Tetrady not as good as all the hype
Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
Stephanie There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes
Kingkitsch 1958's Harryhausen classic "7th Voyage of Sinbad" had it all: lush Technicolor, a thunderous score by the brilliant Bernard Herrmann, a decent story with convincing performances (especially Kerwin Mathews as Sinbad), and the greatest of all Harryhausen's stop-motion effects. It wowed audiences and became one of 1958's top grossing movies.Years later, Harryhausen would again attempt two other Sinbad adventures, competing against the increasingly technologically suave special effects of the day. "The Golden Voyage of Sinbad" appeared in 1973, campy enough to get the attention of post-stoners who grew up watching the classic Harryhausen films on TV. "Golden Voyage" isn't great, but it's watchable. John Philip Law was a serviceable Sinbad (with the exception of the line "Trust in Allah, but tie up your camel"), the rest of the cast is forgotten now and the only thing that remains are Harryhausen's effects. By 1973, stop-motion was becoming a thing of the past. Although "Golden" contains one of Harryhausen's very best efforts, the fight with the multi-armed Kali, "Golden" was marred by the terrible film quality of the time and a weak, unmemorable score which did nothing to propel the film. Since all Ray's "creature" films contain a battle between two mystical beasts, the climatic fight is between a griffin and a centaur. Both creatures look, well, ratty and slightly drunk. The feathers and fur consistently warp, looking like shag carpeting draped over figures borrowed from "Gumby". All the fluidity shown in the Cyclops sequences for "7th Voyage" are missing. For someone who had looked forward to a new Sinbad adventure since 1958, this second movie failed to deliver.Poor Harryhausen. His amazing work was nearly killed in 1977 when he released "S. and the Eye of the Tiger". From the first moments the film unspools, the low quality of the production is evident. The "ghouls" that appear behind the lousy 70s titles are bad versions of his insect-men from "First Men in the Moon". All the actors involved just wander around looking for a paycheck. "Famous" actors with more famous parents perform in what seems to be drug-fueled stupors. Both Patrick Wayne (son of John Wayne) and Taryn Power (daughter of Tyrone Power) just sort of stand around and watch all the weirdness unfold. Only Margaret Whiting, as Zenobia, the seagull-footed witch gives any energy. Her performance is all scenery chewing, but after Wayne and Power, anything looked better. As to the creatures, only the witch's robotic golden bull-man, the Minotaun, has the charm we want from Harryhausen. Unfortunately, this wonderful creature is destroyed without given anything great to do by dropping a large rock on itself. The expected battle between the titular "tiger" and a troglodyte is weak, jerky, and without any tension.The saber-tooth tiger actually looks like a stuffed toy jumping around. Sadly, Harryhausen would only release one more feature film, "Clash of the Titans" some years later. "Titans' has one worthwhile sequence, the battle with Medusa. That's it. The great auteur and craftsman behind so many memorable moments in a darkened theater was finally eclipsed by technology and the lack of great direction and musical . "Eye of the Tiger", is a sad coda to a great career, which ended in "Titans". Harryhausen should never have given in to his lust for Greek mythology when his vision for the unknown and exotic were his true talents.Unless you are a Harryhausen completest, it's safe to by both "Tiger" and "Golden". With only a few notable sequences,they're not worth wasting your time on.
AaronCapenBanner Sam Wanamaker directed this third Sinbad adventure with Ray Harryhausen's F/X on display, and this time they aren't enough. Patrick Wayne takes over the role from John Philip Law, and isn't as good(why JPL didn't return I don't know) Jane Seymour and Taryn Power are the female leads(no mention of Caroline Munro either!) Plot involves the quest to restore a young prince to his rightful throne(despite being turned into a chimp) with an evil witch and her son plotting to usurp it themselves. Past "Doctor Who" actor Patrick Troughton costars as a wise old man, but his performance does rise above the poorly written character. Whole film feels both tired and redundant, lost in the wake of "Star Wars"...
