Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger [VHS]

Since I saw Jason and the Argonaughts when I was seven I was completely drawn in by the Ray Harryhausen movies. Although the monsters don't look as real as the ones in Jurassic Park and Aliens they are more like fairy tale monsters and fairy tales aren't true! When I got to see this movie on TV there was even more special effects in which was even better! The story is about Sinbad the Sailor who is going to ask Prince Kassim for his sisters hand in Marridge but Kassim has been turned into a Baboon by his evil step mother Zenobia. To break the spell Sinbad must find Malanthials the wise man who knows how to cure Kassim on thier way they encounter a Bronze Minaton, Army of Fleshless Ghouls, A Sabre Tooth Tiger and a friendly Trogledite called Trog.

FIVE STARS!

I have been waiting for quite a while for this film to emerge on DVD. The wait has of course, been worth every second.

'Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger' is the third film to feature the intripid Captain Sinbad and co-starring a whole host of fantastically lifelike monsters, bought to life by Ray Harryhausen, who is of course the King of stop motion animation!

If you have already watched through 'The 7th Voyage of Sinbad', 'Jason and the Argonauts' or 'The Golden Voyage of Sinbad', (which are also fantastic films), then you'll know, more or less, what to expect. If you haven't, then trust me, you're missing out, but here's roughly what to expect from 'Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger'. You can expect, good, evil, magic, adventure, monsters and another princess.

Captain Sinbad (played by Patrick Wayne), having apparently decided that neither the princess from his Seventh Voyage, or the slave girl from his Golden Voyage, were good enough for him, is now after another Princess. This time it's Princess Farah (played by Jane Seymour). Okay, nothing wrong with going for another notch in his belt. The problem is, that before he can wed her, he must seek permission from her Brother - Prince Kassim, who is soon to be crowned. Okay, still not a problem, since nothing is mentioned of Sinbad's two previous 'voyages'. The problem comes when Sinbad learns that Prince Kassim has been put under an evil spell by his wicked stepmother, Zenobia, who wants her own wet-blanket of a son to become ruler instead of Prince Kassim.

So, Captain Sinbad has no choice but to grit his teeth and set out on yet another daring voyage, to find a way of reversing the evil curse. On his way he and his crew are faced by a variety of semi-mythical, but wholly-ferocious beasts and monsters, including a trio of ghouls and a gigantic, prehistoric walrus, which doesn't look as silly as it sounds to read, trust me.

A first for Sinbad, is that among the monsters encountered, is a powerful ally, in the form of a strong but ultimately friendly troglodyte, who proves to be invaluable during the quest.
Unfortunately, the evil Zenobia is also aided by a stop-motion monster, in the form of the giant, bronze Minoton, who has the strength to row their ship completely unaided by a crew! His creation is the one, single useful thing that Zenobia's inept son actually does, and even then, it is Zenobia who uses the magic that actually brings the colossus to life!

During his quest, Captain Sinbad and his crew, meet up with an old, Greek wiseman, played by Patrick Troughton. Patrick Troughton had a role in 'Jason and the Argonauts', and who could forget his role as the second incarnation of the strange Time Lord in the BBC Television series of 'Doctor Who', during the latter half of the 1960s, when the show was still in black and white?
With extra plees from Princess Farah, the wiseman finally agrees to help them reverse the spell upon Prince Kassim.

This is probably one of the most ambitious of all the films in this unofficial series thus far - wait till you see the main chamber of the temple in the climax of the film! I think you'll be impressed. Although the special effects may seem a little dated by today's standards, it is worth baring in mind that when it was made (during the late 1970s), computer generated monsters were still quite a way off.

The DVD's special features are fairly plain to be perfectly honest.
There is a documentary called 'The Harryhausen Chronicles'. This was also featured on the DVD releases of 'The 7th Voyage of Sinbad' and 'Jason and the Argonauts'. It's a good documentary though, and worth watching if you haven't seen it before.
There is also a featurette called 'This is Dynamation', which has previously been featured on the DVD of 'The 7th Voyage of Sinbad'. This featurette mainly applies to that film, so its inclusion here is more of a 'stocking-filler' than a necessity.
There are the usual crop of filmographies, though obviously, these relate to 'Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger' and not to any of the other films.
There is also the theatrical trailer for this film.

So, all in all, great film on an adiquate DVD. This is fantasy of the very best kind. If you want an alternative, then you can go for any of the other films I have also mentioned, which are all out on DVD. You could also track down a video copy of 'Clash of the Titans', which was the last film to feature work from Ray Harryhausen, and is of course, a great film because of it.

However, if you like your fantasy films to be quite literally perfect, and if you want something that is one-hundred percent up-to-date, than I can not really sing enough praises for the recent DVD release of Peter Jackson's fantastic adaptation of the first part of J. R. R. Tolkien's epic masterpiece - 'The Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring', which is superb in every respect, including special effects and brilliant acting.

Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger is directed by Sam Wannamaker and is the third and final Sinbad film that Ray Harryhausen (and his stop-motion creations) made for Columbia after The 7th Voyage of Sinbad and The Golden Voyage of Sinbad. It stars Patrick Wayne (Sinbad), Jane Seymour (Princess Farah), Taryn Power (Dione), Patrick Troughton (Melanthius), Margaret Whiting (Zenobia) and Nadim Sawalha (Hassan). Studio work was done in England, with the exterior location work done in Spain, Malta and Jordan.

Evil sorceress Zenobia has designs on the throne and transforms the heir, Prince Kassim, into a Baboon. Kassim's sister calls on Captain Sinbad for help, who learns that a fabled man by the name of Melanthius may be their only hope. They face a perilous journey to the end of the World (a place called Hyperborea) with Zenobia and her black magic tricks in hot pursuit.

Depending on if you are a fantasy/adventure fan or not may determine how much, if at all, you get from Sinbad & The Eye Of The Tiger. For the film is chocked full of cheese and acting of the hammiest kind. The plot is your standard set up for the irrepressible Sinbad-he must travel to some remote destination to stave off evil and realign the World, and our faith, in the name of good. While it's safe to say that the film is about 15 minutes too long for a Sinbad adventure. On the other side of the coin, tho, fans of the genre and Harryhausen's work are in for a treat.

The cast have as much charisma than you can shake a stick at, perhaps not surprising when you have the offspring of John & Tyrone starring, and the adventure is colourful and dealing nicely in the realm of the fantastique. It also finds Harryhausen on super form as we are treated to skeletal demons, a bronze minotan, a big bad wasp, a gigantic walrus, a trog and a snarling sabre tooth tiger. But best of all is his baboon because the creature is part of the cast from practically start to finish, thus it interacts with the human actors and has a personality all of its own. With one particularly emotive scene a real standout in the Harryhausen/Sinbad trilogy. For the girls is the sight of Wayne in fine physical and swash buckling shape, and for the boys is the twin niceties of Power and Seymour who steadily get skimpier in their attire during the course of the story. Troughton has a good time as the mad/eccentric/genius alchemist, while Whiting owns the film with her delightfully over the top trip into evil villainy.

It's presumed that newcomers to the movie know what to expect going into this one, whilst old fans revisiting it should hopefully find that it's holding up rather well considering the genre it sits in. Good old family fun that may be weak on story but strong on popcorn entertainment value. 7/10