Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010) - Soundtrack.Net by Dan Goldwasser on September 14th, 2010 It's increasingly rare that films in Hollywood come from truly original sources. Witness the never-ending surge of sequel, remakes, spin-offs, re-imaginings, adaptations, etc. ï¿½But just because something is an adaptation of a successful property, it doesn't necessarily mean that it will capture the audience that it tries to caters to.ï¿½ (See Phantom of the Opera, for instance.)ï¿½ In the case of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, the source material was not only the video game of the same name, but the entire saga created by visionary video game designer Jordan Mechner.ï¿½ That Mechner himself was involved in crafting the storyline, as well as super-blockbuster producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Mike Newell, the film had all the right elements - but was the film worth the sum of its parts?

The storyline involves Dastan (Jake Gyllenhaal), an orphan who was adopted by the King of Persia.ï¿½ King Sharaman (Ronald Pickup) has been expanding his empire, and his brother Nizam (Ben Kinglsey) arranges with Sharaman's two sons Tus (Richard Coyle) and Garsiv (Toby Kebbell), to lead a surprise attack on the holy city on Alamut, who they believe is selling weapons to the King's enemies.

Dastan uses his cunning and stealth to make the attack a success, and then in an effort to foster peace, Sharaman suggests that Dastan marry Princess Tamina (Gemma Arterton).ï¿½ But when Sharaman is killed and Dastan is framed for the murder, he finds himself on the run with Tamina.ï¿½ Soon it becomes clear that the dagger that Dastan grabbed when capturing Tamina has a larger purpose - it is the Dagger of Time, a mystical artifact that allows the bearer to rewind time 1-minute when activating the Sands of Time held within.ï¿½ But the sand runs out, and now Dastan and Tamina must return to Alamut to clear his name and expose the conspiracy that resulted in his adopted father's death.ï¿½ Along the way, they encounter Sheik Amar (Alfred Molina), a somewhat shady character who runs an illegal ostrich racing enterprise, deadly Hassansin warriors who are trying to kill them, and other deadly situations.ï¿½ It's not a very convoluted storyline, but the way that it unfolds might seem a little muddled.ï¿½ For a video game adaptation, it could certainly be worse, but it

 could also be better.ï¿½ It plays out as a somewhat predictable by-the-numbers popcorn film.ï¿½ It's a fun film, but hardly something deep and meaningful.ï¿½ Molina and Arterton are the two shining jewels in the film; Molina is great in his comic timing, and Arterton gives a nice performance of a strong independent woman who can hold her own.

ï¿½While Mike Newell directed the film, and he cut his teeth on action sequences during Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the film is definitely a Jerry Bruckheimer production, through-and-through.ï¿½ The action sequences are where the film shines, using the free-running styles of parkour to give them a bit of a twist and high energy.ï¿½ The music by Harry Gregson-Williams does an excellent job evoking the mystical Persian qualities, with a strong melody and fun ethnic percussive grooves.ï¿½ The production design is excellent, and the visual effects sequences range from excellent to somewhat cheesy (particularly during the sand avalanche sequence). Released on Blu-ray as a stand-alone release, or a triple-combo pack (Blu-ray / DVD / Digital Copy), Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time sports an excellent transfer that cleanly recreates the theatrical presentation.

ï¿½One of the (blessedly) few summer films that didn't seem to undergo a 3D conversion process, the film has a golden hue to the color timing that comes across the screen quite nicely.ï¿½ The details are all cleanly visible, from the grains of sand, to the intricate costume design, to the pores in the actor's skin.ï¿½ ï¿½Light film grain is also visible, and even the visual effects sequences (well, the ones that were top notch) look so great that you'll want to pause the Blu-ray and do a frame-by-frame exploration. Audio is where this release truly shines.ï¿½ I hope you have those rear speakers primed, because this film gives them quite a workout!ï¿½ The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 English audio track is so immersive and engaging that you will probably be pulling out this disc to show off your friends.

Dialogue is clearly emitted from the center channel, and the sound effects and score fully swirl around you for nearly the majority of the 116-minute long feature.ï¿½ The thundering moments will push the limits of your subwoofer, and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is definitely one of those demo-worthy releases.ï¿½ Additional audio tracks include French and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1, as well as an English Descriptive Audio track. On the Blu-ray, there are only two extras. The first one, called "The Sands of Time" (HD, 79-min) is an interactive viewing mode that runs the length of the film.ï¿½ As the movie plays, at certain points the Dagger of Time will appear, giving you a short time-span during which you can press the "Enter" button on your remote to access a video segment, known as a "Rewind", that takes you back a bit and explains some behind-the-scenes of an aspect of the film which you just saw.

Some "Rewind" segments have additional pieces that can be watched when you activate the dagger once again.ï¿½ It works relatively seamlessly, and the video bits can also be accessed through a main index.ï¿½ Unfortunately there is no "Play All" option.ï¿½ There are twenty "Rewinds", with 42 video segments in all.ï¿½ They range in all manner of topics from the challenges of filming in Morocco, to the costume, set and production design, casting and characters, visual effects, action choreography, story, and more.ï¿½ Unfortunately there is nothing about the music, and there is no commentary track.ï¿½ï¿½ The second and last extra is a short "Deleted Scene - The Banquet: Garsiv Presents Heads" (HD, 2-min) which would have been near the beginning of the film, in which Garsiv presents the King with treasure from his recent conquests, as well as the heads of the Lords he conquered. This shows just a little more of the ruthlessness of his character.

On the DVD, we have "The Unseen World: Making Prince of Persia" (SD, 16-min).ï¿½ This short but informative behind-the-scenes look at the making of the film touches on a spattering of the same topics as the Blu-rayï¿½s "focus points", but is laid out in a condensed linear narrative, with some slightly different footage than the Blu-ray vignettes.ï¿½ Itï¿½s nice to have both versions of the supplement available, but it would have been nicer to include it on the Blu-ray disc, as well, so you donï¿½t have to pop the DVD in. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time might not be the franchise-starter that the filmmakers hoped it would be, but it was a fun popcorn film that provided plenty of entertainment value.ï¿½ Is it worth picking up on Blu-ray?

