Prince of Persia DVD Review

Let’s be honest, not every swing a Hollywood blockbuster will be a home run. But Jerry Bruckheimer is the Hollywood equivalent of Ryan Howard. So when Bruckheimer took on the task of converting the best selling video game “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” expectations were high for a big hit. Unfortunately the box office results were more like a single, maybe a double.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, a Walt Disney Pictures and Jerry Bruckheimer Film directed by Mike Newhall, transport you to the mystical lands of Persia for this entertaining, epic action-adventure. It‘s a race against time when a rogue prince (Jake Gyllenhaal) reluctantly teams up with a rival princess (Gemma Arterton) to safeguard a magical dagger that gives its possessor the power to reverse time and rule the world. Filled with death-defying escapes and unexpected twists at every turn – Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is a fun adventure in the spirit of Hollywood’s classic epic-adventures.

The is set in Persia, which had this Disney fan thinking immediately of Aladdin and the start of Prince echoed Aladdin very closely, Gyllenhaal plays Dastan, a street-rat elevated to princehood by a King looking for one son who would never have claim to the throne. But there’s a rat in the family and Dastan finds himself on the run and trying to clear his name. It’s a pretty typical movie plot.

Dastan teams with Princess Tamina (Arterton) who is charged with protecting a mystical device that literally controls the sands of time. When you add the ability to go back through time and fix errors made along the way, it’s like a gun on the mantle in act one, it’s bound to go off in act three. (Nic Cage’s ‘Next’ had a very similar plot device.) And that’s just what happens in Prince of Persia: Sands of Time.

Still, not all is lost. The movie does have that epic feel and the effects, stunts, and thrills are quite good. I particularly enjoyed the use of parkour for the chase and fight scenes. I would have liked to see even more of it.

If you do decide to add Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time to your video library, you’ll definitely want to the Blu-Ray/DVD combo. The rich beauty of the landscape and the technical digital creations of the special effects really shine through in the HD experience.

DVD Details below the cut:

DVD
Bonus Feature:
An Unseen World: Making Prince of Persia – A look behind the scenes on the set of the film.

1-Disc Blu-ray
Bonus Feature:
All of above DVD bonus plus
Deleted Scene – The Banquet: Garsiv Presents Heads

3-Disc Combo Pack
Bonus Features:
All of the above DVD and Blu-ray bonus features plus
CineExplore: The Sands of Time – Take control of the dagger and use it to unlock secrets behind your favorite scenes! Turn back time and uncover over 40 spellbinding segments – including “Walking Up Walls”, “Filming in Morocco”, and “Ostrich Jockey Tryouts” – with this exclusive interactive feature.