Director: Kevin Connor
Cast: Oliver Tobias, Christopher Lee, Puneet Sira, Mickey Rooney, Peter Cushing

Do you remember back in 1993 when the movie Super Mario Bros. was released? Yeah, I remember what a terrible movie it was too. Everything that could have gone wrong with its production seemed to have happened. There was one interesting thing related to the movie that I found, and that's when I watched the movie being dissected and roasted by Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert on their television show. After Siskel spent some time trashing the movie, Ebert then said, "This movie wasn't imagined correctly at the outset. [The filmmakers] didn't start out with a vision what it was going to be even before they did everything else. And so, you look at the screen and see millions of dollars on the screen of special effects... it doesn't add up to anything. It's just a lot of people running around all talking at once, and a plot that nobody cares anything about." What Ebert said about that movie really stuck with me. To this day, when I watch a movie that creates some sort of world that is much different than the world that you and I live in, I realize right from the start that the filmmakers of these particular movies have a greater challenge than what most other filmmakers have with their movies. One of the biggest problems that filmmakers making a cinematic fantasy world is that they have to walk on a fine tightrope between two extremes. The filmmakers have to make a world that while being fantastic, has to have at the same time a level that the audience can relate to. For example, with most (not all, but most) movies dealing with aliens from another planet, the aliens have been depicted with human characteristics - two eyes, two arms, two legs, etc. etc.

Naturally, when it gets to depicting a fantasy world beyond its residents, there are a number of additional headaches that can pop up for the filmmakers. Let me get into the cinematic universe that is known as Star Wars. Don't get me wrong, the movies in this series have been very enjoyable for me (well... at least some of them.) But even when the movies in this series have been enjoyable for me, the universe sometimes puts some nagging questions in the back of my mind. Take the ice planet Hoth in The Empire Strikes Back. If the entire planet is covered with ice, how does the food chain work with the animal life on the planet? What do the animals that the wampas eat happen to eat for themselves? Ice? Also in this entry in the series (and other entries in the series for that matter), there is the question as to how all the spacecrafts manage to generate artificial gravity for the people inside of them. And if Jedis are supposed to be good and helpful, why in Return Of The Jedi does Luke not do a thing to help the musical performers for Jabba the Hutt, who were just poor slobs trying to make a buck or two? (Either the musical performers were blown up, or stranded in the middle of the desert.) However, there is another type of cinematic world that's challenging to filmmakers that I really want to discuss, and that is Arabian fantasy movies. If you have been around the cinematic block a decent number of times, you likely know some familiar depictions in this particular world. I am talking about stuff like flying carpets, genies in lamps, princesses, plucky young heroes who rise from their poverty backgrounds, and evil viziers who plot and scheme against the sultans they are supposedly serving.

While I have found some such Arabian fantasy movies to be fun, at the same time I've often had to suspend my disbelief and my penchant for asking pointed questions. How are flying carpets controlled? And are they comfortable to sit on since they always seem rigid in midair? How did genies get in lamps in the first place, and why do they only give three wishes? Is there such a thing as a good-hearted vizier? I could go on and on with questions like this, but I think you get the idea. I will say, however, that if the filmmakers present elements such as those correctly - having a strong vision in the process - I could possibly accept it. This is why when I got my hands on a copy of Arabian Adventure, I was willing to give it a chance as long as it imagined its world properly. Also, the cast of the movie promised to give it novelty that might help viewers overlook any shortcomings. As expected, the events of the movie take place hundreds of years ago in the Middle East. In the country of Jadur, the citizens are under the cruel control of Caliph Alquazar (Christopher Lee, House Of The Long Shadows), who had eliminated the previous caliph and now controls the previous caliph's princess daughter Zuleira (Emma Samms, General Hospital). After a failed rebellion by the country's citizens, a newcomer to the area by the name of Hasan (Oliver Tobias, The Stud) is captured, but soon his skill catches the eye of Alquazar. Alquazar tells Hasan that if Hasan can find and bring back the Rose of Eli to him, he can have the hand of Zuleira. Naturally, Alquazar has dark plans for the Rose, which happens to be a talisman that can give him unlimited powers, but doesn't mention this to the agreeing Hasan. Hasan starts on his quest, getting unexpected accompany from a young orphan named Majeed (Puneet Sira), who turns out to have some special powers from a jewel that just might help Hasan during the long and dangerous quest.

