Arabian Adventure
Dir: Kevin Connor
1979
***
So bad it's good. To be fair, it's really no worse or better than Flash Gorden but it just doesn't seem to be remembered as fondly. You've got Christopher Lee as an evil Magician, the beautiful Emma Samms, the seductive Capucine, John Ratzenberger, Peter Cushing and Micky Rooney (among many) trying to pass as Arabs, dodgy Genies, wired faces in the mud and, best of all, flying carpets! In fact the flying carpet battle at the end of the film is worth watching for alone. The effects come thick and fast but none of them are very good. It's all taken far too seriously and the end result is a lovable mess. On reflection though, 'lovable mess' probably covers many of my childhood favorite films. It's a terrible film but impossible to hate.