The 7th Voyage of Sinbad- Cult Movie Review

The word myth comes from the Greek word 'mythos' which means 'to tell a story'. Myths are the oldest and most powerful of all story forms; they were usually passed on through spoken word as books had not yet been invented. They often carry an important message for a culture or group, their function was to explain, to teach lessons, and to entertain. Every culture has its own myths that are centuries old and even now through various mediums the creatures and monsters from myths and legends emerge.

For a certain generation of people the name Ray Harryhausen is synonymous with myths and legends. The mere mention of his name conjures up many images of wonderful creatures from such matinee classics as 'Jason and the Argonauts,’ 'Clash of the Titans' and the various Charles H. Schneer helmed Sinbad movies from the 50s, 60s and 70s.

Harryhausen was a legend, a genius, an artist, a filmmaker, a magician, but more than all of that he was an inspiration whose work inspired many generations of film-makers including such luminaries as James Cameron and Steven Spielberg.

I recently rewatched 1958 film The 7th Voyage of Sinbad for the first time in many years and was pleasantly surprised at how well the film held up.

The story has Sinbad and his crew travelling past the island of Colossa when they see a cyclops attacking a black-robed man. They come to his aid and rescue him, finding out that the man is a magician named Sakurah who was on the island seeking a lamp. He wants to go back but Sinbad refuses. In revenge, the magician shrinks Sinbad’s betrothed and slyly offers to restore her to her normal size if they go back to the island and retrieve the ingredients needed for the potion. Thus, Sinbad and his crew travel back to the island and battle the cyclops, the Roc, a dragon and the signature skeleton. Can Sinbad save his beloved and find out the truth about the evil magician?

Director Nathan H. Juran and Harryhausen are obviously having a lot of fun and turn Sinbad (played by a dashing Kerwin Matthews) into a swashbuckling Errol Flynn type hero. The Dynamation process, which combines video footage with the stop-motion beasts and shrunken princess (earnestly played by Kathryn Grant), is impressive and must have blown minds nearly 70 years ago. Sure, in this day and age the special effects have dated but what was achieved back then was mighty impressive. Throw in an impressive score, which I have been humming since seeing this film in my youth but could never quite placing until seeing this film again, by genius Bernard Herrmann, and you have a truely impressive audio-visual treat. Sure, it would be eclipsed by the later Sinbad films but what a great rainy Sunday afternoon film to watch with the family!