A young fugitive prince and princess must stop a villain who unknowingly threatens to destroy the world with a special dagger that enables the magic sand inside to reverse time.
Set in the mystical lands of Persia, a rogue prince and a 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.—Walt Disney Pictures
Adopted from the streets of Nasaf by King Sharaman of Persia, young Dastan grows up amongst royalty and quickly earns his place as a mighty warrior and prince. As his brothers Garsiv and Tus plan battle strategies, a spy sends word that the Holy City of Alamut has been supplying weapons to enemies of Persia. Taking matters into his own hands, Tus orders an attack on the sacred city and upon its fall Dastan encounters the beautiful Princess Tamina. When King Sharaman dies under mysterious circumstances shortly after, and Dastan is accused of his murder, he flees with the princess on a harrowing mission to clear his name. Learning from Tamina the true motives behind Alamut's invasion, Dastan must embark on a perilous quest to stop an evil mastermind's plot for ultimate power with a mystical weapon that can control the very fabric of time.—The Massie Twins
In Persia, in the Royal City of Nasaf, the fair King Sharaman rules the empire with his brother Nizan. Sharaman has two sons, but adopts the orphan Dastan that becomes part of his family. Years later, the Holy City of Alamut ruled by Princess Tamina is under siege of the troops led by Tus, Garsiv and Dastan, after their uncle Nizan had intercepted a spy carrying weapons for Alamut. Dastan invades the city with his men to avoid a massacre and the Persian army conquers the city. Dastan gets a dagger from an enemy and King Sharaman comes to Almut very upset with the invasion of the holy city. Then he arranges the marriage of Dastan with Princess Tamina. When Dastan gives a holy cloak delivered by Tus to his father, the mantle is poisoned and kills Sharaman. Dastan is accused of betrayal but he escapes with Princess Ttamina. Sooner he finds that the dagger is a powerful device to travel and change time and that Tus is not the traitor and he engages with Tamina in a quest for justice.—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
At the height of the Persian Empire's power and influence, the King's adopted son Prince Dastan leads an attack on the sacred city of Alamut under orders from the Crown Prince, Tus, after it is revealed the city may be the source of arms for their enemies. The battle is quickly won and Dastan takes possession of an interesting dagger, one that Alamut's Princess Tamina is keen to recover. Dastan is soon on the run however when his gift to the King poisons him, putting Nizam on the throne. Tamina tells him the importance of the dagger - it can transport the bearer back in time. With his new found weapon, Dastan sets out to change past events and learn the identity of the man who betrayed them and killed his adopted father.—garykmcd
The film begins with the young prince Dastan (Jake Gyllenhaal), adopted son of King Sharaman.Sharaman had 2 sons but had adopted Dastan when he was a young boy, from the streets of Nasaf. Sharaman had seen Dastan challenge his entire personal guard, because they had unjustly punished a boy named Bis (Reece Ritchie) for stepping in front of their horse. Dastan led the guards away from Bis by jumping over the roofs of Nasaf.Dastan is eventually captured, but Sharaman adopts him after finding that Dastan is an orphan.
15 years later, Dastan spearheads an attack on the city of Alamut, accused to illegally selling weapons to enemies of Persia. The whole case against Alamut was argued by Nizam, whose spy captured a shipment of arms coming out of Alamut.Sharaman had ordered the brothers to capture Kosh, their enemy city, but not to harm Alamut. But Nizam argues for Alamut to be taken, on their way to the Kingdom of Kosh. Since Sharaman did not come for the conquest, Tus makes the decision to attack Alamut.Garsiv leads an attack on the main gates, while Dastan and a minor regiment (including his friend Bis) slips into the city through the side gates and manage to open the Eastern gates from the inside, which allows the Persian army to rise in without much resistance.
In the aftermath of the battle, the city's princess Tamina (Gemma Arterton) is captured, and Dastan takes a strange dagger as spoils from a rider who was taking it out of the city. Tamina was about to kill herself when she sees the dagger in Dastan's hands. She agrees to marry Tus if the people of Alamut are treated with mercy.Sharaman travels to Alamut on hearing news of its capture by his forces. Sharaman confronts Tus for conquering Alamut without his permission. He tells Tus that he is not ready to be King.Tus leaves to inspect the city for proof of its treachery.
