Rating: 
Summary: Outstanding DVD Collection! Ray Harryhausen At His Best!
Review: THE 7th VOYAGE OF SINBADBy far the most "classic" of the three, this spectacular piece of cinematic adventure may very well be Ray Harryhausen's masterpiece. Legendary sailor Sinbad (Kerwin Matthews, in his signature role) is on the verge of marriage to Princess.....uh, I forget (a beautiful Kathryn Grant), and uniting their two countries. But not before the evil magician Sokurah (Torin Thatcher, in an extremely amusing performance) can shrink the princess to a doll's size in order to get Sinbad to return him to the Island of Colossa. There, Sinbad battles a giant Rok, a fire-spewing dragon, and (my personal favorite), the Cyclops...all brilliantly achieved by the greatest FX pioneer of all time, Ray Harryhausen. Oh, and there is the classic duel with the skeleton. Now I constantly hear people say, "Oh, like in 'Jason & the Argonauts'?", and it drives me crazy! Though the battle was far more elaborate and, well, better in that film, this is the original, people, the one that started it all! Indeed, this type of fight would appear again, and again, and again in subsequent Harryhausen films, ever improving (which really showed the true ingenuity of the man). "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad" is most likely, THE fantasy-adventure classic of all time, though some people say the same for the original "The Thief of Baghdad". But, I haven't seen that film, so I couldn't say. Plus, it doesn't have special-effects wizard Ray Harryhausen behind the camera to provide dazzling creatures right out of a dreamworld! A rousing, witty score by Bernard Herman, too!
Rating: 5/5 THE GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD My favorite of all three films, even if it doesn't really deserve the title "classic" as much as "7th Voyage" did. John Phillip Law replaced Kerwin Matthews in the title role, and proves to be less impressive, but only by a little. And, hey, he actually has an accent! This time 'round, Sinbad discovers a strange map disguised as a golden treasure of sorts, and with it sets off to the magical isle of Lemuria, where legend has it that if you place the map/trasure in the Fountain of Destiny, you will be granted all-powerful, all-knowledgable, and eternal youth. But he'll have to reach the isle before the black sorceror, Koura (played to perfection by the sinister Tom Baker), who has more than a few tricks up his sleeves to stop Sinbad and his crew! This is a much different film than the first; the swashbuckling attitude is replaced by a darker, but more mystical atmosphere, which I find very cool! The score by Miklos Rozsa perfectly matches it, too (just check out the music during the scene with the Oracle; it's awesome!). The story is very inventive, with more twists-n-turns than you would guess. There is lots of suspense, too! And there is also Caroline Munro as the love interest for all you teenage boys out there! Ray Harryhausen once again provides a massive array of imaginative and expertly constructed creatures, including a flying homunculus (a spy of koura), and a six-armed statue of the goddess Kali, which is the showcase for a masterfully-choreographed sword fight sequence. As well, there is an exciting battle between a one-eyed centaur and a griffin! A first-rate fantasy-adventure.
Rating: 4.5/5 SINBAD & THE EYE OF THE TIGER By far the least of the three, it's still enjoyable, nonetheless, though not for all the same reasons as the first two. First off, the acting is atrocious, but it is in a bad way; rarely do you feel the need to laugh out loud at its campiness. Second, the plot is pretty lame, and recycles quite a bit from the preceeding voyages. Sinbad is now played by Patrick Wayne, the son of John Wayne, though it really doesn't show. He has none of his father's prescense on screen, nor does he possess any acting abilities whatsoever! He is now on a quest to the land of *it's a really long, utterly forgetable name*, in order to return the Prince Kassim back to his human form. You see, he has been transformed into a baboon (?!) by the evil sorceress Zenobia (Margaret Whiting), but Sinbad must have the prince's permission to wed the Princess...once again, I forget her name, but it's a really hot Jane Seymour. They are joined by the wize man Melanthius (Patrick Troughton, I think) and his lovely daughter (Taryn Power). Like I said, the story is weak, so it's up to the craftsmanship of Ray Harryhausen to save the day, and he does it very effectively! The giant walrus isn't menacing in the least, but the fight between the Troglodyte and Saber-toothed Tiger is suspenseful and exciting. Indeed, the creatures (such as Kassim the Baboon) produce more emotion than the actors themselves! All except for the Minaton...I mean, he's supposed to be this unstoppable colossus, right? Well, all he does in the entire picture is row a friggin' boat! That we are deprived of seeing this brute giant in action is all but devastating. The music is overall mediocre, but the backgrounds are beautiful and mystical. In fact, the production crew shot the film in places that had never been used in any film before it, and it shows! (P.S. Why the hell is it called "The Eye of the Tiger"? It has nothing to do with any tiger, nor any eye...at least, not enough to put in the title.)
Rating: 3.5/5 CONCLUSION: This a great trilogy to add to your Ray Harryhausen collection. All three films are digitally remastered, and they're all beautiful (especially "The Golden Voyage"). They all feature the excellent documentary "The Harryhausen Chronicles", too. On a little side note, the DVD covers and great production notes inside are awesome!
