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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.

A beautiful movie, simple story that was well written and directed , of course it will not won an oscar , but after 39 years from it produced and with those old special effects back then, I guarante to all , you will not regret, you will enjoy as I really enjoyed watching it with my kids, it's simple ,charm, magic and funny, that the kind of movies we are missing in these days, it's really worth your time .

I saw this many years ago when it was first released, and though I thought the SFX were dated even for its time, I still enjoyed the film as a whole. The score was above average for a film like this, and the acting was respectably comic for the genre; kids'-adventure.

Some familiar faces make their appearance; Ratzenbergger (Cliff from "Cheers"), legend Christopher Lee, Mickey Rooney, Emma Sams and more, adding an amusing and delightful bit of levity to the film.

All in all it's an okay film for kids, but today's young ones may get somewhat impatient with some dated effects--notably some of the process shots and miniature work.

Still, if I had a copy on DVD I'd most certainly add it to my collection. It's worth taking a look at with your kids on a rainy afternoon or lazy Sunday.

Enjoy :-)

In the Arabian city of Jabur, the Caliph Alquazar (Christopher Lee) rules over the city through fear and oppression with the help of dark arts that he's mastered. Despite his success in quelling rebellions, his Mirror of the Moon (Christopher Lee) tells Alquazar that without the Rose of Elin he can never be all powerful. Opportunity presents itself when Prince Hasan (Oliver Tobias) of Baghdad escapes from his imprisonment for violating the Alquazar's curfew and fights his way to the throne room where Alquazar learns he fancies his step-daughter and the Princess of Jubar, Zuleira (Emma Samms). Alquazar makes a deal that if Hasan can embark on a quest with his lackey Hasim (Milo O'Shea) and retrieve the Rose of Elin he will have Zuleira's hand in marriage. Meanwhile however, a young beggar child named Majeed (Puneet Sira) through magical workings finds himself guided by destiny's hand on Alquazar's journey.

Arabian Adventure is the fifth and final fantasy film Kevin Connor made for producer John Dark (following from The Land That Time Forgot, At the Earth's Core, The People That Time Forgot, and Warlords of Atlantis). Dark requested Warlords screenwriter, Brian Hayles, write an original Eastern fantasy film inspired by such classics as The Thief of Bagdad and was given the highest budget yet for a Connor/Dark production. Despite the enthusiasm among the cast, including Christopher Lee who returned to England for the first time in three years because he loved the script, the release of Arabian Adventure was quite muted as it disappointed at the box office and critical reception at the time tended to label the film as being "cheap" and "outdated". Arabian Adventure isn't without some charm, but it's also a very old fashioned film to the point it feels about 20 years older than it actually is.

Your enjoyment of this movie will depend heavilly on your forgiveness for familiarity and cheapness as you'll catch on pretty quickly just how confined and narrow this allegedly expansive Arabian city is because it's done entirely on sound stages. While admitedly the film's sets are bright, colorful, and well crafted, the film also feels much less expansive than comparable films like the Ray Harryhausen Sinbad films (even the not very impressive third one). In the way that Harryhausen's The 7th Voyage of Sinbad felt like a gamechanger for this kind of period adventure film, Arabian Adventure feels like it's taking a step backwards as its scope and scale doesn't feel all that grander than the Thief of Bagdad from nearly 40 years prior. While some effects look decent enought (like Alquazar's storm spell) other parts look a lot more cheap such as a Genie effect that's just a clumsily implmented superimposition. Even if this movie had been released before special effects benchmarks like Star Wars and Superman it would've felt too old fashioned, but the fact the marketing actually namedropped those films in the trailer adds a layer of hubris that's hillarious in hindight.

Despite this movie being very easy to make fun of, there are admittedly some things I enjoy about it. Despite playing kind of a bland character, Oliver Tobias does do some pretty impressive physical work (such as the opening act escape/swordfights). Puneet Sira is also decent as Majeed the secondary protagonist and he's sort of to this movie what Abu was to The Thief of Bagdad. But the best performance is definitely Christopher Lee who per usual is a charasmatic presence and is having fun channeling Conrad Veidt as the film's villain Caliph Alquazar. The movie also has beautiful costuming and attractively dressed (if confining) sets. There are things that really don't work (such as the flying carpet effects, especially distance shots) but there is kind of a cheesey charm to be had from a movie like this.

