IMDb RATING
5.7/10
1.2K
YOUR RATING
An evil magician seeks to gain power by obtaining a magic rose. A peasant boy and a Prince join forces to stop him.An evil magician seeks to gain power by obtaining a magic rose. A peasant boy and a Prince join forces to stop him.An evil magician seeks to gain power by obtaining a magic rose. A peasant boy and a Prince join forces to stop him.
- Awards
- 3 nominations total
Elisabeth Welch
- Beggarwoman
- (as Elizabeth Welch)
Andy Bradford
- Mauve Gang - Ajib
- (as Andrew Bradford)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Featured reviews
This is essentially a remake of the 1941 film durin the sword and sorcery era.The special effects were marginally better but the acting is far worse.The boy actor is no match for Sabu.
I LOVE THIS MOVIE!!!...Yet I haven't been able to find a copy of it for years.. As a child I watched this movie constantly, esp' due to my love of LEE..And it has remained as a special movie to me. It seemed to be one of those movies back then, that was one of the newer 'style' movies in the late 70's (effects and stuff)..so back then i just loved it..It's a true fantasy!! I think most children would absolutly love this film..though if i saw it now, i'd proberly laugh at the effects! But no one i've met has ever heard of it..I think it's a hidden gem..hopefully not lost forever!!!
This was a really nice rediscovery on UK DVD for me; I remember I've watched 'Arabian Adventure' on TV in the 1980s but not since then. I mean, you get flying carpets, jinns, belly-dancers, a beautiful princess to save and Christopher Lee as an evil wizard turning people into toads ("You call yourself my servant?") - what more could you ask for? 'Arabian Adventure' knows the genre standards and delivers. Lest I forget, fire-breathing metal monsters and Peter Cushing with a silly beard are in it as well. One has to admit that the limited budget shows in the set decoration, as the palace looks more like cardboard than marble, and then some effects like the superimposed jinn are rather TV quality than big screen. But fairy tales from 1001 Nights don't need realism that much, I found I could successfully switch into fantasy mode and simply enjoy it. It's an old-fashioned production like they did in the 1940s and 50s, maintaining the same naive charm and that's fine for such kind of things.
Refreshing not to have the ghastly Disney versions destroying all our fairy tales with their celebrity genies trying desperately to be hip and embarrassingly street cred with modern audiences , ticking boxes of political correctness , doing everything on computer and having not an iota of charm . This film ,beautifully designed, beautifully costumed , has the simplicity and innocence of a real children's story and is all the more magical for that .
And blessedly no American accents
This last film of the Kevin Connor/John Dark series of fantasy adventures, which I recall fondly from my childhood, sees Christopher Lee as "Alquazar", an evil sorcerer who manages to trick the lovestruck Oliver Tobias ("Prince Hasan") into setting off on a perilous journey for the all-powerful "Rose of Elil" which will earn him the hand of the beautiful Emma Sands ("Princess Zuilera"). Along the way he has a many adventures on his magic carpet; picks up the obligatory street-rat "Majeed" (Puneet Sira) and encounters magic and evil as he tries to fulfil his quest. It's a traditional Arabian Nights type story with sumptuous costumes and sets, and Lee is great as the baddie. A marvellously obsequious Milo O'Shea, Peter Cushing, Capucine and an all-too-brief series of scenes with Mickey Rooney make this more of an adventure story than a romantic one; and I quite enjoyed it.
Did you know
- Crazy creditsOpening credits start out with the title on the front cover of a thick hard backed book opened by a hand with the first page listing A John Dark-Kevin Connor Production.
- How long is Arabian Adventure?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Majic and the Empire of Evil
- Filming locations
- Scotland, UK(background plates: magic flying carpet)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- £4,000,000 (estimated)
- Runtime
- 1h 38m(98 min)
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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