The Monkey King 

American journalist Nick Orton is caught up in the world of Chinese gods and monsters while on a search for the long lost manuscript to 'Hsi Yu Chi' (The Journey to the West) by Wu Ch'eng ... See full summary »

Stars:

Thomas Gibson, Bai Ling, Russell Wong

Nominated for 1 Primetime Emmy. Another 3 nominations.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Thomas Gibson	...	Nicholas Orton 2 episodes, 2001
Bai Ling	...	Kwan Ying 2 episodes, 2001
Russell Wong	...	Monkey King 2 episodes, 2001
Ric Young	...	Confucius 2 episodes, 2001
Kabir Bedi	...	Friar Sand 2 episodes, 2001
Eddie Marsan	...	Pigsy 2 episodes, 2001
Randall Duk Kim	...	Shu 2 episodes, 2001
Henry O	...	Wu Chan Yen 2 episodes, 2001
Kay Siu Lim	...	Subodhi 2 episodes, 2001
Burt Kwouk	...	Professor Sheng 2 episodes, 2001
James Faulkner	...	Marcus Harding 2 episodes, 2001
Sai-Kit Yung	...	Jade Emperor 2 episodes, 2001
Kwong Loke	...	Imperial Crier 2 episodes, 2001
Yu Beng Lim	...	Skeleton Demon 2 episodes, 2001
Turbo Kong	...	Big Demon 2 episodes, 2001
Hossan Leong	...	Spectacles Demon 2 episodes, 2001
Hon Ping Tang	...	Nine Inch Nail Demon 2 episodes, 2001
Picasso Tan	...	Pointy Head Demon 2 episodes, 2001
Pik Sen Lim	...	Granny Monkey 2 episodes, 2001
Jacqueline Chan	...	Mother Superior 2 episodes, 2001
Terence Beesley	...	Prince of Confusion 2 episodes, 2001
Inday Ba	...	Elizabeth 2 episodes, 2001
Chia Suan	...	Whitesnake 2 episodes, 2001
Gregory Teo	...	Chef 1 2 episodes, 2001
Ian U'Chong	...	Chef 2 2 episodes, 2001
Annette Badland	...	Confusion's 4th Wife 2 episodes, 2001
Olga Sosnovska	...	Linda 2 episodes, 2001
Richard Ng	...	Communist Official 2 episodes, 2001
Jeremy Zhang	...	Barman / ... 2 episodes, 2001
Nicholas Lee	...	Terracotta Warrior 1 2 episodes, 2001
Stiven Liang	...	Terracotta Warrior 2 2 episodes, 2001
Chester See	...	Terracotta Warrior 3 2 episodes, 2001
Takatsuna Mukai	...	Wolf-Demon General 2 episodes, 2001
Steven Woon	...	Bearded Priest 2 episodes, 2001
Marjorie Ho	...	Old Liang 2 episodes, 2001
Cecil Cheng	...	Monkey 2 episodes, 2001
Teo-Wa Vuong	...	Maiden 1 2 episodes, 2001
Yuka Uto	...	Maiden 2 2 episodes, 2001
Anthony Chinn	...	Citizen 1 2 episodes, 2001
Ozzie Yue	...	Citizen 2 2 episodes, 2001
Simon Bernstein	...	Umbrella King 2 episodes, 2001

Storyline

American journalist Nick Orton is caught up in the world of Chinese gods and monsters while on a search for the long lost manuscript to 'Hsi Yu Chi' (The Journey to the West) by Wu Ch'eng En. He is accompanied on his journey by a humanoid ape with incredible strength and magical powers, a humanoid pig-man, and his brother-in-arms, an ex-cannibal. Based on one of the greatest stories in Chinese history.

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Plot Keywords:

monkey king | chinese | demon | dragon | manuscript | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Adventure | Fantasy

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Certificate:

Unrated

Did You Know?

Trivia

Uses several visual ideas from "The Monkey King" television series from the 1960s.

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Quotes

Nicholas Orton: So I might never get rich, buy my own jet, or even maintain a stock portfolio. But when I look in her eyes, I know that none of these things really matter.

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Connections

References The City of Lost Children (1995)

User Reviews

Lessons Unheeded

Well, this mini-series was the straw that broke the back for producer Robert Halmi with NBC. The faults of his previous rating disaster, "The 10th Kingdom" have not been heeded in this production. The screenplay is overloaded with over the top characters and situations that never let up. But, to me, the failure of "The Lost Empire" falls in three categories. The total miscasting of Thomas Gibson, who gives a tired and stiff performance. Gibson seems to barely be able to walk, much less perform martial arts, and his delivery is unbelievably stilted. The music score is among the worst I've heard in a production like this. There is little thematic melody and even less of the score reflects the rich culture depicted in the story. Third, the director chose to shoot most of the frequent martial arts action from the waist up, so much of the visual impact of those scenes is lost. Indeed, only Bai Ling retains her dignity in the production. The only other redeeming feature is, that the film did cause me to look into the classic book, "Journey to the West."

Details

Country:

Czech Republic Germany Singapore USA

Language:

English Chinese

Release Date:

2001 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Monkey King

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hallmark Entertainment, RTL, Babelsberg International Film Produktion

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1