7th Voyage of Sinbad 1958 Review

7th Voyage of Sinbad 1958  — 

Ray Harryhausen's  superbly realized  hand crafted  stop motion animated creatures and monsters highlight this fantasy adventure film.  It's the first time Harryhausen's work was seen in a feature length film in glorious color.   It also features a superb Bernard Herrman music score. 

The screenplay and acting leave a bit to be desired at times, but quite frankly that also adds something to the magical fantasy element this film embraces from start to finish.  

Evil power hungry magician Sokurah (Torin Hatcher)  unleashes a power play when he shrinks Princess Parisa (Kathryn Grant)  to the size of a child's doll.   

The only thing that can save her is the egg of the mythical ROC a gigantic bird that lives on the Island of Colossa.   Sokurah wants to get to Colossa because there is a huge treasure on the island.  

Sinbad (a dashing Kerwin Mathews) hires a crew of scrappy somewhat mutinious ruffians along with Sokurah (who needs to make the potion to break the spell) and the  miniature Princess to set sail for the Island of Colossa.    On the island there is also the giant Cyclops, a fire breathing dragon and the mutant Roc.

Torin Hatcher is a lot of fun to watch as he shamelessly overacts portraying the evil Sokuran.   The romance sub-plot is sugary sweet but not much time is spent on it.

The incredible special effects, even though today they are somewhat dated, are still absolutely breathtaking.  The slightly herky jerky motions make the monsters seem like they came out of some very colorful nightmare.  And every creature seems to have a distinct personality.

Adults and kids of all ages will continue to delight in this one for years to come.

The 7th Voyage of Sinbad 1958   Directed by  Nathan Juran