Well, the transfer is top-notch, and the supplements, while seemingly anemic actually do pack on nearly 80-minutes of behind-the-scenes vignettes.ï¿½ The lack of a commentary (and trailers!) is disappointing, so those hoping for more bang-for-their-buck might hold back, but otherwise, it's absolutely worth the rental. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time | Disney Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time 40,859pages on Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Directed by [Source] Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is a 2010 American fantasy adventure film written by Jordan Mechner, Boaz Yakin, Doug Miro, and Carlo Bernard; directed by Mike Newell; produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and released by Walt Disney Pictures . The film is a retelling of the 2003 video game of the same name, developed and released by Ubisoft Montreal. The film stars Jake Gyllenhaal as Prince Dastan , Gemma Arterton as Princess Tamina, Ben Kingsley as Nizam, and Alfred Molina as Sheik Amar.

The film has the same title as the video game Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, and is primarily based on it. Elements from Prince of Persia: Warrior Within and Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones, the two other titles from the Sands of Time trilogy of the Prince of Persia video game franchise, are also incorporated. Contents [ show ] Plot Two Brothers ruled over the ancient kingdom of Persia, King Sharaman (Ronald Pickup) and his advisor, Nizam (Ben Kingsley). While the King had two sons, Tus and Garsiv, he took pity on a young orphan boy, Dastan, who impressed the King with his bravery while protecting a friend from a violent guard. The King saves Dastan from getting his hand chopped off and decides to adopt him because he felt that Dastan had the spirit of a Prince. Years later, Dastan (Jake Gyllenhaal), Tus (Richard Coyle) and Garsiv (Toby Kebbell) lead their father’s forces to war against the Kosh. A spy informs Nizam that the Holy City of Alamut has been providing the Kosh with weapons.

Nizam convinces Tus, the leader of the army, to go into the city and crush it, despite King Sharaman’s desire for it to be left in peace. Dastan protests, but Garsiv and Tus listen to their uncle Nizam instead. Dastan wants to lead the attack but Garsiv claims that he wants the first blood. Tus tells Dastan that he is not ready to lead the attack. The group begins firing catapults of flaming rocks toward the city. Dastan disregards Tus’s orders and leads his own gang of warriors through the East gate of the city. Bis (Reece Ritchie) and Dastan’s other troops shoot arrows above Dastan so that he can climb into the city. Dastan opens the East Gate and takes on the “Impossible Gate” by climbing up a tower and entering from above. He notices Alamutian soldiers charging towards his men, so he knocks over a large bowl of boiling oil and ignites it to create a barrier of flames.

In the high temple of Alamut, Princess Tamina (Gemma Arterton) wraps up a dagger and hands it to a messenger, telling him to bring it to a secret temple outside of the city. The messenger runs into the battle raging in the city but crosses paths with Dastan. The two duel in the city square and Dastan knocks the messenger out by slamming him into a wall. He finds the dagger and takes it as his own prize. Tus and Garsiv are impressed by Dastan’s daring. They decide to confront the Princess and Tus declares his intention to marry her to keep the peace between Persia and the people of Alamut. Tamina sees that Dastan has the dagger and is immediately alarmed. She is escorted out by Persian guards. Dastan and Bis get drunk with their men when Tus comes riding on horseback. Tus tells Dastan that their father is riding in and asks where Dastan’s gift is. Dastan has misplaced his in his drunken stupor, so Tus gives Dastan the robes of the high regent of Alamut to present to their father.

Tus tells Dastan that if their father doesn’t agree to have Tamina marry Tus, Dastan must kill her. He notices Dastan’s dagger and asks Dastan for it, but Nizam arrives and reminds Tus that Dastan delivered him that entire city. Tus goes and meets with Nizam and King Sharaman but King Sharaman is outraged that Tus attacked the holy city. King Sharaman tells Tus that he is not ready to be king, despite how much he’d like to be. Nizam watches the conversation unfold before the trio head into the banquet in their honor. In the banquet, Dastan presents his father with the robes of the regent. His father tells him that he is proud of him but that Dastan hasn’t learned that a real leader does what he has to in order to defend what he knows is right. Dastan asks his father to allow Tus to marry Tamina, but King Sharaman points out that Tus has many wives. Since Dastan has none, King Sharaman gives Tamina to Dastan as his first wife. Dastan is shocked and can barely speak before his father starts screaming.

The robes of the high regent were covered in poisonous acid which eat away at the king. Garsiv tries to rip them off while Dastan screams for help but Dastan appears to be a murderer. His father’s guards move to capture him, but Bis jumps to his aid and fights them. Bis is quickly killed but Tamina leads Dastan out of the palace. They escape the city on horseback with Garsiv in pursuit. Once outside the city, Dastan tries to make sense of what happened. He tells Tamina that Tus gave him the robe and decides that he needs to get to his uncle Nizam. Tamina then tries to stab Dastan but he accidentally activates the knife, travelling back 1 minute into the past. He’s caught off guard and when Tamina makes her move to stab him again, she slashes him across the chest. He activates the dagger again and disarms her, telling her that if she goes for that sword one more time he’ll break her arms. She’s alarmed that he’s used the dagger and then sees that he’s used up all the sand.

