It seems that Hollywood is finally giving its respect to legendary B-Movie director and special effects master Ray Harryhausen. While the remake of his film Clash of the Titans left his fans wanting, producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Mike Newell more than make up for it with Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.
For those who don’t recognize the name, Harryhausen was a protégé of stop motion animation master Willis O’Brien. Their crowning collaboration together was on the great ape himself, King Kong. Harryhausen would soon strike out on his own, with his crowning achievements being The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad (1958), The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1974) and the aforementioned Titans (1981). He’s still around today, basking in the love and glory of film fans around the world.
Jake Gyllenhaal in Prince of Persia
What set Harryhausen apart from others in the SFX field was not only his highly evocative and rich use of stop motion, but the level of high fantasy adventure he infused in all his feature films. His best works were always set in exotic, ancient locales, and as much detail was paid to the costuming and action choreography as were the visual effects. Yes, the dialogue and some situations could get a tad corny, but they were more products of their time and the market they were targeted at, youngsters.
Some of those youngsters who had to have grown up on Harryhausen’s films had to include Bruckheimer, Newell and game designer Jordan Mechner. As any family with a video console will tell you, Mechner earned his stripes in the gaming world with the creation of the Prince of Persia video game. Not only did the game provide its players with their share of turbo-charged action, but it was set in an exotic backdrop that would have made Harryhausen smile with pleasure.
Now throw in Newell, who directed such films as Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and a number of Young Indiana Jones films. Finish this trio off with super producer Bruckheimer, who has proven his flare for financing top box office hits like all the Pirates of the Caribbean movies and you have an incredible combination of talent at the top.
Movie Makes Successful Transition from Game to Screen
Like all the Pirates movies, Bruckheimer stays true to the formula that’s made him billions. It starts with casting.
In this situation, he puts the roguish hero into a minor role and focuses almost exclusively on the classic one. For Prince, he cast the up-and-coming Jake Gyllenhall at Dastan, an orphan boy whose nobility is so apparent he ends up adopted by the Persian royal family. He also finds a perfectly played villain in the form of the king’s uncle, Mizan (Ben Kingsley) whose mantle of nobility hides an incredibly black heart. Naturally, no action-adventure would be complete without a drop dead beautiful female, and Gemma Atterton gives her Princess Tamina enough spunk, wisdom and curves to keep fanboys dreaming about her for some time to come.
From there, Newell and Melcher put together a plot that will certainly satisfy fans of the original video games. Major game props such as the Sands of Time, exotic killers such as the Hassanshins and even ostrich races pop up at exactly the right moments. Newell apparently made many of his key actors take some classes in Parkour racing as well as took some tips from Hong Kong wire fu masters. His characters can run up walls, jump across alleys in ways that will leave viewers jaws firmly dropped from pretty much the beginning of the film.
Which leads to the last key reason the film is such a crowd pleaser. It doesn’t take the film long to take off at mach speed, only slowing down enough to give its audience a chance to properly catch their collective breaths. Then it takes off like a rocket again. At the same time, the creative team makes sure there’s enough dialogue and plot laced throughout the film to hold the whole thing together.
Still, if there’s one thing that truly makes Prince of Persia stand out is its rich updating and employment of devices Harryhausen utilized in his salad days. It's chock full of luxurious castles, exotic peoples and just the right amount of mind-blowing magic. Further, this is a film that families can take their children to with little guilt. There’s virtually no nudity or extreme violence laced through the entire film. Also, in true Harryhausen form, the film reaches an incredibly action-packed final battle sequence that makes one glad there is 3-D out there. Quite frankly, this is a film that really should be seen with that gimmick.
In conclusion, Prince of Persia is a film that harkens back to Saturday afternoon matinees, hot buttered popcorn and ice cold carbonated drinks. It took all the best elements of a classic special effects master and updated for the 21st Century, without sacrificing why Ray Harryhausen is now such a revered filmmaker even if he never had the multi-million dollar budgets Bruckheimer and company get to play with.
In other words, when it comes to action-adventure, you can’t do better than this.
Steve Fritz - A professional writer for nearly three decades, I've worked for a number of different organizations over that time. Currently I'm doing ...
