Review of The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973) by Kurt M — 08 Dec 2012

15 Years after 7th Voyage, Ray Harryhausen returned to the world of the Persian sea captain with Golden Voyage Of Sinbad. A chance encounter with a strange creature leaves Sinbad (John Philip Law) in possession of a gold amulet that is being pursued by dark prince, Koura (future Dr.

Who, Tom Baker) as when joined with it's other parts, it can give the bearer unlimited power. The pursuit brings Sinbad to a mysterious island and in the company of a beautiful slave girl (legendary genre hottie, Caroline Munro) who may be key to the proceedings.

Along the way there are the numerous Harryhausen critters to complicate the voyage and the usual magic and derring-do. Director Gordon Hessler doesn't bring the fun as well as Nathan Juran did in 7th Voyage and he also doesn't give the film the lively pace that film had either but, it is still an enjoyable fantasy adventure and the cast do take their parts serious enough to make them believable even if Law can't really work the Middle Eastern accent that he tries to imbue the heroic captain with.

The creature effects are typical Harryhausen quality although the designs aren't as memorable as the last film, the standouts being the centaur and the griffin featured at the climax and Koura's flying spy.

All in all, it is an entertaining adventure yarn but, not the classic that 7th is. Followed by one more film, Sindbad And The Eye Of The Tiger which was sadly disappointing and weak.