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

First film of James Callis.

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Goofs

Scheherezade refers to the bronze in the bronze city as rusting away. Bronze does not rust.

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Quotes

Prince Ahmed: [On being asked to shoot an apple from a boy's head while blindfolded] I cannot do it.
Buddhist Monk: The prize is worth it.
Prince Ahmed: Not for the boy...!

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Connections

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

User Reviews

Mystery and magic from the East

Arabian Night also belongs to one of the fantasy-movies which you can also put in the table with Sinbad and the 10th Kingdom. Arabian Nights is a very interesting and nice movie to watch because it takes you to a world of fantasy and mystic, in which the stories told by an Arabian woman, form actually the movie. So we will find the famous stories about Ali Baba and Aladdin and his wonderlamp. The other day i bought this movie and i don't regret it. I think that a 8 out of 10 is a qualification Arabian nights deserves because i enjoyed it 3 hours long. Don't think too much and let yourself lead back to the old legends of the Middle East, you won't regret it.