The 7th Voyage of Sinbad

Plot synopsis:
(Expanded, edited version)The Seventh Voyage of SinbadThe film begins with Sinbad (Kerwin Matthews) on board his ship, with Harufa (Alfred Brown) his chief lieutenant, sailing through a thick fog, en route to Baghdad from the Kingdom of Chandra (1) with a special cargo, the Princess Parisa (Kathryn Grant) (2), accompanied by her handmaid, Sadi (Nana DeHerrera): Parisa will wed her beloved Sinbad to avert a war between Chandra and Bagdad (3).The ship stops for supplies at the Isle of Colossa (4). While loading food and water, a magician named Sokourah (5) (Torin Thatcher) emerges from a mask-crowned stone portal, chased by a Cyclops with satyr's legs (created as a stop-motion model, like most of the non-human cast, by Ray Harryhausen). The wizard rubs a magic lamp and is helped by a boy genie, Baronni (Richard Eyer), (6) who creates a magic barrier between the Cyclops and Sinbad's crew, who escape, taking Sokourah with them. But the Cyclops throws a rock to sink their boat, and the lamp is lost: the Cyclops recovers it from the shallow surf.Now at sea, Sokourah tries to persuade Sinbad with a bagful of jewels into returning to Colossa to regain the magic lamp; but Sinbad's mission is to go to Bagdad and avert war with Chandra by marrying Parisa. Once in Bagdad, Sokourah tries to convince the Caliph (Alec Mango), to grant him a ship for an expedition to Colossa, also showing him designs for a giant crossbow. But the Caliph listens to Sinbad about the perils of returning to Colossa, and even after putting on a fantastic magic show during a feast for the Caliph and Parisa's father, the Sultan of Chandra (Harold Kasket), during which Sadi is transformed into a blue four-armed snake-woman which performs an exotic dance, Sokourah's request is denied. Sokourah then prophesies war between Chandra and Baghdad, which upsets the Caliph and the Sultan, and Sokourah is banished from the city.Sokourah steals into Parisa's bedchamber at night, and enchants her with the green smoke of a magic candle, which shrinks Parisa down to a few inches high. In the morning, Sadi discovers her and calls for the Caliph, Sinbad, and the Sultan: the Sultan becomes infuriated, vowing to avenge Parisa by laying waste to Bagdad.Sinbad seeks out Sokourah, and implores him to restore Parisa to her normal size, being apparently unaware that Sokourah was responsible for her miniaturization. Sokourah initially feigns helplessness, but finally concedes he can restore the Princess but he needs as a vital ingredient a piece of eggshell from the Roc (7), a giant bird that nests on the peaks of the Isle of Colossa. Sinbad now agrees to the voyage, and musters a crew partly from the condemned men from the Caliphs prison - a murderous rabble whose loyalty is questionable. Parisa journeys with Sinbad in a jeweled casket, and the giant crossbow is also made and loaded aboard.The crew mutiny once out at sea, and force Sinbad to yield by threatening Sokourah. They then lock up Sinbad, his loyal crew member Harufa and Sokourah, who curses the crew with madness: he knows that a storm will drive the ship towards rocks south of Colossa inhabited by wailing demons whose screams are unbearable: Sinbad saves his and his companions sanity by using waxed cloth to block their ears. The mutiny ringleader dies in a fall from the mast, and the men release Sinbad to save the ship. The ship and a more obedient crew arrive at Colossa.As the giant crossbow is assembled on the beach in front of the stone mask, Sinbad and Sokourah each lead a party through the Valley of the Cyclops, with Sinbad secretly (for a few minutes, at least) followed by his lieutenant, Harufa. Sinbads band discovers a giant spiked club and a store house full of treasure; though Sinbad tries to stop them, they become greedy trying to seize it: a Cyclops discovers them, hauls all five of them out, and locks them in a cage, from which it extracts Harufa whom it ties to a roasting-spit and starts to barbecue. Sokourah hears the shouts of Sinbad and the other trapped men, but does not release them, instead entering the treasure-chamber to find the magic lamp. Sinbad now reveals the tiny Princess Parisa, who manages to unfasten the cage's latch, enabling Sinbad and the men to escape. The four men who were with Sokourah, having become drunk on a stream flowing with wine, now attack: the Cyclops kills two by squashing them with an uprooted tree. During the following fight Sinbad manages to free Harufa, seize the lamp from Sokourah, and kill the Cyclops by first blinding him with a burning stake from the fire, and then leading him over a cliff, where the Cyclops falls to his death in the stream below.Sinbad is now suspicious of Sokourah, and refuses to let him have the lamp until