The third film is the weakest of the Sinbad trilogy. The trailers should've said "Starring John Wayne's son and Tyrone Powers' daughter!", I wasn't impressed by that casting. Personally, I thought Jane Seymour was one of the casting highlights in this flawed fantasy film. "Eye of the Tiger" not a bad film, but it is also not the great film that some people want to remember it as from their childhood.
I saw these Sinbad films as a child and re-watched them this week. Let's face it; this was the weakest of the 3 Sinbad films and of the 5 films in that Harryhausen boxset. The IMDb voters even seem to agree with me on this. Luckily for us, Ray Harryhausen, special effects genius and one-man workforce, followed this film up with "Clash of the Titans" before retiring thereby leaving the film world on a high note instead of this uncharacteristic stumble. This might have had 7 times the budget of the first Sinbad film (7th Voyage), but it was a big letdown to me after watching much better, more entertaining Sinbad films. If I seem harsh in this review, it is because I have recently re-watched several of Ray Harryhausen's films and some interviews and documentaries in said box set about his work. I know the magic his genius is capable of and I am grading this film against his other films. Some people on IMDb are whining because it came out around the same time as "Close Encounters" and "Star Wars". The real problem isn't that movie visual effects had moved forward, so much as that the work here isn't as impressive as it is in previous Harryhausen films.
The plot was basically a weak mirror of the 7th Voyage plot (gotta help restore a friend to normal, go to some crazy island to obtain magical help and faceoff against a purveyor of the dark arts). Actually all 3 Sinbad films can be vaguely described that way. The script makes some weak/lame turns to get to its destination.
While a friend didn't like Sinbad 'having an afro', I didn't mind Patrick Wayne's look as much as his uninspired acting. He never sold us on the Dynamation effects like Kerwin Matthews or John Philip Law (of Danger Diabolik fame).
THE CREATURES. I am 'grading on a curve' against Harryhause's capabilities from other films. His work here is good (and above what anyone else save possibly Willis O'Brien could do with similar tools), but definitely has been better in his previous efforts. -Golden Minotaur was very cool, but never properly utilized in this film. -bug-eyed demons were unimpressive creations. -sabretooth was fun, but looked more like a stuffed toy than past Harryhausen creations. -Trogolodyte was good. There were also: a baboon, a giant walrus and an overgrown bee. There isn't anything here to compare to his greatest creations: the Cyclops vs. Dragon, the Roc, 6-armed swordfighting Kali, 7 skeletons (in Argonauts), Griffon vs. Centaur, Pegasus, Medusa, etc. He doesn't top himself in this film, which was a letdown for me after seeing his better films.
I also felt that some of the travelling matte work had footage that to my eye didn't quite match up and distracted from the usual wonder of 'Dynamation' I've come to expect. Viewing this in my childhood I probably overlooked this, as an adult I cannot.
The film suffers from an abundance of what I call 'IDIOT PLOT MOMENTS', the likes of which one would expect from a slasher film. This happens too often in entertainment (especially in genre films and TV) when the writers need to get the plot from point A to point B and are either too lazy or lack creativity to get there properly or they are attempting something extremely unlikely for the characters and don't care about undermining the credibility or reality of the world they are creating. There were far too many moments where I wanted to scream at the screen while watching.
**SPOILER WARNING** SUMMATION OF 'IDIOT PLOT POINTS'
The Minotaur is a great mythology creature and could've been a great opponent for an exciting battle with Sinbad's crew, but was totally wasted here. What does he really do? He rows a boat, spears a drowning man and then proves his lack of sentience by pulling a large brick onto himself thereby crushing himself to death. Lame.
Melanthius the supposedly wise sage acts cluelessly so the plot can proceed where the writers want. He captures the witch (already established as highly dangerous and has turned Sinbad's friend into a baboon) and promptly evacuates the room of all other people (who could possibly stop him from his forthcoming blundering). He then reveals the map and key to the enemy and (inadvertently?) tells her where they are headed. Then, after taunting her with a dangerous bee, he gives the bee some of her potentially 'enlarging' potion so that it can become a danger to the crew and the witch can be afforded an escape and further plague the party.
After not running the treacherous witch through with a spear, the party inexplicably forgets to keep a close eye on Zenobia after the death of her worthless son while all watching starry-eyed as the Prince transforms back. Lo and behold Zenobia uses this oversight to possess the frozen sabretooth and attempt her vengeance. This begins the sabretooth vs. Trog battle. I am still annoyed by Sinbad's crew not taking the opportunity to slash the monsters legs thereby crippling its fighting abilities even if it wouldn't seem sporting in a G rated film (not that it stopped Koura from stabbing the Griffon's hindquarters to cripple it in Golden Voyage).
