Rating: 
Summary: Tie up your camel!
Review: Sinbad embarks on another adventure of magic and monsters. In the pre-George Lucas/Steven Spielberg days, the greatest fantasy adventure films were the ones that featured the eye-popping special effects of Ray Harryhausen. This 1974 movie recalls the halcyon days of the late '50s and early '60s when Saturday matinees at the local movie theater ruled the entertainment world of pre-teens. Although this flick suffers in comparison with the superior "7th Voyage of Sinbad," there is enough to like about it to recommend viewing and ownership. The monsters are good, especially the centaur/cyclops that threatens the delectable Caroline Munro. The sword fight with the multi-limbed statue of the goddess Kali recall's RH's previous work in "Jason and the Argonauts" with the hydra-headed dragon and the army of skeletons. The animation and non-computerized FX are eye pleasing enough that one wishes for more screen time for the monsters. The plot occasionally gets in the way of the action. Once the FX kicks in, things get livelier. John Phillip Law is okay, if a little bland, as Sinbad. Caroline Munro in a slave girl costume distracts the male viewer from quibbling over minor faults along the way. Sometime Doctor Who, Tom Baker, is effective as Koura, the evil magician. This is good "G" rated entertainment that pleases Ray Harryhausen fans and pre-teens of all ages. Suspend disbelief and have fun. ;-)
Rating:
Summary: One of Harryhausen's best
Review: Technically a follow-up to the Harryhausen-Schneer classic "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad", this Arabian fantasy only shares the title character in a new story. Although it has less stop-motion animation monsters than some of the other entries in the Harryhausen-Schneer fantasy film canon (which includes "Clash of the Titans", "Jason and the Argonauts", and "Mysterious Island"), "The Golden Voyage of Sinbad" is one of their absolute best, for three reasons.1)The script. This is usually a weak element in the Harryhausen-Schneer movies, with the narrative haphazardly woven around monsters conceived before the script was written. But "The Golden Voyage of Sinbad" surprises: the script is charming and poetic, sounding exactly they way we would always like an Arabian Knights adventure to sound. Just a few lines of Koran-inspired maxims are enough to whisk you back to childhood innocence. The plot is simple but exciting, and villain Koura is a wonderful nasty. And the monsters make sense; they have a good reason to appear. 2)The performances. Usually in this series, actors make up part of the budget-saving: adequate at best, laughable at worst. But John Phillip Law makes a fine Sinbad: taciturn, stoic, exotic, and tough...he really matches our vision of what the legendary sailor should be. But it is Tom Baker (later to be the most famous Dr. Who) who steals the show as evil sorcerer Koura. He doesn't try to play the baddie for camp value, doesn't try to make him funny, but instead plays him as sinister and cold-blooded as possible. Great voice intonations as well. Oh, Caroline Munro is in the film, too. I don't really know about her acting, but it doens't really matter with those outfits she almost wears. You'll see what I mean... 3)The monsters. Each one is a clever Harryhausen masterwork. The final battle between and griffin and the centaur is fantastic, even if the griffin appears rather abruptly. But the scene with the six-armed statue of Kali is what you will remember: a symphony of flashing swords and stunning stop-motion genius. The actors deserve credit here for convincingly fighting with air. Finally, all this is presented in pristine DVD widescreen. And there's a good documentary on all of Harryhausen's work, with extensive interviews with the master himself and rare footage of his test movies and failed film projects. Get this film. The kids will love it, but you'll love it even more.
Rating: 
Summary: The movie is hamperd by wooden acting and a bad script...
Review: The casting of Law for the role was a bad choice. He really plays the sailor with little creditablity. Regretfully that is only one of a thousand things wrong with this movie in addition to the terrible music score and the below par effects work. Between the script and the bad acting by everyone, it shows that even a Ray Harrysausen film can not stand up with no one doing their best to make it look good.
Rating: 
Summary: The BEST Sinbad EVER!!!
Review: The Golden Voyage of Sinbad is by far the best Sinbad movie I have ever seen !!!(with all due respect to the 7th Voyage).
Unlike others, the sets look real, imaginative, and authentic. The flavor of this movie is so real!
The Acting is wonderful,(I love the accents), the hero, superb! (He is on our list of "Manly Men") And no one ends up looking like a "Hollywood Star", which thing always disturbs me in other films, ruining the atmosphere that they were trying to create.
