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Product Details
When Sultan Said discovers his wife locked in a passionate embrace with his only brother, he flings his sword at the prince and accidentally murders his adulterous queen. Tortured by his wife's ghost, the maniacal and cowardly sultan must marry another to save his kingdom, but to avoid future matrimonial disgrace he plans to have her executed the morning after the wedding. Fortunately for him, Scheherezade, the grand vicar's daughter played by the lovely Mili Avital, jumps at the challenge and the chance to marry her childhood love. A master storyteller, the newly crowned sultana escapes death night after night with her mesmerizing tales of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, Aladdin and his Magic Lamp, countless warriors, supernatural duels, and ferocious genies. Although the main story line falls short of Scheherezade's seductive tales, audiences will be enchanted with fantastic special effects, elaborate costumes, and the magic of Persia. Wonderfully directed and edited by Steve Barron, Hallmark's Arabian Nights will particularly appeal to fans of magical computer-effects laden television miniseries. --Melissa Asher
Product Reviews
 (5 stars) - Some of the greatest stories ever told.
The caliph has issues. His previous wife plotted with his brother to overthrow him, driving him to the brink of insanity. The law decrees that he must take another wife to keep his throne, yet now he completely mistrusts women. His intention is to comply with the law then have the wife executed after one night.
So, he marries the beautiful Scheherazade, whose only only hope of avoiding execution is to tell stories, and hook the kings curiosity.
So begins her deadly nightly flirtation with death, and she entrances the king with healing stories which may have something to do with his real life, stories which have now become legend of the 1001 nights. Stories scuh as Ali Baba and the 40 thieves. Who can forget the infamous, 'Open Sesame' password which reveals all the treasure. Yet the real saving grace is Ali Baba's wife Morgiana who spots the dangerous bandits, and saves Ali Baba, providing an example of a loving and faithful wife, and helping bit by bit to dissolve the king's rage and restore his faith in women.
In this almost three hour movie, we also also Aladdin and the magic lamp, and other stories. John Leguizamo gives the performance of the movie as the sarcastic genie of the lamp. I enjoyed Alexei Sayle as the hunchback jester BacPac, and the story of the lowly drunk who looked like the Caliph and wanted to be the sultan, and the magic carpet story. Excellent performances by Dougray Scott, and Milli Avital in the lead roles, and Rufus Sewell as Aladdin. I definitely prefer this the earlier Arabian Nights (Universal Cinema Classics) starring Sabu which focused on only one story, yet is also worth seeing.
Amazing stories. Amazing movie. Given the price and the quality you cannot go wrong. I also highly recommend Thief of Bagdad (1940) starring Sabu, recommended by Roger Ebert, a film adored by accomplished directors such as Scorsese, Lucas, and Coppola. [...]
(5 stars) - MoviesAreMyLife
This was a birthday gift for my mother. She shares the same taste in movies as I do. I arrived quickly and in great shape. We watched it immediately. If you have not had a chance to watch this movie and you like "Jack and the Beanstalk, the Real Story" you will love it.
(5 stars) - Amazing storytelling...Moviemaking at its finest! must watch_Must OWN!!
A TRULY Phenomenal epic fantasy!
The story is marveously played out. It does not suffer the burden of lacking the budget and grand scope of a movie but instead takes advantage of the fact that it is a TV show!
Telling 5 main stories in addition to the main story that's being played out.
A tale of love, hope, and brotherhood.Something you can watch over and over again. Hallmark movies at their zenith. Morally educational...
(5 stars) - Captivating beautiful show
The movie is almost 3 hours long (in DVD version). It is really capturing your attention from scene one till the end keeping you hooked all time long.
The obvious pluses are:
1) Incredible scnenery, great acting and very expensive set design.
2) Intention for viewers of all ages groups, so it's safe to be recommended for family and kids.
3# Impeckable authenticity of ethnic and cultural presentation in places where movie was chosen to be shot #Chinese part looks exactly like historical China of chosen time in all features, Syria looks like Syria, stc.).
The obvious minuses are:
1) Quite distant depiction from the authentic "1001 nights" stories, which might lead the unexperienced audience in a wrong direction about the actual classical story lines (Al ad-Din never was a Chinese thief and the whole story can't possibly be happening in China since "1001 Nights" embraces only Arabic realm; Kasym, the brother of Ali Baba, did not live with him in the same house and Ali Baba, besides his servant, had a wife; etc).
2) Vanessa Mae as a Chinese princess is an obvious commercial trick based on her popularity in pop-music in the year when movie was made: as for starring she is very poor choice both by appearance and by acting.
3) Arabian epic in reality is one of exteremly erotic examples of classical literature, while the movie is so God Damm innocent that one could preach watching it.
Overall I would certainly recommend obtaining this film for your home collection, provided you don't take everything you see as the actual "1001 Nights" epic.
(5 stars) - A great family movie!
This is a wonderful movie. Great for families, it teaches values about life. Would recomend to anyone.
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