Product Details

• Actors: John Phillip Law, Caroline Munro, Kerwin Mathews, Kathryn Grant, Richard Eyer
• Directors: Gordon Hessler, Nathan Juran, Sam Wanamaker
• Writers: Beverley Cross, Brian Clemens, Ken Kolb, Ray Harryhausen
• Producers: Charles H. Schneer
• Format: Box set, Color, NTSC
• Rated: G (General Audience)
• Number of tapes: 3
• Studio: Sony Pictures
• VHS Release Date: April 11, 1995
• Run Time: 308 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6303398367
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #227,259 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

A skeleton grabs a sword and slashes viciously at Sinbad. A 9-foot-tall Neanderthal man fights to the death with a saber-toothed tiger. All the while, the boys and girls in the fourth row forget about their popcorn and are hypnotized by the images on the screen. It's hard to believe so many years have passed since the last Sinbad movie held kids spellbound at Saturday matinees. The movies were never perfect, with stories that were sometimes little more than frameworks to drape Ray Harryhausen's special effects over. The performances left a bit to be desired at times, and the direction could be a bit choppy. What they did accomplish, however, was to give countless 8- and 10-year-olds their first taste of the magic that motion pictures were really capable of. Those grade-schoolers, of course, took with them an appreciation of that movie mojo that would extend to films like 2001, Star Wars, and countless other movies in the sci-fi and fantasy genres.

Ray Harryhausen was the preeminent special effects wizard in Hollywood for decades. With credits that date back to 1949's King Kong remake Mighty Joe Young, Harryhausen brought his creatures to life with painstaking stop-motion animation, with a realism that no one else's work could touch. Computers now do all the heavy lifting for cinematic special effects, and although the techniques of CGI are often time-consuming and tedious, they can't match the artistry and warmth of a Harryhausen Cyclops or troglodyte creature. Too often it's tempting to see beyond the eyeball-dislodging effects of a CGI dinosaur and picture a technician toiling away in front of a computer. Considering the tedious frame-by-frame repositioning of stop-motion figures, something like the six-armed Kali figure in The Golden Voyage of Sinbad is astonishing in the untold hours of labor that went into giving it life. Even more mind-boggling is the fact that it comes alive with grace and fluidity, without a trace of abruptness or jerkiness.

It's always a good time to revisit the Sinbad series, for all its imperfections and flaws. The movies are still tremendously entertaining escapist fare, still capable of inspiring new generations of budding movie buffs to create imaginary worlds with the magic of movies. --Jerry Renshaw

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

77 of 80 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding DVD Collection! Ray Harryhausen At His Best!, April 26, 2003

By 

Erik Morton "Erik Morton" (Carmel, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Sinbad Collection (7th Voyage / Golden Voyage / Eye of the Tiger) (DVD)

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!

37 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hooray for Sinbad (and Bernard Herrmann, too), July 18, 2000

By 

Avrohom Leichtling (Monsey, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Sinbad Collection (7th Voyage / Golden Voyage / Eye of the Tiger) (DVD)

Ray Harryhausen's primal importance in the realm of science fiction and special effects goes without saying. These are marvelous adventure films, truly entertainment for the whole family.

As a musician, however, I must point out that one of these films, The 7th Voyagoe of Sinbad, contains what is without question the single most important piece of music every written for a film- and that is, of course, Bernard Herrmann's score.

Herrmann, who is by now well known to most people as one of the prime movers in the realm of adventure and science fiction musical scores, wrote one of his best for this film.

Back in 1958, as an eleven year old, I remember seeing this film at the old Roxy Theater in NYC. I was entranced by it, but most of all by the music. It had such an impact on me that it decided the direction my life would take, that is, as a composer. If music could have such a terrific and powerful effect on people, then I wanted to take my fledgling efforts "all the way." This lead me to NYCs High School of Music and Art and, eventually, to a Bachelor's, a Master's and a Doctoral degree in composition from Juilliard. I have never regretted that decision, nor forgot the impact of that moment.

I've been able to share this with my own children. There are few films so relatively pure in their fantasy. Enjoy, but listen, too.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sinbad? Yes!, August 24, 2000

By 

Paul J. Moade (Jacksonville, FL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Sinbad Collection (7th Voyage / Golden Voyage / Eye of the Tiger) (DVD)

A good trio of films which will take older audiences back to the days of Saturday afternoon matinees and the younger folks can have a taste of the work of one of Hollywood's greats -- Ray Harryhausen.

The stories are the typical hack and slash, rogue magician, rescue the damsel or get the jewel kind of fare which we're all very familiar with. The imaginative effects of Mr. Harryhausen and Mr. Hermann's musical score are what make these films stand out from others such as, say, Sons of Hercules.

In my own personal opinion, the best of the films is the second -- The Golden Voyage. There is much mystisism and adventure which will delight even the most jaded of fans -- and the plot is a bit more involved.

As to the set -- well, DVD is most always perferable over VHS if for no other reason than it will outlast tape. Especially if you have kids who like watching this sort of film again and again. The films are a bit 'pricey' considering their age and all -- and the set doesn't offer you much in the way of a savings. Still, These are classics and can be enjoyed by young and old alike.

By the way, if these three films capture your interest, check out the '60s version of 'Jason and the Argonauts'. Same type of storey -- different main character.

If you're not sure whether these are your type of entertainment, rent one of them (again, I'm partial to 'The Golden Voyage'). If you enjoy that, you'll enjoy the others.

~P~