Arabian Adventure (1979)

An evil magician seeks to gain power by obtaining a magic rose. A peasant boy and a Prince join forces to stop him.

Director:

Kevin Connor

Writer:

Brian Hayles (screenplay)

Stars:

Christopher Lee, Milo O'Shea, Oliver Tobias

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Christopher Lee	...	Alquazar
Milo O'Shea	...	Khasim
Oliver Tobias	...	Prince Hasan
Emma Samms	...	Princess Zuleira
Puneet Sira	...	Majeed
John Wyman	...	Bahloul
John Ratzenberger	...	Achmed
Shane Rimmer	...	Abu
Hal Galili	...	Asaf
Elisabeth Welch	...	Beggarwoman (as Elizabeth Welch)
Suzanne Danielle	...	Eastern Dancer
Art Malik	...	Mamhoud (as Athar Malik)
Jacob Witkin	...	Omar, the Goldsmith
Milton Reid	...	Jinnee
Cengiz Saner	...	Mauve Gang - Abdulla

Storyline

An evil magician seeks to gain power by obtaining a magic rose. A peasant boy and a Prince join forces to stop him.

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Plot Keywords:

magical carpet | peasant | boy | flower | psychotronic film | 

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Taglines:

FANTASTIC MOVIE MAGIC

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Genres:

Adventure | Fantasy

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Certificate:

G

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to his diaries, the role of Khasim was originally intended for Kenneth Williams. He ostensibly turned down the part to avoid having to wear a turban (as he had in Carry On Up the Khyber (1968), to his displeasure).

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Crazy Credits

Opening credits start out with the title on the front cover of a thick hard backed book opened by a hand with the first page listing A John Dark-Kevin Connor Production.

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Connections

Referenced in Intimate Portrait: Emma Samms (2002)

User Reviews

The Rose Of Arabia.

Arabian Adventure is directed by Kevin Connor and written by Brian Hayles. It stars Christopher Lee, Milo O'Shea, Oliver Tobias, Emma Samms and Puneet Sira. Music is by Ken Thorne and cinematography by Alan Hume.

A prince is sent by an evil sorcerer (Lee) on a quest for a magical rose. Should he succeed, he hopes that as a reward he will win the hand of the princess.

Sometimes to moderately enjoy a film of this type, you just got to take yourself back to a time when simple children's adventure movies were made with simple film making techniques. This obviously doesn't hold up well these days, where even given the year it was made it was way behind advancements that were being made in special effects. Thus it's highly unlikely that the prepubescents of today would have the patience or care for such a production. Yet it doesn't lack for charm.

Is charm enough? Well it's not a great or very good film, it's heavy on chatter, the effects are indeed a little crude, acting and accents are borderline dire, and it seems to take an age to get going, yet it's not insulting like many far bigger budget pictures have been: even nowadays! It's best just to roll with it, enjoy the whimsy and the many small roles by the likes of Peter Cushing, Mickey Rooney, Capucine and, erm, John Ratzenberger.

Forgettable once it's over, but harmless with it. 5/10

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 July 1979 (UK)

Also Known As:

Majic and the Empire of Evil

Filming Locations:

Scotland, UK

Box Office

Budget:

GBP4,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

EMI Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby (uncredited)

Color:

Color (Colour by)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1