Friday, October 29, 2021

1977 - SINBAD AND THE EYE OF THE TIGER, the weakest of the Harryhausen Sinbad films.

Probably the most disappointing of the Ray Harryhausen Sinbad films.  This time Sinbad is in search of a cure for a Baghdad prince who has been turned into a baboon by an evil sorceress.  This film is strictly a rehash of earlier and better Harryhausen films. Even the encounters with the monsters are "seen it all before" situations

The cast is generally a disappointment, Patrick Wayne and Taryn Power respectively the childern of John Wayne and Tyrone Power can't seem to generate much chemistry.  Jane Seymour playing Princess Farah somehow ended up in a supporting role but she certainly would have been a more interesting leading lady for Wayne. Also in the film is one time "Dr. Who," Patrick Troughton who at least livens the plot up.  Margaret Whiting as the evil Sorceress Zenobia is to put it kindly larger than life in her performance.

 

Ray Harryhausen's special effects don't seem all that special in this film.  The minotaur is a mixture of a guy in a gold suit and Harryhausen's animated figure but it's easy to tell where the live action actor and the animated figure switch between scenes.  The three ghouls that Sinbad battles are entirely to reminiscent of the skeltons from Jason and the Argonauts, and the fur on the tiger is all over the place a common challenge when animating creatures with hair.

 

The usually reliable screenwriter Beverly Cross put together a by the numbers story.  The running time is 113 minutes.

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