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:

The Monkey King (UK) (USA) (working title)
Monkey King - Ein Krieger zwischen den Welten (Germany)
The Lost Empire: The Legend of the Monkey King (International: English 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:

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

Movie Connections:

References The Fly (1958)

A tale unknown, but fanciful intro

Some other commentators have bemoaned the historical faults, others the romantic interest. To which I say this - first off, it was a made for TV movie. What is the first role of such a movie? To entertain. Perhaps the History Channel will do a more accurate documentary, if that's what people want. As for the romance, where would the movie "Titanic" have been without the love story? Similarly, this movie needs the romantic interest to move the very 21st Century "Scholar" into a position to want to get involved with people that are more the stuff of Myth, Legend, and to a great degree, Hope. Otherwise, why should he bother? "The Journey West" is a story I'd not heard of. Now, even with this fanciful introduction, I think I'll go look it up and read it. To bring me to do this, both the movie, and other comments here, have thus been successful. Microwave up the popcorn, sit back and enjoy the show. Just don't take it too seriously, just enjoy it for the entertainment that it is.