The Golden Voyage Of Sinbad

I’m going to get killed for saying this, but I found this movie to be, well… dull. That’s right. I found this, a Ray Harryhausen stop-motion animation fantasy movie to be, well… dull. I couldn’t believe it myself, I expected I was gonna love this thing as much as I love chicken wings, but alas it was not meant to be. The story deals with Sinbad, who has a ‘race for a treasure” with an evil sorcerer to reach an island to get a third piece of a golden medallion/navigation thingie, I dunno I can’t remember what it was called. Monsters and adventures are on the way.

The one thing that disappointed me about this movie more than anything were the actors. I know they’re not supposed to be the main attraction, but I couldn’t help but find them duller as hell. Jon Phillip Law, Diabolik himself, plays Sinbad, but I guess not having Bava behind him didn’t help. At least Caroline Munro looked hot as hell. I also didn’t like the colors in the photography. It looked too 70’s, which normally doesn’t hurt since I like the 70’s psychedelic look, but for a Sinbad movie it doesn’t work.

The thing I did love was, of course, the monsters! It’s what it’s all about. Ray Harryhausen again shows off why he’s king, having Sinbad battle a multi-armed Goddess, which is definitely my favorite battle in the film. You can tell George Lucas was really inspired with this scene when making his Episode III, when Obi-Wan fights General Grievous: one sword against six. There’s another sequence which features Sinbad against a pretty cool-looking Centaur with one eye, but the battle doesn’t last long. A Griffon pops out of nowhere and starts fighting the Centaur. It’s pretty badass, and looks realistic as hell. Now don’t get me wrong. I’ve previously reviewed Seventh Voyage of Sinbad and Jason And The Argonauts and gave them both very favorable reviews, I loved those two. But this one just disappointed me. Watch it for the monsters.