Arabian Adventure is exactly as old fashioned and familiar as its generic title suggests. In an era that saw many game changing advancements in how these kinds of movies were made and structured, this is a movie that felt like a "man out of time" (though admittedly no more so than any of the other Connor/Dark films). If you have an affinity for these kinds of bygone costume adventure pictures there's some enjoyment to be had, just so long as you're aware some cobwebs have been dusted off.

Arabian Adventure is directed by Kevin Connor and written by Brian Hayles. It stars Christopher Lee, Milo O'Shea, Oliver Tobias, Emma Samms and Puneet Sira. Music is by Ken Thorne and cinematography by Alan Hume.

A prince is sent by an evil sorcerer (Lee) on a quest for a magical rose. Should he succeed, he hopes that as a reward he will win the hand of the princess.

Sometimes to moderately enjoy a film of this type, you just got to take yourself back to a time when simple children's adventure movies were made with simple film making techniques. This obviously doesn't hold up well these days, where even given the year it was made it was way behind advancements that were being made in special effects. Thus it's highly unlikely that the prepubescents of today would have the patience or care for such a production. Yet it doesn't lack for charm.

Is charm enough? Well it's not a great or very good film, it's heavy on chatter, the effects are indeed a little crude, acting and accents are borderline dire, and it seems to take an age to get going, yet it's not insulting like many far bigger budget pictures have been: even nowadays! It's best just to roll with it, enjoy the whimsy and the many small roles by the likes of Peter Cushing, Mickey Rooney, Capucine and, erm, John Ratzenberger.

Forgettable once it's over, but harmless with it. 5/10

I first saw this in the late 80s on a vhs.

Revisited it recently with my seven year old nephew.

I am generous with a 4 for the childhood memories.

This one hasnt aged well.

Even my nephew didn't like it that much.

Terrible acting, too much chatting, very less action, laughable genie aka a blatant rip off from Thief of Baghdad.

The lil boy in this one did a terrible job. He ain't no match to Sabu from Thief of Baghdad.

Peter Cushing is totally wasted.

Basically this one is a poor man's Thief of Baghdad.

Revisiting Ray Harryhausen and Charles H. Schneer's movies are better options.

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.

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

Such a beautiful film and given the time it was made, that's shocking. It has a rather crisp color palette that I think is only found with Archer films. Sadly, the film chose to make creative differences from the original and more known version of story. Thus, the film starts as a confusing tale with an expectation for Aladdin-esque or Thief of Baghdad-esque story but got a weird smorgasbord of different highlights of those film and that really shifts expectation. It also has a weird structure and a lack of focus in major players that is unexpected for a film of this level and production. Not good but respectable.

An unimaginative title is a pre-warning that this movie isn't much cop, and it even makes Kevin Connor's previous outings - which include the incredibly tacky AT THE EARTH'S CORE - look like Oscar contenders. A kiddie fantasy film full of stock characters, an overload of cheap effects work, poor comedy, and cardboard sets conspire to sink it from the start. I usually get a kick out of this genre, but everything is so by-the-book and unimaginative - did I mention cheap? - that it just doesn't offer up any interest whatsoever. Even the fight scenes are boring.

The biggest disgrace is the waste of a good cast in this dull outing. Whoever decided to cast Milo O'Shea (THEATRE OF BLOOD) as an Irish Arab needs shooting, but that's just the start of the problems that plague this movie. Oliver Tobias (COBRA MISSION) is handsome but ineffectual as the leading man, his acting weak. Christopher Lee makes one of those embarrassing latter-day performances that plague his career (POLICE ACADEMY 7 anyone?) as the evil Sultan, Alquazar, but the film doesn't stretch his talents at all - instead he just looks bored, with silly headgear, a villain distinctly lacking in villainy.

Elsewhere we have a bland love interest, an annoying cute Indian kid and his pet monkey, a before-he-was-famous appearance from Art Malik, and of course wasted turns from British character actors including Shane Rimmer. Even Peter Cushing puts in a cameo role as a prisoner (!), only two years after STAR WARS and he was reduced to this level - a sad state of affairs.

