If you like fast-paced fantasy films full of non-stop action and adventure, then this film is for you. It has all the elements you require - handsome heroes, beautiful heroines, evil villains, luscious scenery and spine-tingling monsters!There have been a number of Sinbad films over the years but this one is arguably the best. As with others of its genre it is a quest - a journey - this time to find the missing piece of a priceless map before the evil wizard Prince Koura can lay his hands on it and stake his claim on, and control over, the land of Marabia.
The acting is passable, though naturally it varies from person to person. Sinbad is played by John Phillip Law, possibly the original medallion man with this map like a piece of jewellery glistening against his bare chest, and he is played well, as is his sidekick Rachid, played by Martin Shaw who was later to become one half of top cop duo "The Professionals" on TV. Possibly the weakest of the acting comes from Kurt Christian, who plays layabout-turned-hero Haroon, who is quite wooden really. However, on the acting front, the honours must go to Tom Baker as the baddie of the piece, Prince Koura, who shows just the right amount of evilness throughout, especially in that grin of his. It is worth noting that this film was made in 1973, just prior to him landing the role of the new Doctor Who a year later, taking over the reigns from Jon Pertwee, and I'm sure that his performance here would have had something to do with him being cast in the role of the Doctor.
I'm not sure where this film was made but some of the locations are stunning if that sort of thing appeals to you although the quality of the film varies from scene to scene. The wearing of time perhaps? However, it is the creations of Ray Harryhausen which steals the show. Whilst not being quite in the same calibre as in "Jason and the Argonauts" some years earlier - surely little he could do could top that? - his stop motion animated monsters are still as impressive as ever. They never fail to send a tingle down my spine. The "Jurassic Park" type effects of the Hollywood blockbuster movies of today are in a class of their own, but they are so good that the monsters look real - they look too real - and because they look like real animals after a while you hardly bat an eyelid over them. However, Harryhausen's monsters don't look real, they look what they are - creatures created by someone (in this case Koura) to scare someone else off (in this case Sinbad) - and it is this not-quite-real feel which makes them creepy. Here they are excellent, especially the ships wooden figurehead which breaks free and battles Sinbad and his crew, and the six-armed Kalib which dances to the call of Koura and then fights - with six swords - Sinbad and co. Of the other, presumably non-Harryhausen, effects, some are obviously model ships filmed in a tub of water whilst the little green men who capture first Koura, then Sinbad, look like the Swampies from the "Doctor Who" story "The Power of Kroll"! I wonder if they had difficulty getting the green dye off like in Who or if the actors playing them had to sit in the Pinewood Studios canteen covered in green paint?!
All this brings me round to Caroline Munro, who plays slave girl Margiana, who looks simply stunning in every scene in which she appears. She has to be one of the most beautiful models-turned-actresses that Britain has ever produced. And here is another connection with "Doctor Who", for she signed up to appear in the aborted 1980's cinema as either companion to, or villain of, the Doctor, depending on which article you read. Her character adds little to the film other than a touch of glamour and here she shines. She simply oozes beauty, especially in that violet costume at the beginning of the film when she first meets Sinbad. As John Phillip Law adds sex appeal for female viewers, so Caroline Munro adds sex appeal, in ample amounts, for male viewers - few red blooded males can fail to be attracted to, or by, her!
So, overall a pretty good way to pass on 101 minutes of your time. If you like your films full of magic and monsters, hunky males and beautiful women, then there is something for you in this film. As the blurb on the back of the video box states, "Great fun and entertainment for the whole family!" Always worth a watch if there's nowt on the telly!
