Arabian Nights
Tags: storytelling

Plot synopsis:
The story starts at a harem in Persia, where the elderly overseer bids his young charges to read the story of Haroun al-Rashid (Hall) and his wife Sherazade (Montez), unfolding the film's plot in the process.
Sherazade, a dancer in a wandering circus owned by Ahmad (Billy Gilbert) - whose troupe also includes Sinbad the Sailor and Aladdin, who have seemingly fallen on hard times -, had captured the attention of Kamar (Erickson), the brother of caliph Haroun al-Rashid. In his infatuation with her, and because of a prophecy which names her as the future queen, Kamar had attempted to seize the throne, but was captured and sentenced to slow death by exposure. As Haroun visits his brother, for whom he feels pity, Kamar's men storm the palace and free their leader; outnumbered, Haroun is forced to flee. He manages to get near the plaza where Sherazade's circus is performing and is spotted by the young acrobat Ali Ben Ali (Sabu), who finds out his identity and decides to hide him in the circus, confiding only in Sherazade (though he does not tell her about the fugitive's true identity). Upon awakening from the wounds he had received in his flight, Haroun beholds Sherazade and instantly falls in love with her.
Meanwhile, Kamar, thinking that Haroun is dead, assumes the throne of Baghdad, but to his chagrin Sherazade is not to be found, and he orders the captain of his guard (Turhan Bey) to find her. But then the scheming Grand Vizier Nadan (Edgar Barrier) approaches the captain with the order to make Sherazade 'disappear', and upon finding them the captain decides to sell the troupe into slavery. But due to a witness the captain is exposed, and in order to preserve his plans, Nadan first gets him to confess and then murders him.
Haroun, Sherazade, and the acrobats manage to escape the slave pens and flee to the border, where they are found by Kamar's army and taken to a tent city in the desert. Kamar proposes to Sherazade, but she has in the meantime fallen in love with Haroun. Also, Nadan recognizes the caliph and his affection for Sherazade, and he uses this knowledge to blackmail Sherazade into helping him in his scheme: in exchange for Haroun's freedom, she is to poison Kamar during the wedding ceremony, upon which Nadan would assume rulership for himself. In secret, however, he plans to have Haroun killed once he has crossed the border.
Upon learning of this insidious scheme, Ali confides in his fellow performers, and they rush to free Haroun; then Haroun decides to free Sherazade with the help of the acrobats, while Ali is to summon the troops still loyal to him. Haroun and the others are quickly captured, and Sherazade and the retainers learn of his true identity. Kamar engages his brother in a sword fight, while Ahmad and the acrobats set the tents on fire; the arrival of Ali and the caliph's army triggers a massive battle with Kamar's men.
Finally, as Kamar prepares to deliver the deathstroke to Haroun, Nadan shows his true allegiance by assassinating Kamar personally. But as he prepares to finish Haroun, Ahmad and Ali interfere, forcing him to flee. But a spear thrown into his back stops him, and he dies in a burning tent; Haroun, Sherazade, their friends and the loyal subjects celebrate victory.

Review: If you want some classy, sexy, mystical entertainment, give "Arabian Nights" a try.
"Arabian Nights" is continuing proof that it is possible to put together a highly entertaining, superbly-acted television program with a cast of primarily lesser-known actors and actresses.
For example, John Leguizamo is hilarious and totally believable as Aladdin's genie(s), and far better than Robin Williams' portrayal in Disney's "Aladdin."  Mili Avital is enchanting as Scheherezade, and Dougray Scott and James Frain are terrific as the warring brothers Schariar and Schazenan (an interesting re-telling of the original base story line).
The ever-reliable Rufus Sewell and Alan Bates give very enjoyable portrayals of Ali Baba and the Storyteller, respectively, and Jason Scott Lee gives a very amusing turn as Aladdin.
While it is the acting that really shines in "Arabian Nights," the set designs and costuming are truly magical.
The special effects are also very good considering the budget limitations of the small screen.If you're going to rent or buy this on video/DVD, be careful to find the 175 minute version.
I don't know what they cut from the shorter version, but honestly you won't want to miss ANY of this marvelous TV movie.I really hope that Hallmark decides to do a sequel to this with a few more of the tales from the Arabian Nights.
I want to take this opportunity to say "Arabian Nights" is perhaps one of the best made-for-TV movies I have ever seen!
