The Sinbad Trilogy

Before CGI there was Ray Harryhausen. The stop-motion maestro and his fantastical beasts brought a level of visual spectacle to the screen rarely seen at the time. Modern CGI has all but eradicated this form of animation, which Harryhausen almost single-handedly made famous, but his films still carry a spark of the magic they once held.

After the success of his first Sinbad film in 1958 (The 7th Voyage of Sinbad) Harryhausen would return for two more voyages with the Arabic adventurer in the 70s.

The better of these is The Golden Voyage of Sinbad. Released in 1973, it is a fun Arabesque filled with fantastical creatures, devilish villains and scantily clad maidens. An atmospheric score by composer Miklos Rozsa (Ben Hur) and a memorable sword fight with a six-armed stone idol of the goddess Kali would see it go on to win the first Saturn Award for best fantasy film.

Its box office success would see a sequel released four years later – the same year as Star Wars – and The Eye of the Tiger suffers in comparison, looking dated and old-fashioned, with largely forgettable stop-motion work.

The flaws of both films are also more readily apparent in the follow-up. Plots are thinly sketched with B-movie dialogue and the direction of both films rarely rises above functional.

But it’s the visual effects of Harryhausen that are the draw here. Stop-motion films are now few and far between, largely replaced by CGI spectacle. To modern viewers they appear quaint and old fashioned, but for those with an open mind, there is still some of the old magic left.

Extras

Both discs provide a solid offering consisting mainly of interviews with Ray Harryhausen about his career and techniques. Other extras include interviews with Tom Baker and Jane Seymour along with the usual collection of trailers.