Dastan looks over the dagger and fills it with normal sand, but Tamina points out that only special sand can power the dagger: The Sands of Time. Dastan throws her onto the horse and the two travel into the desert. He realizes that Alamut had no weapons, just the dagger and that with the dagger, Tus would be the most powerful king in the world. Dastan hopes to find his uncle at the king’s funeral and they will travel into the Valley of the Slaves as a short cut, hopefully avoiding the murderous robbers who inhabit it. Upon entering the Valley of the Slaves, Dastan and Tamina are greeted by skeletons stuck on wooden pikes to mark the entrance. While walking, Tamina faints due to lack of dehydration. When Dastan goes to help her, she knocks him out using a nearby bone. When he comes to, she and the dagger are gone. He walks around for a bit, only to be found by Sheik Amar (Alfred Molina) and his henchmen.

His knife thrower, Seso (Steve Toussaint), throws a knife just shy of Dastan’s penis and Amar tells Dastan that he better give him something good if he wants to stay alive. A few minutes later, Tamina is captured by the Sheik and Dastan, who used her as a bartering chip, steals back the dagger. The Valley of the Slaves turns out to be an elaborate lie. The Sheik, who hates paying taxes, created the horrible infamy associated with the Valley to keep the Persians away (since the Sheik hates paying taxes). He makes Tamina serve the gamblers near his Ostrich races and talks to Dastan with Seso. He points out that Dastan looks a lot like the man who killed the king and that Tus is offering a very large reward for Dastan’s capture. Dastan avoids Seso’s knives and steals back the dagger when Tamina causes a distraction on the ostrich track. Dastan opens up a gate and the two narrowly escape, pausing just long enough to mock the Sheik. Dastan and Tamina make it to the city holding the king’s funeral.

Dastan uses Tamina to smuggle himself into the event and then hide’s on his father’s funeral casket (which houses his coffin behind shrouds). He writes a meeting place on a piece of parchment and slips it into his uncle’s coat before leaving. Tamina is impressed by Dastan’s success but steals the dagger when he isn’t looking. Nizam and Dastan meet but it quickly becomes apparent that Dastan has been set up. He sees burn marks on Nizam’s hands, proving that Nizam poisoned the robes. Dastan escapes the city but is forced to fight Garsiv to do so. He insists his innocence and leaves Garsiv on his back. Dastan catches up to Tamina just as a sand storm begins. They set up a tent and wait it out. Tamina tells him the story of the dagger: The gods waged a war of elements against the people of the planet until one young girl was willing to give her life to stop them. The Gods gave her a gift: the dagger of time which allowed the user to turn back. She removed the dagger from a mountain wall and a temple was built around it.

Alamut was built over the Hour Glass, which houses the sands of Time. Dastan realizes that Nizam wants to break the seal on the Hour Glass in order to change history and go back to a specific day: When Nizam and Sharaman were children, they went hunting and Nizam saved Sharaman from a lioness. Dastan postulates that Nizam will go back to that time and not act, resulting in Sharaman’s death and erasing the future. Tamina warns him that if the dagger is misused, its raw energy will destroy Alamut and then go on to destroy the world. Nizam talks to Tus and Garsiv about what should be done with Dastan. Tus wants to put him on trial, but Nizam tells him that Dastan should be killed and not allowed to return; otherwise his accusations could destabilize the region. Garsiv is suspicious of Nizam’s desire to have Dastan killed but says nothing. Tus tells him that Dastan will be put on trail and ends the discussion. Nizam visits an outpost of the Hassassins, an elite group of killers.

He pays their leader, a former monk of Alamut, to hunt down and kill Dastan and Tamina. The leader uses asps as his main weapon and leads his men out to hunt them down. As Dastan and Tamina continue on to their temple, the Sheik catches up to them. He ties up Dastan and Tamina and scolds them for their actions, which resulted in the destruction of the Sheik’s gambling den and death of most of his ostriches. Tamina convinces the Sheik to take them to the Temple and promises him more gold than his horses can carry. That night, several asps attack the camp and kill the Sheik and his men, but Dastan convinces Seso to give him the dagger, and turns back time enough to locate and kill all of the asps as they surface. The Leader of the Hassassins sees this and decides that their best chance is to kill everyone in the temple before Dastan and Tamina can get there. The Sheik is impressed with Dastan’s actions, so he frees him. The group arrives at the temple two days later and finds the village around it has been completely slaughtered.

Garsiv and his men arrive and he takes Dastan in doors. Dastan makes his case and tells him that Nizam is the one who killed their father. Garsiv tells Dastan what Nizam told them, confirming that he believes Dastan. However, the Hassassins arrive and attack the Sheik’s men. In the onslaught, Tamina is knocked out and the dagger is taken, Garsiv is killed and the surviving Hassassins escape. Dastan convinces the Sheik and Seso to help him stop Nizam. They bury Garsiv and return to Alamut. Nizam puts the dagger in the high temple of Alamut and has a Hassassin specialized in throwing spikes guard the tower. Since Seso is the only one who can match the Hassassin, he volunteers to fight him. While Nizam oversees the excavation of the tunnel to the Hour Glass, Dastan and company penetrate the tower’s defenses and allow Seso access to the tower. Seso and the Hassassin engage in a tense throwing duel which ends in Seso stabbing the Hassassin through the heart with his throwing axe, but at the cost of his own life.

Having been pierced by four arrows to the heart, he throws the dagger out of a window which Dastan and the Sheik retrieve. The Sheik grieves for his friend and pretends to be Dastan in order to drawn the guards away from the palace. Tamina and Dastan sneak into the King’s chamber to speak with Tus. Dastan takes Tus hostage in order to speak to him in private. He tells him that it Nizam’s plot to kill their father, not his. He then explains the dagger’s powers but can tell that Tus doesn’t believe him. With Tamina watching, he stabs himself through the heart with the dagger as Tus cries out in shock. Nizam enters and tells Tus that Dastan took the coward’s way out. However, Tus picks up the dagger and goes back in time and prevents Dastan’s death. Dastan is relieved that Tus used the dagger (having gambled it all on the fact that he would), but Nizam enters and immediately slits Tus’s throat. Tamina helps Dastan escape and the two decide that they need to get to the Hour Glass before Nizam.

