THE GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD is an enjoyable fantasy with lavish looking sets, colorful costumes and a plot that takes advantage of the odd looking creatures Sinbad must fight to achieve whatever goals he has.
John Phillip Law makes a dashing Sinbad, Caroline Munro is the briefly clad heroine and Tom Baker makes a menacing enough villain who often steals the scenes he's in. But the real scene-stealer in this case are Ray Harryhausen's special effects creatures, particularly the six-armed statue that comes to life. All of the stop animation is amazingly well done for the time.
Only drawbacks are the lack of humor to keep the story moving with a lighter touch here and there. The music by Miklos Rozsa is fitting and the color photography is gorgeous to behold in the outdoor scenes. Many of the indoor scenes take place in dark caves which only emphasizes the dark nature of much of the story. But as with "Harry Potter," kids seem to love dismal darkness as well as the brighter aspects for their fantasies. Here there's a mixture of both.
Well worth watching for escapist fantasy entertainment.
John Phillip Law makes a dashing Sinbad, Caroline Munro is the briefly clad heroine and Tom Baker makes a menacing enough villain who often steals the scenes he's in. But the real scene-stealer in this case are Ray Harryhausen's special effects creatures, particularly the six-armed statue that comes to life. All of the stop animation is amazingly well done for the time.
Only drawbacks are the lack of humor to keep the story moving with a lighter touch here and there. The music by Miklos Rozsa is fitting and the color photography is gorgeous to behold in the outdoor scenes. Many of the indoor scenes take place in dark caves which only emphasizes the dark nature of much of the story. But as with "Harry Potter," kids seem to love dismal darkness as well as the brighter aspects for their fantasies. Here there's a mixture of both.
Well worth watching for escapist fantasy entertainment.