Starring - Christopher Lee (The Wicker Man, Hugo), Milo O'Shea (Barbarella, Theater of Blood), and Oliver Tobias (The Wicked Lady, Robin of Sherwood)
Release Date - 1979
Genre - Fantasy/Adventure
Tagline - "Soar into a magical world of action, excitement and enchantment"
Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)
Rating (out of 5):
This Christopher Lee collection from Severin Films has been a big surprise. When I received this one for review I immediately noticed that I had only seen one film in the set prior to it's release. Since then I've realized that I had seen another film in the set but it was under an alternate title. With that being said, this set has been a lot of fun and only seems to be getting better. As I hit play on the fourth film, Arabian Adventures from 1979, I was surprised to see how stacked this cast was and that it was directed by Kevin Connor. I had never seen this one before but I couldn't wait to check it out.
The film follows an evil ruler (Lee) who is after an ancient artifact that will grant him unspeakable power. However, a young thief, his pet monkey, and an imprisoned prince to stop him from gaining the ultimate power and claiming the princess.
I was really looking forward to checking this one out when I saw the cast list for it. I figured the story for this one was going to be dated and steeped with unintentional racism that was common in American films from the 60s and 70s that represented other societies and cultures. While it does show some of this to a degree, it was still a lot of fun for what it was. The acting in this one is great once you look passed the white washing of the entire cast. Lee as the evil ruler is absolutely brilliant and then we have fantastic performances from the entire cast. While I would love to spend all day going over the cast alone for the film, I'm just too damn lazy to do so. The story for this one is a lot like the classic film Thief of Baghdad where we have a prince who is being forced to find the ancient relic who befriends a young boy and his monkey to do it but must stop the evil ruler at all costs. It's a fun fantasy adventure story with Middle Eastern customs that are white washed over in order to make them more appealing to western audiences. Finally, the film is not one with blood and guts. Instead, we get some really dated visual effects and camera tricks. The film doesn't over do it in the special effects department due to budget issues but these gags does add to the fun of the film. Overall, Arabian Adventure is a bit insensitive in regards to other races but is still a solid family friendly fantasy adventure. I really enjoyed it and can see myself watching it a few more times before putting this set back on the shelf. Check it out.
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