The Lost Empire (2001) (TV)

Director:

Peter MacDonald

Writer (WGA):

David Henry Hwang (written by)

Release Date:

11 March 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Fantasy

Tagline:

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

Plot:

American journalist Nick Orton is caught up in the world of Chinese gods and monsters while on a search...

Plot Keywords:

Monkey King | Book | China | Demon | Giant

Awards:

Nominated for Primetime Emmy. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Thomas Gibson	...	Nicholas Orton
Bai Ling	...	Kwan Ying
Russell Wong	...	Monkey King
Ric Young	...	Confucius
Kabir Bedi	...	Friar Sand
Eddie Marsan	...	Pigsy
Randall Duk Kim	...	Shu
Henry O	...	Wu
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Annette Badland	...	Confusion's 4th Wife
Inday Ba	...	Elizabeth
Terence Beesley	...	Prince of Confusion
Simon Bernstein	...	Umbrella King
Jacqui Chan	...	Mother Superior
Cecil Cheng	...	Monkey
Anthony Chinn	...	Citizen 1
James Faulkner	...	Marcus Harding
Turbo Kong	...	Big Demon (as Turbo)
Burt Kwouk	...	Professor Sheng
Hossan Leong	...	Spectacles Demon
Stiven Liang	...	Terracotta warrior II
Pik Sen Lim	...	Granny monkey
Kwong Loke	...	Imperial Crier
Richard Ng	...	Communist Official
Olga Sosnovska	...	Linda
Chia Suan	...	Whitesnake
Hon Ping Tang	...	Nine Inch Nail Demon
Picasso Tan	...	Pointy Head Demon
Gregory Teo	...	Chef 1
Hua Chung Ting
Ian U'Chong	...	Rat Demon
Yuka Uto	...	Maiden 2
Teo Wa	...	Maiden 1
Ozzie Yue	...	Citizen 2
Sai-Kit Yung	...	Jade Emperor (as Stuart Ong)
Jeremy Zhang	...	Barman

Also Known As:

Monkey King - Ein Krieger zwischen den Welten (Germany)
The Monkey King (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

Brazil:150 min

Country:

USA | Germany

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Finland:K-11 | USA:Unrated

Company:

Babelsberg International Film Produktion

Trivia:

Loosely based on the story from classical Chinese Literature "Journey to the West".

Movie Connections:

References The Fly (1958)

Enjoyable Family Fun

For a made for TV mini series, this was a fun watch for my kids and I. There was action, romance and magic. The special effects weren't so special and the acting was great, but both were passable. I don't know anything about source material, so I can't comment on discrepancies that others seem to be upset about, but the story was very enjoyable and my whole family liked it. I guess if your heavily vested in the original stories the mini series is based on, you might want to bypass this (but some previous comments said seeing the characters again, even though they didn't like the mini series, was enjoyable in itself), but if your like me and have little knowledge of the source material and just want a nice fun family film to watch with your kids about characters and myths that will be new to you, this is a good choice. Plus, you can spread it out over a couple of family TV nights.