It is a wonderful mixture of fantasy, special effects and marvelous tongue-in-cheek comedy, and should be seen by anyone who has ever thought he/she already knew this classic story!
Some of these network special-effect tv movies have been rather cheesy in the past, but I was very impressed with Arabian Nights.
No movie can do justice to the entire story of "Arabian Nights", but this did an admirable job.
One could think of a TV series, especially one intended for young audiences, that its quality will not match that of a movie for the big screen.
Starting with a solid and well-balanced plot, good acting, superb photography and truly inspired music, plus beautiful filming locations, fantastic dressings, special effects and some touches of humor on an epic drama, all you get is top quality entertainment for all the family..
The framework works nicely; the harried sultan, initially all sweat and paranoia, set on the path to redemption by his new wife Scheherezade (Mili Avital, who is just exquisite), who must maintain his interest by telling him stories or be executed.
BREATH TAKING!These are just a few of the words that I can think of to describe the television film of Arabian Nights.
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.
I think that a 8 out of 10 is a qualification Arabian nights deserves because i enjoyed it 3 hours long.
And a perfect movie to watch with your family..
For a TV production, this rendition of "The Arabian Nights" is far above the average in almost every respect.
This is (once again) a loose version on the Nights theme, and is not the story collection known by most fans of the works.
There are so many departures from the original that it would be ridiculous to list them all; however the dropping of the character of Dunyazad, Shahrazad's little sister to whom she actually tells the stories, is not only a great shame but it has created a problem, because it has left Shahrazad telling the stories directly to the King; thus making the film script less credible than the original.
A handy way of removing the most distinctive characteristic of one of the cruellest kings in literature also partially removes Shaharazad's underlying motive for telling the stories in the first place, because in the original Shahriar's track record has been proven and the city has been nearly decimated of available young ladies.
In the first part of the film Shahrazad tells the tales of "Ali Baba", "The Hunchback" and "Aladdin".
The second part of the film concludes the story of "Aladdin" (rather slowly) and tells the tales of "The Sleeper Awakened" and "Prince Ahmed and the Fairy Peri Banou".
Whilst this is enough of an inaccuracy, the original story actually implies that he ruled the eastern half of the Sassanian empire and Shahzaman the western half, so his capital may well have been much farther east - after all we are told in the prologue that Shahriar "lived and ruled in India and Indochina"..
unit assistant at war scene's.The whole production was a great experience for me and fun most of the times if you ignore the non stop work and run....Unfortunately it was the only movie shoot at Antalya Film Studios which is a great and brand new studio.
We have been working over 3 months at locations in Cappadocia where I live now.I do watch the film time to time and still enjoy fully, knowing the inside information the set and the characters etc.I did buy a lot of props from the movie and have pictures, raw video materials etc.
My family and I have watched this wonderful adaptation of the "1001 Nights" many times since we first saw it on Foxtel about four years ago and it has become one of my children's favourite programs and they know most of the script off by heart now.I have a high regard for the many excellent Hallmark fairytale productions, but this is far and away their best.
There is just so much to admire about it -- a funny, witty script, stunning locations, truly lavish costumes, superb makeup, excellent use of CGI effects, and above all, terrific performances from a star-studded cast, especially by the stunning Mili Avital and the very charismatic Dougray Scott, who carry so much of the story.
And of course there are several other well-known stars -- like Andy Serkis and James Callis -- to be spotted in minor roles, a couple of years before they became famous.I MUST select for special mention the brilliant dual performance by the great John Leguizamo as the two genies in the Aladdin story.
His portrayal of the whining, obese Ring Genie is hilarious, and his Lamp Genie shows how CGI and good acting can work together to create an awe-inspiring character.
The use of CGI is very good in this episode -- I love the cunning way that the smoke comes off the tips of the Lamp Genie's ears and fingers, and how it makes a smoke-ring every time he says a word with "O" in it.
Very clever.I also roundly applaud the decision to cast so many actors from Asian and African backgrounds, notably in the wonderful "Alladdin" story -- Jason Scott Lee and Vanessa Mae are both terrific, Vanessa Mae is utterly gorgeous *and* proves herself an excellent actor, and it's lovely to see screen veteran Bert Kwouk (Kato from the Pink Panther movies) as the Caliph.