Tamina and Dastan enter into the secret catacombs and Tamina tells Dastan to only step where she steps. Unfortunately, a stray rock causes the ground to collapse into sand. Dastan maneuvers on debris as he falls and winds up separated from Tamina in a passage way. He walks through until he sees the Hour Glass. Unfortunately, the lead Hassassin attacks and the two fight to a stalemate. Tamina arrives just as the leader’s asp is about to bite Dastan and she shoves the asp into the leader’s face. Dastan stabs the leader and he falls into the chasm below. With a moment to themselves before everything turns to hell, Tamina and Dastan share a kiss as Nazim gains access to the Hour Glass cavern from above. Nizam arrives at the Hour Glass with scaffolding and ready to plunge the knife into the hour glass. Dastan and Tamina climb up to the base of the Hour Glass and fight Nizam. Nizam stabs Dastan in the shoulder and kicks him off. Tamina tries to stop Nizam but Nizam kicks her off the edge as well.

Dastan catches her but she forces him to let go so that he can stop Nizam. She tells him that she wished they could have been together. Dastan climbs up and attacks Nizam as he unleashes the Sands of Time. As Time flows through the hour glass, scenes of his past appear as echoes in the glass. Nizam struggles to maintain his hold on the dagger, but Dastan forces the dagger to deactivate and he thrown back in time. Dastan finds himself at the point where he first procured the dagger. Bis runs up to him to announce the conquering of the city. Realizing that he can undo all the damage which was done, Dastan finds Tus and Garsiv and immediately decries Nizam as a traitor in public. Tus tells his men to find the spy, but that proves unnecessary. Exposed, Nizam tries to kill Dastan. Dastan and Nizam fall off of the palace stairs and Dastan tells him that Nizam had everything he could have wanted, but he turned his back on his family for personal gain. He walks away from Nizam but Nizam tries to skewer him with his sword.

Tus stabs Nizam through the stomach before Nizam can kill Dastan, saving his brother’s life. With the timeline altered and the ruse exposed, Dastan accompanies his brother to Tamina’s quarters. Tus apologizes for their attack and offers a marriage to Dastan as a means of healing the broken trust between Alamut and Persia. Dastan presents Tamina with the dagger and overtly hints that he knows what it does. They exchange banter in the palace garden and he tells her that he looks forward to the day they will know each other well enough to be more forward in their talks. The dagger is then returned to the high temple. Cast Ronald Pickup as King Sharaman Reece Ritchie as Bis Gísli Örn Garðarsson as Hassansin Leader William Foster as young Dastan; the Norwich teenager auditioned for the role at Ealing Studios in West London and was cast for his expertise in parkour. He said: "94% of it was me and the rest was stunt men... who did some of the stuff that I just wasn't allowed to do.

None of it was special effects." Production In March 2004, the production company Jerry Bruckheimer Films sought to acquire feature film rights to the 2003 video game Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time with the film to be distributed by Walt Disney Pictures . Under John August as executive producer, the series' creator Jordan Mechner was hired to write the script. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer 's Pirates of the Caribbean film trilogy served as a touchstone in how a theme park ride was converted into a film franchise. According to Mechner, "Rather than do a straight beat-for-beat adaptation of the new videogame, we're taking some cool elements from the game and using them to craft a new story." Mechner previously considered producing an animated film based on the games, but could not resist Disney and Bruckheimer's offer. In February 2006, Disney hired screenwriter Jeffrey Nachmanoff to write a new script for Prince of Persia. Early in 2007, Disney announced Rahul the Prince as one of its tentpole films and by June had scheduled a release date for July 10, 2009, before having a final script or any actors attached.

By November 2007, Disney entered negotiations with Mike Newell to direct the film based on a script by Mechner and Nachmanoff, though the studio held off production until the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike was resolved. Newell was fond of Bruckheimer's films, and loved the "exciting and immensely romantic" script, which reminded him of Lost Horizon. His assistant played the video games and gave the director key details.Mechner, in writing the script, re-conceived the storyline to shift the perspective from the interactive one experienced by video gamers to the non-interactive experience by film audiences. The screenwriter left out elements of the Prince of Persia video games Warrior Within and The Two Thrones and did not anticipate including these elements in the film's possible sequels. When filming began, the film's release date was postponed to May 28, 2010, with the studio seeking enough time for the post-production process in designing the film's special effects. The profit margin on the Pirates of the Caribbean films was compromised by overspending as special effects teams rushed to complete the films for their release dates.

Variety also ascribed the postponement to avoiding the potential 2008 Screen Actors Guild strike so the studio could ensure that the film leads to a "mega-franchise" similar to its successful Pirates of the Caribbean series. Other reasons for the release date change were that the film was originally scheduled a week before Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, and Disney needed more time to co-ordinate its marketing campaign. Gyllenhaal claims he "over-prepared" for the role, gaining five or six pounds of muscle. The actor says, "I never knew how much they were going to ask me to do, so I just made sure I'd be hopefully able to do anything." Gemma Arterton was announced to play the role of protagonist Tamina, and Arterton reported she practiced horse back riding in Madrid before filming. Ben Kingsley was to portray the film's antagonist, Nizam. Alfred Molina was to portray a character named Sheik Amar, who becomes a mentor to the prince. Toby Kebbell was to play Prince Garsiv, Dastan's brother and head of the Persian army.

Richard Coyle was cast as the eldest brother Crown prince Tus and William Foster was cast as young Dastan based on his experience in parkour. The leading characters of the film all speak with recognisably English accents. Filming In March 2008, director Mike Newell selected Morocco as a shooting location for Prince of Persia and also planned to film in Pinewood Studios . Production was scheduled to begin in mid-June 2008.< By May 2008, actors Jake Gyllenhaal and Gemma Arterton were cast into the lead roles. With a new script by Jordan Mechner, Doug Miro, Carlo Bernard, and Boaz Yakin, filming began in July 2008 in Morocco as well as London. Eight weeks were spent in Morocco before the first unit moved to Pinewood. Unlike other Disney films being made at the time, filming was not done in three dimensions, nor was the film converted into 3-D during post production. Soundtrack Alanis Morissette composed the theme song for the film, named "I Remain". The score was written by composer Harry Gregson-Williams.

