Synopsis:

The literary classic "A Thousand and one Nights" has thrilled the imaginations of children and adults for ages and ages. Hollywood has attempted on many occasions to bring these pages to life. Heretofore, her attempts have been decently presented but they never really conjured the awe and majesty these stories have woven. Hallmark Home Entertainment has put together what I would have to say is the best visual interpretation A Thousand and One Nights has ever seen! The productions are rich, lavish and incredibly well detailed. The story telling is first rate and the actors collected for this re-telling are incredibly well suited for their parts. Of special note is John Leguizamo. His performances as both the "Ring Genie" and the "Lamp Genie" are some of the most involved and entertaining segments in the film. Mind you, this is not Robin Williams's genie from "Aladdin". But, Leguizamo's genies are, every bit as entertaining and fun! For those who are unfamiliar with the story of "A Thousand and One Nights", here's an intro: Schahriar is the Sultan of a vast and great empire. On his wedding night his bride betrayed him to his brother and tried to have him murdered. In the resulting fight, he kills his wife who is also his brother's lover. So distraught by the events of that night, especially, the betrayal by his wife, Schahriar decides never to re-marry. Unfortunately, the law is not on his side. In order for him to keep his kingdom he must re-marry. Terrified by the thought of the possibility of another murder attempt, The Sultan plans to marry a girl of low standing for the sake of appearances. After the wedding night he will have her killed, thus meeting the letter of the law and maintaining his reign over his kingdom. Scheherazade is the grand vizier's daughter. One of the most beautiful women in all the land. When word gets out to the women of the Harem of the Sultan's plan, she realizes that if the Sultan does this heinous thing, it will not end with his bride. A terrible precedent would be set and no woman in the land would be safe from her husband. Realizing that she grew up with the Sultan, she offers herself to him to wed, much to her father's dismay. Her plan is to weave a web of ever increasingly intricate tales to firstly, prolong her life from day to day and secondly, to win his heart by showing that she is nothing like her predecessor. The tales she tells are those of Aladdin & the Lamp, Black Coda, The Magic Carpet and more. You will have to either read the book or watch the film to find out if at the conclusion of her stories Scheherazade succeeds or fails. No Spoilers here!

Audio:

The audio presented is a remarkably full 2.0 Dolby Surround platform. While there was no surround/sub activity, the front right/left channels did pretty well for themselves! There were definitely instances where the rears/sub definitely would have enhanced the presentation namely, the opening & closing of Black coda's cave & the entrance of the Lamp genie, just to name a couple of instances. The dialogue was clean and well represented. Again, a center channel would have perfectly delineated the dialogue however, the stereo presentation was OK.

Video:

The video was presented in a full-frame format that was very well colored. The colors were rich and warm. The interiors were inviting and the flesh tones were true. There were no transfer errors that I could detect. Additionally, there were no instances of pixellation and no Chroma noise that I could detect. No scratches or flecks were detectable and overall, the print is pretty pristine. Without seeing the film, you really haven't experienced the scope and grandeur that's being presented. Hallmark entertainment really went out of their way to produce a first rate visual treat for the eyes. There's always room for improvement, (Like Anamorphic Widescreen!) but for now this will do.

Extras:

The extras included on the disc are a making of documentary that's approximately 20 minutes in length. In it, the scope of coordinating all of these actors/wardrobe and facilities is discussed in a rather interesting and informative documentary. Additionally, the obligatory static cast and crew/production notes/ info is on hand as well. The menus are extremely well done and also add another level of attentinon to detail to an already incredibly well done feature.

Overall:

As I stated before, these stories brought many a childhood to life and to see them brought with such majesty and beauty to the screen is a joy. The film is just about 4 hours in length, so set aside a block of uninterrupted time to get the full effect of this timeless classic! Definitely recommended!