The Lost Empire (2001) (TV)

Director:

Peter MacDonald

Writer (WGA):

David Henry Hwang (written by)

Release Date:

11 March 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Fantasy

Tagline:

Reluctant hero, beautiful goddess, three days to save the world.

Plot:

American journalist Nick Orton is caught up in the world of Chinese gods and monsters while on a search...

Plot Keywords:

Demon | China | Monkey King | Goddess | Book

Awards:

Nominated for Primetime Emmy. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Thomas Gibson	...	Nicholas Orton
Ling Bai	...	Kwan Ying
Russell Wong	...	Monkey King
Ric Young	...	Confucius
Kabir Bedi	...	Friar Sand
Eddie Marsan	...	Pigsy
Randall Duk Kim	...	Shu
Henry O	...	Wu
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Annette Badland	...	Confusion's 4th Wife
Inday Ba	...	Elizabeth
Terence Beesley	...	Prince of Confusion
Simon Bernstein	...	Umbrella King
Jacqui Chan	...	Mother Superior
Cecil Cheng	...	Monkey
Anthony Chinn	...	Citizen 1
James Faulkner	...	Marcus Harding
Turbo Kong	...	Big Demon (as Turbo)
Burt Kwouk	...	Professor Sheng
Hossan Leong	...	Spectacles Demon
Stiven Liang	...	Terracotta warrior II
Pik Sen Lim	...	Granny monkey
Kwong Loke	...	Imperial Crier
Richard Ng	...	Communist Official
Olga Sosnovska	...	Linda
Chia Suan	...	Whitesnake
Hon Ping Tang	...	Nine Inch Nail Demon
Picasso Tan	...	Pointy Head Demon
Gregory Teo	...	Chef 1
Hua Chung Ting
Ian U'Chong	...	Rat Demon
Yuka Uto	...	Maiden 2
Teo-Wa Vuong	...	Maiden (as Teo Wa)
Teo Wa	...	Maiden 1
Ozzie Yue	...	Citizen 2
Sai-Kit Yung	...	Jade Emperor (as Stuart Ong)
Jeremy Zhang	...	Barman

Also Known As:

The Monkey King (UK) (USA) (working title)
Monkey King - Ein Krieger zwischen den Welten (Germany)
The Lost Empire: The Legend of the Monkey King (International: English title)

Runtime:

Brazil:150 min

Country:

USA | Germany

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Finland:K-11 | USA:Unrated

Company:

Babelsberg International Film Produktion

Trivia:

Loosely based on the story from classical Chinese Literature "Journey to the West".

Movie Connections:

References The Fly (1958)

Three days to save the world.

This movie is a contemporary take on the classic Chinese novel "Journey to the West," which is a fictionalized account of the legends around the Buddhist monk Xuánzàng's pilgrimage to India during the Táng dynasty in order to obtain Buddhist religious texts called sutras.

The ministers have imprisoned the writer of the book, and are attempting to destroy it to reverse time back to traditional Chinese life, i.e. before any modernization. The modern world will be destroyed unless The Scholar From Above (Thomas Gibson) can enter the underworld and save it.

Don't make any mistake. Gibson would not have taken one step except for the fact that he was following the luscious Bai Ling, who anyone would follow to the gates of Hell.

He rescues Sun Wukong the Monkey King (Russell Wong - Romeo Must Die), and is joined by Zhu Bajie(Pigsy)(Eddie Marsan - 21 Grams, Vera Drake) and Sha Wujing (Friar Sand) (Kabir Bedi - Octopussy) to save the book and save the world. It is almost a Wizard of Oz adventure, as they all have personal issues to resolve in addition to the mission.

Of course, Kuan Yin (Bai Ling) appears any time he utters a prayer. Thankfully, for the many appearance of Bai Ling make this film worth watching. She is usually in another spectacular costume each time she appears.

Besides spectacular costumes, the sets were lavishly decorated. The special effects were magnificent, and the martial arts displays exciting.

It was overly long, but most great adventures are. Anyway. that is more time to watch Bai Ling.