Arabian Nights

Five years after killing his unfaithful wife, the Sultan of Baghdad Shahryar (Dougray Scott) goes haywire and believes every woman is treacherous. However he needs to get married again to keep his throne, and he decides to marry a woman from his harem and kills her on the next morning. The smart daughter of the Grand Vizier, Ja'Far (Jim Carter), Scheherazade (Mili Avital), was in love with Shahryar when they were children and decides to marry him. Scheherazade tells pieces of the stories of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, The Tale of the Poor Hunchback, Aladdin and the Magic Lamp, The Sultan and the Beggar and The Three Princes along the nights, stops the stories in cliffhanger to keep the interest of the Sultan and preventing her death. Meanwhile his brother Schahzenan (James Frain) plans an attack to the palace to overthrown Shahryar.

The miniseries "Arabian Nights" is one of the most delightful entertainment made for the whole family. The witty stories of the one thousand and one nights told by Scheherazade are wonderful and it is hard to point out the best one (maybe the funny "Aladdin and the Magic Lamp"). The DVD could be one of the best ever released but does not have any subtitles, what is a pity. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "As Mil e Uma Noites" ("The One Thousand and One Nights")

Lush and colourful mini-series based on the classic "1001 Nights". 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. It left me wanting more, so by that measure at least the film is a success. Cameos and star turns abound in this enormous production and refreshingly for a Hallmark miniseries, the slant is more English than American. The humour and dialogue can be just a bit twee at times (one almost expects Hugh Grant to peep around the curtain at any moment) but like Turkish delight, this film is sweet but not sickening

I have been worked in the production in this movie, pity my name is not on credits being Assistant to Production Manager and somewhere, transport coordinator and 2nd. 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. Do you think one can sell those on e-bay etc. I have more than plenty... So I can spare some out.

If you did not watch the movie yet its well worth it to find a copy and watch.

Happy viewing, Murat

Some of these network special-effect tv movies have been rather cheesy in the past, but I was very impressed with Arabian Nights. Not only am I a Dougray Scott fan, but the story was done quite well. There's a point about halfway through when you wonder if the stories will come together and if the Sultana will survive after each story. But in the end, the stories all fall together and actually make sense to what is going on in each scene. Well done!

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. So we will find the famous stories about Ali Baba and Aladdin and his wonderlamp. The other day i bought this movie and i don't regret it. I think that a 8 out of 10 is a qualification Arabian nights deserves because i enjoyed it 3 hours long. Don't think too much and let yourself lead back to the old legends of the Middle East, you won't regret it.