Arabian Nights (TV 2000)

To cure a prince's murderous madness, Scheherezade tells him a series of wonderous stories.

Director:

Steve Barron

Writer:

Peter Barnes

Stars:

Mili Avital, Alan Bates, James Frain

Won 1 Primetime Emmy. Another 1 win & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mili Avital	...	Scheherezade
Alan Bates	...	Storyteller
James Frain	...	Schahzenan / Harun al-Rashid
Tchéky Karyo	...	Black Coda (as Tcheky Karyo)
Jason Scott Lee	...	Aladdin
John Leguizamo	...	Genie of the Lamp / Genie of the Ring
Vanessa Mae	...	Princess Zobeide
Dougray Scott	...	Sultan Shahryar / Amin
Rufus Sewell	...	Ali Baba
Jim Carter	...	Ja'Far
Peter Guinness	...	Chief Executioner
Hugh Quarshie	...	Mustappa
Pik Sen Lim	...	Aladdin's Mother (as Pik-Sen Lim)
Amira Casar	...	Morgiana
Andy Serkis	...	Kasim

Storyline

Long ago, the Sultan Schariar has gone mad after his traumatizing near assassination in which his wife collaborated and died at his hands as a result. Now he has a paranoid suspicion of women which he plans to express in a diabolical plan, and that is to marry a woman from the harem and then have her executed the very next morning. To prevent this, the Grand Vizier's daughter and a childhood friend of the Sultan, Scheherezade, offers herself to be that bride. Now, she must gamble that her plan will work as she tries to cure his madness by telling him story after wondrous story which include the tales of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves and Aladdin and his Wonderful Lamp. All the while, the Sultan's villainous brother is making plans of his own and Scheherezade's stories are more useful against him than anyone can anticipate.

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Plot Keywords:

harem | paranoia | arabian | two part tv movie | middle east | 

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Taglines:

When Night Falls, the Adventure Begins!

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Genres:

Family | Fantasy | Adventure

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 April 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

1001 noć

Filming Locations:

Antalya Studios, Turkey

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hallmark Entertainment, Studio Babelsberg, RTL Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

175 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Last film of Peter Bayliss.

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Goofs

There are about 20 oil jars in the cart when it is tipped over (in "Ali Baba"). As soon as the jars are shown rolling down the hill, there are obviously far more.

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Quotes

Scheherezade: [narrating] The trial of Jerome Gribben was the social event of the season. The judge in the case was the venerable Judge Zadic. Judge Zadic was totally incompetent but being a Judge nobody had noticed.

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Connections

Featured in Open Sesame: The Making of 'Arabian Nights' (2000)

User Reviews

Finally, a great tv movie

Some of these network special-effect tv movies have been rather cheesy in the past, but I was very impressed with Arabian Nights. Not only am I a Dougray Scott fan, but the story was done quite well. There's a point about halfway through when you wonder if the stories will come together and if the Sultana will survive after each story. But in the end, the stories all fall together and actually make sense to what is going on in each scene. Well done!