Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977)

Sinbad The Sailor sails to deliver a cursed prince to a dangerous island in the face of deadly opposition from a powerful witch.

Director:

Sam Wanamaker

Writers:

Beverley Cross (screenplay), Beverley Cross (story),

Stars:

Patrick Wayne, Taryn Power, Margaret Whiting

1 win & 4 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Patrick Wayne	...	Sinbad
Taryn Power	...	Dione
Margaret Whiting	...	Zenobia
Jane Seymour	...	Farah
Patrick Troughton	...	Melanthius
Kurt Christian	...	Rafi
Nadim Sawalha	...	Hassan
Damien Thomas	...	Kassim
Bruno Barnabe	...	Balsora
Bernard Kay	...	Zabid
Salami Coker	...	Maroof
David Sterne	...	Aboo-Seer

Storyline

Sinbad must deliver a prince transformed into a monkey to the lands of the Ademaspai to restore him to his human form in time for his coronation. On the way he must contend with the evil witch Zenobia, her son and their magic, and several nasty-looking Ray Harryhausen beasties.

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Plot Keywords:

prince | sinbad | princess | witch | monkey | 

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Taglines:

Sinbad! The greatest of all adventurers in his biggest adventure of all!

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Family | Fantasy

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Certificate:

G

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English Arabic

Release Date:

15 July 1977 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

Sinbad at the World's End

Filming Locations:

Shepperton Studios, Shepperton, Surrey, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation, Andor Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Metrocolor) (uncredited)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

At $7 million - a drop in the bucket by today's movie budgets - this was the costliest of the Ray Harryhausen films to date.

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Goofs

During the time that Zenobia transformed herself into the seagull, the locket is visible with the magic elixir around the seagull's neck, but when the seagull is in flight, the locket is nowhere to be found.

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Quotes

Hassan: I've never seen a black man turn white before

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Crazy Credits

The end credits scroll over the crowning ceremony of Prince Kassim. After the credits have scrolled up, we see a shot of brazier of coals. Suddenly, two cat eyes belonging to Zenobia appear.

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Connections

Referenced in 21 Jump Street (2012)

User Reviews

7/10 ~ 4/5 ~ Imperfectly Wonderful Ray Harryhausen Fantasy Fun.

Sinbad the Sailor voyages to the mythic northern realm of Hyperborea to restore a caliph from an evil witch's transformation.

Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger, the follow-up to the classics The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad and The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, is an uneven conclusion to Ray Harryhausen's celebrated "Sinbad Trilogy". The troubled production began with a draggy script, budgetary restrictions and an inexperienced director; the film as released suffers from choppy editing, over-length and routine music scoring. One animation highlight (the giant walrus) is obscured by an optical snowstorm. The attractive cast performs listlessly and the villain is campy rather than truly menacing, although former "Doctor Who" Patrick Troughton is delightful as a befuddled wizard.

Yet, for all its flaws, Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger remains an entertaining escapade in the old-fashioned Saturday-Matinée tradition. Costuming and settings are colorful and the film looks handsome in widescreen. The quest for the mystical Shrine of the Four Elements has a particularly epic quality with the usual eclectic blend of mythical elements set against the backdrop of the Arabian Nights.

Most importantly, Harryhausen's realistic stop-motion animation is as extraordinary as ever, with two of the animated-puppet creatures -- Kassim the Baboon and Trog the Troglodyte -- successfully functioning as actual communicative characters within the body of the story. Other wonders include insectoid demons, an over-sized mosquito, Minaton the Brass Minotaur and the saber-tooth tiger of the title.

Genuine movie fantasy is a rare commodity, and Ray Harryhausen's vision and conviction shine through the circumstances of production to make this a satisfying final visit to the land beyond Beyond.