The 7th Voyage of Sinbad

Epic adventures of monsters, magic, and action are truly captivating and indestructible. Whilst sometimes their cinematic adaptations don’t stand the test of time, the stories, characters, and themes make the movies thrive; like Ray Harryhausen’s The 7^th Voyage of Sinbad. 

In this clichéd, claymation classic, Sinbad (Kerwin Mathews) must travel to the strange and dangerous island of Colossa so as to break a spell that an evil magician has put on his beloved princess (Kathryn Grant) and fiancé. In the quest for his beloved Sinbad comes up against great challenges including captaining a ship of murderers and thieves, slaying fearsome Cyclops, avoiding attacks from dragons, and a duel with a voodoo-reanimated skeleton! What’s not to get excited about?! 

Despite its obvious flaws of laughable ‘special effects’ and pretty poorly executed fighting sequences, this movie is actually highly entertaining and really the perfect thing if you’re having a brain fart time deciding what you feel like watching. 

The story is timeless: a ‘handsome’ and swashbuckling hero out to save a damsel in distress, fighting against monsters and magic with his most dangerous foe being an evil magician. There’s really no way you can go wrong with this type of story and these tropes: the hero’s journey, quest narrative, fantasy elements are all timeless classics that date back to Shahrazad and 1001 Nights and still pack fun punches. The voyeuristic thrill of cinema is here! You might not really think so as the movie is obviously dated, camp, and laughable by today’s standards, but the irrepressible power of genre and storytelling is so strong that it (not eradicates, but definitely) dampens the groans and eye-rolls that modern movie watchers might be inclined to engage in. 

Truth be told, this movie is fun, just downright fun! And what is most lovely about it is that it doesn’t take itself entirely seriously. Back in its heyday I’m sure that the achievements in monster modelling, claymation, and art direction were the talk of the town and whilst I’ll be the first to admit that part of the fun of the movie is laughing at how bad the special effects and fantasy elements are, the film has not and continues to not suffer over time because it really is just a way to tell a fun bedtime story. I’m watching it years after its original release and I feel that it’s not trying hard to keep me rapt, it’s just telling me a story with whatever illustrative resources it can, and I really love it for that. 

You can say what to like about the films of Ray Harryhausen, but I feel that it’s these sorts of movies that help us to appreciate storytelling and cinema all the more; especially modern movie-goers. 

Starring Kewrin Mathews, Kathryn Grant, Richard Eyer, Torin Thatcher, Alec Mango, Danny Green, Harold Kasket, Alfred Brown, Nana DeHerrera, Nino Falanga, Luis Guedes, and Virgilio Teixeira 

Rating: PG