The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958)

Please don't spend money on this.

Charming and brutal

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

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. In the form of an exotic cavalcade of mythological creatures, which are to be found on the shores and in the caves on the mysterious Island of Colossa. 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. The films plot, not surprisingly, revolves around Sinbad having to save the princess, but there's a unique twist to that part of it, which makes this movie that much more unique. 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. Unfortunately that's something that's consistent with ALL of the Harryhausen films - they never could afford A-list acting talent. 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. Maestro Herrmann was at the height of his career in 1958 and near the peak of his creative powers and his score for The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, ranging from the exotic - to the bombastic, has long been among his best and most popular works (I myself own 3 different recordings of it). Supposedly Harryhausen's producer Charles Schneer, pursued the characteristically cantankerous composer for six whole months, in an epic campaign which eventually coaxed the hesitant Herrmann aboard the production. If that's really true then I certainly applaud his efforts. Harryhausen would eventually go on to make two more Sinbad films in the 1970's, but neither of them seem to "have it" like this movie does; in fact the last film pretty much sucks and was a lame and sour note to end his Sinbad trilogy with. 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. Not to forget the striking "Herrmann-esque" musical aspect, which imbues virtually ever minute of the movie."Herrmann-esque" a little more on that note. This film also proved to be the starting point for Bernard Herrmann's other significant long-term collaboration, a creatively fruitful partnership that always brought out the best in the brilliant, but temperamental composer. This partnership would last from 1958 to 1964, in that time the esteemed trio of Herrmann, Harryhausen and Schneer would collaborate on several occasions and produced a string of several well received fantasy films. They are in order: The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958), The Three World's of Gulliver (1960), Mysterious Island (1961) and lastly 1963's Jason and the Argonauts, which in my opinion is Herrmann's career best - his magnum opus. After the creative high-point of Jason and the Argonauts, the relationship between Herrmann and Harryhausen's long-time producer Charles Schneer, had deteriorated beyond repair, largely due to Schneer's penny-pinching way's, in regards to how the recording sessions were arranged. Which frustrated Herrmann as he thought that Schneer's stinginess undermined his ability to create the type of music that the films demanded. Things ended acrimoniously in 1964 - after Herrmann, ever so subtly, doubled his fee, which by doing so, priced himself out of their league, effectively ending a most remarkable partnership.Lastly, what's unique about this particular chapter of the Sinbad saga, is that fact that it's the first Sinbad film, to actually bring those storied and mythical beasts to the screen. It wasn't UNTIL this Ray Harryhausen classic came to be, that these fantastical beasts were actually seen; before that merely mentioning them in passing would, lamely, have to suffice. The 7th Voyage of Sinbad changed all that - for the better.

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). To me, it seems like a pretty influential film, especially on the Italian industry who went on and inserted loads of mythological monsters into their peplum films in the early '60s.Once the plot gets started, the pacing is fast and the film is packed with loads of different special effects, some good, some not so good. Back projection is used quite extensively and in a realistic way. Once the princess is shrunk down to miniature size they use the old mixture of gigantic sets and back projection to create the illusion, and it works. The only effect to the film's detriment is, I feel, the magic lamp. The scenes of the annoying boy-genie emerging from the lamp were probably done as best they could be but I still think they look pretty awful. Kerwin Matthews is the square-jawed hero, and has the correct attributes (fitness and charisma) for a leading man in this type of film. Playing the bad, bald magician is Torin Thatcher, who does so well in the role that he was brought back as the villain in JACK THE GIANT KILLER (another great film which incidentally re-teamed him with Mattews). Kathryn Grant I found to be quite an unattractive love interest, and Richard Eyer, as the boy genie, is just plain irritating.Elsewhere, we have plenty of great locations, colourful cinematography, and a wonderful stirring score from Bernard Herrman which helps to draw out the magical and fantastic feel of the film. As is always the case with Harryhausen, his special effects are the best thing in the film, and they do not disappoint here at all. The first to pop up is a "snake woman", a very exotic looking creation. Then we have one of his cyclops monsters, which often pop up in films such as this and always provide a great menace. Also appearing are a huge green fire-breathing dragon, a two-headed giant bird and, for the piéce de resistance, a sword-wielding skeleton who fights with Sinbad. This skeleton is excellently animated and looks like a dry-run for the finale of JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS. The film is packed with action and many battle scenes. Mutinies are attempted, monsters fight with other monsters, humans battle monsters, and a whole load of the cast get crushed, burnt or slashed to death along the way. All of the action sequences are exciting to watch, even if some of the punches are thrown a little too wide for my liking. THE 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD is a wonderful fantasy adventure from the golden age of cinema, and a real delight for children and adults alike.

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. Meanwhile Sokurah is obsessed with a magic lamp and the powers of the boy genie inside.Sinbad adventures play like a Middle Eastern version of Conan the Barbarian, albeit with a slightly funner edge and a less dour protagonist. So, if you love Conan you'll likely appreciate all three of these Sinbad films. And even though I describe these movies as having a fun edge, they're not goofy. They're serious sword & sorcery movies; the protagonists just exude the joy and vitality of living.The items I demand in a Sinbad adventure are obvious: A good casting choice for Sinbad, a great adventure story & locations, a colorful assortment of likable characters & love-to-hate villains, beautiful women, and quality F/X work (for the era). "The 7th Voyage" delivers in most of these areas with the exception that Kerwin Mathews, while certainly a heroic protagonist, is simply too whitebread to pull off the Arabic role. Both John Phillip Law and, especially, Patrick Wayne fit the role better in the sequels. Kathryn Grant is winsome and lovely, but she too is way too European for the role.The Spanish locations are excellent, the score is great and the F/X work is entertaining in a nostalgic way, but there are some blatant plot holes if you think too deeply. For instance, how could miniature Parisa possibly move that piece of wood that would be the size of a huge tree trunk to you or me? Since the chained dragon breathes fire why doesn't it just scorch the protagonists as they carefully walk past? Etc.Still, this is a worthwhile blast from the past. All three Sinbad movies are very different since each has a different person in the title role, not to mention the rest of the characters. I marginally prefer "The Golden Voyage" to this one, but "Eye of the Tiger" is my favorite because it has the best cast, story and sense of a long voyage/quest. But each has their strengths and weaknesses. For instance, the production values of "Golden Voyage" seem cheap at times while the runtime of "Eye of the Tiger" seems a bit padded.The movie runs 88 minutes and was shot in Spain.GRADE: B-

Of course this film is "dumb and dated." It was made in 1958, for crying out loud. Hence the title of my post.I saw this when I was in school and for the time, it was riveting. I grew up reading Andersen, the Grimm Brothers, and 1001 Nights (the kiddie version, you understand), so films like this one were catnip to me.This is not for young people used to Jurassic Park, Star Wars, and computer games. And I understand that.But if you were a kid way back in the *cough* 20th century, you might enjoy this, if only for nostalgic reasons. I had the chance to see this again on TV, a couple of days ago, and I enjoyed it quite a lot. Dated dumbness and all.