Sokourah restores Parisa to her normal size. Sinbad, Sokourah, Harufa and the remaining three crewmen all climb a steep, rocky mountain (losing one man who falls off en route), until they find a giant egg. The two hungry crewmen break the egg with axes, releasing a two-headed yellow-down-covered Roc hatchling, which they kill and roast: Sinbad takes some of the eggshell. Parisa enters the lamp to speak with the genie, where he reveals to her his name, the magic words needed to use the lamp, which she passes onto Sinbad, and a prophecy which would free the genie to become, as he desires, a real boy - "into fiery rock, to rise, you must fall".Shortly an adult Roc appears, attacks the crew, knocking the two remaining crewmen off the mountain to fall to death, and carries Sinbad, unconscious, off to its nest. Sokourah seizes the opportunity to kill Sinbad's right-hand man Harufa with a spear, and takes Parisa prisoner. Sinbad escapes from the Roc's nest, and summoning the genie of the lamp, discovers that Parisa is being held in Sokourah's castle in a cave at the foot of the mountain. This is guarded by a chained wingless green fire-breathing horned Dragon, which Sinbad must bypass by winding in its chain on one of a pair of windlasses.At Sokourah's castle, Sinbad orders Sokourah at the point of a sword to restore Parisa to normal. Using the prepared potion, the piece of eggshell, and an incantation, Sokourah fills a large chest, into which the Princess has been placed, with green smoke, and Parisa becomes normal size again. However, Sinbad refuses to give up the lamp until he and the Princess are safely back at his ship: enraged, Sokourah animates a skeleton which, armed with scimitar and shield, fights Sinbad, he ultimately defeating it by pushing it off the top of a spiral staircase. Sokourah tries again to stop Sinbad and Parisa escaping by magically smashing a rock bridge over a channel of molten lava: the genie, summoned, helps them by materializing a rope they use to swing across the chasm to safety.Parisa realizes the chasm is the "fiery rock" mentioned in the prophecy of release for the genie, and casts the lamp into the lava flow, infuriating Sokourah. Sinbad and Parisa manage to sneak their way past Sokourah's guard Dragon, but another Cyclops enters the cave and blocks their way. Sinbad releases the Dragon by cutting the ropes of the windlass, enabling it to break its chain; the Dragon then fights and kills the Cyclops, biting its throat out. Sokourah follows shortly after, and with his dragon, chases Sinbad and Parisa back to the stone mask, where the giant crossbow is used to shoot the Dragon, which falls onto Sokourah, presumably killing him: the Dragon drags itself to the beach before expiring.As Sinbad and Parisa escape, back on board ship, Parisa calls Baronni by name he reappears, now a genie no longer but Sinbads cabin boy who has also thoughtfully filled Sinbad's cabin with the Cyclops' treasure, as a "sort of a wedding present".Notes (1) Spelling uncertain: historically, 'Chandra' is a Hindu lunar deity (2) This spelling of 'Parisa' is used p163 in 'The Art of Ray Harryhausen', by Ray Harryhausen and Tony Dalton, 2006, Billboard Books, New York (3) This spelling of 'Bagdad' rather than 'Baghdad' is used as a text overlay in the film, although the video sleeve has 'Baghdad' (and so may be unreliable on other points) (4) This spelling of 'Colossa' is used p162 in 'The Art of Ray Harryhausen' (5) Spelt 'Sokourah' in 'The Art of Ray Harryhausen' p 162 et. seq., and so used here, although the video sleeve has 'Sokurah': the role is not given in the title credits (6) Spelling uncertain, and could also be 'Birani' or any phonetic variant: in the title credits simply 'The Genie' (7)The roc or rukh is a giant bird in Persian mythology, probably inspired in part by the eggs or even sightings of the Aepyornis elephant bird, a now-extinct three-metre-tall flightless bird of Madagascar, for which there were reported sightings at least in folklore memory recorded in 1658. The eggs were known at least as early as 1420, according to a caption in the 1456 Fra Mauro map: Marco Polo also gave an account of the rukh in 1298.