Why Jason Scott Lee not a MUCH bigger star, I have no idea -- he is truly marvellous in this role.This is to all intents and purposes a flawless production and the best film or TV version of the Arabian Nights stories that I have ever seen.
The adaptations are remarkably faithful to the original tales -- and I have read the entire Mardrus and Mathers' 4-volume translation, so I know what I'm, talking about -- but the script also has many witty additions.
I've been seething about it ever since, but at long last I have seen the whole thing (on the sci-fi channel, even though there's nothing remotely science fiction about the Arabian Nights) and I am thrilled.Arabian Nights is one of the best of those elaborate, special effects-laden fantasy TV movies Robert halmi Sr. has been producing since the success of Gulliver's Travels.
The stories themselves are wonderful, beautiful and magical and displaying the amazing sort of imagination one sees in the movies of Hayao Miyazaki.
The movie is less star-studded than a lot of Halmi's films, or at least, many of the stars, being of eastern or African origin, aren't famous in the U.S., although for all I know they are all huge stars somewhere in the world.
The cast is marvelous, particularly Mili Avital as Scheherezade and John Leguizamo in two very funny roles as as the movie's genies (although the genie of the lamp is a bit too hard to understand).This movies that is so amazing that it seems a shame it's TV movie status means it gets less notice than some inferior Hollywood fantasy.
All the sence of wonder you expect from a good story book.
There are however a notable few exceptions; most of them Brittish, like "Prime Suspect", "Walking with Dinosaurs" and "Queer as Folks"."Arabian Nights", a Jim Henson Production, is yet another one.
But the casting is good, the acting is excellent and the story is told in a quick but relaxed pace, with some interesting quirks.In short: It has all the sence of wonder you expect from a good story book..
The movie is called Arabian Nights, however the original name for the story was "Stories of 1001 Nights".
And the whole story happens in Persia( Shahrzad was the name of the queen) and the story was originally written in Arabic( official language of Iran in that era).The story was supposed to be before Islam otherwise a lot of things would be different; But a lot of Islamic symbols are used in the movie.
Only the good locations, sets and special effects save it from being completely awful.
Each story was able to flow into the next using characters from the previous story, until the last 2 tales after Aladdin.(The only small miscast was that of Aladdin, Lee, while his acting was believable, did not seem to strike me as an Aladdin.)Each tale has a point, coming together in the end.Spellbinding entertainment..
Aladdin was not originally the story of a persian peasant with a pet monkey and an eccentric genie.
I like that they have told the original tellings (of most of the stories anyway) rather than regurtitate the disney versions.
It was well thought out, the writer made some good changes to the stories, the acting was fine, only the ending a bit forced.Things I liked: * Placement of the tales in specific (real) locations like Yeman, Petra (!), Damascus, and Samarkand.
Mili Avital and Dougray Scott (Scheherezade and the evil brother).* Changes to the 3 brothers tales (not just buying the 3 wonderous items).
Changes to the basic outline of the Arabian Nights (the Sultan hasn't killed any women yet, good change).Things I didn't like: * flying carpet, just not believable as an effect* the end battle with Scheherezade wearing armor and going out to battle.
Changes to the "Bak Bak the Jester" story (it wasn't funny).Still, well worth watching and worth thinking about..
the element of special effects, the costumes and the beautiful performers (especially the ethereal Mili Avital) shall truly transport you to a parallel world; it will absorb you.
My English teacher recommended me to watch this movie and display it to all the members of the English Language Society in my school.At first sight,this movie didn't look very tempting with its larger than life genie and introduction.But as the story evolves,I began to enjoy it because of the familiarity that I felt in watching the Alibaba  and Alladin story.Unfortunately,I do wonder whether some of the kissing scene would be appropriate for our rather imaginative young mind..
The use of the Arabian stories was perfect...both funny and magical.A great treat for the whole family!!.
The story would have worked perfectly well if, as in the original, she had come up with these alone.
A large embroidery of stories and characters, great performances and moral lessons, it is jjust the fantastic serie who you expect..
I saw ARABIAN NIGHTS and enjoyed it .
it means that all the stories should happen in persia but i saw the movie without a word about persia.
there was another parts in this film like Aladdin , who was living in Samarghand , but why should he , his mother and his princess live in china!!although the movie has such mistakes but i think it is a very enjoyable movie..
