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Rating: 4 out of 5
Growing up, I remember watching The Golden Voyage of Sinbad on whatever channel. I remember some dude with a golden helmet, a creature with six arms twirled around swords, and some giant eye. I was young back then. Recently, I was chilling at home and going through the movies section on YouTube. As I scrolled, it was like the skies opened and shone a light on this film. The little kid inside me got excited because it had been YEARS since I’d seen this film. I quickly hit play, and you know what? I highly enjoyed the film all over again.
Here is a little background on the famous sailor. Sinbad is a mariner from Baghdad. I wonder if he is best buds with Aladdin. Sinbad is known for his seven voyages through the seas of Arifa and Asia. His stories are filled with wonders, supernatural forces, sea monsters, and things that go bump on the seas. I wonder if he also met Captain Jack Sparrow during his adventures.
Let’s set sail on this voyage and tale of Sinbad. Directed by Gordon Hessler and having those fantastic but old-school stop-motion effects by Ray Harryhausen, this tale of Sinbad was filled with wonder, adventures, and battles. On the high seas, Sinbad (Law) is doing his thang and chilling on his boat when a weird-looking creature drops a golden tablet. He looked at it and was like, this will be a fly-ass necklace. During the night, while Sinbad is sleeping, he dreams of a man dressed in black and a mysterious but fine-ass girl with an eye tattooed on her right palm. When he wakes up, Sinbad learns that a storm has sailed his ship to the country of Marabia. While in town, Sinbad is rolled up on by a man dressed in black and he had the nerve to ask for the amulet. Sinbad laughs, runs off, and manages to escape until he runs into the Grand Vizier of Marabia (Wilmer). Let me tell you about this dude. Homeboy wears a golden mask to hide his disfigured face. He explains that Sinbad holds one piece of a puzzle, and he holds the other. The Vizier explains that with both pieces and a map, they will learn the location of the Fountain of Destiney. Legend has it that the one with the three pieces who jumps into the fountain will receive youth, protection from darkness, and a crown of jewels. Not a bad freakin deal.
Sinbad is looking at this deal and agrees to help the Vizier find the fountain. Sinbad asks about the dark cloak man, and the golden helmet dude is like, that homeboy is trouble and an evil magician bent on taking over the world. He was the one who disfigured the Vizier by trapping him in a room and lighting it on fire. The creature that dropped the amulet is one of his evil ass homunculus. Sinbad sees who he is up against when he meets the girl in his dream named Margiana (Munro). Margiana is a slave girl but homegirl is FOINE!! Sinbad thinks he is done when her master asks him to take his lazy ass son Haroun (Christian) with him with the hope of turning him into a man aka, dude needed to go through the Mulan training. With his new passengers, Sinbad sets sail while the evil dude is on his tail.
That is the setup of the story. I highly enjoyed the story. It wasn’t all over the place. The story took you on an adventure where if you were a crew member of Sinbad, you would either live or die. You would also see some crazy ass shit. Besides the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, the Sinbad films are the only ones that feature adventure on the high seas, and I am all about it.
This movie does so well with the whole stop-motion effects and special effects, and it keeps you interested in the story with creature after creature that attacks. First, Sinbad has to fight his ship’s female wooden figurehead. On an island, Sinbad hears the Oracle of All Knowledge (played by freakin Rober Shaw) and what he is about to face. First, dude, can you tell me the freakin lottery numbers. Now, the crazy scene is when Koura animates an idol of Kali, the six-armed goddess of death. This was a scene of greatness as homegirl twirled those swords around. This was the one scene I remember the most because my little brain couldn’t handle watching this greatness unfold on the screen. Also, you know you need a centaur, and there is one in this one; the finale was great, with two dudes fighting behind a waterfall-like thing.
The Golden Voyage of Sinbad is a great film with fantastic stop-motion effects. It brought up all the little kid’s wide-eyed feelings when I first saw it. All the stop-motion effects in this film are great, from the figurehead to Kali and the centaur. The actors did their job and really kept this film going. I highly recommend watching this film and maybe sign up to be a sailor.
