...the real star is always special-effects wizard Ray Harryhausen. His stop-action figures create a world of imagination only recently surpassed by the magic of computers.
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The film credits proclaim the star of "The Golden Voyage of Sinbad" as John Phillip Law, but we know differently, don't we. These fantasy-adventure pictures may feature actors like Law or Kerwin Mathews or Todd Armstrong or Patrick Wayne or Harry Hamlin, but the real star is always special-effects wizard Ray Harryhausen. His stop-action figures create a world of imagination only recently surpassed by the magic of computers.
"The Golden Voyage of Sinbad" from 1973 has its requisite moments of excitement but is hampered by a plot more muddled than usual. As always, it's a quest story, with Sinbad setting about to find an enchanted land, accompanied by a beautiful young woman, and pursued by an evil magician. This time he is called upon by the Grand Vizier (Douglas Wilmer) of a mythical kingdom to take him to the land of Lemuria, where there awaits eternal youth, a shield of darkness, and a crown of untold riches.
But the wicked Prince Koura (Tom Baker) also wants the treasure, and he has the advantage of sorcery on his side. Unfortunately, every time he casts a spell he gets older (some guys have no luck at all), so you can see why he's interested in the youth angle. Somehow, an impossibly gorgeous slave girl, Margiana (Caroline Munro), goes aboard with Sinbad because she has an eye tattooed on the palm of her hand, and Sinbad's had a dream of just such a sign. Anyway, it's off they go in search of Lemuria, the Oracle of the Temple of Knowledge, the missing pieces of a gold tablet, and the ultimate blessings of treasure, with Koura in hot pursuit.
Besides the rather befuddled story line, part of the film's problem is John Phillip Law. He lacks the panache of a Douglas Fairbanks, Senior or Junior. In fact, he's got no panache at all. Most of the time he appears to be sleepwalking. Still, he looks great in the role, tall, slender, and handsome, and wields a mean sword. But it's Harryhausen's creatures we're most interested in, no small matter considering Harryhausen cowrote the script. We get to watch in amusement at an ugly bat-like demon that acts as Koura's spy; a ship's figurehead that comes to life; a huge six-armed bronze statue of the goddess Kali; a giant cyclopean centaur; and an equally gigantic lion-eagle concoction. Needless to say, Sinbad and his crew must fight them all at one time or another.
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[release]4490[/release]