The Golden Voyage of Sinbad
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| The Golden Voyage of Sinbad | |
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 Theatrical poster to The Golden Voyage of Sinbad |
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| Directed by | Gordon Hessler |
| Produced by | Charles H. Schneer Ray Harryhausen |
| Starring | John Phillip Law Tom Baker Takis Emmanuel Caroline Munro Douglas Wilmer Martin Shaw |
| Music by | Miklós Rózsa |
| Editing by | Roy Watts |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
| Release date(s) | April 5, 1974 |
| Running time | 105 min. |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, made in 1974 and starring John Phillip Law as Sinbad, is considered by many fans to be one of the best Sinbad films of all time. Tom Baker's performance as the evil wizard Koura was a key factor in his being cast on Doctor Who. It includes a robust score by composer Miklós Rózsa and is noted for the stop-motion effects by Ray Harryhausen.
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[edit] Plot
While he is sailing, Sinbad comes across a golden tablet dropped by a mysterious flying creature, which he decides to use as an ornament on his necklace. That night, Sinbad has a strange dream, where he sees a man dressed in black, repeatedly yelling Sinbad's name. Sinbad also sees a mysterious girl with an eye-tattoo on her right palm. The next day, Sinbad's ship is brought to a coastal town in the country of Marabia by a mysterious force.
Sinbad eventually encounters the Grand Vizier of Marabia (Douglas Wilmer) outside his palace. The Vizer says that the ornament on his necklace is actually the second piece of a puzzle, of which the Vizier himself already has another piece, which makes them both allies against one enemy: Koura, the evil magician, who wishes to conquer Marabia. The Vizier explains to Sinbad that there is a legend that the 3 puzzle pieces, when put together, will make a map that will show the owner the way to the Fountain of Destiny, which is hidden somewhere on the lost continent of Lemuria. The fountain itself is magical, and any bearer of the fountain will receive youth, a shield of darkness and a crown of untold riches. Sinbad agrees to help the Vizier find the fountain.
The Vizier also tells Sinbad that Koura, who is also looking for the Fountain of Destiny, locked him in a room, set the room on fire, horribly burning the his face. Now, the Vizier is required to wear a golden mask to hide his deformed features. Then he informs Sinbad that the creature that dropped the gold tablet on Sinbad's ship was one of Koura's minions that was created by using his black magic.
Shortly afterward, Sinbad meets with the girl he saw in his dream, and she tells Sinbad that her name is Margiana (Caroline Munro). She, just like the Vizier, joins Sinbad on his voyage. Once they are at sea, Margiana claims that she is now Sinbad's slave, but Sinbad refuses to own her. Koura, who now has a ship and crew of his own, is following Sinbad's ship, and he uses black magic several times in an attempt to halt Sinbad's progress as he helps the Vizier on the quest to find the Fountain of Destiny.
Sinbad fights the one-eyed Centaur, Kali, and his own ship's wooden mascot on his journey. Once they reach the fountain, Koura gets the youth and the shield which turns him invisible. However, in the matter of luck, Sinbad succeeds in killing the magician. Sinbad then, instead of taking the crown of untold riches for himself, instead gives it to the Grand Vizier, in an act of selflessness. The crown's magic powers causes the Vizer's mask to dissolve, and heals his face. Then Sinbad, the Vizier, and the rest of the crew return to Marabia.
[edit] Cast
- John Phillip Law as Sinbad
- Tom Baker as Koura
- Takis Emmanuel as Achmed
- Caroline Munro as Margiana
- Douglas Wilmer as Vizier
- Martin Shaw as Rachid
- Robert Shaw as the Oracle
[edit] Trivia
- An early charcoal/pencil illustration of the film showed the one-eyed Centaur having a battle with a Giant Neanderthal man. The Neanderthal man was later replaced by a Griffin, in the final film. The Giant Neanderthal idea was later used in Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977).
- Christopher Lee was a front runner for the role of Koura the sorcerer.
- The captioner for this movie decided to have some fun with Prince Koura's lines. When he is mumbling "foreign words" to cast a spell, the captions are backwards lines from Cocoa Puffs and Trix commercials.
- Takis Emmanuel is dubbed by Robert Rietty
- This film helped Tom Baker get the lead role in the TV series Doctor Who.
- The actual model of the Centaur was about 13 inches high and had ocelot fur on its legs and a small doll's eye in its forehead.
- When Sinbad drives his sword to the Centaur's neck a process called Shadow Boxing was used, John Philip Law played out the scene by himself pin-pointing where the sword would stop and then the Centaur's "neck" was added at that particular spot.
- Just thinking up the idea of a cyclopean centaur is a long way from reality, and Ray spent considerable time designing the creature, trying to achieve a believable half-man half-horse, but at the same time making him look menacing.
- Ray Harryhausen confesses that when he was animating the centaur, he had in mind an opera tenor in his final death throes.
- The entire film was completed for $982,351, a remarkably small sum even for a film in the early 1970s.
- Fernando Poggi was once again on board to provide his valuable expertise for the use of the sword fighting sequences. Poggi strapped two of his stuntmen together with a very large belt. This then simulated the six arms of the living statue Kali, giving the actors at least four of the six arms to practice against.
- Originally they wanted to use the Alhambra palace for some of the shots but the authorities were asking for a huge fee for the rental, so they were forced to look elsewhere, eventually the found the Palace Generalife, Palma, Majorca. Other scenes were film in the Caves of Arta (the temple of the Oracle) and the Torrente de Pareis.
- The miniature set for the Fountain of Destiny was huge. The monoliths were 32 inches high and the fountain was constantly maintained at a height of 51 inches. The rock background was over 15 feet high and the whole thing was built on a wooden platform 32 inches from the ground.
- Actor/playwright/novelist Robert Shaw played the Oracle of All Knowledge in an uncredited role.
[edit] Quotes
- "Trust in Allah but tie up your camel".
- Haroun: "I am the lightest." Sinbad: "But I am the most foolhardy."
- Haroun: "My heart is filled with courage!" [pause] Haroun: "But I have very cowardly legs."