(Original version)The film begins with Sinbad and his crew sailing through a thick fog. They are enroute to Bagdad, returning from the Kingdom of Chandra with special booty, the Princess Parisa and her handmaid, Sadi. The ship must stop for supplies at the Island of Colossus. While loading supplies, a wizard named Sokurah emerges from a cave, chased by a cyclops. The wizard rubs a lamp and is helped by a boy genie. Sinbad's crew narrowly escapes the cyclops, taking Sokurah with them. But, the lamp is lost to the sea during the escape. The gigantic cyclops recovers its precious lamp from the shallow surf.Now at sea, Sokurah tries to bribe Sinbad into returning to Colossus and retaking the magic lamp, but Sinbad's primary mission is to go to Bagdad and avert war with Chandra by marrying Parisa. Once in Bagdad, Sokurah tries to convince Sinbad's uncle the Caliph to lend him a ship for an expedition to Colossus. But, the Caliph listens to Sinbad, and even after putting on a fantastic magic show before the Caliph of Bagdad and Parisa'a father, the Sultan of Chandra, Sokurah 's request is denied. During Sokurah's performance, he prophesies war between Chandra and Bagdad. The dark prophecies upset the Caliph and the Sultan, and Sokurah is bannished from the city.Sokurah steals into Parisa's bedchamber at night, and enchants her with the smoke of a magic candle, which shrinks Parisa down to the size of a small bird. In the morning, Parisa's handmaid discovers her enchantment. The Caliph, Sinbad, and Parisa's father the Sultan are shocked. The Sultan blames Bagdad, and becomes infuriated. He vows to avenge Parisa by laying waste to Bagdad.Sinbad seeks out Sokurah, and implores him to restore Parisa to her normal size. He is unaware, at this point, that Sokurah commited the treachery. Sokurah feigns helplessness, but finally concedes he may be able to help restore the Princess by using the egg shell from the Roc, a giant bird that lives on the Isle of Colossus. Sinbad agrees. He musters a crew from the prison. These are murderous, lecherous rabble whose loyalty is questionable.The crew proves unreliable once out at sea, where they mutiny and lock up Sinbad, crew and the magician Sokurah. Before they are locked in the hold, Sokurah curses the crew with a storm and madness. His curse plays out when a storm and the unbearable wail of sirens drives the crew mad. In their madness, they release Sinbad and his men to save the ship. The ship and a more obedient crew arrive at Colossus.The crew discover a store house full of treasure, and become greedy. Sinbad finds the magic lamp. The cyclops discovers them, and locks them in cages. It is soon learned the cyclops eats men. Sokurah has the opportunity to release the caged men, but leaves them behind without explanation. Sinbad reveals the tiny Princess Parisa to the men, who were unaware of her presence in a tiny tent crafted by the Royal Jeweler. Parisa manages to unfasten the cage's latch, and all escape. Parisa enters the lamp to speak with the genie, where he reveals to her his name and the magic words needed to use the lamp.Sinbad is now suspicious of Sokurah's intentions, but catches up with him. The magician is still needed to restore Parisa to her normal size. All the men climb a steep, rocky mountain, where they find pieces of the Roc's shell. The hungry men resort to killing a two-headed Roc hatchling for food. Later, while roasting the gigantic chick, the mother Roc appears, and carries Sinbad off to its nest. Sokurah seizes the opportunity to kill Sinbad's right-hand man Harufa, and takes Parisa. Sinbad escapes from the Roc's nest, and using the lamp, discovers that Parisa is being held in Sokurah's fortress in a cave.Sinbad finds the cave, and Parisa. He orders Sokurah at the point of a sword to restore Parisa to normal. Using the piece of shell and an incantation, Parisa becomes normal size again. But, Sokurah will not let Sinbad go with the lamp, and enchants a skeleton to life. Sinbad fights the skeleton, defeating it. He and Parisa narrowly escape Sokurah's chambers. There is another obstacle before them, a fiery chasm. The genie, whose name we learn is Baronni, helps Sinbad and Parisa one final time, by materializing a rope they use to swing across the chasm to safety.In an unselfish act, Parisa takes the lamp and casts it into the chasm of fire, for she recalls a promise of freedom, which read, "Into the fire you must go." Sinbad and Parisa manage to sneak their way past Sokurah's guard dragon, but another cyclops enters the cave and blocks their way. Sinbad helps the dragon to escape its iron collar, and the dragon and cyclops engage in battle. Sinbad and Parisa escape the cave, and the dragon kills the cyclops. Sokurah follows shortly after, and with his dragon, chases Sinbad, Parisa and the crew.The crew have one more weapon, a giant crossbow, which was originally intended for the cyclops. The crew unleash the arrow on the dragon, which falls to its death, also crushing Sokurah. The crew escape. Parisa is restored, but they have no lamp. Parisa affectionately remembers Baronni, and mentions his name."Did someone call Baronni? Here I am!" It is Baronni, no longer the genie, but Captain Sinbad's cabin boy. In his final act of magic, Baronni fills Sinbad's cabin with the Cyclops' treasure, "as a sort of a wedding present." The ship is safely on its way back to Bagdad.

