User Reviews

Sinbad must recover five magical stones to free the city of Basra from the evil spell cast by a wizard.

His journey takes him to the isle of the Amazons where the queen tries to capture him, to a battle with ghost warriors on the isle of the dead, and ultimately to a battle with his own double.....

You know your in good company when the Cannon group logo appears for a film, and much like every film released by them, good or bad, you know what you are going to get, thanks to the title, and knowing that the only actor in this film you have heard of is Ferrigno.

Yes, the film is all kinds if bad, from the script, to the choreography, the awful acting and overacting of the cast, its a poor film.

But it's never boring, not for one minute.

When Sinbad escapes from a dungeon using deadly snakes as a rope, you give up all hope of watching a movie in the vein of the Harryhausen classics, and settle for men in very bad costumes.

Ferrigno, buff as he is, has no screen presence whatsoever. His lines are delivered flatly, and he has the same look on his face throughout the whole movie. His little speech to the animatronic, or finger puppet reptiles, is the single most funniest part of the film.

And I've not even mentioned the rock monster who tries to kill our hero by hugging him.

So, now we know, and probably the studio also knew that Ferrigno is the cheap Schwarzeneggar, who's great idea was it to have him fight himself at the end?

Even though I hadn't eaten all day, I felt stuffed at the end of this epic battle because of all the ham on screen.

Jafar has to be seen to be believed, he is brilliant because he is so over the top, but its impossible to describe his part.

All in all its a terrible film, but any aspiring filmmaker needs to see it, so you never make the same mistake..

Basically, you can take the comments I recently wrote on Lou Ferrigno's two Hercules movies and apply them to his Sinbad outing. If possible, however, Sinbad of the Seven Seas is even more of a snooze-fest than those two films. I don't know when I've been so utterly bored by a movie. I could do the usual and mention the cheap special effects, the ludicrous plot, the laughable dialogue, or the really bad acting, but it seems a bit like piling on. Suffice it to say that everything (and I mean everything) about Sinbad of the Seven Seas is about as bad as you'll see.

One thing I will mention in a little detail is the music. The score was done on a cheap synthesizer and lacks any depth or soul. Someone named Dov Seltzer is credited as the "composer". You could have fooled me! After watching the opening credits, I was sure the old Super Nintendo system would get the music credits.

One of my earliest encounters with "Euro-Cult" cinema was virtually two decades before the term itself came to be coined and it happened via a TV screening of an obscure, Italian-made, comical Arabian Nights fantasy entitled SINBAD AND THE CALIPH OF BAGHDAD (1973) which, unsurprisingly, I haven't seen again since. Incidentally, while Italians usually dabbled more in Greek mythology than in tales from the 1001 nights – in fact, I would love to revisit both the afore-mentioned SINBAD film and the Steve Reeves version of THE THIEF OF BAGDAD (1961; which, again, is lost to me in the mists of time) someday – the character of Sinbad featured in at least two other Italian productions I know of – SINBAD AGAINST THE SEVEN SARACENS (1964; with Gordon Mitchell in the lead and which I've actually missed out on twice on TV recently) and, naturally, the film under review itself.

Dubbed a "complete disaster" by Euro-Cult expert Marco Giusti, this was originally intended as a 4-part TV mini-series and was to have been directed by Luigi Cozzi (who had previously helmed the two HERCULES movies with Lou Ferrigno) but he had to be replaced due to conflicting commitments. As it happened, incoming director Castellari (whom I've met personally while at the Venice Film Festival in 2004) entirely rewrote Cozzi's script but, despite the considerable budget spent on the production, it was actually shelved for two years before Cozzi was eventually recalled to re-edit Castellari's rough-cut! Cozzi also shot new scenes – including the entire framework featuring Daria Nicolodi and his own daughter Giada, which purports to pass the following fiasco as a faithful filmization of an obscure Edgar Allan Poe Arabian Nights story! In an unwieldy attempt to bestow on the disparate elements a semblance of cohesion, Nicolodi's narration was overused to such an absurd extent (covering whole stretches of dialogue between Sinbad and his men) that it was an endless source of irritation for me throughout. Even so, this troubled Italian production, ironically, does not seem to have ever received theatrical release in its native country hence the official English title! Furthermore, Castellari was unaware that the film had actually been completed and released and only learned this when he chanced upon the film in a video store and, understandably, he couldn't bear watching more than a few minutes of it himself! Incidentally, despite the released version not being Castellari's "vision", he is the only director credited (due to contractual obligations) – although the IMDb lists someone called Tim Kincaid as a co-director…but his name does not appear anywhere in the credits of the version I've seen!!

John Steiner's outrageously over-the-top, eye-rolling performance – complete with elongated green fingernail and madly tilted framing – as (what else?) Jafar the wicked Vizier is something that has to be seen to be believed but is, in fact, one of the minimally bright spots in the film; the same applies to the actress playing Kyra, Sinbad's belated love interest (Stefania Girolami, who was not only director Castellari's daughter but this actually proved to be her swansong to acting before embarking on a directorial career herself!). Steiner's muscular female ally Soukra (Teagan) seems only to be there to belittle the former's would-be infallible plans and does not even have a decent exit of any kind! Future Italian TV personality Leo Gullotta, then, is embarrassing as the aptly named Nadir, a silly wizard/inventor who talks gibberish and is also Girolami's father.

