Les 1001 nuits (1990)

5/10

Of interest only for seeing a very young Catherine Zeta-Jones completely naked in her first feature film role

DarthBill17 August 2008

Warning: Spoilers

Story (or lack thereof) in a nutshell: The young, beautiful virgin Sheherazade (Catherine Zeta-Jones, in her film debut) embarks on an adventure through the legends of the 1001 nights. Aided by a genie living in 1990 London who watches her through his TV, she meets all the great heroes and kings, when she's not getting stripped completely naked, that is.

Badly dubbed, badly directed, & badly funded, this underwhelming take on the 1001 Arabian Nights is of interest only for the chance to see a very young Catherine Zeta-Jones in her film debut, and seeing her completely naked at least 3 times. Zeta-Jones was barely 21 when she made this, and like I said, it is only of interest for seeing her appealingly pleasant, curvy body unclothed at various points - such as when her clothes fly off of her when she endures a great fall and the completely naked young lady falls into the lap of a drunken Sinbad the Sailor.

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Good

zetafan9_2510 February 2001

I enjoyed this movie very much. It was a neat collection of all of the Arabian Nights tales. It was not the best quality but still enjoyable.

Being a Catherine Zeta-Jones fan I enjoyed her role. It was her first movie and I thought she acted very well. Considering the movie had kind of a childish story it was still very mature.

Overall ok film.

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7/10

Good movie

Andy-2962 January 2001

This is a french version of the Thousand and one nights. It's a good movie, and it has the added interest of watching a young Catherine Zeta Jones on her first film role (according to the IMDB). She has a couple of quite revealing nude scenes as well.

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9/10

A revisionist 1001 Nights...Catherine Zeta-Jones debut is a knockout.

michael_chaplan7 April 2005

Warning: Spoilers

This is a retelling of the story of Scheherezade and the 1001 nights. All of the famous heroes of the 1001 Nights are shown to be quite different than the heroes they are portrayed as. That and the fact that the Genie is a 20th century man who keeps appearing in 8th century Arabia with a 20th century bag of tricks is what makes for the humor. It is not hysterically funny humor, but it is effective satire.

This is Catherine Zeta-Jones debut film... and you can't take your eyes off her! Not only is she beautiful, but she has charismatic presence.... this is a star-making role for her.

I saw this film on Japanese TV... in English. It was so entertaining that I tried to buy a copy. One can find VHS copies dubbed in German (Amazon.de). It is also possible (but more difficult) to find English on eBay...

As for why the film is so difficult to find, considering the star and director.... I would guess that it is hard to find for the same reason it is hard to find a copy of Ecstasy with Hedy Lamarr....

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10/10

whiz contemporary comic look at this favorite fairy story

susannealia26 January 2002

A whiz rendition of this favorite story. Look out to see your childish memories of a picturesque fairy story come bang up to date with our adult life experiences. The story criss-crosses between medieval Baghdad and 20th century London, with numerous cross-cultural gags lighting the way. I watched this in the company of people from both parts of the world, and all of us found the film a riot, once the slow beginning picked up pace. We all recommend this highly for anyone.

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10/10

First part sleeper with Second part racer

susannealia5 November 2002

First part is a somewhat "sleeper" interpretation of the original legendary story. Had to remind myself to keep watching - although all padi off and switched to a balmy rapid pace in the 2nd part, where you have to wake up and keep alert to catch all of the jokes and plays which feast on the UK / middle-eastern switch location theme. Very funny for anyone with knowledge of people from either of these places.

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10/10

excellent lightweight super-fast script, though it's a long film

susannealia20 December 2001

Part 1 is amusing, though seems a tad long, along the way - but hold on! Watch out and keep pace with this comedy as it crescendoes hilariously all the way to the end. Though part 11 also takes quite a while to see - it makes it well worth any waiting in the end.

Enjoy the light look and feel, but keep your eyes and ears peeled and ready for highly entertaining spot on laugh lines bouncing off the international cast of comedians, all ready to play a line from their own neck of the woods and backgrounds.

Especially recommended for anyone with some personal knowledge of people with excellent English manners, or those with lively Arabic temperaments and sense of time and place: be ready to hold on to your belly as you laugh!

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10/10

Patience through a slow start rewards with great humour

susannealia4 June 2002

This movie, or pair of movies, has a relatively slow start, but warms up and accelerates to a rip-roaring laughter rate, well worth the patience. I would definitely watch it again if I found it, and would also go get my family to enjoy the fun.

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10/10

First part sleeper with Second part racer

susannealia5 November 2002

First part is a somewhat "sleeper" interpretation of the original legendary story. Had to remind myself to keep watching - although all paid off and switched to a balmy rapid pace in the 2nd part, where you have to wake up and keep alert to catch all of the jokes and plays which feast on the UK / middle-eastern switch location theme. Very funny for anyone with knowledge of people from either of these places.

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Something to avoid

dzstroke01516 January 2001

Unless of course you are a hardcore Catherine Zeta-Jones fan and you would like to see her youthful body covered (in descreetly placed) sea shells, or sailing through a storm in a wet shirt, or just like staring at her cleavage which is on display for most of the film.

The fantasy-like element of the film doesn't really come together as it tries to blend a number of themes into one. The result is a poorly dubbed film with actors who look like they would rather be somewhere else, except for Catherine herself.

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Only for Catherine

ClaudioArturo196518 January 2003

This is a really poor film, sometimes you can go to the kitchen for some food & sodas and you miss nothing but time. Bad effects, bad sound, bad actors, bad screenplay, bad director. One of the worst remakes of the 1001 nights you can find in this cheap movie. I have this VHS because I´m a fan of Catherine Zeta Jones, but now I know why this film is so hard to find (only in this VHS bootleg copies). Fun? Where!. I rather to see Cahterine Zeta Jones in a 10-15 minutes edition than miss 1:30 hours with all the movie. I´ll try to make my own edition on VCD and later burn this VHS! Do you want to enjoy a better Catherine Zeta Jones performance? see "Catherine The Great".

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