This movie is a contemporary take on the classic Chinese novel "Journey to the West," which is a fictionalized account of the legends around the Buddhist monk Xuánzàng's pilgrimage to India during the Táng dynasty in order to obtain Buddhist religious texts called sutras.The ministers have imprisoned the writer of the book, and are attempting to destroy it to reverse time back to traditional Chinese life, i.e. before any modernization. The modern world will be destroyed unless The Scholar From Above (Thomas Gibson) can enter the underworld and save it.Don't make any mistake. Gibson would not have taken one step except for the fact that he was following the luscious Bai Ling, who anyone would follow to the gates of Hell.He rescues Sun Wukong the Monkey King (Russell Wong - Romeo Must Die), and is joined by Zhu Bajie(Pigsy)(Eddie Marsan - 21 Grams, Vera Drake) and Sha Wujing (Friar Sand) (Kabir Bedi - Octopussy) to save the book and save the world. It is almost a Wizard of Oz adventure, as they all have personal issues to resolve in addition to the mission.Of course, Kuan Yin (Bai Ling) appears any time he utters a prayer. Thankfully, for the many appearance of Bai Ling make this film worth watching. She is usually in another spectacular costume each time she appears.Besides spectacular costumes, the sets were lavishly decorated. The special effects were magnificent, and the martial arts displays exciting.It was overly long, but most great adventures are. Anyway. that is more time to watch Bai Ling.

I've watched this mini-series hoping it will bring some excitements, art and culture of the traditional Chinese "Journey to the West" story. Of course the most important thing I'm looking at for in this movie is to have best visual effects. However, the effects are so bad and no realistic (Not even close).Aside from bad acting and visuals, the problem with this story is that Qua Yinn being fall in love with the human! It's the most insulting story for the Buddhist people and religion! And Friar Sand wearing human skulls (Maybe when he was Cannibal but no anymore!)?? What about the Monkey King? He doesn't look like Monkey, instead look like human. Also Monkey King wasn't put under the mountain by the demons. Monkey King was so powerful, nobody (even the most powerful good or evil) can defeat or control it. Eventually Monkey King was punished by Buddha by putting it under the mountain. This movie is totally going on the wrong way.This mini-series is nothing compared to the original Chinese version (25 episodes) of "Journey to the West" released in 1986. If you are looking for the "real" story (with better visual effects), then go for the chinese version! It has got English caption in the whole series.This movie is just worthless. Acting, music, visual effects, story.....none of them are good.I'll rate this movie 1.

Well, this mini-series was the straw that broke the back for producer Robert Halmi with NBC. The faults of his previous rating disaster, "The 10th Kingdom" have not been heeded in this production. The screenplay is overloaded with over the top characters and situations that never let up. But, to me, the failure of "The Lost Empire" falls in three categories. The total miscasting of Thomas Gibson, who gives a tired and stiff performance. Gibson seems to barely be able to walk, much less perform martial arts, and his delivery is unbelievably stilted. The music score is among the worst I've heard in a production like this. There is little thematic melody and even less of the score reflects the rich culture depicted in the story. Third, the director chose to shoot most of the frequent martial arts action from the waist up, so much of the visual impact of those scenes is lost. Indeed, only Bai Ling retains her dignity in the production. The only other redeeming feature is, that the film did cause me to look into the classic book, "Journey to the West."

The Lost Empire is a excellent updating and play off a an ancient Chinese novel entitled "Journey to the West".For viewers who have some knowledge of Chinese myths and stories this movie is a real treat. It brings back all the wonderful characters of one of the most beloved novels of childhood.On the other hand if you don't have a clue who the Monkey King was, let alone the celestial Kingdom and the Jade Emperor, than you might not get the underlying story elements, but the movie should still be a great deal of fun simply as a great adventure story with wonderful special effects and some very amusing characters.This movie can be enjoyed by young and old. Think of it as an Asian version of Wizard of Oz, Ben Hur and Indiana Jones all rolled into one.