The Lost Empire (DVD, 2001, With Sensormatic Security Tag)

I remember seeing this movie many many years ago and when I saw it here I jumped on it like Mario on a Goomba! I truly did Enjoy the movie, It was great to see Thomas Gibson, the beautiful Bai Ling, and Russell Wong in an epic movie about the Monkey King. This is a must see for anyone as the special effects are great for their time (2001), there are plenty of corny jokes. It even has a romantic element for those who enjoy it. I would put this movie along the Lines of a mixture of "Forbidden Kingdom" for the intro, and "Fifth Element" for the whole rest. and Excellent movie to watch!

This was a fun fantasy that I saw part of years ago, and wanted to see the
rest of the film. It was well worth the money.

The DVD is a fullscreen decent picture and decent 2.1 Dolby sound version of a Hallmark miiniaseries that has to do with one of my obsessions- The Monkey King. Ther is nothing wrong with the product, my complaint is with the actual film. I liked the plot, and I never thought once of Dharma while watching Thomas Gibson, who indeed made a credible leading man. Bai Ling was ethereally gorgeous and alluring to watch as usual, Pigsy was fantastic- my favorite character and makeup design, Sandy had a new take which reminded me of watching Sallah in the Indy Jones movies- but the new spin on the character was enjoyable as well. I absolutely loved that Confucious was portrayed as such a power-abusive bastard. But the reason I purchased this DVD in the first place was for one character only- The Monkey King! And I hate to say it, but Russell Wong's portrayal fell a little short. He was cocky, which was appropriate, but without being playful and mischevious, and all his bravura was just never backed up. The Monkey King is supposed to be the slickest, devil-may-care, badass fighter his world has seen, and Wong's portrayal had him too accomodating, too sterile, too tame for my taste. It by no means ruined the movie, which I will whole-heartedly recommend, but I would definitely include some other portrayals as well if using "The Lost Empire" as part a primer to introduce anyone to the awesomeness of The Monkey King. That said, the visual and makeup effects were quite impressive- especially considering the TV origins of this project, the story was pretty decent, and was well-acted in spite of Wong's shortcomings. Perhaps Wong was only following the script and unaware of any other previous portrayals of the character in film, television or literature to emulate. Doubtful, as the legend is world-reknowned, and the original telling- the novel "Journey To The West" was crucial to the plot of this project, but who knows...

Happened to catch part of this movie on tv and I liked it. Reminds me of the the 2 movies called The Librarian. Kind of serious, kind of funny. Glad I bought it and will be keeping it.