The Golden Voyage of Sinbad starts on the open sea as Captain Sinbad (John Phillip Law) & his crew spot a strange flying creature known as Homunculus, after firing an arrow at it the Homunculus drops part of a golden amulet which Sinbad takes. That night Sinbad has visions & dreams that lead him to an island where the evil sorcerer & dark Prince Koura (Tom Baker) tries to reclaim the part amulet but Sinbad escapes to a nearby city ruled by Vizier (Douglas Wilmer) who has been horribly disfigured by a fireball from prince Koura, the section of amulet is part of a map which leads to the land of Lemuria where a magical fountain of youth can be found, Koura wants to find the fountain & gain immense evil powers while Vizier wants to reach the fountain to regain his human looks & rule his people as a proper King. Sinbad agrees to lead the expedition to find the fountain but Koura & his evil magic is never far behind as he attempts to overcome all sorts of dangers...
This British American co-production was directed by Gordon Hessler & was the second of three Sinbad films produced by Charles H. Schneer & legendary special effects man Ray Harryhausen for Columbia Pictures, the first was the magnificent The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958) & the third & final one after The Golden Voyage of Sinbad was the equally magnificent Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977) & while all three are great fantasy adventure films The Golden Voyage of Sinbad is probably my least favourite although not a bad film by any means. Full of adventure, monsters, swashbuckling sword fights, daring escapes in the nick of time, magic & a journey to mystical lands the Sinbad films are just great to watch, even now today in 2010. However The Golden Voyage of Sinbad does take a while to get going, it's rather slow at times & the lack of monsters surprised me a bit, for the first forty odd minutes we get a few scenes of a little creature flying around & that's it. Even when the film kicks into gear only the wonderful fight between Sinbad & the six armed statue of Kali has any real spectacle to it, sure the Cyclops Centaur creature & Griffin fight is alright but not up there with Harryhausen's best. The script is a bit wooden at times, the dialogue is basic, there's little characterisation & the plot seems to take care of itself. At 100 odd minutes The Golden Voyage of Sinbad feels quite long which it really shouldn't. This is still great entertainment & I did like it but the basic plot & slow pace meant my interest did start to waver at a few points.
The stand-out parts of The Golden Voyage of Sinbad are the generally superb effects from Ray Harryhausen, from the detailed little Homunculus from medieval alchemy, the Cyclops Centaur & Griffrin from Greek mythology & Kali from Hinduism complete with a cool little dance she does. There's also a living figurehead of a ship in a another scene. All the effects are very good from the stop-motion animation to the matte work to the way the models interact with the actor's, this is certainly a very impressive film to look at. The whole Arabian culture is used as a backdrop & some of the costumes look a little garish now, would hardened sailors really wear bright pink, green & blue clothes? The locations look nice too I suppose & the sets are pretty good.
With a supposed budget of about $1,000,000 it looks like the majority of the money went of effects & they are impressive, although a little clean & bright the production design is great too. Apparently shot in Spain but funded by British & American money. The cast is good with John Phillip Law as Sinbad, Caroline Munro as the love interest, Tom Baker as the villain & Martin Shaw as his sidekick.
The Golden Voyage of Sinbad is a classic fantasy adventure that was maybe a little too slow for my tastes & the lack of any really memorable monster action (desoite how good the effects are) means it's my least favourite of the three Harryhausen produced Sinbad films but that in itself doesn't mean it's not a great little fantasy adventure in it's own right since it is.
This British American co-production was directed by Gordon Hessler & was the second of three Sinbad films produced by Charles H. Schneer & legendary special effects man Ray Harryhausen for Columbia Pictures, the first was the magnificent The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958) & the third & final one after The Golden Voyage of Sinbad was the equally magnificent Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977) & while all three are great fantasy adventure films The Golden Voyage of Sinbad is probably my least favourite although not a bad film by any means. Full of adventure, monsters, swashbuckling sword fights, daring escapes in the nick of time, magic & a journey to mystical lands the Sinbad films are just great to watch, even now today in 2010. However The Golden Voyage of Sinbad does take a while to get going, it's rather slow at times & the lack of monsters surprised me a bit, for the first forty odd minutes we get a few scenes of a little creature flying around & that's it. Even when the film kicks into gear only the wonderful fight between Sinbad & the six armed statue of Kali has any real spectacle to it, sure the Cyclops Centaur creature & Griffin fight is alright but not up there with Harryhausen's best. The script is a bit wooden at times, the dialogue is basic, there's little characterisation & the plot seems to take care of itself. At 100 odd minutes The Golden Voyage of Sinbad feels quite long which it really shouldn't. This is still great entertainment & I did like it but the basic plot & slow pace meant my interest did start to waver at a few points.
The stand-out parts of The Golden Voyage of Sinbad are the generally superb effects from Ray Harryhausen, from the detailed little Homunculus from medieval alchemy, the Cyclops Centaur & Griffrin from Greek mythology & Kali from Hinduism complete with a cool little dance she does. There's also a living figurehead of a ship in a another scene. All the effects are very good from the stop-motion animation to the matte work to the way the models interact with the actor's, this is certainly a very impressive film to look at. The whole Arabian culture is used as a backdrop & some of the costumes look a little garish now, would hardened sailors really wear bright pink, green & blue clothes? The locations look nice too I suppose & the sets are pretty good.
With a supposed budget of about $1,000,000 it looks like the majority of the money went of effects & they are impressive, although a little clean & bright the production design is great too. Apparently shot in Spain but funded by British & American money. The cast is good with John Phillip Law as Sinbad, Caroline Munro as the love interest, Tom Baker as the villain & Martin Shaw as his sidekick.
The Golden Voyage of Sinbad is a classic fantasy adventure that was maybe a little too slow for my tastes & the lack of any really memorable monster action (desoite how good the effects are) means it's my least favourite of the three Harryhausen produced Sinbad films but that in itself doesn't mean it's not a great little fantasy adventure in it's own right since it is.