Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6598 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-04-02
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• 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

Reasonable
Larry needs a job to prove to his son that he is not justall hot-air.So he gets at job at the large Natural History Museum. Sounds a pretty tame job? Yes, maybe but not if your the night guard. Alone in the mueseum where things come alive at night.
The beginning of the film is slow and I almost wanted to ask," Shall we stop watching this?" But it soon livens up. Its a reasonable film, with a few gags and edge-of-your-seat kind of stuff.
One little Point: One thing that grated on me was the usual stereotyping of dad being dumb and mum having everything together.

hilarious
Fantastic movie, watched with my 11 year old daughter who'd already seen it without me, and we were both laughing out loud throughout. With Dick Van Dyke and Robin Williams, amonst others, this was high-class entertainment given its pretty daft subject matter! Will be re-played over and over as you 'get' different funny bits each time, or just for silly giggles like throwing a bone for T. Rex to chase

Fantastic .................
We watched this first about 6 days ago and it is fantastic. My son loves watching it and we have had to watch at least some if not all of it on a daily basis and I never tire of watching it. Steve Coogan and Owen Wilson are fantastic and have me in stitches.......