The
lowdown: 'Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger' was the third Sinbad
film to feature the special effects wizardry
of the lengendary Ray Harryhausen.
It sees Sinbad (played by Patrick Wayne - the son of John) helping his
old
friend Prince Kassim, who
has been turned into a baboon (no, really!) by witch Queen Zenobia, so
that her own
son will be crowned caliph.
Sinbad travels to a remote island to consult the famed wizard and alchemist,
Melanthius
(Patrick Troughton), in
the hope that he can restore Kassim's true form. Melanthius of course cannot
help but tell
Sinbad of the legend of
the now extinct people called the Anamaspai of Hyperborea, who were said
to be able to
change the physical form
of matter.
Sinbad and his crew (together
with Melanthius and his daughter), set course for Hyperborea, with Zenobia
hot on
their heels. She constantly
uses her powers to try to thwart Sinbad in his quest. Her abilities include
changing her
physical form, including
reducing herself to a size at which she can be captured and put into a
glass jar and turning
herself into a seagull so
she can spy on Sinbad. Our heroes make it to Hyperborea and eventually
make their way
to the Shrine of the Four
Elements, where they find a machine that restores Kassim to his true form.
Patrick Troughton is the
best thing about this film, his performance as the brilliant but eccentric
Melanthius is
superb, and he easily outshines
the rest of the cast. Better yet, he is a pivotal character in the film
and thus has
a lot of screen time (he
appears for the first time about 30 minutes into the film, and is in almost
every scene
featuring Sinbad (unlike
his previous appearance in a Harryhausen film - 'Jason
and the Argonauts' - in which he
had a five-minute cameo).
The stop-motion monsters are largely less impressive than the previous
efforts of
Harryhausen, and include
a saber-tooth tiger, a big walrus, a huge Troglodyte, and a giant mosquito,
although the
animated chess-playing baboon-Kassim
is quite impressive.
The
verdict: 'Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger' is an enjoyable fantasy
film that has plenty of action and adventure,
even if the plot is rather
absurd. It is a must-see for fans of the Harryhausen films, and anybody
who enjoys special
effects-laden films from
an era before everything was done with CGI. The Sinbad films are harmless
fun that will
entertain the whole family,
but just don't expect the special effects of modern films.
Trivia:
This film was the most expensive of the 'Sinbad' trilogy, with a budget
of $3.5m. It took three years to make.
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