I feel I should point out that Arabian Adventure's notable cast doesn't just include Christopher Lee, but that Peter Cushing (House Of The Long Shadows), Mickey Rooney (The Black Stallion), and Capucine (The Pink Panther), also make appearances. However, Cushing and Capucine just have quickly filmed cameos that each don't add up to more than a couple of minutes of screen time, so even with their talents they are not able to contribute much. Rooney has somewhat more screen time, but he seemingly chose to ham it up because his character doesn't really have a chance to have much of a serious conversation with any of the other characters; all he really does is grunt and shout short statements. All this means is that the major players in the movie had more of a burden than you might have expected. Of the principle actors, Lee makes the best impression. He does put somewhat of an intensity in his evil character, but at the same time stops himself from going over the top. This helps to make his character more believable and somewhat compelling. It isn't a perfect performance, but it's a lot more than any other actor in the movie manages to accomplish. That's not to say that these other actors don't try; as the youthful sidekick to Hasan, child actor Sira does give it his all, but unfortunately, he tries so hard with his character's enthusiasm and chirpiness that soon he becomes extremely annoying. But at least he tried; the other lead actors don't seem to be making much of an effort. Tobias as the supposed hero (more on that later) Hasan gives an unbelievably underwhelming performance. In fact, as I am writing this review, I am really stuck to think of any moment in the movie when he was especially lively or heroic. I even have a problem remembering what he looked like because he seemed to completely blend in the background from start to finish.

Besides the weak performances, there are other reasons why Tobias' character and most of the other characters fail to make any impact in Arabian Adventure. The main problem is that all the characters are written to be quite dull and lacking believably. Zuleira is possibly the shallowest princess in the entire history of Arabian fantasy movies. She shows no personality, no ambition, no fears, no desires, no nothing. And she instantly falls in love with Hasan because... well... the screenplay simply dictates she should do so without getting to know Hasan even superficially. As for Hasan himself, except for a lengthy sequence where he escapes from the prison of the royal palace, he seems to depend almost totally on others doing all the key actions in his quest. Believe it or not, this is also true in the final face to face confrontation with Alquazar, a confrontation that I might add is only about a couple of minutes at most in length. Shabby characters are not the only problems with the screenplay, but also with telling the story. The story does start pretty well, with the introduction slowly but confidently adding necessary explanation one bit at a time in a manner that is engaging and not confusing. But then eventually the movie starts to slow down considerably, starting with the fact that the action does not leave the palace or the surrounding city until more than forty percent of the running time has passed. Once the action does move to magical lands, there are some scenes like one with a genie freed from a sealed bottle that simply serve no purpose or consequence except to waste considerable time. I feel I should also point out that several times characters forget what other characters did in the past. At one point, Hasan's appointed bodyguard Khasim (Milo O'Shea, The Angel Levine) at one point shoves Majeed off a flying carpet to eliminate him, but Majeed survives the fall. When Majeed later bumps into Khasim and Hasan again, he doesn't tell Hasan what Kahsim tried to do to him. I think even children watching this movie will sense these character actions (or rather, lack of character actions) as being illogical and not making sense.

As you can see, a lot of Arabian Adventure was made in a fashion that gave the finished product a sense of laziness and inability to go the extra mile. That may in part explain why the movie flopped at the box office. But I also think it may have seemed to audiences at the time as old-fashioned. Just two years previously, the game-changer movie Star Wars was released, and it instantly shoved aside many previous popular fantasy genres for newer, fresher, and more energetic ones. There's a lot in this movie that while maybe being acceptable before Star Wars, simply looks out of place coming after that space opera, such as the production values. Some of these production values don't look bad even today, such as the sets built to depict the palace interiors, model work depicting the city, and matte paintings. On the other hand, some are quite dodgy, particularly the moments involving magic carpets where obvious superimposing is done over back projection that slightly wobbles... yeah, you know exactly what I mean. And there is some bad and obvious model work besides the aforementioned good kinds. Actually, the moments concerning weaker production values didn't bother me as much as the fact that compared to Star Wars, Arabian Adventure is directed in a much more tepid fashion, even in the moments that are supposed to be action spectacles. The movie for much of the time plods from scene to scene with no excitement, no awe, no struggle, and no great emotion at all... except maybe for fatigue. The action is more slow and mechanical than anything else. Music composer Ken Thorne (Inspector Clouseau) struggles to add some pep, but it's all for naught because director Kevin Connor simply can't generate the same amount of passion and enthusiasm he did with earlier movies such as The Land That Time Forgot and At The Earth's Core. Those two movies had some shabby production values, but they were all the same energetic and fun - feelings that Arabian Adventure sorely lacks.

(Posted September 10, 2024)