Sinbad of the Seven Seas

Sinbad of the Seven Seas is a 1989 Italian fantasy film produced and directed by Enzo G. Castellari from a story by Luigi Cozzi, revolving around the adventures of Sinbad the Sailor. Sinbad must recover five magical stones to free the city of Basra from the evil spell cast by a wizard, which his journey takes him to mysterious islands and he must battle magical creatures in order to save the world.
==Plot==
The film is narrated by a mother who tells her daughter a bedtime story from a large book: In the city of Basra, the evil vizier Jaffar has clouded the caliph's mind and imprisoned his daughter, Princess Alina in order to marry her. Jaffar has four of the town's five sacred gems sent to dangerous and evil places where they will be carefully guarded by magical forces. Sinbad and his crew arrive at the caliph's palace, only to be captured by the hypnotized soldiers. Jaffar sentences Sinbad's crew to the torture chamber while the mighty sailor is to be locked in a pit full of snakes. Sinbad gets out of the snake pit using some snakes tied together into a rope and later rescues his companions from the torture chamber. As they flee the controlled Basra, Jaffar grants power from evil forces to help him kill Sinbad, this summons an evil cloud over Sinbad's ship and the Legions of Darkness, undead warriors. Together with the help of his friends, Sinbad manages to defeat the undead and the leader.
Sinbad then heads to a mysterious island to seek the help of a wise Oracle, who tells them the location of the four sacred gems of Basra. Then, he sails to an island and finds the gem by himself, he destroys a towering rock monster and retrieves the gem. Jaffar is joined by another ally, Soukra, a sorceress, and they prepare Jaffar's scheming plan. The second gem is on the island of the Amazons, the Amazons hypnotize Sinbad's crew and their leader, Queen Farida takes Sinbad with her. The Bald Cook and Poochie the dwarf save Sinbad, and he retrieves the second gem, the Queen's necklace. Next, Sinbad and his team head to the Isle of the Dead, where they battle Ghost Knights who have risen from the dead to fulfill their destiny. Sinbad goes for the Ghost King while his companions battle the Knights. Jaffar casts Sinbad's ship and his crew in the middle of the sea, leaving the sailor alone on the Isle of the Dead. Jaffar gives life to the Ghost King using his evil powers, and it weakens Sinbad, but he resists and destroys the Ghost King with his own sword and takes the third sacred gem.
Later, Sinbad meets Kira, and her father, Nadir the wizard, two survivors on the Isle of the Dead who came there on a flying balloon. Sinbad agrees to help them get rid of the vicious monsters of the island and is aided by Kira, they encounter a group of ghouls, Sinbad fights them, but they capture Kira. Sinbad rescues Kira, but has to face a terrible monster known as the Lord of Darkness, which is able to fire bolts of energy from its wrists guarding the last sacred gem of Basra, Sinbad defeats the evil creature with the gems he has and retrieves the last one and they, along with Nadir, escape the island on a balloon.
Sinbad meets up with his companions and they go off to face Jaffar, Sinbad's men face off with the soldiers while Sinbad battles Jaffar. The wizard creates an exact Sinbad clone to battle the sailor, but he manages to defeat it. Eventually, Jaffar is captured by Sinbad and Princess Alina is rescued. Peace has been restored to the world with the sacred gems.
==Cast==
===Original actor===
*Lou Ferrigno - Sinbad
*John Steiner - Jaffar
*Roland Wybenga - Prince Alì
*Alessandra Martines - Alina
*Stefania Girolami Goodwin - Kira
*Haruhiko Yamanouchi - Cantu
*Cork Hubbert - Poochie
*Yehuda Efroni - The Bald Cook
*Ennio Girolami - Viking
*Teagan - Soukra
*Leo Gullotta - Nadir
*Donald Hodson - Caliph
*Melonee Rodgers - Queen Farida
*Romano Puppo - Captain Machine
*Armando MacRory - Town Crier
*Ted Rusoff - Torture Chamber Keeper
*Attilio Lo Pinto - Zombie King
*Giada Cozzi - Jane
*Daria Nicolodi - Narrator
===English voice===
;Uncredited
*Richard Epcar - Sinbad
*Wendee Lee - Alina, Narrator's Audience
*Dave Mallow - The Samurai
*Tony Pope - Additional Voices
*Mike Reynolds - Additional Voices
*Michael Sorich - Viking, Captain Machine
*Ellyn Stern - Additional Voices
*David A. Thomas - Additional Voices
==Production==
Sinbad of the Seven Seas claims to be based on Edgar Allan Poe's story "The ThousandasandasSecond Tale of Scheherazade," though no similarity can be found between its plot and the story. It borrows some elements and characters from the 1940 version of The Thief of Bagdad. The film was made with a largely Italian cast and crew. Like most Italian movies, it was filmed on location without sound equipment and all dialogue and sound effects were dubbed later.
Screenwriter Luigi Cozzi was originally going to direct the film back in 1986 but he was replaced at the last minute by the producers with Enzo G. Castellari. Castellari changed Cozzi's script drastically and several million dollars later, wound up submitting three hours of nonasreleasable footage to the producer, who shelved the whole project. In 1989, Cozzi was hired back to try to fix up the picture via reasediting and shooting additional scenes, the producer spending an additional half million dollars finishing it.
==Reception and legacy==
The film's low production values, overastheastop acting, and inept plot have made it a cult favorite among those who enjoy bad cinema for its unintentional humor. Lou Ferrigno has stated during an interview that Sinbad of the Seven Seas was one of his favourite films he made.
The film is listed in Golden Raspberry Award founder John Wilson's book The Official Razzie Movie Guide as one of The 100 Most Enjoyably Bad Movies Ever Made.
==References==
==External links==
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Category:Italian films
Category:1989 films
Category:1980s fantasy adventure films
Category:1980s action adventure films
Category:1980s fantasy action films
Category:Italian fantasy adventure films
Category:Italian action adventure films
Category:Italian-language films
Category:English-language Italian films
Category:English-language films
Category:Treasure hunt films
Category:Films directed by Enzo G. Castellari
Category:Films based on Sinbad the Sailor
Category:Golan-Globus films
Category:Sword and sandal
Category:Peplum films
Category:Sword and sandal films
Category:Films set in Iraq
Category:Films produced by Menahem Golan
Category:Films produced by Yoram Globus