One of the Best Adaptations of Arabian Nights.
Simply put, this is one of the best adaptations of Arabian Nights around, and one of the best TV-miniseries ever made.
The story remains true to the Arabian Nights myths.
Ali Baba, Aladdin, genies, theives, and all the other favorites are present inside the wonderfully crafted frame story of Scheherezade and the King.You'll love it!.
While it is awfully long, it is a solid and fun adaptation of Sir Richard Burton's oft-told tales of Aladdin, Ali Baba and many others in a land and time lost in the mists of history.
Each tale comes with a moral, and if this TV movie gets the kids to read the actual tales, more power to it.
Jason Scott Lee stands out as Aladdin, as does John Leguizamo as the genie.
The movie is great, the effects are too good for a TV movie but of course they could be better professionally speaking, but they are very nice.
The script is well written as well.There's a small problem, the original story of Aladdin...
Watch the movie, its really nice..
Nice, fun family friendly mini-series retelling of '1001 Nights', with Scheherazade telling tales (Ali Baba and the 40 thieves, Aladdin and the lamp, etc.) to keep her crazed husband from having her killed, and to lead him back from madness.
I loved this movie so much, I had to stop it in the middle so it wouldn't come to an end.
Its funny, its hypnotic, its suspenseful, its logical (within the realm of fantasy) and, of course, its acting is almost top notch, which is the only reason I rate it 9 instead of a perfect 10.The movie changes the original story (from the book Arabian Nights) just enough to make it suitable for the modern psyche, yet creates a perfect setting of ancient Arabia, Turkey, China and more!
It makes the characters real and succeeds where most fairy tales or tales of the orient fail: it constantly blends western humor (English) in eastern settings and personalities.But more than that, this movie makes the viewer LIVE the moments with relish and yearning.Be warned, if you watch this movie, you WILL dance with the Sheherzade and fall in love with her; want to help Ali Baba and cheer him on his wedding day; feel afraid with Aladdin and laugh with the genie...This truly is movie making at its best: a fun, positive, dreamy creation that takes your breath away!.
It is especially present in the 'Arabian Nights' stories, signified by what's inside the lamp.The writer of this film understood the singular advantage of the material and made changes to emphasize the folds: the warring genies played by the same actor; the many bleeds between the framing story and the inner stories, and most particularly in the outer framing layers.
Add in some beautiful faces (Vanessa Mae), some lush (but somewhat comic) costumes and really successful locations, and you've got something that works, even in the face of imperfect directing and pacing.One thing that's wonderful about these stories, the originals, is how they cover the 'orient.' This is extended here in referencing locations an peoples in various Arabian locations plus, Persia, Africa, China, even Tibet.
I wanted to see what sort of performance Dougray Scott would give in a movie that was not a blockbuster-type.
John Leguizamo did a great job as both Genies, specially the part where the 2 of them are groaning about their familial relations - reminded me of my own family.I was surprised to see Andy Serkis in the lineup and wondered how i had missed him since the Lord of the Rings trilogy is one of my favorite films of all time.Mili's Sheherazade physically was beautiful and somewhat believable in her role, i wish she had been more expressive though since Dougray Scott (accent aside) portrayed the anguished sultan to perfection.All in all a fun, silly movie to watch if you need to get your mind off something :-) Enjoy !.
amongst the best fantasy movies....
'Arabian Nights' is by far one of the best fantasy movies I've ever seen.
That's why in the sci-fi/fantasy genre I like to watch movies based on various mythologies.
Arabian nights is one such set of stories and I am truly satisfied with the way this movie took to the stories.
I have never read all the original stories and cannot attest to the authenticity of the stories presented.)In all the reviews I write on this website, I always write for movies that have good scripts and this one fits that category to the T.
I specially liked the one where the story teller tells her about the night when he came face to face to death.
All the stories were done with a great sense of humor - the genies in Aladin's story, the sultan who switches places with a drunk (and meets his end with a smile on his face), Bac-bac's story - all done really well.Great movie and I would recommend anyone who come across this review..
ARABIAN NIGHTS is one of those Hallmark TV miniseries that was quite spectacular on release; 20 years later, not so much.
It's a sprawling adaptation of various Arabic folk tales, so expect Ali Baba and Aladdin to show up alongside mythical beasts, genies, magic carpets and the like.