Video Reviews

The 7th Voyage of Sinbad

The 7th Voyage of Sinbad was the third film brought to the screen by producer Charles H. Schneer and effects technician Harryhausen, and broke new ground for the duo in a number of ways. The Arabian Nights adventure was their inaugural color picture, marking the first time Harryhausen brought multiple monstrosities to life through the painstaking process of stop-motion animation and was the first of several Harryhausen-Schneer films to be scored by legendary composer Herrmann. The story pits Sinbad (Mathews) against a malevolent sorcerer, an animated skeleton, a fire-breathing dragon, and a pair of Cyclops, all of whom he must overcome to restore his pint-sized princess to her normal size and thereby avert a war. It's pure Saturday matinee fare, elevated by Harryhausen's incredible technical virtuosity into first-rate entertainment. Particularly memorable are the classic sword fight with the skeleton, wonderfully punctuated by Herrmann's castanet-driven music, and the scenes with the Cyclops, a giant, goat-legged nightmare with a taste for human flesh and a perpetually hostile attitude. 7th Voyage is the second of Harryhausen's movies to find its way to the DVD format, and Columbia/Tristar has fashioned a great package for his many fans. The film is letterboxed and the image and sound quality are very good. In addition, there are a number of special features, including the featurettes This Is Dynamation and Richard Schickel's The Harryhausen Chronicles, seven trailers from other Harryhausen movies, and strangely, the same interview with John Landis that appears on the Jason and the Argonauts DVD. The 7th Voyage of Sinbad is Harryhausen at the peak of his ability and remains one of the master's most energetic excursions into the realm of fantasy.