He instructs Dastan to present the prayer robe of Alamut's regent to the King as a gift. Tus also tells Dastan to kill Tamina if Sharaman does not approve of Tus's marriage to her.
At the banquet, the King approves of Tamina's marriage to Dastan, as Tus already has enough wives. Dastan is framed for the murder of Sharaman (as the prayer robe were poisoned from the inside and killed the King when they are put on him by Dastan) by his adoptive uncle Nizam (Ben Kingsley) and forced to go on the run from the king's sons, Garsiv (Toby Kebbell) and Tus (Richard Coyle).Bis is killed, and Tamina helps Dastan escape.
After being attacked by an escaped Tamina, Dastan finds that the sands within the dagger's hilt allow him to rewind time by a minute and retain knowledge of what happened before. But in the experiment, Dastan uses up all the sand inside the dagger. Tamina had an extra vial of the sand in the necklace around her neck. He speculates that more sand is buried in Alamut, which is what Tus, and his armies are searching for.Dastan believes Tus attacked Alamut for the dagger and believes that the Nizam is the only one he can trust. Tus gave Dastan the robe and is now the King after Sharaman's death.While going to Avrat for Sharaman's funeral, the two encounter a shady merchant called Sheik Amar (Alfred Molina). Sheik captures Dastan for the reward that Tus has offered for him. Dastan and Tamina are able to escape.Dastan encounters Nizam, who pretends to be sympathetic to Dastan's plight. At their meeting, Dastan realizes Nizam's guilt (his hands were burned, which is a clear indication that he put the poison on the robes that burned the King) and escapes from an ambush with the princess. Nizam then sets a group of Hassansins on their tail.
As they are on the run, Tamina tells Dastan about the dagger's origins: the gods had decided to sweep mankind from the earth with a great sandstorm because of their sin. But a young girl pleaded with the gods and convinced them to withhold their wrath.The sands from the storms were stored in a great hollow crystal called the Sandglass, with the dagger, called the Dagger of Time, being the only thing that could break the crystal. The Sandglass was hidden beneath Alamut with Tamina's family, descended from the young girl who saved mankind, as its guardians.It is shown that Nizam orchestrated the siege of Alamut so he could hunt for the Sandglass and use the sands to change an event in his youth where he saved Sharaman from a lion, thereby ensuring Nizam would become king.
Seeing that the sands' release would destroy the world, Tamina is willing to return the dagger to the place where it was given, giving her life in the process. They reach the dagger's resting place, after being captured by Sheik Amar, but are attacked by Hassansins. Dastan uses the dagger to defeat the Hassassins. Tamina convinces Amar to take them to the sacred place where the dagger can be returned to the mountain, never to be in human hands again.
Soldiers under the command of Garsiv catch up with Dastan. Dastan manages to convince Garsiv of his innocence (he says that Nizam would have ordered his death as a trial would reveal Nizam's treachery), but the Hassansins take the dagger and kill Garsiv.Together with Sheik Amar, his guardian Susu and his retinue, Dastan and Tamina head back to Alamut. After retaking the dagger, at the cost of Susu's life, Dastan uses it on himself in front of Tus, showing him the power of the dagger and his own innocence. But Nizam arrives, kills Tus and takes the dagger, leaving Dastan to die. Tamina saves him and they go down into the catacombs of Alamut.
After confronting and defeating the Hassansin leader (Gísli Orn Garoarsson), Dastan and Tamina arrive in the chamber of the Sandglass as Nizam stabs it, starting the release of the sands. When they reach him, Nizam attacks them, and Tamina, who has grown to love the prince, sacrifices herself to give Dastan his chance.Dastan manages to remove the dagger from the Sandglass, preventing the apocalypse, then time is rewound to just after the siege of Alamut, undoing all the events he has lived through. Dastan manages to find his brothers and expose Nizam, who attacks Dastan in a rage and is soon killed by Tus.
As an apology for the ransacking of her city, Tus suggests that Dastan and Tamina are married as a goodwill pact. As they converse afterwords, Dastan hints at his knowledge of the dagger's power and says he looks forward to their future together.