ma-cortes Loose retelling of the ¨ 1001 Arabian nights¨ , based on ancient legends , deals with Sinbad The Sailor (Patrick Wayne) sails to deliver a cursed prince Kassin (Damien Thomas) to a dangerous island in the face of deadly opposition from a powerful witch (Margaret Whiting) . In the mysterious land Hyperboria Sinbad along with a sorcerer (Patrick Troughton) and his crew encounter magical and mystical creatures .This exciting picture contains swashbuckling , magic , fast-moving plot , thrills , impressive fights among monsters and lots of fun . 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 able-developed screenplay and engaging acting by the entire performers . The cast is enjoyable with sons of famous actors as Patrick Wayne and Taryn Power and a gorgeous and very young Jane Seymour . Agreeable film but hamhanded and confusing if you seek the hidden plot . Ray can once again claim credit for the unusual and marvelous mythical creatures springing to life , such as Smilodon , Troglodite , Mandril , an enormous mosquito , a giant Morse and many others . The picture belongs a trilogy , produced by Ray Harryhausen and Charles H. Schneer , along with ¨The seventh voyage of Simbad¨ (1958) by Nathan Juran with Kerwin Matthews and Kathryn Grant and ¨Golden voyage of Simbad¨ (1973) by Gordon Hessler with John Philip Law , Tom Baker and Caroline Munro . Great and rousing musical score by Roy Budd . Colorful cinematography by Ted Moore , filmed in Jordan (Petra) and Spain . Rating : Acceptable and able . The motion picture was professionally directed by the usual actor Sam Wanamaker . Don't watch this one for the screenplay , which almost doesn't exist , otherwise , mildly fun .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.
retrorocketx "Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger" is not as good as the other two Ray Harryhausen Sinbad movies. There are too many instances where events could play out really cool, yet they invariably fizzle. Given that this is the third installment of Sinbad by the same creative team, I expected more. The plot seems to wear out halfway through the movie, and important scenes are poorly executed. But can any movie featuring Ray Harryhausen's creatures and sexy Jane Seymour ever be truly bad? Of course not! I'm just frustrated that this movie missed being great, because it easily could have been. The storyline of the movie is acceptable, and some of it is directly lifted from an 1001 Nights story, which is a plus. A prince is cursed into baboon shape by a witch so a challenger for the throne (the witch's son) can take over the kingdom. The shapeshift will become permanent after a while. The sister of the prince hires Sinbad to sail to a foreign land to find a wizard to break the curse. The witch and her son pursue Sinbad to prevent the reversal of the shapeshift. At the end of the movie, the competitors end up at the north pole in the temple of a lost civilization, the last hope to cure the prince.Much of the plot follows standard elements found in the three Harryhausen Sinbad movies such as a race to a lost land and a shapeshifted/disfigured royal person. But that is okay. What does not work is that there are too many characters just tagging along with little to do. Sinbad is one of the characters left hanging, which is not a good sign for a movie with Sinbad in the title. Once Sinbad states (early in the film) that he cannot remove the curse but he knows someone who can, Sinbad exits center stage and the wizard becomes the driver of the plot. Jane Seymore visually dominates any scene she is in with her sexy princess outfit, but does little else. The witch's son and the wizards daughter must have some dramatic story potential, I'll figure out what it is some day, maybe.Basically, the heart and soul of the movie comes down to a duel between the wizard and the witch, as both ships race for the north pole. The witch (Margaret Whiting) is outrageous and bizarre, and has plenty of stop-motion creature sorcery at her disposal. The wizard (Patrick Troughton) has obscure knowledge and is wonderfully nutty. But this duel is hardly a battle of wits. Their antics actually make the movie kind of funny, not necessarily on purpose, but since they are the main focus for drama the whole tone of movie feels uncertain. The writers do not seem to grasp the central importance of these two characters, and the plot devolves into random encounters and padded scenes. It would have been great to have an ongoing duel of sorcery (and dynamation creatures) throughout the race to the pole, but this opportunity was missed. As always, the dynamation monsters are entertaining, but perhaps not as effectively presented in the dramatic parts of the story as they could have been. The minotaur is totally cool, but almost pointless; the walrus is totally pointless; the skeletons are okay but without any sense of why the witch could summon them (and then only once); the troglodyte looks great but is almost pointless; and the saber-toothed tiger and troglodyte fight (two dynamation creatures fighting at the climax is another staple feature in these Sinbad movies) is an awkward disappointment. The baboon is by far the best creature in the film. Harryhausen always manages to evoke personality from his creations, and the baboon-prince is one of his very best in of expression, emotion and presence. However, too much screen time is spent with this creature and the baboon ultimately adds drag to the film.In spite of my frustrations with the film, I've watched it several times and will undoubtedly watch it several more. There is something charming about a Ray Harryhausen movie, even one that misses the mark.
