The phrase uttered by Venture after he and Augustin realize they are lost (and says "We seemed to have misplaced the French army") is "mesh ma'ool" which is "unbelievable" in Arabic said in fairly good Egyptian dialect.
A leopard attacked Ben Daniels during filming, nearly breaking his neck. Daniels was saved by the leopard's trainer.
Filming locations include Western Asia and the United States.
This film takes place in 1798.
Renowned film critic Roger Ebert called this film "a brave folly of a film, easy to laugh at but deserving a certain respect if only because it involves such a foolish and difficult story."