Marketing The poster made its debut as a background prop in a 2009 Bruckheimer production, Confessions of a Shopaholic, similar to how Warner Bros. incorporated poster for various developed but never filmed projects based on their comic characters in I Am Legend. The week of Confessions of a Shopaholic’s release, Disney signed a merchandising deal with Lego for the film. Disney released merchandise such as action figures, sets, costumes and a replica Dagger of Time. It also released a graphic novel called Prince of Persia: Before the Sandstorm, which will act as a prequel to the film. Also, a video game was developed by Ubisoft Montreal titled Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands and was released alongside the film; however, the game's story is unrelated to the film, and instead serves as an interquel to the first two games in the Sands of Time trilogy. Release Disney's marketing strategy included a step by step release of the film.

Prince of Persia was released first in Europe, with its world premiere held in Westfield, London , UK on May 9 then premiered on May 19, 2010 in Italy , France , Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway , Denmark, Sweden and Finland, and on May 20 in Germany . It was released on May 21 in the United Kingdom, Spain , Bulgaria, Poland, and Turkey. It was released in Australia , Hong Kong , Malaysia, and the Philippines on May 27. The film was not released in the United States until May 28 to try to profit from the potentially higher audience on Memorial Day weekend. It was also released in Ghana, India , Romania and Nigeria on May 28. Reception The film received mixed to negative reviews, and holds a 35% rotten rating on aggregate review site Rotten Tomatoes , with an average score of 5/10.

The critical consensus is: "It doesn't offer much in the way of substance, but Prince of Persia is a suitably entertaining swashbuckler—and a substantial improvement over most video game adaptations." Another review aggregate, Metacritic, which calculates an average rating based on reviews from mainstream critics, gave a score of 50/100. Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert gave the film two stars out of four and wrote, "The two leads are not inspired. Jake Gyllenhaal could make the cover of a muscle mag, but he plays Dastan as if harboring Spider-Man 's doubts and insecurities." Film critic David Roark of Relevant Magazine, on the other hand, gave the film a positive review and wrote: "Newell has unquestionably accomplished what he set out to do, which is ridiculous, silly and forgettable, but amusing nonetheless." Box office Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, which, according to Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer , was supposed to be "the new Pirates of the Caribbean ", debuted #3 at the U.S.

box office behind Shrek Forever After and Sex and the City 2 with $30.1 million in its first 3-day weekend of release. It is the third highest opening for a video game adaptation, behind Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and Pokémon: The First Movie . During Memorial Day, it surpassed Sex and the City 2 to gross $37,813,075 for the 4-day weekend and finish in second place. Internationally, the film grossed an estimated $18 million in its first weekend (before its US release), when it opened in 19 major European countries. Prince of Persia debuted at #1 in these countries, except UK where it lost the top spot to StreetDance 3D. A week later the film was released in the rest of the world and it grossed an estimated $61.6 million in total from 47 countries and $30.1 million in North America, becoming the leader of the worldwide box office with $91,695,259, while reaching the #1 spot in 41 of the 47 countries.

The film has ultimately earned $90,759,676 in the United States and Canada and $244,394,967 in other countries, for a total worldwide gross of $335,154,643 and has become the highest-grossing video-game adaptation ever worldwide, overtaking previous record holder Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and Mortal Kombat. Home media Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment released a single-disc DVD , a single-disc Blu-ray Disc, and a 3-disc Blu-ray Disc combo-pack in the US on September 14, 2010. The DVD landed in the number one spot on the US DVD sales chart, with 664,041 units sold within the first week and 1,623,361 units in total (equal to $33,941,976) as of March 13, 2011. In the UK , it opened at number one on the DVD and Blu-ray Disc charts during its first week. In Germany , too, the DVD landed No. 1 on the country's DVD chart. This page uses content from the English Wikipedia .

The article or pieces of the original article was at Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time . The list of authors can be seen in the page history . As with Disney Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License. PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE SANDS OF TIME Blu-ray Review | Collider PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE SANDS OF TIME Blu-ray Review SHARE TWEET 0 Every summer studios produce weekends full of “A” titles, summer blockbusters that are meant to wow us and make piles upon piles of money. These are the prestige titles of the day, and though they may be stupid, no expense is sparred in the making of them. Of course this doesn’t mean the people behind or in front of the camera are the best in the business, but they have the potential to deliver an audience by their star appeal, and their knowledge of what works. Hopefully. On Paper, Disney’s Prince of Persia sounds like it could be something. It’s produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, it stars Jake Gyllenhaal – who hasn’t set the box office on fire, but is a respected actor – with Bond Girl turned it girl Gemma Arterton.

The director is Mike Newell who directed one of the best of the Harry Potter franchise, and the film is based on a successful video game, one that serves only as a basis for an action adventure story. But all those details add up to one terrible movie, and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is a pretty terrible film. My review of Prince of Persia on Blu-ray after the jump. Gyllenhaal stars as Dastan, the adopted son of the king of Persia (hence: the title). He’s a great fighter, and he and his two brothers are told that a neighboring town has been creating weapons of mass destruction (well, not really, but yeah) and they preemptively invade to get the upper hand. This leads Dastan to Tamina (Gemma Arterton) the princess who should marry into his family after their victory. He also comes across a magical dagger, which has special sand that can reverse time, and show the user what has happened for as long as the plot needs to reverse whatever terrible thing just happened. But Dastan is accused of murdering his adopted father with a poisoned robe, so he goes on the lam with Tamina, who is working against him.