Tags: action, fantasy

Review:
It had it all, adventure, fantasy, heroics, monsters, and Harryhausen's stop-frame wizardry that puts half the CGI effects right out of business.I too, saw it as a child and along with JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS, THE GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD and CLASH OF THE TITANS, bought it years later and played it to standing room only, in our lounge throughout the kids childhood.
The acting is very good overall; Kerwin Matthews plays a very agile and affable Sinbad, Richard Eyer(from The Invisible Boy) plays a sad genie, and Torin Thatcher is superb as the villainous magician bent on supreme power.
Great cast, great villain, great script and just the right balance of absolutely fantastic Ray Harryhausen special effects (without being excessive or absurd - as in the ridiculous and completely unbelievable baboon who appears to star in the deeply inferior 'Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger', 1977).Kerwyn Mathews stars as Sinbad minus the traditional beard, but compensates by showing off as much chest hair and his forearms as possible.
The gorgeous Katherine Grant is a beautiful Princess named Parisa (and not in a slightly sleazy, ever so tartish fashion that we see foisted on Caroline Munro in the 1974 'Golden Voyage of Sinbad').Torin Thatcher, born in Bombay and therefore possibly the token 'Asian' in this flick, is absolutely marvelous as Sakura, the evil wizard or magician (it's never made quite clear what side of the fence he sits on, or why).
When I was a kid, the experience of watching "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad" started my admiration for the music of Bernard Herrmann, and confirmed my love for fantasy cinema (and stop-motion animation), in an unconscious way.
The film had princess Parisa reduced to less than four inches, cyclops running crazy, a dragon, a bird with two heads, an evil magician called Sokura, a boy genie, and the celebrated skeleton duel, but I was mainly impressed by Sokura's act of magic during the Sultan's ball, crossing a snake with Parisa's aide (actress Nana de Herrera, who looked weird even before the transformation.) The Harryhausen-Herrmann collaboration originated two more Sinbad movies, and other favorites, as "Mysterious Island", "Jason and the Argonauts" and "The 3 Worlds of Gulliver", but "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad" is number one in my list of the collaborators' films.
Schneer and featured special effects by Ray Harryhausen, Jason And The Argonauts is usually named as the best [certainly that was the film where Harryhausen perfected his techniques],but Sinbad is not far behind.
This is the first time that I have watched "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad", a delightful adventure with Cyclops, dragon, magician, magic lamp and jinni.
After his wife-to-be, Princess Parisa (Kathryn Grant), is shrunk by an evil magician, Sinbad (Kerwin Mathews) undertakes a perilous journey to a mysterious monster inhabited island, in an attempt to restore her to full size (and who can blame himshe's a total babe and wears the kind of outfit most red-blooded men wish they could get their woman into).Almost fifty years on, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad may seem dated (particularly for those only familiar with CGI monsters) but, in my opinion, it still has the power to captivate and amaze.
With Ray Harryhausen's wonderful stop motion effects (which include a cyclops, a dragon, a snake-woman, a giant two-headed bird and an animated skeleton) and a timeless magical tale of swashbuckling heroics, director Nathan Juran delivers a classic slice of fantasy cinema.A cracking opening gets straight to the action with Sinbad and his men encountering bad-guy Sokurah when their ship is blown off course and ends up at the island of Colossa.
