Steven Spielberg. Like author Stephen King, he just recycled stuff we've seen a million times before. But Spielberg gave it a bit more gloss, turning B movie ideas in expensive amusement park rides that worked especially on audiences born in the 1950s and 1960s. The biggest problem with Sphinx is director Franklin Schaffner, a remarkably workmanlike filmmaker who somehow hit it big with some pseudo epics like Planet of the Apes and Patton. Now, even if you're a fan of no-nonsense, traditional directing, you'll notice how Schaffner seems to have little style or imagination.

The result is Sphinx often looks nice in terms of pure photography but lacks many of the components of great escapism. Add to it some sloppy editing that makes the story hard to follow, and you're left with a good idea never quite done.

Aside from Gielgud, no polish...

[moonspinner55 · 2/10 · 2 July 2017]

Sloppy comic book adventure from Robin Cook's bestseller. Female Egyptologist in Cairo, a nervous ninny prone to screaming, is under investigation by a member of the United Nations after witnessing the murder and robbery of an art dealer; he follows her to Luxor, where she believes a tomb at the Valley of the Kings holds a legendary treasure. Despite a great deal of production expense and travel (not to mention Michael J. Lewis' booming, over-dramatic score), the spiritless film fails to function as a sand-swept travelogue, and it's too silly and annoying to work as a thriller. In the leads, Lesley-Anne Down and Frank Langella are an enervating pair. Sir John Gielgud has a little fun in a cameo role, and he exits far too soon. *1/2 from ****

Good, not great but not awful either.

[spradley-3 · 7/10 · 27 February 2021]

I just rewatched Sphinx after seeing it many years ago. I read the reviews and thought it was pretty straight forward,easy to follow. I'm a huge Frank Langella fan and just seeing him in the made it worth watching for me. However, as much as I enjoyed watching him romancing Leslie Ann Downs, I agree that there was not much chemistry between them. Most of the actors just ok - no shining stars, except Langella who can simply walk into the room and make the scene. His presence is always stunning and he seems in complete control of the scene. As far as the story, it moves slowly and follows the usual Egypt films plots. Leslie does ok but seems stiff in many scene like she is not comfortable in her role. She's supposed to be really smart but does so many dumb and stupid things that it is maddening. I think the film doesn't work as well as it could because the energy level of the characters is inconsistent. For example, in The Mummy, there is a matched energy between the main actors and the people after them. Here there is a mish mash of actors thrown together, some good, some bad in the same scenes so the good ones can't really shine.

So, bottom line, watching Frank Langella is always a joy for me so I don't care what film he's in - I'll watch it. I probably would t have watching Sphinx all the way through without his presence.

SPHINX STINKS

[bondscammer · 1/10 · 10 March 2024]

When it comes to the 1981 film 'Sphinx', it's hard to overlook the glaring issues that plague this cinematic endeavor. From poor acting to a weak script, bad special effects, and an overall sense of boredom, 'Sphinx' fails to captivate its audience on multiple fronts.

One of the most striking flaws of 'Sphinx' lies in the realm of acting. The performances delivered by the cast, including stars like Lesley-Anne Down and Frank Langella, fall flat and lack the depth and nuance needed to breathe life into the characters. The emotional range feels limited, leaving viewers disconnected from the narrative and the plight of the protagonists.

Adding to the disappointment is the weak script that fails to engage or intrigue. The dialogue comes across as stilted and unconvincing, lacking the spark of authenticity that is essential for a compelling story. Characters seem to merely recite lines rather than embody their roles, leading to a sense of detachment and disbelief in the unfolding events.

Furthermore, the special effects in 'Sphinx' leave much to be desired. In a film that relies heavily on the allure of ancient Egyptian mysteries and elaborate set pieces, the subpar visual effects detract from the grandeur and mystique that should accompany such a narrative. Instead of transporting the audience to a world of wonder and awe, the lackluster effects serve as a constant reminder of the film's shortcomings.

Ultimately, the combination of poor acting, a weak script, and bad special effects culminates in an overall sense of boredom that pervades 'Sphinx'. The film fails to evoke the sense of adventure and excitement that one would expect from a story set amidst the Egyptian pyramids. Instead, it plods along, lacking the energy and momentum needed to hold the audience's attention.

