Sinbad e l'occhio della tigre

I don't get why so many people pan this 1977 Sinbad adventure film, the third in a trilogy featuring Ray Harryhausen's special effects creations. The previous installments are 1958's "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad" and 1973's "The Golden Voyage of Sinbad."

THE PLOT: Princess Farah's (Jane Seymour) brother, who's about to be crowned Caliph of the kingdom, is turned into a baboon by the envious sorceress Zenobia (Margaret Whiting) who wants her son to be Caliph instead (Kurt Christian). Sinbad (Patrick Wayne) escorts Farah and her baboon brother on a grand adventure to restore his humanity before Zenobia's son is crowned. The long quest includes meeting the wizard Melanthius (Patrick Troughton) and his beautiful daughter Dione (Taryn Power). They travel to arctic regions and along the way are exposed to all kinds of fantastical creatures and supernatural experiences.

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 Sinbad films. And even though I describe it as having a fun edge, don't think "Eye of the Tiger" is goofy. It's not. This is a serious Sinbad adventure, but the protagonists 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. "Eye of the Tiger" delivers in all these areas: Patrick Wayne is superb as the titular hero and IMO the best of the three actors who played the character in the trilogy (the others being Kerwin Mathews and John Phillip Law). I don't see why so many criticize him as "wooden" or somehow sub-par. He's perfect for the role and I'm bewildered as to why he didn't have a more stellar career. I know this is blasphemy to some, but I prefer him to his famous father. He's in the same masculine league as Charleton Heston and Burt Reynolds.

The story is everything you'd want in a Sinbad yarn -- grand adventure on the high seas with intermittent supernatural elements. The locations are fabulous -- Jordan, Petra (Melanthius's lair), Malta and Spain. There's even an arctic sequence with snowy locations and fairly convincing studio sets.

The characters are indeed colorful and well-cast. Whiting puts her heart & soul into her role as the witch with a capital "B" and Troughton is charismatic as the likable old magician.

As for women, this is one of the highlights of the film as the young brunette Jane Seymour and blond Taryn Power (Tyrone's daughter) are breathtaking to behold in every scene they appear. The film's worth watching just for Jane & Taryn. As for Harryhausen's effects, they're pretty much the same as his work in his other films, e.g. "Clash of the Titans," "Jason and the Argonauts" and "Mysterious Island." It just comes down to whether or not you like the creature(s) in question. Nothing here is as good as his Medusa and skeleton gang in other films IMHO, but it's a matter of preference. I personally don't find the saber-tooth tiger very impressive, but who can deny the greatness of the troglodyte as a sympathetic animated character? Anyway, the F/X sequences are just icing on the cake as far as I'm concerned. They don't make or break the film. The story, characters and locations are what really matter.

FINAL ANALYSIS: Don't listen to the critics! This is a very entertaining Sinbad adventure on all counts. It's main flaw is that it's too long for it's own good. Regardless, I have a good time whenever I see it and prefer it to the previous two films. Patrick Wayne is a great Sinbad, the story captures your attention, the locations are fabulous, and Jane Seymour & Taryn Power are delectable. It's at least on par with "The Golden Voyage," although I give "Eye" the edge.

The film runs 113 minutes.

GRADE: B

This is a good, mild, entertaining family-oriented fantasy movie. SFX by Harryhausen are good era & genre-wise. However this movie is not quite a pure SFX extravaganza, but belongs better to a fairy tale, say Krull or else. You get many conventional subplots: * good prince is turned into a baboon while his evil stepmother wants to see her own son becoming Calif. * belle princess in love with the brave sailor Sinbad. * a secret hermit from a mysterious island. * mummies out of hell, giant tigers, a robot minotaur. * only six moons to counter the spell. * a trip through the north pole. etc etc. A nice movie, very easily watchable.

I haven't seen many Sinbad movies, but this one I liked very much. I remember seeing the preview when I was younger. And I said to myself, "This movie looks like fun!" The animation in the movie gave it plenty of character. And Sinbad(Patrick Wayne) was a fine man as well. The witch(Margaret Whiting) was a very fiendish woman. She makes all other witches look like amateurs, especially when she used her sorcery. Her only flaw is when her re-transformation from a bird didn't complete itself. It's when her right foot is still a bird's. The growth formula was something when one of the bees drank it. and was later killed by Sinbad. Jane Seymour does a great job playing Princess Farah. She really knows how to control, and tame things that Sinbad couldn't do. The giant walrus, the golden minotaur, and a the vicious saber-tooth tiger gives the movie something to see. I think this movie is very watchable, and very entertaining. I wished it had gotten better reviews than it did. 3 out of 5 stars!

Enjoyed seeing this film after first viewing this film in 1977 and was spellbound and enjoyed the great acting of Patrick Wayne,(Sinbad) who manages to accomplish his task against the forces of Evil vs. Good. Taryn Power, (Diane) was very beautiful in her supporting role along with Margaret Whiting, (Zednobia). Sinbad has to face the evil powers of a wicked witch who uses all her powers to prevent Sinbad from carrying out his mission. It was nice to see Jan Seymour, (Princess Farah) who was very young and just starting out on a great career on the Silver Screen. In 1974 I really enjoyed that Sinbad film and this was even better when I first viewed this in 1977, it brought back fond memories, however, I love the films today and all the great graphics. This was just a look back at movies we thought were outstanding. They STILL ARE!

Okay, so the film isn't a masterpiece for anyone involved, but the DVD is worth the price for Harryhausen fans. I won't reiterate a fairly lame plot but to say that a prince is morphed into a baboon and Sinbad must find a way to correct this untimely development in order to repay a friend and win the hand of the lovely Jane Seymour. All in all, the film turns out to be rather entertaining once Patrick Troughton makes it on-screen to flesh-out the dialogue. Overshadowing the movie's multiple shortcomings, however, is the always inspiring stop-motion work of Ray Harryhausen. The Trog and sabre-tooth are two fine creations and while we don't see anything on par with the 7 skeletons in "Jason & the Argonauts" or Medusa from "Clash of the Titans" there are some great moments with other creatures. While to be treasured as one of Harryhausen's last films the DVD also includes the added bonus of "The Ray Harryhausen Chronicles", an in-depth documentary narrated by Leonard Nimoy featuring a bio and interviews with today's FX masters. This and other features combine to make an otherwise average fantasy/adventure film worth a look--if you're a Harryhausen fan and you've got a DVD player. For all the extra features, I'll give the DVD a 6/10.