I draw attention especially to Tom Baker's awesome portrayal of the evil Prince Kurah, the villian of the piece, the evil following them, "clad in robes of silk..."
All right, too the movie.
This movie begins with Captain Sinbad (John Phillip Law)finding a strange golden tablet that a strange magical creature drops on his deck. That night a storm almost wrecks their ship, and drives them upon the waves to the land of Marabia, where the evil Prince Kurah (Tom Baker)tries to reclaim the tablet from him by force. Sinbad escaps from him and flees to the city, where he meet the Vizier, who has another, similar, tablet, and explains the strange tale of the tablet to him, and it's missing, and thus they embark upon the golden voyage to the mythical island of Lemulia, pursued by Kurah, and accompanied by Sinbad's loyal and manly crew, the slave girl, Marriana, and a hopelessly lost merchant's son, who provides much of the comic relief of the movie.
On Lemulia they overcome many obstacles, including being captured by bloodthirsthy natives, and fighting the stone figure of a many-limbed goddess, whom Prince Kurah brings to life with his evil craft.
The movie ends with the end of an eternal conflict between the "forces of good and evil", ending only because of the deeds of weak and mortal men, and all before the Fountain of Destiny, "Where the gods smile upon mortal men."
It is an old movie, but a classic! The best that Harry-Hausen ever made! (in fact, after seeing other Harry-Haused movies, I couldn't believe they were even made by him, this one being so superior! (In my opinion.) Hurrah for Hessler and Harry-Hausen!!!!!
A wonderful story, full of magic and mystery! I highly recommend this movie!!!
Rating:
Summary: Awesome special effects with brilliant imagination
Review: The Golden Voyage of Sinbad is the best of the mythic science fiction movie genre. The story and characters are creative. The special effects are amazing.
Rating:
Summary: My favorite of the Trilogy
Review: This is my favorite of the three Sinbad movies. The characters and actors seem less dated than in the other two and the story is better. I still marvel at the work of Harryhausen more so than I do at the computer effects of today. I saw this first when I was but a small child at the drive -in and the swordfight scene with the six arm statue has never left my mind. To see it after all these years on DVD, it is still a fine piece of work. The creature footage requires the models to be moved a minimum of 24 times per second of screen time to appear living. Some of these sequences are 10 minutes long! These movies, as are all his others, were truly a labor of love and it shows in the final product. If you have not seen this movie or the other works of Harryhausen you are really missing something. Filled with imagination, it is a clean, fun filled adventure for the whole family.
Rating:
Summary: Super movie, lots of fun!
Review: This movie along with 7th Voyage of Sinbad are by far excellent, its a shame eye of the tiger had such a terrable plot or all 3 could go hand in hand.
2 out of 3 isnt bad though. Golden Voyage is well worth watching, the animations and effects, the plot to even the acting.
Love the part when the evil magician Kura makes the statue of kali the hindu goddess with 6 arms first dance then fight Sinbad and His men =)
Enjoy!
Rating: 
Summary: Golden Matinee
Review: This movie is not Harryhausens best to you unless you were a kid when it was released. The hair on the centaur doesn't move quite right and the motion in the fight scenes is not as intense or as natural looking as the skeleton fight scene in "Jason and the Argonauts" or the crab fight scene in "Mysterious Island". The action seems to lag occasionally but it still entertains. That aside it is good Saturday afternoon fair for the entire family.
Rating:
Summary: By far the best of the Sinbad films...
Review: While the story of Sinbad's pursuit of a hidden treasure amidst seemingly insurmountable danger, falling in love with a beautiful woman (thank Allah that polygamy was allowed, no? He seems to get married in each film!) and being pursued by evil, magickal forces has become "stock" in that they all are basically the same tale, this film is truly exemplary for the acting talent of Thom Baker (spelled Tom in this flick), memorable to most of us as the "best" of the Dr. Who characters. Baker brings an intelligent, almost tragic malevolence to the character of Prince Koura, master swordsman and sorcerer, whose pursuit of arcane and temporal power comes at a very tangible and foreknown cost (he ages whenever he casts a major spell of any sort). In short, you certainly sympathise with him and sometimes almost secretly hope he is successful, since he really has no choice BUT to once he sets out on the path. Again, like all Sinbad films, the scenery is astounding, the special effects (Ray Harryhausen) remarkable even in this day and age of computer graphics, and the story replete with kitsch (pardon the pun) references to Islam.
|
