5/5 The Lost Empire
  by D. Stutz
The movie is excellent. It was a very good price too. I have seen the movie before on the Si Fi Channel, and zI wanted a copy.

5/5 Fun and Adventure with the Monkey King
  by kathi-o (St. Louis, Mo United States)
As a fun family movie to watch, this is a good one. There is action, romance, special effects, martial arts, good guys, bad guys, and beautiful goddesses. Thomas Gibson plays a splendid "scholar from above", a reluctant hero with a fairly decent backhand at racquetball. Russell Wong is perfect as the Monkey King, cocky and exceedingly sure of himself. The companions Pigsy and Friar Sand play very well as sidekicks. Bai Ling is flawlessly beautiful as Kwan Yin, the goddess who brings "the scholar from above" into the mystical world and save it from the evil Shu and the Five Traditional Masters. The dialog is quirky-an interesting mix of classical Chinese and 21st century slang. If you're looking for an historical deeply significant film, this isn't it. If you want a film that's fun to watch for the whole family, grab the popcorn and enjoy!

4/5 I enjoyed it
  by Fabrisse (Dorchester, MA United States)
The special effects are cheesy beyond belief, but I found myself loving this movie.

I especially liked the romance between Kuan Yin and Nicholas Orton. Both actors seemed to be having fun.

5/5 This is a good movie
  by Ronda Pennycuff (Smiths Grove, Kentucky United States)
This movie was on the Sci-Fi Channel a while back and I thought it was a really good movie. When I saw the movie it was aired it two parts, but I really enjoyed the movie. I recommend this as a movie to watch.

4/5 Campy Fun
  by Taikoubou (USA)
I've read the other reviews available at the time this one is being written, and this film has some enthusiasts and some absolute haters. I'd like to offer a more centrist look in the hopes that it might make a little more sense. I gave this film 4 stars as center leaning towards fun and inspiration.

I'm a graduate student doing research on modern Japanese interpretations of "Journey to the West", "Suikoden", and "Fenshen Yanyi", and let me tell you, this film doesn't even compare to the weirdest, out of context interpretations the Japanese have done with this classic story. One of the most popular modern Manga adaptations of Journey to the West has the scripture pilgrim (who Mr. Gibson replaces in "The Lost Kingdom" [sort of]) as a gun toting, beer drinking, gambling, meat eating, rebel ("Gensomaden Saiyuki" by Kazuya Minekura). Another has him as a harmonica playing traveler in a post apocalyptic world ("Assobot Goku" by ARIMORI Jyoji), and don't get me started on "Dragon Ball". It doesn't detract from the story all that much to have a white guy in the lead roll if you've already trudged through that, especially since this movie is obviously designed for a Western audience.

On the pros side: This movie is entertaining. Its family friendly and it's not bogged down for a casual watcher in fancy dialogue. In fact, it's very much in the new millennia so far as most of the language goes. Having read the full original novel for my research, having every other paragraph be poetry would not have worked here. Youll laugh at it most of the way through. Fun Martial Arts sequences can be found throughout the film. You dont really have to know anything about the original story to watch it (but it helps). Amazing costumes and makeup are used in this film. Its very aesthetic.

On the cons side: It's not accurate in a lot of places. It's also not really trying to be. This strikes me as a movie that would have made a better book. The acting is not as good as most American's would expect, but it probably could pass for a BBC Miniseries in a Dr. Who/Neverwhere kind of style. Its special effects aren't stellar (although what they lose in quality they certainly made up for in quantity). It's important to remember that this movie is not supposed to be a retelling of the original legend, but more of a really campy sequel. Yes, Confucius is a lying swindler in this. He seems to embody more of what the government in modern day China is in this film that what he historically was. It seems relatively obvious that his character is simply a way to move the plot. It's unfortunate that they chose a historic scholar to corrupt.

Why is it worth a watch then? "Journey to the West" was historically a series of stories that were circulating long before Wu Cheng'en put it to paper in the Ming Dynasty, and those legends differ slightly across East Asia. The reason the collective works had so much meaning was that they were the literary pieces of the time that allowed for integration of Taoist beliefs, Buddhist beliefs, and Confucian ideals peacefully, and that union is part of what created the Chinese identity. "The Lost Kingdom" has taken bits and pieces of the original and used them with Western ideas to introduce the legend to a new audience. In the beginning narrative of the film, the main character even likens himself to a 'western cowboy' in China. There is no attempt at all to hide that this is a best fit cultural merge. It's an effort to bring cultures together for 3 hours that could spawn a search for a better understanding of Chinese culture (despite the fact that this doesn't match the original creator's full intent at the outset).

My academic pursuits of Chinese and Japanese literature started from a Japanese science fiction adaptation of Fenshen Yanyi as a 10 year old. Aliens in Ancient China who wear turbans ("Houshin Engi" by Fujisaki Ryuu) didn't put me off finding out the truth behind the original. Who knows what this film could inspire?

It's worth a watch. It's funny, and it's campy, but don't take it seriously. I understand declaring it 'Racist' and 'insulting' makes big headlines in news papers, and that sells issues, or gets blog hits, but the movie doesn't take itself that seriously, and making broad sweeping declarations about it probably means you've worked yourself up for nothing.