Monster Movie Mayhem: The Golden Voyage of Sinbad

By CONNOR KEATING

“The 7th Voyage of Sinbad” is one of stop motion animator Ray Harryhausen’s most iconic and beloved films. It’s a fast-paced adventure with tons of action, however, I have to admit that I find it a little dry. I get why it’s so beloved as it was one of the first times many of the mythical creatures in the film were depicted in a way that does them justice and it’s a pretty fast-paced film, however, I find the story to be a bit bland with very generic characters and a villain with unclear motives. It wouldn’t be until 15 years later that it finally got its sequel in the form of “The Golden Voyage of Sinbad” which I feel surpasses the original in many ways.

The plot of the film is that Captain Sinbad one day obtains a mysterious gold object that was dropped onto his ship by a strange flying creature. However, the object causes him to have strange visions and dreams. Visions of a mysterious caped man and a woman with an eye tattooed on her hand. The visions lead him to find the sorcerer from his visions, the evil Koura who’s after the gold object around Sinbad’s neck. Koura chases Sinbad into town, ending the chase just at the gates. There, Sinbad meets a prince who wears a golden mask, and is in possession of another part of the gold object. The gold amulet is all part of some great legend, and they discover that it’s also a chart, so they decide to go on a little adventure to find the final piece and whatever treasure is waiting for them there, but before they go, Sinbad finds the woman from his visions and brings her along. Now Sinbad’s crew have to find the final piece of gold amulet, while being pursued by Koura. 

As you might be able to tell, the plot here is a big step up from “The 7th Voyage of Sinbad.” What the gold amulet pieces are and what they do are gradually revealed through the film, and what lies at the final destination is only known by the villain. This helps to give our antagonist a clearly defined motive, a fairly big issue with the prior film. I will say though, because of the film’s more elaborate plot, it’s a much slower film. However, once the crew sets sail, the film starts to move from one exciting action set piece to another. 

By far the biggest improvement is the characters. Sinbad himself feels much more defined here. A highly capable ship captain with a heart of gold, oftentimes sacrificing something that may be important to the journey in order to save his friends. Is he the greatest protagonist ever? No, but this is definitely my favorite version of the character. 

As I said earlier, the evil sorcerer Koura is a much better villain than the bald magician from the previous film. He feels far more threatening and oftentimes is responsible for the monsters that our characters face. And as I’ve said before, he’s got an actual reason for going after the amulet, and it’s something set up, and touched upon throughout. It’s also funny because his actor would go on to play the fourth Doctor in “Doctor Who”, so where as in that he’s a quirky eccentric, here he’s a menacing and evil sorcerer.

Then we have Vizier, the wise prince who wears a gold mask to cover his scarred face. His character kind of falls into that sort of “scientist” archetype since he’s been studying the golden amulet for many years trying to figure out what it is. Truthfully, Vizier isn’t quite as defined as Sinbad and Koura are; however, Vizier and Sinbad do play off of each other well, and Vizier manages to be a pretty charming character.

When it comes to the rest of the cast, they’re just kind of okay, but there are a few highlights. Margiana is the love interest for the film, and she’s really nothing too special. The only sort of “arc” (if you can even call it that) she has is basically warming up to Sinbad and realizing that she’s free after Sinbad gets her from some slave owner guy. And the reason that guy gave her to Sinbad, was to convince Sinbad to get his deadbeat son, Haroun, out of the house. Haroun is definitely one of the better side characters, starting off as a comic relief, out-of-his-element type of character, however, over the course of the adventure, he learns the ropes and becomes a member of Sinbad’s crew. The rest of his crew don’t do all that much, mostly pitching into fight scenes when needed.

Speaking of, the highlights are of course the exciting action scenes. Out of all of Harryhausen’s films, I’d say this one has the most unique roster of creatures. There’s a living wooden figurehead from Sinbad’s ship, a sword-swinging statue of Kali, a cyclops centaur, and a gryphon. Each of their action scenes is very well executed and fun. The best action scene is definitely the sword fight with Kali, as there are multiple actors clashing blades with the six-armed statue all at once. There’s also the fight between the gryphon and the Cyclops centaur, which probably gets second place, another fun fight. While the final showdown between Sinbad and Koura may not involve any sort of stop-motion monster, and has some pretty dated effects, it’s still an entertaining final duel to cap off the film.

“The Golden Voyage of Sinbad” is not one of Harryhausen’s most well-known films, however, I’d say it’s one of, if not, the best of his films. With an interesting plot, fun characters, and a unique set of creatures, it definitely stands out from the rest. The first act can be a bit slow, but once the monsters start coming, they don’t slow down. I give this film nine “green people” out of ten!

Connor Keating is a junior at Fort Hays State University, studying digital media and journalism. Connor is an old-school movie fan, particularly Japanese monster movies, and is an avid DVD collector.