Le Voyage fantastique de Sinbad

Disappointing, especially since I am forced to compare it to Juran's The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, which, though 16 years older, is infinitely more entertaining and has better visual effects. My favourite visual effects wizard Ray Harryhausen (Clash of the Titans) really shone in that film, but here he seems to be skimping. Particularly in the first seventy minutes, apart from the animated wooden statue from the bow of the ship and the two little devils that more or less just flicker in and out of view, nothing major happens visually. That is quite a problem for a film whose focus and sole justification is Harryhausen's one-man-show (he also co-produced it), and which, due to a weak script and an all-too-simple plot, has no chance to impress with anything else. The film is simply boring, the not-so-skilled director fails to breathe more life into it, and the animated six-armed Kali (very nice, Harryhausen did a good job), the one-eyed centaur and the four-legged bird in the last half-hour can't save it. Neither my fondness for Harryhausen, nor nostalgia, nor pretty memories of the time when I literally devoured Sinbad in the cinema as a kid can save the final impression. (26/07/2005)

The worst of "Harryhausen's" Sinbads. Boredom takes up about an hour and a half of the 105-minute length. Unreal, empty, annoying and unexpected boredom. If it weren't for the special effects of the aforementioned RH, especially the animated wooden statue (one of the master's highlights, look how realistic it looks) and the sabers with the six-armed goddess Kali (an inspiration for the ILM boys and their General Grievous in the third Star Wars?), this film wouldn't have offered much of anything special. The final monster fight didn't fit the film at all and Sinbad's fight with the invisible villain wasn't bad, but to be honest I wasn't overly interested in it. I give two stars only for the special effects and Rózsa's music (although he is not up to the level of Herrmann). (02/07/2011)

The Golden Voyage of Sinbad is qualitatively on a rather similar level to Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger, released four years ealier. As far as Ray Harryhausen's visual effects is concerned, once again it is an impressive work and breathtaking for its time; I must especially commend the sequence with the animated six-armed goddess. The acting is rather laughable for today's standards and the story is rather clichéd, but for the technical workmanship and the generally decent action, this film deserves the viewer's attention. (22/08/2019)

Where to find weaknesses? To some extent in a story that is actually quite simple, although true, at least mythological, although I have the feeling that nobody really bothered with mythology and its geography. It contains Greek, Arabic and Indian elements all in one. And it looks good, at least not bad. The acting performances are not astonishing, but the presence of Martin Shaw, whom most Czech viewers know from the TV series "The Professionals", is pleasing. He portrays Doyle. The female heroine is mainly here because she is a beautiful woman, but that is what adventures are all about - beautiful women. "The Golden Journey of Sindbad" is, in the end, another great adventure spectacle where you will be looking forward to every trick scene that is about to come. More: http://www.filmovy-denik.cz/2013/09/zlata-sindibadova-cesta-1973-80.html (22/09/2013)