Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1103 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-08-20
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Format: PAL
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 104 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
An irresistible concept meets computer-generated wonders in Night at the Museum, inspired by a 1993 children's book by Milan Trenc. Ben Stiller stars as Larry Daley, an underachieving inventor waiting for his ship to come in while getting evicted from one apartment after another for lack of funds. Larry's son needs some stability, so the well-meaning ne'er-do-well takes a job as night watchman at New York City's Museum of Natural History. What the soon-to-retire guards (Dick Van Dyke, Mickey Rooney, Bill Cobbs) don't tell him is that an ancient pharaoh's tablet in the museum causes everything on display to come to life at night. Thus, Larry meets representations of Teddy Roosevelt, Attila the Hun, fire-worshipping cavemen, and Roman Empire soldiers, and learns to cope with an excitable T-Rex and man-eating, ancient animals. The film might have left things at that, but an added story element gives Night at the Museum some extra urgency and excitement, especially for kids: Larry becomes responsible for keeping this nightly miracle going and preventing anything in the museum from dying due to exposure to sunrise. Computer effects, as well as wildly imaginative costumes and makeup, help make the film appeal to the 8-year-old in everyone. Director Shawn Levy (The Pink Panther) works with a hugely talented cast, including Robin Williams, Owen Wilson, Ricky Gervais, Carla Gugino, and Steve Coogan. --Tom Keogh

Synopsis
Ben Stiller plays Larry Daley, a down-on-his-luck divorced father in this family-friendly tale directed by Shawn Levy (JUST MARRIED, CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN). Larry has lots of ideas and dreams, but none of them come to fruition. In an attempt to prove his stability to his ex-wife (Kim Raver) and his son, Nicky (Jake Cherry), Larry accepts a job as a night guard at the Museum of Natural History. But the elderly night guards who hire him (played by entertainment legends Mickey Rooney, Dick Van Dyke, and Bill Cobbs) fail to mention one crucial detail: when the museum is closed, everything inside comes to life. From Attila the Hun to miniature Roman soldiers, African mammals to Neanderthal men, and Egyptian mummies to dinosaur skeletons, the museum teems with lively activity. Now it’s Larry’s job to control the mayhem and show his son that he is, indeed, a great man after all. There might be a moral to this story, which is based on the book of the same name by Milan Trenc, but the screenplay and action remain light and breezy. Stiller is perfect as Larry, particularly in scenes with a sneaky monkey who repeatedly gets the better of him. Brief appearances by Anne Meara (Stiller’s real-life mother) and Paul Rudd add to the fun. Carla Gugino plays a museum docent, Ricky Gervais portrays the incomprehensible museum director, and Robin Williams moonlights as a wax figure of Teddy Roosevelt that comes to life. Owen Wilson and Steve Coogan are particularly amusing as a bickering miniature cowboy and a Roman soldier.

Customer Reviews

All good Pahraohs learn their English at Cambridge
Do not expect an intellectual and highly educational film. It is not. It is a sentimental comedy, all in all. You will learn that you cannot trust old people who are ready to commit a crime whose guilt will be attributed to someone younger, and that only because they want to make some money to expand their old age pension slightly. You will learn that you must not trust appearances and that what looks pretty dead is nothing but alive and what looks pretty alive is nothing but wax or stuffed artifact. You will also learn that when one wants one can always dominate a situation as soon as there is an emergency because any emergency will mobilize everyone towards the only goal of saving the day and seizing the chance that is going by. You will also learn that only a father can make a miracle when he is trying to impress his own son. And all the rest is nothing but trashy exhaust waste water, especially what mothers may say and mothers' boyfriends along with them. History and natural history are two very vivid and lively subjects even if their museums are generally boring and dying with and of boredom. But the film is funny, indeed, and it is full of surprises from beginning to end. It is true also that dinosaur footprints on Broadway or 5th Avenue help a lot to bring some visitors to a dead museum that everyone considers a wasteland till the day when some gigantic animal escapes from it. You will also love the Pharaoh. He is young, attractive and he even speaks Hun, if such a language exists.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne & University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines

Good family fun
Night At The Museum is great harmless entertainment. Wonderful escapism, my whole family loved it. Lots for both kids and adults alike and a great cast of comic talent from yesteryear and modern day. Ricky Gervais, Robin Williams, Ben Stiller, and some dinosaurs!

Nothing phenomenal here - but a good family movie nonetheless
Ben Stiller is good in the lead role but I did feel that Owen Wilson was tragically under utilised here. He really only has a bit-part which I was a bit disappointed about. Ricky Gervais is also only in the film very briefly but he is absolutely brilliant. He is basically just playing David Brent though...As for Robin Williams part - goodness knows why they needed an actor of his caliber to play as simple a part as he has in this film? Again, sadly under-utilised.

The plot is obviously about as basic as it gets and is entirely predictable but - the film does entertain anyway. The silly comedy is enjoyable in a sort of "fuzzy" way and the CGI is really good.

All in all I Know I have been a bit negative in my comments but I would say that this film is enjoyable for adults and children and worth a watch. It will provide you with a few smiles on a rainy sunday afternon - it was just a bit of a shame to see such a stellar cast wasted on silly little bit parts.