The third and final instalment of the Harryhausen/Sinbad series and also Harryhausen's penultimate film before retiring from his work. I wish I could say this was a great way to go out, but it really isn't: in fact it's one of the most disappointing Harryhausen films I've ever seen. At least he finished with CLASH OF THE TITANS, which wasn't too bad at all. The problems with SINBAD AND THE EYE OF THE TIGER are numerous, ranging from the obvious (bad acting) to the surprisingly shoddy stop-motion effects work at some points. And a proper storyline and a smidgen of originality wouldn't have gone amiss either.
The casting agent was obviously on the look out for cheap actors and actresses who were related to more famous personality; hence the casting of John Wayne's and Tyrone Power's offspring in the film. Patrick Wayne has little of the charisma and none of the acting skill of his father - all is forgiven, Kerwin Matthews - and is twice as dull. Taryn Power looks glamorous, but has a pointless role and is similarly lacking in the acting ability department. Chief glamour comes from Bond babe Jane Seymour, an actress whom I have personally always disliked, but she's actually not bad here. Probably because she gets little opportunity to open her mouth, instead flaunting her cleavage and lose her clothes whenever convenient.
Margaret Whiting seems to have come from the melodramatic school of acting, with an eye-rollingly villainous performance. Therefore it's a shame that she's not in the least bit threatening and impossible to take seriously. Patrick Troughton also shows up, wearing a smock and endowed with a grey wig and beard. His role is of a wise old magician, and he's happy to ham it up as much as possible. Fans of British horror of the period will no doubt spot HORROR HOSPITAL's Kurt Christian pop up in a minor role, while Damien Thomas, the evil Count Karnstein from TWINS OF EVIL, plays Kassim who has been transformed into a baboon for much of the film. And that's where the trouble really begins.
I mean, I know this film was of the extreme low budget variety (face it, even a lot of the backgrounds are looking poor here), but wouldn't it have been easier to get a real primate into the film instead of having poor old Harryhausen spending most of his time animating one? As the creature is on screen for nearly the whole running time loads of work must have gone into it and it sadly looks choppy and fake - definitely not one of Harryhausen's best. Also, annoyingly, some of the master's stop-motion effects take place at night, so that it's almost impossible to see what's going on. How infuriating!
The problem with Harryhausen's work here is the lack of originality, which I suppose we can only blame on the auteur himself. Almost ALL of the creatures in the film have been seen elsewhere. The giant wasp was already done in MYSTERIOUS ISLAND, the miniature woman was seen in THE 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD, while the "fleshless ghouls" are just a riff on the bug-eyed aliens in FIRST MEN IN THE MOON. And the bronze statue of Minaton is just a poorly-disguised variation of the Talos colossus from JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS! On the film's plus side, one of Harryhausen's finest creations is in this film, in the shape of a ten foot tall troglodyte (sort of a cross between a Cyclops and a neanderthal), who is exceptionally well-animated and cool-looking. Surprisingly, this creature is also on the side of good for a change, and joins our party on their journey. Jar-Jar Binks he ain't.
Things do at least pick up for an impressive climax set in a pyramid (!), where we see the Aurora borealis getting channelled into the ground or something. There's an impressive battle between the aforementioned troglodyte and a good-looking sabre-tooth tiger and a predictable "collapse" of the building at the very end. The film also receives marks for having one original moment where the explorers travel to an icy region and battle a walrus; at least there was something that hadn't been done before. So, in all, SINBAD AND THE EYE OF THE TIGER is a film for a) Jane Seymour fanciers, b) Harryhausen enthusiasts, and c) people who enjoy watching old-fashioned adventure yarns and don't mind over-long running times and a lack of acting and story. Not totally worthless, but definitely one of the weakest in the sub-genre, although that still makes it tons better than modern soulless CGI adventure films.
The casting agent was obviously on the look out for cheap actors and actresses who were related to more famous personality; hence the casting of John Wayne's and Tyrone Power's offspring in the film. Patrick Wayne has little of the charisma and none of the acting skill of his father - all is forgiven, Kerwin Matthews - and is twice as dull. Taryn Power looks glamorous, but has a pointless role and is similarly lacking in the acting ability department. Chief glamour comes from Bond babe Jane Seymour, an actress whom I have personally always disliked, but she's actually not bad here. Probably because she gets little opportunity to open her mouth, instead flaunting her cleavage and lose her clothes whenever convenient.
Margaret Whiting seems to have come from the melodramatic school of acting, with an eye-rollingly villainous performance. Therefore it's a shame that she's not in the least bit threatening and impossible to take seriously. Patrick Troughton also shows up, wearing a smock and endowed with a grey wig and beard. His role is of a wise old magician, and he's happy to ham it up as much as possible. Fans of British horror of the period will no doubt spot HORROR HOSPITAL's Kurt Christian pop up in a minor role, while Damien Thomas, the evil Count Karnstein from TWINS OF EVIL, plays Kassim who has been transformed into a baboon for much of the film. And that's where the trouble really begins.
I mean, I know this film was of the extreme low budget variety (face it, even a lot of the backgrounds are looking poor here), but wouldn't it have been easier to get a real primate into the film instead of having poor old Harryhausen spending most of his time animating one? As the creature is on screen for nearly the whole running time loads of work must have gone into it and it sadly looks choppy and fake - definitely not one of Harryhausen's best. Also, annoyingly, some of the master's stop-motion effects take place at night, so that it's almost impossible to see what's going on. How infuriating!
The problem with Harryhausen's work here is the lack of originality, which I suppose we can only blame on the auteur himself. Almost ALL of the creatures in the film have been seen elsewhere. The giant wasp was already done in MYSTERIOUS ISLAND, the miniature woman was seen in THE 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD, while the "fleshless ghouls" are just a riff on the bug-eyed aliens in FIRST MEN IN THE MOON. And the bronze statue of Minaton is just a poorly-disguised variation of the Talos colossus from JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS! On the film's plus side, one of Harryhausen's finest creations is in this film, in the shape of a ten foot tall troglodyte (sort of a cross between a Cyclops and a neanderthal), who is exceptionally well-animated and cool-looking. Surprisingly, this creature is also on the side of good for a change, and joins our party on their journey. Jar-Jar Binks he ain't.
Things do at least pick up for an impressive climax set in a pyramid (!), where we see the Aurora borealis getting channelled into the ground or something. There's an impressive battle between the aforementioned troglodyte and a good-looking sabre-tooth tiger and a predictable "collapse" of the building at the very end. The film also receives marks for having one original moment where the explorers travel to an icy region and battle a walrus; at least there was something that hadn't been done before. So, in all, SINBAD AND THE EYE OF THE TIGER is a film for a) Jane Seymour fanciers, b) Harryhausen enthusiasts, and c) people who enjoy watching old-fashioned adventure yarns and don't mind over-long running times and a lack of acting and story. Not totally worthless, but definitely one of the weakest in the sub-genre, although that still makes it tons better than modern soulless CGI adventure films.