2. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
The Film: Set in the mystical land of ancient Persia, a rogue prince and mysterious princess race against dark forces to safeguard an ancient dagger capable of releasing the Sands of Time—a gift from the gods that can reverse time and allow its possessor to rule the world. I remember looking forward to this film because of the hype (back in 2010 when it was released), but at the same time, I was afraid I was going to be disappointed. However, as the film unfolded, I totally enjoyed the adventure from beginning to end, and Jake Gyllenhaal is amazing as Prince Dastan.
As a movie buff and avid gamer myself, I highly recommend this film for a good old-fashioned action-adventure set in ancient times. The film has the same title as the video game Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time developed and published by Ubisoft, and is primarily based on it. The parkour sequences are of the highest quality and very well edited and filmed. The sets and visual effects are excellent. Best of all, the story is intelligent and well-constructed. Watch it if you haven’t already.
The Historical Events: Even though some of you will rush to claim that this film isn’t based on any historical event or figures, but instead its prime source of inspiration is a video game, truth is that you’re only partly right. Despite its fictional plot, this film depicts a very accurate image of life, culture and architecture of Islamic Persia. Islamic architecture with complex use of geometric shapes and domes are shown, while all the cities in the film appear to have minarets, which is historically accurate.
However, the Allied Kingdom of Alamut – shown in the movie – wasn’t established until 9th century when it was built by the Justanid ruler, Wahsudan b. Marzuban, a follower of Zaydi Islam, around 865 AD. It was seized by Hassan-i Sabbah, who was the leader of the Nizārī Ismā‘īlītes and the founder of the secret order known as Assassins.