Sokurah wishes to be returned to the island in order to get his hands on a magic lamp (now in the possession of the cyclops), but Sinbad is headed for Bagdad where he is to be married to the gorgeous Parisa, and ain't nothing going to stop him from tying the knot.
Nothing, that is, 'cept for his woman being reduced to the size of a small doll.Not realising that Sokurah is to blame for her diminutive stature, Sinbad is conned into returning to Colossa, where the nasty magician says he can create a potion which will return Parisa to normal.Great fun from start to finish, The 7th Voyage is packed full of great scenes (my favourite being the Cyclops preparing a tasty snackspit-roasted sailor) and is perfect fare for fantasy-loving kids and adults alike.
This great fantasy adventure features the brilliant stop-motion effects of Ray Harryhausen.
The cobra woman, the Roc, the really nasty Cyclops, the dragon and the famous dueling skeleton are masterpieces of cinema FX that still have the power to amaze.Add the wonderful evocative score by Bernard Hermann to the movie and you have a film that is pretty hard to beat on any level.
Watching this movie makes me feel like an 10 year old kid at a Saturday matinée.The best of its lot, even better than the similar Jason and the Argonauts,-a fine film in its own right -also done by the same team.
So Sinbad and his men, and the dastardly magician, set sail for an adventure that is fraught with danger...From the land beyond beyond - From the world past hope and fear - I bid you genie now appear.Stop-motion maestro Ray Harryhausen, for his first film in colour, delves into the mythical legend of Sinbad The Sailor.
Top notch entertainment, a vivid fantasy-adventure starring Kerwin Mathews as the heroic Sinbad, who's conned into returning to an exotic isle by a conniving, greedy, grasping magician named Sokurah (Torin Thatcher).
If you had to watch two movies through a year and you were 8 years old and you were allowed to take the bus by yourself on a Sunday afternoon downtown to sit in the balcony and fold-down your popcorn box and hurl it at the other kids on the main floor beneath us like some sort of Frisbee and you could watch giant creatures attack Sinbad and weird you out for the 877th time...hey, that's movie magic.So, for all of you who were born in the eighties...this film DOES NOT suck...it soothes and takes me back to 1963 whenever I catch it...and I WILL watch it for the 878th time.
That said it's a film considered to be "movie magic" due to the special effects of Ray Harryhausen and one wonders how an adult in the 21st Century would regard this film now To be brutally honest the production only exists to exhibits the stop frame animation effects and everything else doesn't matter.
The 7th Voyage of Sinbad is a superb adventure film, as well as an influential classic, which still ranks as one of the best films from late-great Ray Harryhausen - cinema's foremost master of stop-motion photography.
As it's title implies, this film is based upon the mythical Arabian character of Sinbad the sailor, played by the English actor Kerwin Mathews and for the next an hour and a half, he spar's against the inspired, stop-motion, wizardry of Ray Harryhausen in this classic tale of good and evil.
As one would expect The 7th Voyage of Sinbad is a film that's steeped in wizardry, ancient lore and "main-stream mythology", but best of all, it also happens to be over-flowing with Harryhausen's marvelous stop-motion magic.
Indeed The 7th Voyage of Sinbad comes loaded with an impressive arsenal of wondrous Harryhausen creations such as: Cloven-hoofed cyclops', four-armed serpent women, Rok's (giant two-headed birds), fire-breathing dragons and saving the best for last, an evil sword-swinging skeleton, that which is summoned to animated life by the treacherous wizard in black, Sokurah.
Upon it's release over the Christmas holiday season of 1958 Harryhausen and company made quite a splash with their monster-filled fantasy film and it was the first (and perhaps the best) of several forays, that stop-motion master made into the medieval times of swords n' sorcery.This classic of fantasy was efficiently produced on what looks like a pretty modest budget and it's cast, with the exception of Kerwin Mathews and Torin Hatcher (in the role of Sokurah the Magician) is, regrettably, adequate at best.
But the way I see it, the real stars behind this fantastic fantasy are, Ray Harryhausen with his patented "Dyna-mation" (stop-motion animation) and the Bernard Herrmann for his rousing film score.
But as time marches on, over the past nearly six decades, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad a true gem of the fantasy genre, continues to be frequently sighted as a highly influential source of inspiration in the eyes of many of the greatest directors and special effects artists of today; and just to name a few, the likes of: George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Dennis Muren, etc.