In conclusion, 'Sphinx' is a misfire on multiple fronts, with its poor acting, weak script, bad special effects, and overall sense of boredom overshadowing any potential it may have had. For viewers seeking an engaging and immersive cinematic experience, 'Sphinx' falls short of delivering on its promises and leaves much to be desired.

Love it!

[catpause · 8/10 · 22 September 2007]

Call me a drippy romantic but Frank Langella, dancing eyes and all, is great in this movie. He captures the ideal of a darkly romantic mystery man with intelligence and humor. My only complaint is Lesley-Anne Down's shrieks--for an avowed Egyptolgist you'd think she'd be used to dark, dusty & dirty places. The plot, which causes Down to question her pride, self-esteem and morality when tempted with revealing centuries-old secrets, is straight forward and uncomplicated. The scenery of the desert, Cairo, and the pyramids is lush and lovely and the "comic relief," even though it comes with an "I just knew that would happen," twist is fun and charming. If you'd just like to watch a picturesque, romantic adventure with no socially redeeming features getting in the way, watch this.

Leslie Ann Down!

[demodokos · 6/10 · 10 August 2022]

She merits a 12, the film generously a -6, so averaged +6. Frank Langella is ok. The plot is ridiculous, even for its day. The title has nothing to do with the film, except that both are in Egypt. It's, I suppose, a kind of heist movie. Well, not really. No thefts seem to occur during present time in the film. Perhaps it would more accurately be described as a film about the historical thefts of Egyptian antiquities, and an inept and improbable English archaeologist who unwraps a bit of it. Still, I could watch her doing dishes, and perhaps it would be more exciting than this film. I kept expecting something, but it never happened. I couldn't think of a spoiler if you paid me.

Are all Egyptologists this weird??

[poj-man · 2/10 · 5 January 2023]

This popped up on Turner Classic Movies and I thought "This is weird. I'm a movie buff and was 18 years old in 1981 and I ran the book store that specialized in Science Fiction and Fantasy at the time...and I don't recall this movie! It must have been awful. Must see TV!"

I was right! A decent start turns into just an awful film. It's a "run from scene to scene without much ever really happening" adventure. It wants to Romancing the Stone. Even Sahara was was better than this. In fact while watching I kept half expecting Matthew Mcconaughey to suddenly show up as an Egyptian. He would have fit right in.

Lesley Anne Down is as stiff as a board. In the Mummy movies Rachel Weiss shows physical skills such as the initial "up on the ladder wreck the library scene." None of that from Lesley. Even when she gets thrown into the tomb rolling down a flight of steps she looks like an ironing board being thrown down stairs.

Nothing really ever happens. The script has more loose threads than a frayed coat. Nothing happens with any inscriptions or parchments that are paraded around. How to keep a pyramid from ever being robbed goes to the grave with the guy who has his pyramids raided anyway.

So...you are a somewhat renowned Egyptologist. An antiquities dealer shows you the find of the century illegally hidden in his house. Then he leaves her with it and through a conveniently place peephole in the second story floor she watched him get murdered by 3 guys. What do you do?

She runs out but leaves her big ass purse with everything behind. So she has to run back in. Her purse has been emptied but I guess her passport wasn't stolen. She gathers her goods only to have a scimitar fight break out between 2 men who have arrived.

Do you go to the police? Of course not! You start meeting various guys you can eventually fall in love with!

The end takes place underneath a tourist trap pyramid set-up. Underneath the pyramid is a set of immaculate chambers with huge Egyptian antiquities all brilliantly lit by electricity! And in a special niche beyond everything already in the room is the 6 foot tall statue.

Who gets the electric bill? What mailing address is the meter reading sent to? And how did the get everything in the chamber down the narrow hallway? How did the know to build the room with a niche for the statue? How did they get the status that must literally weigh a ton around a couple hundred other pieces crammed into the room so that there is barely a walkway all the way to the back niche? Egypt is so mysterious!

At the end Frankie baby knocks out a piling to bring down the ceiling to seal himself into the antiquities room...buried underneath a pyramid...where the tourists are arriving. So basically he causes a cave in that no one a couple feet above notices. Lesley doesn't notice. She knows where the find of the century is buried but her new lover just died sealing himself in rather than trying to make a go of it with her. I think he got the better end of the deal!