I saw these Sinbad films as a child and re-watched them this week. Let's face it; this was the weakest of the 3 Sinbad films and of the 5 films in that Harryhausen boxset. The IMDb voters even seem to agree with me on this. Luckily for us, Ray Harryhausen, special effects genius and one-man workforce, followed this film up with "Clash of the Titans" before retiring thereby leaving the film world on a high note instead of this uncharacteristic stumble. This might have had 7 times the budget of the first Sinbad film (7th Voyage), but it was a big letdown to me after watching much better, more entertaining Sinbad films. If I seem harsh in this review, it is because I have recently re-watched several of Ray Harryhausen's films and some interviews and documentaries in said box set about his work. I know the magic his genius is capable of and I am grading this film against his other films. Some people on IMDb are whining because it came out around the same time as "Close Encounters" and "Star Wars". The real problem isn't that movie visual effects had moved forward, so much as that the work here isn't as impressive as it is in previous Harryhausen films.
The plot was basically a weak mirror of the 7th Voyage plot (gotta help restore a friend to normal, go to some crazy island to obtain magical help and faceoff against a purveyor of the dark arts). Actually all 3 Sinbad films can be vaguely described that way. The script makes some weak/lame turns to get to its destination.
While a friend didn't like Sinbad 'having an afro', I didn't mind Patrick Wayne's look as much as his uninspired acting. He never sold us on the Dynamation effects like Kerwin Matthews or John Philip Law (of Danger Diabolik fame).
THE CREATURES. I am 'grading on a curve' against Harryhause's capabilities from other films. His work here is good (and above what anyone else save possibly Willis O'Brien could do with similar tools), but definitely has been better in his previous efforts. -Golden Minotaur was very cool, but never properly utilized in this film. -bug-eyed demons were unimpressive creations. -sabretooth was fun, but looked more like a stuffed toy than past Harryhausen creations. -Trogolodyte was good. There were also: a baboon, a giant walrus and an overgrown bee. There isn't anything here to compare to his greatest creations: the Cyclops vs. Dragon, the Roc, 6-armed swordfighting Kali, 7 skeletons (in Argonauts), Griffon vs. Centaur, Pegasus, Medusa, etc. He doesn't top himself in this film, which was a letdown for me after seeing his better films.
I also felt that some of the travelling matte work had footage that to my eye didn't quite match up and distracted from the usual wonder of 'Dynamation' I've come to expect. Viewing this in my childhood I probably overlooked this, as an adult I cannot.
The film suffers from an abundance of what I call 'IDIOT PLOT MOMENTS', the likes of which one would expect from a slasher film. This happens too often in entertainment (especially in genre films and TV) when the writers need to get the plot from point A to point B and are either too lazy or lack creativity to get there properly or they are attempting something extremely unlikely for the characters and don't care about undermining the credibility or reality of the world they are creating. There were far too many moments where I wanted to scream at the screen while watching.
**SPOILER WARNING** SUMMATION OF 'IDIOT PLOT POINTS'
The Minotaur is a great mythology creature and could've been a great opponent for an exciting battle with Sinbad's crew, but was totally wasted here. What does he really do? He rows a boat, spears a drowning man and then proves his lack of sentience by pulling a large brick onto himself thereby crushing himself to death. Lame.
Melanthius the supposedly wise sage acts cluelessly so the plot can proceed where the writers want. He captures the witch (already established as highly dangerous and has turned Sinbad's friend into a baboon) and promptly evacuates the room of all other people (who could possibly stop him from his forthcoming blundering). He then reveals the map and key to the enemy and (inadvertently?) tells her where they are headed. Then, after taunting her with a dangerous bee, he gives the bee some of her potentially 'enlarging' potion so that it can become a danger to the crew and the witch can be afforded an escape and further plague the party.
After not running the treacherous witch through with a spear, the party inexplicably forgets to keep a close eye on Zenobia after the death of her worthless son while all watching starry-eyed as the Prince transforms back. Lo and behold Zenobia uses this oversight to possess the frozen sabretooth and attempt her vengeance. This begins the sabretooth vs. Trog battle. I am still annoyed by Sinbad's crew not taking the opportunity to slash the monsters legs thereby crippling its fighting abilities even if it wouldn't seem sporting in a G rated film (not that it stopped Koura from stabbing the Griffon's hindquarters to cripple it in Golden Voyage).