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding DVD Collection! Ray Harryhausen At His Best!
Review: THE 7th VOYAGE OF SINBAD By far the most "classic" of the three, this spectacular piece of cinematic adventure may very well be Ray Harryhausen's masterpiece. Legendary sailor Sinbad (Kerwin Matthews, in his signature role) is on the verge of marriage to Princess.....uh, I forget (a beautiful Kathryn Grant), and uniting their two countries. But not before the evil magician Sokurah (Torin Thatcher, in an extremely amusing performance) can shrink the princess to a doll's size in order to get Sinbad to return him to the Island of Colossa. There, Sinbad battles a giant Rok, a fire-spewing dragon, and (my personal favorite), the Cyclops...all brilliantly achieved by the greatest FX pioneer of all time, Ray Harryhausen. Oh, and there is the classic duel with the skeleton. Now I constantly hear people say, "Oh, like in 'Jason & the Argonauts'?", and it drives me crazy! Though the battle was far more elaborate and, well, better in that film, this is the original, people, the one that started it all! Indeed, this type of fight would appear again, and again, and again in subsequent Harryhausen films, ever improving (which really showed the true ingenuity of the man). "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad" is most likely, THE fantasy-adventure classic of all time, though some people say the same for the original "The Thief of Baghdad". But, I haven't seen that film, so I couldn't say. Plus, it doesn't have special-effects wizard Ray Harryhausen behind the camera to provide dazzling creatures right out of a dreamworld! A rousing, witty score by Bernard Herman, too!
Rating: 5/5 THE GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD My favorite of all three films, even if it doesn't really deserve the title "classic" as much as "7th Voyage" did. John Phillip Law replaced Kerwin Matthews in the title role, and proves to be less impressive, but only by a little. And, hey, he actually has an accent! This time 'round, Sinbad discovers a strange map disguised as a golden treasure of sorts, and with it sets off to the magical isle of Lemuria, where legend has it that if you place the map/trasure in the Fountain of Destiny, you will be granted all-powerful, all-knowledgable, and eternal youth. But he'll have to reach the isle before the black sorceror, Koura (played to perfection by the sinister Tom Baker), who has more than a few tricks up his sleeves to stop Sinbad and his crew! This is a much different film than the first; the swashbuckling attitude is replaced by a darker, but more mystical atmosphere, which I find very cool! The score by Miklos Rozsa perfectly matches it, too (just check out the music during the scene with the Oracle; it's awesome!). The story is very inventive, with more twists-n-turns than you would guess. There is lots of suspense, too! And there is also Caroline Munro as the love interest for all you teenage boys out there! Ray Harryhausen once again provides a massive array of imaginative and expertly constructed creatures, including a flying homunculus (a spy of koura), and a six-armed statue of the goddess Kali, which is the showcase for a masterfully-choreographed sword fight sequence. As well, there is an exciting battle between a one-eyed centaur and a griffin! A first-rate fantasy-adventure.
Rating: 4.5/5 SINBAD & THE EYE OF THE TIGER By far the least of the three, it's still enjoyable, nonetheless, though not for all the same reasons as the first two. First off, the acting is atrocious, but it is in a bad way; rarely do you feel the need to laugh out loud at its campiness. Second, the plot is pretty lame, and recycles quite a bit from the preceeding voyages. Sinbad is now played by Patrick Wayne, the son of John Wayne, though it really doesn't show. He has none of his father's prescense on screen, nor does he possess any acting abilities whatsoever! He is now on a quest to the land of *it's a really long, utterly forgetable name*, in order to return the Prince Kassim back to his human form. You see, he has been transformed into a baboon (?!) by the evil sorceress Zenobia (Margaret Whiting), but Sinbad must have the prince's permission to wed the Princess...once again, I forget her name, but it's a really hot Jane Seymour. They are joined by the wize man Melanthius (Patrick Troughton, I think) and his lovely daughter (Taryn Power). Like I said, the story is weak, so it's up to the craftsmanship of Ray Harryhausen to save the day, and he does it very effectively! The giant walrus isn't menacing in the least, but the fight between the Troglodyte and Saber-toothed Tiger is suspenseful and exciting. Indeed, the creatures (such as Kassim the Baboon) produce more emotion than the actors themselves! All except for the Minaton...I mean, he's supposed to be this unstoppable colossus, right? Well, all he does in the entire picture is row a friggin' boat! That we are deprived of seeing this brute giant in action is all but devastating. The music is overall mediocre, but the backgrounds are beautiful and mystical. In fact, the production crew shot the film in places that had never been used in any film before it, and it shows! (P.S. Why the hell is it called "The Eye of the Tiger"? It has nothing to do with any tiger, nor any eye...at least, not enough to put in the title.)
Rating: 3.5/5 CONCLUSION: This a great trilogy to add to your Ray Harryhausen collection. All three films are digitally remastered, and they're all beautiful (especially "The Golden Voyage"). They all feature the excellent documentary "The Harryhausen Chronicles", too. On a little side note, the DVD covers and great production notes inside are awesome!
