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The lowdown: 'The Golden Voyage of Sinbad' is the second in the trilogy of films about Sinbad the heroic sailor and his adventures on the high seas. Again, it features the special effects of Ray Harryhausen. The plot sees Sinbad (played by John Phillip Law) obtain one of the three pieces of a puzzle that is believed to be a map showing the location of the magical Fountain of Destiny, which bestows powers such as renewed youth. Sinbad sets sail for the lost continent of Lemuria, which is said to be the location of the Fountain, but he is pursued by the evil wizard Koura (Tom Baker), who is seeking the Fountain as part of his ambition to conquer the country of Morabia. He uses his dark powers to animate a range of stop-motion foes for Sinbad, including a gargoyle, a multiple sword-wielding statue of Kali and the figurehead of Sinbad's own ship. However, there is a catch for Koura, because each time he summons his "demons of darkness" he ages significantly, and he is a very old man by the time he reaches the Fountain of Destiny. Naturally he gets there first, and his youth is restored before he engages in a final swordfight with Sinbad (in which he uses the power of invisibility to try to defeat Sinbad). Tom Baker is superb as the
evil Koura, in a performance that helped him to gain the role of the Doctor
The
verdict: 'The Golden Voyage of Sinbad' is far better
than the final film in the series, 'Sinbad and the
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