Arabian Nights 

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

Stars:

Mili Avital, Alan Bates, James Frain

Won 1 Primetime Emmy. Another 2 wins & 15 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Mili Avital	...	Scheherezade 2 episodes, 2000
Alan Bates	...	Storyteller 2 episodes, 2000
James Frain	...	Harun al-Rashid / ... 2 episodes, 2000
Tchéky Karyo	...	Black Coda 2 episodes, 2000
Jason Scott Lee	...	Aladdin 2 episodes, 2000
John Leguizamo	...	Genie of the Lamp / ... 2 episodes, 2000
Vanessa Mae	...	Princess Zobeide 2 episodes, 2000
Dougray Scott	...	Amin / ... 2 episodes, 2000
Rufus Sewell	...	Ali Baba 2 episodes, 2000
Jim Carter	...	Ja'far 2 episodes, 2000
Peter Guinness	...	Chief Executioner 2 episodes, 2000
Hugh Quarshie	...	Mustappa 2 episodes, 2000
Pik Sen Lim	...	Aladdin's Mother 2 episodes, 2000
Amira Casar	...	Morgiana 2 episodes, 2000
Andy Serkis	...	Kasim 2 episodes, 2000
Ayesha Dharker	...	Coral Lips 2 episodes, 2000
Alexis Conran	...	Prince Ali 2 episodes, 2000
James Callis	...	Prince Ahmed 2 episodes, 2000
Hari Dhillon	...	Prince Hussain 2 episodes, 2000
John Hallam	...	Demon 2 episodes, 2000
Alexei Sayle	...	BacBac 2 episodes, 2000
Jamila Massey	...	Safil 2 episodes, 2000
Nadim Sawalha	...	Judge Zadic 2 episodes, 2000
Leon Lissek	...	Dr. Ezra 2 episodes, 2000
Junix Inocian	...	Hi-Ching 2 episodes, 2000
Stanley Lebor	...	Faisal 2 episodes, 2000
Jane Lapotaire	...	Miriam 2 episodes, 2000
Stefan Kalipha	...	Abu Nouz 2 episodes, 2000
Benedict Wong	...	Hassan 2 episodes, 2000
Orgun Gitir	...	Executioner's Assistant 2 episodes, 2000
Inday Ba	...	Heart's Delight 2 episodes, 2000
Melanie Gutteridge	...	Fair Face 2 episodes, 2000
Burt Kwouk	...	Caliph Beder 2 episodes, 2000
Henry Goodman	...	Sultan Billah 2 episodes, 2000
Maureen O'Farrell	...	Sultana Billah 2 episodes, 2000
Tony Osoba	...	Sultan Badr Al-Din 2 episodes, 2000
Emma Lewis	...	Sultana 2 episodes, 2000
Roger Hammond	...	Jerome Gribben 2 episodes, 2000
Kulvinder Ghir	...	Ali's Servant 2 episodes, 2000
David Yip	...	Assad 2 episodes, 2000
Don Warrington	...	Hari Ben Karim 2 episodes, 2000
Cyril Nri	...	Schaca 2 episodes, 2000
Bhasker Patel	...	Carpet Seller 2 episodes, 2000
Adrian Pang	...	Gulnare 2 episodes, 2000
Simon Gregor	...	1st Robber 2 episodes, 2000
Oded Fehr	...	2nd Robber 2 episodes, 2000
Simon Finney	...	2nd Guard 2 episodes, 2000
Nasser Memarzia	...	Prosecuting Lawyer 2 episodes, 2000
Chiaki Yamauchi	...	Head Maid 2 episodes, 2000
Peter Bayliss	...	1st Physician 2 episodes, 2000
Sara Houghton	...	Hand Maiden 2 episodes, 2000
Barry Kamen	...	1st Guard 2 episodes, 2000
Ysé Tran	...	Bubble Dancer 2 episodes, 2000
Hassani Shapi	...	1st Army Captain 2 episodes, 2000
Yaman Tüzcet	...	Elderly Mourner 2 episodes, 2000
Ufuk Asiliskendar	...	Clerk 2 episodes, 2000
Jayden Spring	...	Child 2 episodes, 2000

Storyline

Long ago, the Sultan Shahryar (Dougray Scott) 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 next morning. To prevent this, the Grand Vizier's daughter and a childhood friend of the Sultan, Scheherezade (Mili Avital), 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 (Rufus Sewell) and the Forty Thieves and Aladdin (Jason Scott Lee) 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:

scheherazade character | aladdin character | ali baba character | sultan | vizier | 

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Taglines:

When Night Falls, the Adventure Begins!

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Genres:

Adventure | Family | Fantasy

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Germany Turkey Jordan USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 April 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

Arabian Nights

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 mini-series of John Hallam (Demon).

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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: Is this the time for stories?
Storyteller: It's the perfect time! Stories show us how to win, and in your case: defeat death.

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Alternate Versions

The VHS version of the movie has omits the most important story in the movie, which is the turning point for the Sultan. It is the story of the sultan who conintually switches places with the beggar until the beggar finally ends up becoming the sultan after the real sultan is killed.

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Connections

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

User Reviews

Visually beautiful and creative story treatment

This was a fabulous production. No movie can do justice to the entire story of "Arabian Nights", but this did an admirable job. The visual effects were stunning and the actors were well cast. The way the production moved back and forth between the stories and the storyteller's (and listener's) situation was very creative (reminded me of "The Neverending Story"). The humorous sections and modern jokes were unexpected, but fun and not overdone. My only complaint was that the end came too soon -- after 4 hours I still wanted more.