7th Voyage of Sinbad is the most richly symbolic and best of several great movies from Ray Harryhausen.
I've seen this film numerous times over the years, both on the big screen and on tv/video, and it manages to hold its own, due simply to the fact that the story is none-too complicated and the animation effects are so deftly executed by the legendary Ray Harryhausen, whose accomplishments are all the more remarkable when you consider that he animated the Cyclops, the dragon and others WITHOUT the use of CGI or other electronic technology.
Shot in the then-dazzling film-process called "Dynarama" - I remember, as a wide-eyed kid of 10, being absolutely struck with total awe while watching this cheesy Fantasy/Adventure picture from yesteryear.With its introduction of several delightfully monstrous, stop-motion creations by effects-man, Ray Harryhausen (including a ferocious, one-horned Cyclops - Wow!) - This pre-CGI film was a child's most spectacularly exciting nightmare come true on screen.But, alas - (As one might expect) - Time (yes-unforgivable time) has not been at all kind to this 1958 Sinbad, the Sailor, production.
Although it is Ray Harryhausen's effectively animated monsters that make this movie really work out so well, it is undeniable that "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad" has many elements that many of its descendants, the mythical adventure movies of today, do not have.
Its acting styles, action scenes, and special effects are very obsolete when compared to today's standards, but this does not decrease the power of the film.Harryhausen has always been a master of stop-motion animation, perhaps the most tedious and time-consuming animation processes in the world, but still one of the most fascinating and wonderful.
There is a particular sequence where our human characters fight for their lives against a cyclops and when fit along with the fantastic musical score, the scene is very memorable."The 7th Voyage of Sinbad" is a very well-done, old-fashioned adventure movie that still proves itself to be one of the finest of its genre to date.
The fighting skeletons (from Jason & The Argonauts, this being the same type of thing) are still fun to watch and seems to be the trademark of these Harryhausen mythical films.Kathryn Grant, meanwhile, provides the female beauty.
THE 7th VOYAGE OF SINDBAD is a fantasy adventure film, which is remembered for impressive special effects (stop motion animation) and a pretty good soundtrack.
This is some of Ray Harryhausen's best work and first with classical characters as opposed to futuristic science fiction.Playing Sinbad is Kerwin Matthews who seemed to like doing these films, he was so often cast in them.
When a princess is shrunken by an evil wizard, Sinbad (Kerwin Mathews) must undertake a quest to an island of monsters to cure her and prevent a war.Ray Harryhausen strays a little bit from the monsters and aliens we love him for.
When Sinbad (Kerwin Mathews) refuses to help the sorcerer Sokurah (Torin Thatcher) retrieve his magic lamp from a Cyclops, Sokurah shrinks Sinbad's love Princess Parisa (Kathryn Grant) to the size of a doll.
Now Sinbad has no choice but to journey to Colossa and face the monster to save his lady.Fantasy adventure classic from director Nathan Juran and featuring the awesome stop-motion special effects from legendary Ray Harryhausen.
Kerwin Mathews stars as Sinbad, who is traveling to Bagdad with the princess Parisa(played by Kathryn Scott) when they are forced to land on a remote island for supplies, where they assist a magician(played by Torin Thatcher) who is being attacked by a giant Cyclops.
This is a perfectly fun and adventurous movie to watch, focusing on the adventures of Sinbad.It's of course a movie that mostly distinct itself through its Ray Harryhausen stop-motion effects.
Back in the days before computers made special effects in movies, Ray Harryhausen used highly detailed creature models and laborious stop motion photography to create larger-than-life fantasy monsters.
Among the most memorable sequences in, not just the movie but in stop-motion animation history, is the final sequences of this movie, wherein a dragon and a Cyclops are clashed into battle, a genuine inspiration that pioneered the special-effects we now know today.Ray Harryhausen is a genius, and one way to see how is watching "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad".
If you like this check out Jason and the Argonauts, Clash of the Titans, The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, and The Beast from 20,000 fathoms, and of course the original King Kong (stop motion effects, but willis o'brien not harryhausen).
