Reviewed by Johnny McNair

Disney – 116 mins – 2010 – Rated PG-13 – 1080p Widescreen 2.40: 1 – DTS-HD 5.1 Audio – DVD copy – Digital Copy

Hollywood is still struggling to successfully adapt a videogame into a big screen movie that will be won over by both audiences and critics alike. There have been films that have made a lot of cash such as the Tomb Raider and the Resident Evil movies, but obviously neither will be considered classics one day. Big time producer Jerry Bruckheimer and the gang over at the mouse house of Disney have joined forces with a $200 million dollar big budget adaptation of the Prince of Persia videogames. The result is Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time starring Jake Gyllenhaal, who pumped up his body to rival Stallone’s for the roll. The movie is now available on Disney Blu-ray, but unless you are truly a die hard fan of either the game or just watching Gyllenhaal running around without a shirt off, there’s not much else here to see.

THE MOVIE

A very long time ago in the Persian city of Nasaf, a mighty King named Sharaman (Ronald Pickup) who already has two sons Garsiv and Tus (Toby Kebbell and Richard Coyle) to continue his empire, takes a liking to a young orphan named Dastan, adopts him and raises him as one of his own. Years later Dastan (Jake Gyllenhaal) who has grown up to be a great swordsman and warrior, comes across a magical dagger during a battle in the city of Alamut, that has the power to transform time. In some weird series of events Dastan is told he must marry the Princess of Alamut, Tamina (Gemma Arterton), but then his father King Sharaman is murdered and he is blamed for the crime.

Sharaman’s brother Nizam, (Ben Kingsley) seeks to hunt down Dastan, forcing the dashing warrior and Tamia to flee the city in hopes of solving the mystery of who the real murderer is. And wow, here’s a big plot twister, Nizman is actually the one who killed his own brother and framed Dastan in hopes of getting the magic dagger so he can alter time and become the true ruler of the empire. Now it’s up to Dastan and Tamia to work together to restore order before the sands of time fall.

Directed by Mike Newell, who is a very odd choice to helm a videogame action film, especially since his past movies are Four Weddings and Funeral and Love in the Time of Cholera. Let’s face it; to make this type of junk food film work you need either Michael Bay or a Bay clone. Also, Jake Gyllenhaal may have become super pumped for the role and looks great physically, but acting wise he’s phoning it in. The production itself is top of the line, but this is expected coming from the producer of Pirates of the Carribean. The setting looks like a cross between Lawrence of Arabia and an Indian Jones movie, but the action is so cartoon-ish and over the top that it’s really hard to get in on the adventure.

Is Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time the worst videogame film made? No not at all because if you just accept it for what it is you may have a lot of fun with this movie. It does have great visual effects and a videogame type quality in its pacing. Women will definitely like looking at Gyllenhaal run around shirtless ala Rambo, and for the guys Gemma Arterton is very easy on the eyes. If you enjoyed films like The Mummy trilogy or even The Chronicles of Riddick then Prince of Persia may just fill a void.

VIDEO

The cookie cutter plot will be forgiven once you see the image quality, which completely sells the movie. This Blu-ray offers a full 1080p image in a 2.40:1 aspect ratio with visuals that are practically jumping off the screen. To give the illusion that everything is as old as time itself, a yellow/orange tint flows throughout every scene. This may sound like it can become visually annoying, but it works. Details such as skin tones, wardrobe and backgrounds are all clean, and even though seeing grain in this film would work with the desert setting, even in the darker scenes there are very few specs. The high definition also makes the film’s visual effects shine, so this one is definitely showroom material.

AUDIO

Offering a Dolby Digital DTS-HD 5.1 audio mix, Prince of Persia sounds fantastic and is worthy of cranking up your home theater system. This is a Jerry Bruckheimer production, so it is loud and explosive from begging to end. Dialogue is clear, though very silly, and Gyllenhaal seems to be purposely mumbling his lines to be more scoundrel and sexy for the ladies. But this is not a film to study the acting techniques; it’s to hear swords clanging, things blowing up, and the cool audio effect when the sands of time go into motion.

EXTRAS

To play off of the gimmick of the Sands of Time, instead of just accessing the bonus features from the main menu, this Blu-ray allows you to use your remote control like the dagger to transport you behind the scenes in a process called CineExplore.

When activated you can watch the movie and when the dagger icon appears on screen you can press enter on your remote, and an effect transports you back to the past showing on the set footage of how a particular scene was shot. These include interviews with the cast and crew, as well as details of specific effects shots. Sure it’s a gimmick, but for this movie it fits well.

Oddly there’s a deleted scenes option, but there’s only one deleted scene and it’s really not worth watching. So why bother?

This triple pack offers a Blu-ray, standard DVD as well as a Digital Copy.

Finally there’s an assortment of other Disney trailers, but the only one that matters is Tron Legacy.

BOTTOM LINE

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time will not be penciled in on anyone’s list as best picture of the year, but considering the source material is a videogame game; it was never intending to be anything more than what it is. If you’re in the right frame of mind you will have fun with this picture, if not it will be torture. The Blu-ray offers superior image and sound, and the CineExplore interactive feature works well for this movie. Unless you saw this film in theaters and absolutely loved it, you may want to rent it first to give it a test through the sands of time.

SCORES (out of 5):

The Movie: 2.5

Video: 4.0

Sound: 4.5

Extras: 3.0

Bottom Line: 3.0