Friday’s Gods of Egypt may have drawn early criticism for its mostly white cast, but moviemakers have always viewed the country with a fantastical bent. From biblical stories to historic archaeological delights to springboards into tall science fiction tales, this week’s 24 Frames takes a look at all that, along with modern and true-to-life depictions of Egypt as it is today.
The most famous biblical epic ever, filmed on location at Mount Sinai.
Exodus: Gods and Kings
Year: 2014
Tomatometer: 27%
Moses (Christian Bale) leads the Hebrew people through plagues, parts the Red Sea, and writes the Commandments in Ridley Scott’s telling of the story.
Prince of Egypt
Year: 1998
Tomatometer: 79%
The story is told once more in digestible children’s format.
Cleopatra
Year: 1963
Tomatometer: 52%
An opulent look at one of the most famous pharaohs ever, infamous for its budget overruns that nearly bankrupted 20 Century Fox.
Agora
Year: 2010
Tomatometer: 53%
Set in 391 A.D., Rachel Weisz stars as the Neoplatonic philospher Hypatia at the height of Roman rule in Egypt.
The Night of Counting the Years
Year: 1969
Considered one of the most vital homegrown Egyptian movies ever, this drama about people who sell mummies on the black market is set in 1881, a year before the British Empire takeover.
Khartoum
Year: 1966
Tomatometer: 100%
A dramatization of the Egyptian-held city that fell to Sudanese forces in 1885, starring Charlton Heston and Laurence Olivier.
Gallipoli
Year: 1981
Tomatometer: 88%
Australian boys sent to the North African front during World War I had a stopover in Egypt to visit brothels and climb the Pyramids.
The Mummy
Year: 1932
Tomatometer: 93%
Universal bolstered its legendary lineup of creature features with Boris Karloff playing the titular monster.
The Mummy
Year: 1999
Tomatometer: 55%
Once again set in the 1930s, Universal successfully rebooted its franchise starring Brendan Fraser and Agora‘s Weisz.
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Year: 1981
Tomatometer: 96%
Set in 1936, Indiana Jones’ greatest adventure took him through the city of Tanis in search of the chest that once held the Ten Commandments stones.
Death on the Nile
Year: 1978
Tomatometer: 80%
A Hercule Poirot mystery written by Agatha Christie set in the ’30s, starring Peter Ustinov as the title sleuth.
The English Patient
Year: 1996
Tomatometer: 84%
Sweeping romantic drama set during World War II that also won Best Picture.
The Spy Who Loved Me
Year: 1977
Tomatometer: 79%
Globetrotting MI6 Employee of the Month takes a tour of Egypt in the tenth movie of the Bond series.
The Awakening
Year: 1980
Khartoum‘s Charlton Heston returns to the country as an archaeologist in search of an Egyptian queen’s tomb.
Stargate
Year: 1994
Tomatometer: 48%
An interdimensional warp unearthed in Giza, as featured in Roland Emmerich’s sci-fi adventure film.
Jumper
Year: 2008
Tomatometer: 16%
Hayden Christensen stars as a young man with the power to teleport anywhere in the world.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Year: 2009
Tomatometer: 19%
Autobots and Decepticons take the fight overseas.
Cairo Time
Year: 2010
Tomatometer: 81%
Patricia Clarkson stars as a married woman who potentially falls for her husband’s friend while vacationing in Egypt.
Despicable Me
Year: 2010
Tomatometer: 81%
A Pyramid gets taken in the opening to Illumination Entertainment’s animated franchise.
Samsara
Year: 2012
Tomatometer: 77%
Ron Fricke’s follow-up to Baraka captures human beauty all over the globe, making three stops in Egypt (a musuem and the City of the Dead in Cairo, along with the Great Pyramids).
The Square
Year: 2013
Tomatometer: 100%
The populist Arab Spring uprising is captured in this Oscar-nominated documentary.
The Pyramid
Year: 2014
Tomatometer: 13%
The protests make up the backdrop to this horror movie of archraeologists seeking to unlock the mysteries of a lost pyramid (but waking up a monster instead).
The Fifth Element
Year: 1997
Tomatometer: 71%
Fast forward to 2263, where the power of love fends off a planet-eating evil force.
Too many shitty films and definitely not enough actual Egyptian films
Ricky Loves You
What’s a good Egyptian movie this year?
Reginald
I think this article is a really well framed history of whitewashing in Hollywood. I don’t think I see any Egyptians in these photos either (not including The Square obviously.)
Brendan Sullivan
Prince of Egypt has them.
CovertOps
Guess what people are free to make whatever movies they want and sell them to the public. This “whitewashing” is nonsense. It’s what people buy. You don’t have the right to tell them who they should choose to fill roles.
elderic noble
“It’s what people buy” literally no one is watching these movies man
CovertOps
Is that why they make millions?
elderic noble
when a movies budget is 200 million dollars and it only makes like 50 million, that’s what we call a flop
Unifer
Hey guess what – people are free to comment on poor casting choices and racism in Hollywood. You don’t have the right to tell them what they should post!
CovertOps
I don’t have to agree with them, and can tell them they’re wrong as well. Funny how that works isn’t it?
Unifer
Looks like the comment went over your head. Funny how that works isn’t it?
Ricky Loves You
Guess what, he/she does have the right to comment on the misrepresentation of a people and race. Would you be offended or stood Silent if the most popular film industry in the world took your history, your culture, religions, country and replaced the people with theirs instead? I’m sure you would. Picture Gone With the Wind with Arab/African people. Picture a movie about Lincoln, JFK or The Patriot replaced with Africans or Arabs. Seems stupid doesn’t it? So yes , you would feel you have the right to comment on it at the very least.
Jack Dee
In America, Egyptians are honkies.
Kristi
Clicking “Best and Worst Best Pictures” keeps bringing me here. Fix, please.
Unifer
They still haven’t fixed it. This site is a mess. I rarely get what I click on.
Edward Callahan
Obviously, no one here has really seen an existent well-preserved Egyptian relief where what is left of the original pigments portray the Egyptians light skinned as most modern Italians and black people, in this case the Nubians, as very dark indeed, almost coal black. Ancient Egyptians were might lighter you have been lead (by political correctness?) to believe. Go to your library and look at an Egyptian art book if you are curious about it.
Unifer
It sounds like you are the one who needs a lesson on skin colour. Not being black is not the same as being white.