The fantasy tale of a magic lamp is brilliantly brought to life in this Sinbad film.Despite a Cyclops, a giant pre-historic bird, and several other monsters (brilliantly made by Ray Harryhausen) the man who steals the film is the Arabian magician Sokurah.Can Sinbad save the Princess?Is Sokurah a help or a hinderence to Sinbad finding the ingredients which would save the Princess?This film is first-class in its story-telling a must see for all the family..
"The 7th Voyage of Sinbad", considered to be the best by most, apparently, is a wonderful adventure film filled with excitement, thrills, and spectacular visual effects by Ray Harryhausen.What's notable about this movie is that it's not badly-written at all.
1st watched 10/28/2001 - 6 out of 10(Dir-Nathan Juran): Good B-movie fun with well-done Ray Harryhausen animation effects that were a marvel for it's time and still are a effective combination of live action and animation as long as the subject matter is as cartoon-like as the voyages of Sinbad.
This is a pretty interesting B-movie with a plot and cast of characters similar to Jack the Giant Killer: Kerwin Matthews stars as the hero of this movie, playing Sinbad who is on a quest to rescue Princess Parisa (Kathryn Grant) from evil magician Sokurah (Torin Thatcher).
In the mix is a supporting character appearance by a young genie (Richard Eyer), an important ally to the heroes.The acting was decent and special effects were also decent for its time.Overall, it's a pretty good action/monster-packed B-movie!
As a child I remember being thrilled by Ray Harryhausen's special effects, (the cyclops, the two-headed birds, the dragon, best of all the dueling skeleton, not to mention Torin Thatcher's ability to shrink Kathryn Grant to the size of your small finger).
Released in 1958, "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad" was the first of three Harryhausen Sinbad flicks; the other two being 1973's "The Golden Voyage of Sinbad" and 1977's "Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger." In this first film Sinbad's love interest, Princess Parisa (Kathryn Grant), is shrunk by the magician Sokurah (Torin Thatcher) and Sinbad has to hurriedly muster up a motley crew to voyage to the monster-infested island of Colossa to apprehend an ingredient to restore her.
Ray Harryhausen's marvelously vivid and lifelike stop-motion animation creatures include a ferocious gigantic Cyclops, a vicious two-headed giant bird beast, an angry fire-breathing dragon, an exotic four-armed snake woman, and, best of all, a lethal sword-wielding skeleton who fights Sinbad at the film's incredibly exciting conclusion.
And it tells everything in this moderate runtime with success.This great little film has a great amount of adventure, nice visuals, amazing special effects (awesome for its time, beautiful even now) talented actors, one of the most gorgeous princesses ever and awesome creatures (such as a dragon, a roc and the cyclops).
Basically adventurer Sinbad (Kerwin Mathews) and his crew are travelling to his wedding, but get lost at sea and accidentally find the island of Colossa, and there they rescue Sokurah the magician (Torin Thatcher) from the giant Cyclops.
Also starring Danny Green as Karim, Nana DeHerrera as Sadi and Virgilio Teixeira as Ali. Mathews as the famous sailor does alright, Grant is beautiful if a little corny as the princess, and Thatcher is not bad as the pantomime villain, for me the best thing about the film was of course the brilliant stop-motion animation from Harryhausen, the Cyclops, two- headed bird and warrior skeleton are some of the best creations on screen, and the story is filled with action and magic to keep everyone happy, a great fantasy adventure.
The acting isn't the best & Mathews makes for a somewhat forgettable Sinbad & even Thatcher makes for a bland villain.The 7th Voyage of Sinbad is a classic mythical adventure with wonderful Harryhausen effects & there's also plenty of entertainment to be had between the monsters.
Again cutting edge technology for 1958 and something that had never been seen before.Can you imagine sitting in the theatre in 1958 and watching Kerwin Matthews battle the cyclops - that must have been awesome.Indeed even nearly 50 years later the film still has the ability to scare."Build me a wall between Sinbad and the cyclops" says Sokurah (played here to great effect by Torin Thatcher).
Out of the trilogy of Sinbad movies that feature the stop motion animated effects work of the late great Ray Harryhausen, this is my favourite.
This was the first of the Ray Harryhausen fantasy epics, wonderful films packed with loads of special effects in the form of monsters and weird beasts (JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS and THE GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD combine with this, in my mind, to make a great trilogy - just don't bother with SINBAD AND THE EYE OF THE TIGER, as it doesn't have the same feel to it).