Hoo boy, here we go again with yet another movie based on a popular video game. The wave seemed to have started back in the early 1990’s with the release of “Super Mario Brothers” starring Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo as the venerable brothers, and the late Dennis Hopper in a ‘career making’ move as the villainous King Koopa. Up until that time, most movies were turned into video games as opposed to the other way around. About a year later, “Double Dragon” hit movie theatres, and kids who plunked down their parent’s hard earned quarters in the arcade changed venues (at least for a short time) and said quarters were used to watch Mark Dascasos and Scott Wolf kick and punch their way through the movie as the venerable Lee brothers. This filmed also starred a post “Terminator 2” Robert Patrick as the villainous Koko Shugo, in what many consider to be another ‘career making’ move.

Not to be outdone, the venerable heroes (why are they always venerable?) from the outlandishly popular videogame “Mortal Kombat” were brought to life in a movie of the same name. They teamed up with action flick actor extraordinaire Christopher Lambert to fight the villainous Shang Tsung, who was played by Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa. (This was also considered to be a ‘career making’ move, considering Tagawa went on to play a Gorilla in the remake… excuse me… re-imagining of “Planet of the Apes.”)

Ever since these movies came out, along with the rumored existence of a “Pong” movie floating around, starring Jean Claude Van Damme in the dual role of the villainous Paddles (in yes, you guessed it… a ‘career making’ move), there have been more videogames-turned-movies than I care to count. “Tomb Raider”, “Final Fantasy”, “Doom”, “Silent Hill”, “Resident Evil”, and “Max Payne are but just a few. I shouldn’t mention, but I will, wannabe director Uwe Boll’s entries of “House of the Dead”, “Alone in the Dark”, and “In the Name of the King.”

But since the advent of CGI, and the enormous amount of money being pumped into summer blockbuster movies, at least those that lack in plot or coherence, can at least make up for it with flashy visual style. A few months ago, Disney and producer Jerry Bruckheimer took the money they made from the three (soon to be four) “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies to bring “Prince of Persia” to life. Not being a video game player myself, I was somewhat familiar with this one as my wife enjoyed playing the Playstation version of it a few years back. I understand it has actually been around since 1989, but I first saw it earlier this decade.

This multi-kazillion dollar blockbuster brought in action star Jake Gyllenhaal to play the plucky Prince Dastan. Uh… wait, no you read that right. Jake Gllyenhaal… action star. (I guess if doppelganger Toby Maquirw could do it, why not?) Surprisingly enough, Gyllenhaal (bad English accent not-withstanding) actually bulked up a bit and pulled it off much better than I expected. That said, everyone involved bulked up and delivered a far better movie than I expected. Missing it in the theaters, I opted to check out the new Bluray release the other night, and despite a rather silly plot, I enjoyed the hell out of “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.”

Plot in a nutshell involves street urchin Dastan being adopted by a great Persian King when he is seen to be strong of character. We quickly move the story forward to meet Dastan (Gyllenhaal) and the King’s other two sons, Tus (Ricahrd Coyle) and Garsiv (Toby Kebbel) as they prepare to attack the Holy City of Alamut. From here we meet the ‘beautiful beyond compare’ Princess Tamina (Gemma Arterton), who escapes the city with Dastan following a rather unexpected turn of events. As you might expect, Dastan and Tamina’s relationship is tenuous at best, even more so after he discovers she is holding a powerful secret weapon which turns out to be the sole reason for the attack, as opposed to the mis-information fed to them by the King’s Advisor (Ben Kingsley).

This is a rather complicated version of the actual plot, which is very simple in both its dialogue and action. However, what is not simple is the sheer scope of the film. Playing somewhat like one of the aforementioned “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies, it speed ahead through huge battles, flashy special effects, and action, action, action, leaving you pretty much breathless by the end of the film’s nearly two hour running time. Only imagining what it might have looked like on the big screen, the Bluray release unleashed a visual and auditory assault on my home theater system. Didn’t matter than the screen wasn’t 75 feet across, the action filled my living room and I cheered and laughed right alongside the occasional jeer I had to throw out. This is not a film meant to win Academy Awards, it is a film meant to sell the spirit of a swashbuckling epic, and it does so in spades.

Speaking of the Bluray, there are three discs in the set I acquired. The first has the film on Bluray, along with a deleted scene, and the opportunity to use ‘Cine-Explore.’ This feature allows viewers to access multiple featurettes as they watch the film, and it even keeps track of what you’ve seen. It’s a pretty cool feature that I watched more of than I initially intended. The second disc has a DVD version of the film as well as a Behind the Scenes Featurette. The last disc holds a Digital Copy of the movie for your computer and handheld devices.

While I expected “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” to be a big snoozer, I actually had a great time watching it, though I never could stop wondering why everyone on Persia speaks with English accents…

Directed by: Mike Newell
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Ben Kingsley, Gemma Arterton, Alfred Molina
Extras: Deleted Scene; Cine-Explore; The Making of Prince of Persia; Digital Copy
Specifications: 1080p High Definition (2.40:1), DTS-HD Master Audio
Studio: Disney
Release Date: 9/14/2010
MPAA Rating: PG-13
http://www.disneyBluray.com

We'll give Prince of Persia (Bluray) a B.