The special effects are typically appalling, the nadir being the magic carpet rides which are achieved via some really poor and unconvincing back projection. There's supposed to be a "chase" between these carpets, but they move at a snail's pace so any excitement is non-existent. There's also a sandstorm in which people supposedly fly through the air but are instead suspended by really obvious wires and a giant genie which is just a bald overweight man with his face painted blue superimposed over the background. What the?!

On the plus side, there's a cool scene in which three mechanical fire-breathing monsters appear over the top of a mountain range to menace our heroes like they're come from some Toho flick, some interesting matte work and good location scenery, and colour filters which give the setting an other-worldly look. Unfortunately these aren't enough; ARABIAN ADVENTURE is a waste of talent and money, and a sad reminder of the level British cinema had fallen to by 1979.

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 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.

Love this undemanding kids' fantasy. The least of the John Dark-Kevin Connor films, it's still a fun reminder of summer holidays spent watching such stuff.

Great to see Lee and Cushing in any film, if not on screen at the same time, and Ken Thorne's score sets the whole thing off nicely.

this film is pathetic the acting (if you could call it that is cardboard and predictable) the plot again is predictable and so clichéd (with no real attempt to even disguise the cliché). I didn't know that thieves had cockney accents in 'arabia'. what makes it even worst is that all the actors are supposed to be Arab but just have lots of fake tan on. it looks like everything from every fantasy and storybook has been thrown into a bag and pulled out in some random order. the story doesn't seem to focus on one magic thing to the next this is too dull a film to mention in fact i couldn't get through the whole thing without giving up and deciding that this is a wholesale waste of my time. i was very surprised to see that this film had been made in 1979. i mean, star wars had been made by then, Indiana Jones wasn't far off. jaws had been made and yet the effects in this film are pathetic. i could not justify giving this film any more than a one as a rating.

"Arabian Adventure" (1979) is a film that delivers on visual spectacle but falls short in several other key areas. As a fantasy film set in an exotic Arabian backdrop, it promises an enchanting journey, but the execution leaves much to be desired.

The film's strength lies in its vibrant and imaginative set design. The costumes and scenery are lavish and colorful, capturing the essence of a mythical Arabian world. This visual appeal is complemented by some impressive special effects for its time, which add a layer of magic to the overall experience.

However, the plot is where "Arabian Adventure" stumbles. The story is a typical good-versus-evil tale but lacks depth and originality. The characters are often one-dimensional, making it hard to fully invest in their journeys or care about their fates. The pacing is uneven, with some parts dragging on while others feel rushed, disrupting the overall flow of the narrative.

Performance-wise, the cast does a decent job with the material they are given. Christopher Lee as the villainous Caliph Alquazar brings a commanding presence to the screen, though even his talents can't completely salvage the thin script. The rest of the cast, including Oliver Tobias and Emma Samms, provide adequate performances but are hampered by the lackluster dialogue.

In terms of music and sound, the score is suitably epic, complementing the grandiose settings and action sequences. However, it occasionally overpowers the scenes, detracting from the more intimate moments of the film.

Ultimately, "Arabian Adventure" is a film with a lot of potential that is never fully realized. Its visual charm and nostalgic appeal might entertain some viewers, especially those who enjoy classic fantasy films. Yet, for others, the lack of a compelling story and character development will likely be a significant drawback. It's a movie that sits firmly in the middle, offering a glimpse of magic but failing to fully enchant.

Oliver Tobias (prince hassan) is the prince of getting knocked unconscious in this film. Seriously, keep a count. The real hero of the story is the little child Majid. Excellent evil performance by Christopher Lee as the the evil sultan. The start of the film with the scenes in the market place are nicely done, but the rest of the movie is a bit of a let down - The scenes with Mickey Rooney are weird and could have easily been left out. Acting by Oliver Tobias is quite wooden and ruins the film. Some nice little cameos by Peter Cushing and a young Art Malik. Watch Thief of Baghdad (1977) instead.

This movie could have been so much better. It had all the right story ingredients: exotic locale, evil wizard, beautiful princess, valiant prince, magic carpet, good genies and bad genies, lots of magic. Unfortunately they were not brought together in an interesting or remotely enjoyable way. The first few minutes showed promise, but it was all downhill from there. I realize this was done over fifty years ago, but the special effects were totally hokey and poorly done. The script is very weak, and the scenes are too long. I'm a fan of Mickey Rooney but I was truly embarrassed for the part he played. In short, stupid and boring.