The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, 1958.
Directed by Nathan Juran.
Starring Kerwin Mathews, Kathryn Grant, Richard Eyer, and Torin Thatcher.
SYNOPSIS:
The 7th Voyage of Sinbad makes its 4k Ultra HD debut, courtesy of Warner Archive. It’s an okay movie, but it’s worth watching to admire the effects work by stop-motion animation pioneer Ray Harryhausen, who picked up the torch from Willis O’Brien (King Kong and other films) and did tons of great work during his career. The film has been restored, and you get a couple new bonus features, along with a Blu-ray disc (the same one issued in 2008) and a code for a digital copy.
The 7th Voyage of Sinbad probably wouldn’t be getting a 4K Ultra HD release from Warner Archive if it wasn’t for the Ray Harryhausen connection. Directed by Nathan Juran, it’s a nice little story about Sinbad’s (Kerwin Mathews) adventure to retrieve the shell of the mythological bird of prey the Roc so that the magician Sokurah (Torin Thatcher) can create a potion that will restore the princess Parisa (Kathryn Grant) to her full size.
Of course, Sokurah was the one who shrank Parisa, since he was angry that Sinbad wouldn’t return to the island Colossa and help him retrieve the magic lamp that he lost. While Sinbad and his crew are suspicious of Sokurah in general, I don’t recall that anyone connected the magician to Parisa’s overnight shrinking. Hmmm.
Well, story holes aside, this is really a film to watch so you can marvel at the magic of Ray Harryhausen, who animated the Roc, cyclops, dragon, skeleton warrior, and other creatures in the stop-motion style that was the only way to do that kind of thing in the pre-CGI days. This was his first full-color movie, as well the debut of what he called “Dynamation.”
Warner has done probably as good of a job of restoring this film as was possible. The grain feels obtrusively heavy sometimes, and the image is noticeably soft during a lot of scenes with optical effects where the animation and live action had to be combined, but I don’t know if much more could be done with the existing film elements. I also don’t know if more money could have been put into it to make it look better — if that was possible, then I could see why the accountants wanted to hold the line with the budget for this one.
The package includes a Blu-ray disc that’s identical to the one Sony issued in 2008, along with a code for a digital copy. The 4K platter serves up the trailer from the movie’s theatrical re-release, along with The Harryhausen Chronicles, a nearly one-hour 1998 TV special narrated by Leonard Nimoy and featuring George Lucas, Tom Hanks, Ray Bradbury, and others extolling the virtues of the stop-motion animation pioneer.
The Blu-ray disc’s special features lead off with an archival commentary track featuring Harryhausen, legendary next-gen stop-motion effects artist Phil Tippett, and others, including author Steven Smith, who offers a lot of historical context. The rest of the extras on the platter include:
• Remembering the 7th Voyage of Sinbad (23:31): Harryhausen pops in again to look back on the making of the movie. He repeats some info from the commentary track but still gives plenty of good original details too.
• The Harryhausen Legacy (25:32): Tippett reappears, along with fellow special effects gurus Ken Ralston, John Dykstra, and Dennis Muren, directors Joe Dante and Frank Darabont, and others to pay homage to Harryhausen.
• The Music of Bernard Herrmann (26:52): Steven Smith, who wrote a biography about the legendary composer, shows up to wax nostalgic about someone who was an integral part of the film industry for several decades.
• A Look Behind the Voyage (11:47): More about Harryhausen’s career.
• This is Dynamation (Special Effects) (3:25): A short examination of the film’s effects.
• Ray Harryhausen – Interviewed by John Landis (11:52): What the title says.
A photo gallery and the music video for the song “Sinbad May Have Been Bad, But He’s Been Good To Me,” which was created to promote the film, round out the platter.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Brad Cook
