Le voyage fantastique de Sinbad

Ignore pointless comparisons about how it pales in comparison to Lord of the Rings. This isn't Lord of the Rings, nor is it Citizen Kane. Why some fools insist that every movie must be measured by the yardstick of their own personal favorite I will never understand.

If you're so spoiled by state-of-the-art computer graphics where each creature has an entire team of people working on it, and can't appreciate the human creativity and craftsmanship of great stop-motion animation, don't waste your time on this movie, go watch the latest Pixar release.

Harryhausen's work is remarkable not because it's the most realistic animation ever, but because he was able to achieve remarkable things with sculpture and movement on a budget comparable to today's 30 second ad spots.

Tom Baker steals the movie. He's terrific as the evil sorcerer, villainous but with enough humanity to his character to make him at least somewhat sympathetic.

The pic talks about the hero Sinbad and his extraordinary and surprising adventures . Loose retelling of the ¨ 1001 Arabian nights¨ , based on ancient legends , deals with Sinbad The Sailor (John Philip Law) who travels until an island to discover a fountain of fantastic power with the aim to heal a Vizier (Douglas Wilmer) . Simbad sets off in search of the fountain and aboard a ship along with a motley crew (constituted by an enticing Caroline Munro , Martin Shaw , Aldo Sambrell and Kurt Christian) . They will have to face off several dangers : Homunculos , ominous monsters , giant animals and villains (Tom Baker and henchmen) .

In the movie there are mythology , emotions , adventures , fantasy , swashbuckling and it's pretty bemusing . It is an exciting fantasy-adventure full of special effects created by means of stop-motion technique by the magician Ray Harryhausen . The runtime is adequate with various incidents and sub-plots . Harryhausen works his animation magic around a well-developed screenplay and engaging acting by the entire performers . Ray can once again claim credit for the unusual and marvelous mythical creatures springing to life . The confrontation amongst the protagonist and enemies along with monsters is mesmerizing and fascinating : impressive duel between ¨Goddess Kali¨ with amount of arms and Sinbad , great monsters as the centaur and the breathtaking scale models are made by the Dynamation system , by means of stop-motion . The motion picture is the best from ¨Sinbad trilogy¨ : ¨The 7th voyage of Simbad (directed Nathan Juran with Kerwin Matthews and Kathryn Grant)¨ and ¨Simbad and the eye of tiger¨ (directed Sam Wanamaker with Patrick Wayne and Jane Seymour)¨ . The film obtained much success and achieved enough Box Office . Good production by Charles H. Scheneer habitual of Harryhausen's films . Cinematography by Ted Moore is colorful , brilliant and shining and classic music composer Miklos Rozsa creates a magnificent and astounding score . The motion picture is rightly directed by Gordon Hessler . The yarn will appeal to fantasy and fancy imagination movies buffs . Rating : Above average . Well catching .

Other pictures about the great hero Simbad are the following : ¨Sinbad the sailor¨ (1947) with Douglas Fairbanks Jr , Maureen O'Hara and Anthony Quinn ; ¨Sinbad of the seven seas¨ by Enzo G Castellari with Lou Ferrigno and John Steiner and the cartoon movie ¨Simbad the legend of seven seas¨ (2003) produced by Dreamworks , a combo of computer generator and hand-drawn animation by Patrick Gilmore and Tim Johnson with voices from Brad Pitt and Catherine Zeta Jones .

Made 14 years after The 7th Voyage Of Sinbad, this follow up is ,unsurprisingly, not as good, but that WAS a ground breaking classic. Perhaps sensing that they could not top the first film, the filmmakers give this movie a slightly different feel. If 7th Voyage was full of colour and size, Golden Voyage is somewhat darker and less spectacular. Most of the action occurs at night or in caves, while none of the creatures are especially large. This makes Golden Voyage slightly less of a delightful romp, but it's certainly not just a rehash. There is a strong sense of the uncanny to some scenes,such as the villain's resurrection of the tiny humunculus, or the coming to life of the ship's figurehead.

The pace is possibly a little two leisurely, but the action is still terrific, the showstopper being Sinbad and his men battling the 6 armed statue of the Indian goddess Kali, a masterpiece of effects and editing. Tom Baker is the most sinister of all Harryhausen's villains, and Miklos Rozsa's wonderfully rich and grand score never fails to provide excellent backing. It's very different from Bernard Herrmann's classic Harryhausen scores, but as effective.

Despite their flaws, there is a wonderful innocence to these Harryhausen films. A modern version would be filled to the brim with CGI, hyperactive editing, 'clever' laughs that show that no one is bothering to take any of this seriously ,etc....... Is that really an improvement?

Contrary to a previous viewer's opinion, The Golden Voyage of Sinbad is a wonderful, exciting film. The plot is a bit complex as a malevolent sorcerer races with Sinbad against time to secure a missing piece of an amulet that will insure the holder of powers beyond imagination. John Phillip Law is a pretty decent Sinbad, and the rest of the cast is quite adequate with Caroline Munro busting out of her outfit as both a figurative and literal standout and Tom Baker is very good as the evil magician. The real star once again, however, is Ray Harryhausen. His stop-motion creations are all very good. This time round we get a gargoyle-like homonculus, a wooden siren, a griffin, a centaur, and the image of six-armed Kali. The action sequences are riveting and the pace of the film is nice and brisk. Very entertaining!

'Golden Voyage' is much better than the later 'Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger' and equal to the earlier 'Seventh Voyage of Sinbad'.

The Harryhausen creatures are impressive. Stop motion animation does give solidity to the image, more so than the usual CGI effect. There are some fine ones here including a one eyed centaur, a homunculus, a griffin, a six armed statue, a ship's wooden figurehead. The story is standard but the effects, the locations and the plot weave together well. There is also a dry humour in the dialogue which is entertaining. Scenes like the sword fight with the six armed statute (with six swords!) or the final confrontation at the fountain of wisdom (or something like that) are exciting. The great Miklos Rosza's music adds considerably to the atmosphere.

John Philip Law is OK as Sinbad and does attempt an Arabian accent unlike the usual English one, but the role isn't Shakespearean and he does well enough. Caroline Munro looks splendid in her costume, low cut almost everywhere. The rest of the cast support well.

Tom Baker is excellent as the villain Koura. He makes him sympathetic; what drives him is common to all people. He just uses different means to gain his ends. He dominates the scenes he is in and it is a pity that more big screen roles never came his way. He was the best 'Doctor Who' in the BBC series, in my opinion of course.

A good fantasy romp to appeal to the adventurer in all of us. Did I mention Caroline Munro's costume? Oh, I did.