Lou Ferrigno's one-note performance in the title role extends only to his perennially bemused facial expression – even when required to play his evil doppelganger – making Sinbad seem unintentionally moronic, never more so than when he impulsively "frightens" Gullotta or when he is made to mouth such utterly terrible lines as "Gosh, you're sure beautiful" (to a would-be irresistible Amazon Queen) and "No, dice, huh?". Naturally, Sinbad has a motley crew of followers: a grumpy Viking, a martial arts expert spouting such dubious Confucian proverbs as "When the world around you has been turned upside down, chin up", a "Prince Charming" named Ali, a Greek cook who is also a hulking coward and, a staple of the peplum genre – the would-be comic relief provided by an irritable (and irritating) dwarf, here stupidly named Poochie! Besides, it's hard to believe that Alessandra Martines (who plays the kidnapped princess here) went on to become the wife of someone who, at his best, was considered one of the most sophisticated film-makers of his time – Claude Lelouch!; incidentally, she would eventually star in her own cult fantasy franchise – the numerous "Fantaghiro'" series directed by Lamberto Bava!

Listing the film's other flaws would be a Herculean task; suffice it to mention Dov Seltzer's hideously inappropriate electronic soundtrack, a hilarious sequence in which Sinbad is dropped into a snake pit but eventually escapes by making a rope out of assorted cobras(!) and the cheapskate usage of stock footage lifted from a much earlier peplum, HERCULES AGAINST THE MOON MEN (1964) as just three examples of the seemingly limitless ineptitude on display here; to the film's credit, it uncannily predates Disney's wonderful animated feature, ALADDIN (1992), in many respects – not least the appearance of Jafar and the Caliph! Furthermore, ironically enough, my viewing of this total turd led to my discovery that the Image R1 DVDs SADKO aka THE MAGIC VOYAGE OF SINBAD (1953) and ILYA MUROMETS aka THE SWORD AND THE DRAGON (1956) are now out-of-print! Actually, I had originally intended to watch SINBAD THE SAILOR (1947) as well during the Christmas period but had to postpone that viewing due to time constraints and unforeseen family events. Ultimately, the two HERCULES movies with Lou Ferroigno were also pretty awful but at least they showed a modicum of imagination and ingenuity at work and were undeniably lots of fun to watch and make fun of; SINBAD OF THE SEVEN SEAS doesn't even have that mixed blessing to offer its unfortunate viewers.

well, here you have musclehead retard Hercules...pardon Sinbad in a stitched-together movie basically "borrowing" from many other movies, namely Harryhausen, Jason & the argonauts, Sinbad movies (EG a number of moon to counter a spell ) but even from Ferrigno's Hercules movies and the silly magician Nadir is borrowed from I PALADINI (then the part was taken by Maurizio Nichetti ), Conan the barbarian (the alluring amazon queen turning into a old witch during a seduction scene ) etc. Acting is nearly non-existent, but slightly better than the Hercules movies. Evil visir dethrones senile calif and captures his bimbo daughter ( a young Alessandra Martines bound to some of these recurring "fantasy" roles ); band of iconic merry simpletons (including a dwarf, a Chinese and a "viking" ) escort Sinbad (who adds the "bada$$ grin" to his few facial expressions) during his quest for the lost "sacred gems" (Dragonball anyone? ). Jaffar the evil vizir is in bad need of a orthodontist and overacts like a high school performer (in need of a paycheck, huh?). SFX are amateurish to laughable. Sets are more "lavish", if we can use that word for this C-tier thing, and coherent than the Hercules movies, but nowhere beyond low-budget C-tier level. Picture the blob of 1980s VHS tripe, then focus on the lowest average to get a picture. Mind you, if you are under 12 the movie might hold some residual charm, and after all I have seen worst movies. Well, considering that Ferrigno's main acting exploit consisted in impersonating a retarded green monster, wearing a whig and green espadrillas, we ought to be lenient.

No nudity, no gore, gratuitous Luigi Cozzi. Sinbad goes on a quest to foil the evil Jaffar's sinister plans. Along the way he encounters a number of obstacles including bog monsters, death traps, and more rubber monsters. - - - This is another diabolical creation from Luigi Cozzi and Lou Ferrigno, who both birthed a couple of cheesy Hercules adaptations in the 80s. This one pretty much follows suit with their previous work by including tons of horrible looking special effects, bad acting, and Ferrigno acting through his biceps. This one is particularly disjointed, which may have to do with a troubled production history, and suffers from not having the bright pretty colors that at least made "Hercules" fun to look at it. I can't recommend this, but if you like your fantasy all wholesome and enjoy a terrible movie every once in a while, it can be a laugh riot.

*1/2 out of 4

I liked this. Sinbad and his jolly crew; a prince, a samurai, a viking, a dwarf and a bald cook have to find five gemstones and rescue Alina the princess of Basra. Against them is the wicked magician Jaffar. That's all you need to know about the plot. It's a good-natured adventure story with magic and romance and lots of fighting. It looks decent, filmed in Panavision and Telecolor, and some of the visuals are creative.

Lou Ferrigno as Sinbad may not be a good actor but he looks the part. His muscles are all real and it's nice to have the beautiful Daria Nicolodi as narrator. Overshadowing all the actors is John Steiner as Jaffar who gives a performance of unparalleled ham not seen since the days of Tod Slaughter. He is a delight to behold and adds to the undemanding entertainment value of the movie.

There is a striking scene where the knights of death come back to life which reminded me of the heights of Italian horror from the 70's and 80's. I liked this.