The two bicker in a way that’s supposed to be sexually charged, but manages to just grate. They then run into the highlight of the film, Alfred Molina’s somewhat game pirate character Sheik Amur, who has Ostrich races, and is a PG-13 libertine. Then Dastan comes to meet with Nizam (Ben Kingsley) who it turns out is the villain of the piece. If there is one rule to a summer movie, it’s that no action scene should feel inert. That’s complete and utter death for a film, but with this movie there is simply so much exposition about the knife, about the attack, about why the attack happened, about relationships, about everything that the film resembles a dull headache. I’m not opposed to a film using something culturally relevant as a plot detail – that might be a problem if the film worked. From the get-go, no one seems invested in the material. You could say that Jake Gyllenhaal is doing his damndest, but he’s not in a role like Johnny Depp’s Captain Jack, so he can only do so much as he’s supposed to be the anchor.

You can see that he’s trying to flash winning charm, but mostly he comes across as in shape and trying too hard. And the role Gemma Arterton has untenable, but would have worked a whole lot better if the leads had chemistry. Not only is she a nag throughout much of the film, she’s an exposition queen, while Gyllenhaal comes across as prepubescent. Some of this constant talking would be palatable if the action was good, but it isn’t. It’s perfunctory, and the narrative hook of a dagger that reverses time not only sets up the film’s conclusion (yeah, you’re dealing with an “it’s all a dream” sort of narrative), it’s never used particularly well. The problem is similar to that of Jumper, where the power of jumping in space is similar to that of editing. I would salute the film if I felt like this was Mike Newell’s homage to Hanaeke’s Funny Games, but though the effects are solid it’s not a “wow.” There are a lot of films that seem like bad ideas, but watching Prince of Persia, my reaction was that no one cared.

The film has no reason to exist, and there’s so little to recommend it other than a performance by Alfred Molina that’s meant to be a standout, and even on that level it is just okay. This is generic garbage. Disney’s Blu-ray however is the finest possible presentation. The film is presented in widescreen (2.35:1) and in DTS-HD 5.1 Surround. Also included with the Blu-ray is the film on DVD and a digital copy. The disc opens with trailers for Disney movies, I only mention that because it has the teaser trailer for Tron: Legacy, and that’s my favorite trailer so far. The film comes with a deleted scene (1 min.) and the cine-explore feature which offers branching point video through the run of the film (about 81 minutes of content) that runs with the film. It offers a thorough look behind the scenes, but doesn’t get at what went wrong. It’s just selling.

Related Content Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time | Ok.com Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Share this movie Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time ages 12+ | 81 % Say It's Worth Your Time Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is a 2010 sword-and-sorcery action film written by Jordan Mechner, Boaz Yakin, Doug Miro, and Carlo Bernard; directed by Mike Newell; produced by Jerry Bruckheimer; and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. The film is a retelling of the 2003 video game of the same name, developed and released by Ubisoft Montreal. The film stars Jake Gyllenhaal as Prince Dastan, Gemma Arterton as Princess Tamina, Ben Kingsley as Nizam, and Alfred Molina as Sheik Amar. The film has the same title as the video game Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, and is primarily based on it. Elements from Prince of Persia: Warrior Within and Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones, two other titles from the Prince of Persia video game franchise, are also incorporated.

However, apart from the basic elements such as treachery and the Sands of Time, the film's plot is quite distinct from that of the video game franchise. For example, the film is focused on stopping the antagonist from releasing the Sands, whereas in the game the Prince fights to seal the sands back in the hourglass. An attack at the sacred city of Alamut is planned by Dastan (Jake Gyllenhaal), an orphan in the Persian Release Date: May 28, 2010 Runtime: Genre: Action , Adventure , Fantasy Welcome to the ok.com Rating Widget Share what age you think this movie is appropriate for by clicking one of the bars on our age-rating chart below. Then, tell us if you think the movie was worth your time by clicking either the thumbs up or thumbs down button. After you leave at least one rating (either age or worth your time), you can optionally leave a review for others to read. Ok for ages 12+ . What would you rate it? ?

G PG PG-13 R Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action 3 of 10 Sex & Nudity 7 of 10 Violence & Gore 2 of 10 Profanity Amazon.com: Customer Reviews: Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time Verified Purchase I have no experience with the video game The Prince of Persia but having seen the trailers for the film, week after week, I was interested in seeing the film. I like tales set in mythic times so The Prince of Persia had an appeal, which was completely fulfilled by the film. I have revealed some of the story, below, so those who have not seen the movie might want to skip the next two paragraphs. The story centers on Dastan (Jake Gyllenhaal), a boy of the streets, who is adopted by the king of Persia for his bravery and coming to assist those in need. The king already has two sons, Tus and Garsiv, and his adoption of Dastan comes from a prophecy. Dastan grows up to be a clever warrior and a voice of reason for his older brothers. The story revolves around that taking of the Holy City of Alamut.

Dastan is against storming the city until evidence is presented that the inhabitants are forging weapons that will be used against the Persians by other enemies. Ben Kingsley plays the king's brother who presents a mask of the perfect advisor to his nephews. The city is captured and Dastan comes into possession of the true reason the city was captured: a dagger that hold inside it magical sand that can reverse time. The dagger is guarded by a princess named Tamina (played by Gemma Arterton) who contrives to steal the dagger. The king of Persia arrives at the Alamut, and is poisoned from a gift given to him by Dastan. Dastan must flee and prove his innocence. Along the way, is a humorous encounter with an ostrich racing, tax-evading sheik played by Alfred Molina. Dastan and the princess trade the dagger back and forth, and are pursued by sinister assassins. I was unsure if Jake Gyllenhaal would make an effective action-romantic hero, but he does a magnificent job with the role. He has good on screen chemistry with Gemma Arterton. The production is sumptuous and the costume designers produced some stunning costumes.