Rating: 
Summary: One star for Golden and Eye of the Tiger
Review: The latter two movies in the Sinbad series show the decline of faith that Colombia Pictures had with Ray, and they gave him even smaller budgets to work with and not much promotion when the movies came to theaters, thus the movies did poorly box office wise. By 1977, when Eye of the Tiger was made, Colombia Pictures was nearly bankrupt. Another movie was made that saved them from going out of business, but even their really low standards of film making, I think it would have been better if they had gone out of business.
Rating:
Summary: sinbad collection
Review: The Sinbad movies are a tribute to the brilliant imagination of Charles Schneer, the producer, and Ray Harryhausen, the special effects creator. These movies, although independent of each other in story and in continuity, tell the fabulously rich story of the legendary Sinbad's exploits. The movies are not perfect and the computer effects of today are more real, but no CGI character has ever captured the amount of creativity, heart, or vibrancy that Harryhausen's creations possess. From the Dragon to the Cyclops to the Centaur to the Gryphen to Harryhausen's signature creation, the Skeleton Warrior no movie series has given us such an amazing plethora of creatures and beasts of fancy for the audience to marvel at. Sinbad is the penultimate hero of adventure and myth and these movies are prime examples of Ray Harryhausen's sheer genious at work.
Rating:
Summary: The Perfect Adventure Epics
Review: The Sinbad movies are a tribute to the brilliant imagination of Charles Schneer, the producer, and Ray Harryhausen, the special effects creator. These movies, although independent of each other in story and in continuity, tell the fabulously rich story of the legendary Sinbad's exploits. The movies are not perfect and the computer effects of today are more real, but no CGI character has ever captured the amount of creativity, heart, or vibrancy that Harryhausen's creations possess. From the Dragon to the Cyclops to the Centaur to the Gryphen to Harryhausen's signature creation, the Skeleton Warrior no movie series has given us such an amazing plethora of creatures and beasts of fancy for the audience to marvel at. Sinbad is the penultimate hero of adventure and myth and these movies are prime examples of Ray Harryhausen's sheer genious at work.
Rating:
Summary: Ray Harryhausen is phenomenal! These are some of his best.
Review: The special effects are wonderful. Ray Harryhausen was instrumental in the making of these movies and they are a tribute to his ability to bring fatasy to life. Sinbad the mythical sailor will never come to life as he does in these three renditions of the tales of his exploits.
Rating:
Summary: Some of the greatest fantasy films of all time
Review: Will someone please tell me why Ray Harryhousen has not won an Oscar for lifetime achevement in special effects? There are great films. They are the kind of films that you used to go to see for the pure enjoyment of them. They had heroes, villians and cool looking monsters. They were creative. They were not carbon copies of whatever was the "current trend in movies". They were fun films that you remembered long after you saw them. Unlike the "family fare" of today, they were not preachy. There were no morals rammed down your throat. And they were never boring. I won't spoil the plots. If you are looking for good fantasy fare, these are the films you are looking for. They should have made this a four pack with "Jason and the Argonauts". (One of the other memorable Harryhausen fantasy films.)
Rating:
Summary: Some of the greatest fantasy films of all time
Review: Will someone please tell me why Ray Harryhousen has not won an Oscar for lifetime achevement in special effects? There are great films. They are the kind of films that you used to go to see for the pure enjoyment of them. They had heroes, villians and cool looking monsters. They were creative. They were not carbon copies of whatever was the "current trend in movies". They were fun films that you remembered long after you saw them. Unlike the "family fare" of today, they were not preachy. There were no morals rammed down your throat. And they were never boring. I won't spoil the plots. If you are looking for good fantasy fare, these are the films you are looking for. They should have made this a four pack with "Jason and the Argonauts". (One of the other memorable Harryhausen fantasy films.)
Rating: 
Summary: What a Triple Treat!
Review: Wow. Talk about a dream collection for Ray Harryhausen fans. This is the sort of set you pop into a three-disc DVD player and watch all afternoon on a lazy summer weekend. How can you go wrong with three Sinbad adventures where you get to see an assortment of creatures that includes the cyclops, the snake woman, the fire-breathing dragon, the two-headed roc, the skeleton swordsman, the wooden siren, the winged homunculus, the six-armed Kali, the one-eyed centaur, the griffin, the chess-playing baboon, the giant walrus, the troglodyte, and the sabre-tooth tiger? (Whew, what a list.) Harryhausen brings them all to life the way only Harryhausen could: with flawless realism and painstaking attention to detail that today's CGI animators would do well to emulate. The only reason I give this four stars instead of five is the sudden decline in entertainment value when we get to Eye of the Tiger. Too long, poorly told story, and perhaps too much reliance on Jane Seymour's charms. (Do I see an attempt at commercialism? Shame on you, producers.) But all that aside, I do in fact pop this set into my three-disc player. For me, watching these DVD's is 305 minutes well-spent (and that doesn't even include the special features). Oh, by the way, Mr. Alan Olsen, Harryhausen did receive an Oscar Lifetime Achievement Award, back in 1992. A long-delayed acknowledgment, as far as I'm concerned, but we should all be happy that the man got the recognition he truly deserved.
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