There's undoubtedly a good film to be made out of the scramble for oil in the Arabian desert in the 1930s, and how medieval desert kingdoms were suddenly rushed into the 20th century (this subject was in part dealt in Tintin's Land of Black Gold)– but this is not quite it. We have two warring sultans, played by Antonio Banderas and Mark Strong. As the movie starts, they have decided to make peace, creating a neutral zone in their frontier, but not before Banderas takes Strong's two sons as hostages. The truce holds up for several years (allowing Strong's children to became adults), until an American geologist arrives in a small airplane claiming the buffer zone has a lot of oil beneath it. So the war begins again
This tries to be an adventure film in the classic tradition. It starts excitingly, but it grows more boring with time. Filming it in English and with non Arabian actors as leads doesn't help the movie in credibility. The decent budget and nice cinematography helps in recreating Arabia in the early 20th century (it was filmed mostly in Tunisia). This was directed by French filmmaker Jean Jacques Annaud (Quest for Fire, The Bear, Seven Years in Tibet). Based on a 1957 novel by Hans Ruesch, a Swiss writer, who also wrote the Eskimo adventure Top of the World (upon which a film starring Anthony Quinn was made in 1960). Also with Freida Pinto, an Indian actress, playing an Arab princess.
This tries to be an adventure film in the classic tradition. It starts excitingly, but it grows more boring with time. Filming it in English and with non Arabian actors as leads doesn't help the movie in credibility. The decent budget and nice cinematography helps in recreating Arabia in the early 20th century (it was filmed mostly in Tunisia). This was directed by French filmmaker Jean Jacques Annaud (Quest for Fire, The Bear, Seven Years in Tibet). Based on a 1957 novel by Hans Ruesch, a Swiss writer, who also wrote the Eskimo adventure Top of the World (upon which a film starring Anthony Quinn was made in 1960). Also with Freida Pinto, an Indian actress, playing an Arab princess.