Several reviewers have said the dialogue was tiresome and the editing choppy but I did not find that to be the case. The Prince of Persian is a fantastic adventure in the tradition of the tales of the Arabian Nights. When the film was over, I would have happily seen it again. 0Comment | 8 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Report abuse Comment Format: Blu-ray | Verified Purchase I really enjoy these types of movies. At their heart movies such as Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time are supposed to be fun and adventure filled escapist entertainment. This is where the movie succeeds. First of all the movie is a visual palette of wondrous colors, scenery, architecture, costumes and characters that transports the viewer to another place and time. Secondly the story has all the right elements from heroism, bravery, treachery, betrayal, familial love and loyalty along with romance and laughter. Thirdly the story is epic in scope but intimate in its execution.

Based on a video game, which I have never seen, the story follows the adventure of Dastan a Prince of Persia, splendidly portrayed by Jake Gyllenhaal, who had been adopted by the king as a peasant living in poverty on the streets. Raised along with his adopted brothers Dastan leads his brothers and their armies to capture the city of Alamut where he meets the city's beautiful princess Tamina, portrayed by the enchanting and stunning, Gemma Arterton, and he comes in possession of a mysterious dagger with time traveling abilities. That is the gist of the story and I will not go into great detail on the finer points of the story. The movie is a fantasy and it is fun and enjoyable. If you enjoy fun, adventure filled fantasy epics the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is a great popcorn munching movie to escape into for a while. It will be time well spent. Verified Purchase I thought this was an excellent adventure / love story with some wonderful special effects and chase / fight scenes. I'm a big fan of the video game franchise and it's sister series, Assassin's Creed.

Because of that I appreciated the winks to the gamers the movie makers inserted here and there, like Dastan standing on a wooden outcropping with the camera swooping around behind him to take in the scenery and the collapse of the temple where he "surfs" through the sand. I jokingly told my sister who was watching with me, "Hey, I remember that level! It was hard!" Jake Gyllenhal is darling as Dastan, the doe-eyed Prince of Persia, (love those baby blues!) a character that comes across as surprisingly wholesome and innocent considering he's a grown man and a skilled warrior. The Prince is sweet, unassuming and a bit naive but also honorable, endearing and extremely hot. I watched this with my sons ages 9 & 12 and they both thought it "was the coolest movie ever!". As one of the critics said the writing could have used some work, it was definitely a bit clunky and forced at times. If you're looking for a deep introspective make-you-think type movie, keep looking. But if you're just looking for a really enjoyable way to spend an afternoon then definitely pick up this fun and funny movie that doesn't try to take itself too seriously.

Definitely the best video game movie I've seen in a loooog time! 0Comment | 7 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Report abuse Comment Format: Amazon Video | Verified Purchase Prince of Persia is an enjoyable, sort of silly swashbuckler where Gemma Arterton is the standout in the film for both talent and beauty. BUT Amazon is having serious gateway issues-the transmission quality was absolutely terrible and the movie file had a lot of delays due to trouble with extremely S-L-O-W loading-we gave up, disappointed. This is the fourth consecutive attempt with Amazon Prime to stream a movie that has failed dismally; the issue was not with our ISP or with our Roku 3, as we switched right away to Netflix and their content streamed without any problems at all. Amazon has noticed the problem with our previous 3 attempts and has kindly refunded the rental cost, but they have done nothing to address their gateway problem. We have totally given up on trying to stream anything from Amazon Prime. Very poor quality, very un-Amazon. Disappointing. 0Comment | One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?

Yes No Report abuse Comment Black Gate » Articles » Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Tuesday, June 1st, 2010 | Posted by Ryan Harvey Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010) Directed by Mike Newell. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Ben Kingsley, Gemma Arterton, Alfred Molina. I appear to be transforming into Black Gate’s “movie reviewer.” A natural development, considering that I’m a voracious film-goer who sees most new movies during their opening weekends (a benefit of living a block away from one of best multiplexes in Los Angeles), and that the studios have tossed quite a few fantasy spectacles our way so far this year that appeal to the magazine’s demographic. I am indeed thankful that the Great Movie Gods are providing us with more epic fantasy. I just wish they were providing us better epic fantasy. What do I need to sacrifice to get something more worthwhile from Middle Eastern fantasy than Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time? Goats just aren’t doing it, apparently, and my apartment manager has informed me that this is in violation of health codes.

So I’m stuck, for the moment, with a sand-and-sorcery epic based on a video game franchise. I had some slight hopes for Prince of Persia, despite the usual and wise caution viewers have about any movie adapted from a console video game. My hope was in the form of English director Mike Newell, who has helmed some witty comedies like Four Weddings and a Funeral, scored critically with the excellent gangster drama Donnie Brasco, directed one of the best of the Harry Potter movies, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and most crucially directed one of the finest forgotten films of the 1990s, Into the West, a contemporary fantasy that I keep waiting to turn into a cult classic. However, whatever magic Mike Newell has in his director’s bag of tricks, he didn’t pull out any of it for this movie. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is not an extraordinarily awful film. It’s not even bad.

It’s simply mediocre, and for a Memorial Day release it’s shamefully slight, like a spring movie designed to bolster up the action crowd until summer, but which got hastily moved into a prime slot when the studio noticed that it didn’t have a Memorial Day anchor. A lot of dinars went into the movie, but what came out is standard blockbuster fare that passes the time and then vanishes as if the sands of Arabia had covered it up. The Prince of Persia is based on a series of video games that started in 1989 with the eponymous title for the Apple ][. Creator Jordan Mechner (who has story credit on the movie) had already made an impression with his 1984 fighting game Karateka, and the fluid movements of the platform-jumper made Prince of Persia a smash. I’ve never played the original game, since it fell in a video gaming gap in my life, between the early console era and my college days with DOOM. However, I can definitely detect a “gamist” element in the movie, some of which apparently comes from the more recent installments in the series.

For example, the story hinges around a magical dagger with a joystick button on it that when pressed causes the user to shift back in time a minute so he can correct any errors he might have made. Each use of the power drains some of the sand in the dagger, unless the player—ah, I mean the character—can find more. When I first saw the dagger’s magic displayed, I thought I was really in for it. As a video game power, reversing time is a nifty device. But on screen I don’t want a film reversing itself with bullet-time effects every moment there’s a problem so I have watch the scene over again. Thankfully, the movie breaks out the device sparingly. It even uses it for a good moment of character drama in the build to the finale. This moment gets ruined a minute later, however, when an occurrence makes the use of the dagger totally pointless. The biggest misfortune of the power of the “Sands of Time” is that it allows for a complete cheat of an ending that makes you wonder why you sat through all that fighting and shouting and jumping in the first place. I thought the filmmakers might try something like this stunt, but they didn’t have to. And they shouldn’t have.

Much of the negative press on Prince of Persia is aimed at Jake Gyllenhaal as the title character, Dastan, an orphan whom King Sharaman of the Achaemenid Persian Empire (Ronald Pickup) adopts as one of his sons after he sees the boy’s act of selfless loyalty. When the grown Dastan is framed for his father’s murder, he joins forces with Princess Tamina (Gemma Arterton) from the conquered city of Alamut to stop his conspiring evil uncle Nizam (Ben Kingsley) from using the Sands of Time to undo a key event in the time-stream. (Somebody’s been watching Star Trek and The Terminator.) Dastan is a typical likable rascal character, an acrobat and sword-fighter, and Gyllenhaal is honestly fine in the part. He looks more like a member of a Grand Funk Railroad cover band than a Persian, but he’s trying to put fun into the part. His English accent isn’t all that terrible either; it only loses out because his three main co-stars have genuine English accents.

Where Gyllenhaal’s performance does waver, and in turns does damage to the whole picture, is his chemistry with Gemma Arterton. It’s one-sided, poorly played on Gyllenhaal’s side, with Arterton genuinely burning up the screen with her sultry strength. This is the second fantasy film she’s appeared in this year—she played the new character of Io in the re-make of Clash of the Titans —and she’s perfect for the genre. It’s unfortunate that Gyllenhaal doesn’t connect with her in any meaningful way except stuttering and staring at her like a thirteen-year-old ogling a supermodel in a catalog. An important aside: While watching this movie, I realized that Gemma Arterton is perfect for C. L. Moore’s character of Jirel of Joiry . We’ve already seen what Arterton looks like with red hair from Quantum of Solace. This woman would shake the world as Jirel. Please, somebody try to get a Jirel movie made with Arterton in the lead. I know you’ll mess it up; it’s tough material. But you’ve got the perfect actress before you . . . seize the moment!

Ben Kingsley’s name is in the credits. This means he gets a paycheck. Kingsley has also been in Bloodrayne and A Sound of Thunder. He got paychecks for those as well. Sexy Beast just doesn’t pay the bills. It’s always nice to see Alfred Molina. I don’t think I’ve ever regretted seeing this man appear in a film; he always brings an unexpected spark with him, and as a scoundrel ostrich-racing impresario (he fashions a ridiculously deadly reputation for his town to keep away tax collectors from his operation) he’s probably the most fun the movie has to offer. He delivers the only zinger line in the script, involving the Princess Tamina’s worth in camels. I doubt another actor could have made the line as funny. Prince of Persia stays busy with action, but the scenes blur into each other in a dull pattern of leap-dangle from edge-dodge arrows-repeat. When the steel comes out for close-quarters, the situation hardly improves. The tightly-shot and quick-cut style of the sword fights is more wearisome than exciting. The only set-piece standout is a confrontation between two expert weapon-throwers.

This scene creates a sense of physical geography and tension that most of the others lack. However, what hurts Prince of Persia more than any other of its mediocre elements is its lethally dull exposition about magical plot devices and backstory. Most fantasy movies try to get these explanations out of the way as early as possible, but writers Boaz Yakin, Doug Miro, and Carlo Bernard only start to stuff in the backstory at the halfway point and it seems to never let up after this. Worse, Mike Newell appears completely bored with these scenes and executes them with minimum interest. The actors might as well be reading off TelePrompTers over each others’ shoulders. The script explores something unexpected and weird among the standard fantasy action: a contemporary political slant. The Persian Kingdom’s attack on Alamut is excused as a pre-emptive strike because the Holy City supposedly possesses dangerous weapons, the kind that we might say would cause mass destruction, which the Alamutians may sell to the Persians’ enemies. However, this is a ruse and a cover to obtain another powerful item, but even after the attack shows there are no weapons in Alamut, the King tells the princes to continue to search for them. Yes, the movie goes there.

I have no idea why the filmmakers wanted to cram an Iraq War allegory into their light fantasy adventure. Perhaps they simply found it an inspiring angle and meant no actual statement; I sincerely hope so. It’s still distracting. I’m fine with Green Zone and In the Loop—both great movies—delivering this sort of message. But I don’t want it in my ancient world sword-and-sorcery flick, thanks. It does give me something to write about, however. At the very least, Prince of Persia looks and sounds phenomenal. There are moments when the combination of Harry Gregson-Williams’s sweeping Middle Eastern music, John Seale’s camera work, and the beautiful designs and costumes create a romantic “Arabian Knights” high. The money is on the screen. It’s just not in the script. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time opened on Memorial Day weekend in third place (behind Shrek Forever After and another Middle Eastern-set outrageous fantasy, Sex and the City 2) with a $30 million gross. The film cost around $200 million. That’s bad news. I hope it’s bad news only for video game adaptations, and not my beloved sand-and-sorcery genre.

Gemma Arterton for Jirel of Joiry! Spread the word!

Question: Who stars as the title character in Mike Newell's 2010 film 'Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time'?
Answer: JAKE GYLLENHAAL