The Golden Voyage of Sinbad

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The Golden Voyage of Sinbad
Theatrical release poster by Brian Bysouth
Directed by	Gordon Hessler
Written by	Brian Clemens
Story by	Brian Clemens Ray Harryhausen
Based on	Sinbad the Sailor from One Thousand and One Nights
Produced by	Charles H. Schneer Ray Harryhausen
Starring	John Phillip Law Caroline Munro Tom Baker
Cinematography	Ted Moore
Edited by	Roy Watts
Music by	Miklós Rózsa
Production company	Morningside Productions
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release dates	20 December 1973 (1973-12-20) (London, England) 25 January 1974 (1974-01-25) (United Kingdom) 5 April 1974 (1974-04-05) (United States)
Running time	105 minutes
Countries	United States United Kingdom
Language	English
Budget	$982,351[1]
Box office	$11 million (USA/Canada) 37.5 million tickets (overseas)

The Golden Voyage of Sinbad is a 1973 fantasy adventure film directed by Gordon Hessler, featuring stop-motion effects by Ray Harryhausen. The film stars John Phillip Law, Tom Baker, Takis Emmanuel, and Caroline Munro. Based on the Arabian Nights tales of Sinbad the Sailor, it is the second of three Sinbad films released by Columbia Pictures, following The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958) and preceding Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977).

The film follows the story of Captain Sinbad (Law) as he embarks on a dangerous quest to find the Fountain of Destiny after discovering a magical golden amulet. Joined by a vizier and a slave girl (Munro), he must battle the evil sorcerer Koura (Baker) and mythical creatures to unlock the amulet's powers before Koura can use them for evil.

The Golden Voyage of Sinbad premiered on 25 December 1973 and received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised its stop-motion effects and fantastical adventure elements; however, some critics noted flaws in the storyline and character development. Commercially, the film emerged as a box-office success, grossing over $11 million worldwide against a budget of approximately $982,351. Moreover, it also won the first Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film.^[2]

A mysterious flying creature soars over a ship at sea, clutching a shiny object. A crewman shoots an arrow at it, which causes the creature to drop the golden amulet. The crew wants to throw the object overboard, but when Sinbad, the captain, examines it, he sees a vision of a mysterious woman with an eye tattooed on the palm of her right hand. He fastens the amulet around his neck. That night, he dreams of a man dressed in black, repeatedly calling his name, along with the woman.

A sudden storm drives Sinbad's ship near a coastal town in the country of Marabia. The man from Sinbad's dream appears as a mirage on the shore. Sinbad swims ashore. The man, an evil magician named Koura, demands the amulet, claiming it is his. Sinbad narrowly escapes into the city and meets the Grand Vizier of Marabia, who has been ruling as regent since the sultan's death, as there was no heir. The Vizier, who wears a golden mask to hide his disfigured face, explains that Sinbad's amulet is one piece of a larger puzzle; the Vizier possesses another. He tells Sinbad of a legend: the three pieces are the key to finding the fabled Fountain of Destiny on the lost continent of Lemuria. Whoever brings the pieces to the Fountain will gain "youth, a shield of darkness, and a crown of untold riches." Sinbad realizes that the two pieces fit together to form a nautical chart.

Sinbad joins the Vizier on his quest to find the Fountain. Koura, who also desires the Fountain's gifts, caused the Vizier's disfigurement. The creature that dropped the amulet was Koura's minion, a magical homunculus, which spies on Sinbad and the Vizier. When they catch it, the creature destroys itself.

Soon after, Sinbad meets the woman from his dream, a slave girl named Margiana. Seeing Sinbad's interest in the girl, her master offers Sinbad 400 coins and Margiana in exchange for taking his lazy son Haroun on the journey to make a man out of him. Sinbad reluctantly agrees. Meanwhile, Koura hires a ship and crew to follow Sinbad, using his magic to try to stop him. However, each spell drains part of Koura's life force, causing him to age visibly with each attempt.

On their journey, Sinbad and his crew face numerous dangers, including the wooden siren figurehead of their ship, which Koura animates with magic to steal the map, allowing him to locate Lemuria. Koura sends another homunculus to spy on Sinbad, overhearing the Oracle of All Knowledge describe the perils Sinbad will face. Koura seals Sinbad and his men inside the Oracle's cave, but they escape using a makeshift rope. Haroun destroys the homunculus as it attacks Sinbad.

Captured by hostile natives, Koura animates a six-armed statue of Kali, which cows the natives. Sinbad and his men arrive shortly after and fight the statue. Haroun pushes the statue from behind, causing it to fall and shatter. They find the final piece of the puzzle among Kali's remains. The natives capture Sinbad and his crew, but upon seeing the eye tattoo on Margiana's hand, they decide to sacrifice her to a one-eyed centaur, their God of the Single Eye and the Fountain's Guardian of Evil.

Koura reaches the Fountain of Destiny and drops one piece of the amulet into the water, restoring his life force. He summons the centaur, which battles the Guardian of Good, a griffin. Sinbad and his crew arrive as the centaur, with Koura's help, kills the griffin. After Sinbad slays the centaur, Koura drops the second piece into the Fountain, which turns him invisible (the "shield of darkness"). Koura engages Sinbad in a sword fight, but when he steps into the Fountain, he becomes visible in silhouette, enabling Sinbad to fatally stab him. When Sinbad drops the third piece into the Fountain, a crown rises from the depths. Sinbad presents it to the Vizier, whose mask dissolves as he puts it on, revealing his restored face. When Margiana asks why Sinbad did not take the crown for himself, he replies that he values his freedom more.

• John Phillip Law as Sinbad, the protagonist
• Tom Baker as Prince Koura, the main antagonist of the film. His role helped him land the part of the Fourth Doctor in the TV series Doctor Who; the show's producer, Barry Letts, was impressed with his performance.^[3]
• Takis Emmanuel as Achmed (Emmanuel was dubbed by Robert Rietti)
• Caroline Munro as Margiana
• Grégoire Aslan as Hakim (as Gregoire Aslan)
• David Garfield as Abdul (as John D. Garfield)
• Kurt Christian as Haroun
• Martin Shaw as Rachid
• Aldo Sambrell as Omar
• Robert Shaw as The Oracle of All Knowledge
• Douglas Wilmer as The Grand Vizier of Marabia

Producer Charles Schneer explained that he and Ray Harryhausen decided to make another Sinbad movie because they "felt it was time to return to the Arabian Nights," as no one else was exploring this material, and they had previously experienced great success with it in the late 1950s. Schneer believed there was a new audience ready for such a film and noted that other producers likely avoided this genre because they did not know how to make it economically viable.^[4] Harryhausen created a dozen master sketches that Schneer described as "intriguing, interesting, and characteristic of the period." These sketches served as the basis for the screenplay, which was written by Brian Clemens. To reflect Harryhausen's increased involvement in the writing, editing, and casting process, he was given a co-producer credit.^[4]

Schneer mentioned that John Phillip Law was cast in the lead role at Columbia's suggestion. He noted that Law "wasn't very athletic" and "didn't handle a sword as well as Kerwin did," referring to Kerwin Mathews, who had played Sinbad in The 7th Voyage of Sinbad. Schneer also remarked that Law was "kind of flat-footed" but did his best in the role. Additionally, Schneer was not entirely satisfied with Law's decision to use a Middle Eastern accent in the film.^[5]

Caroline Munro was cast in the female lead role because, as Schneer explained, "We wanted her to project that sex appeal, because that was what was happening at the time in the film business. But we were still making a G-rated picture, so we went for G-rated sex appeal."^[5]

Schneer and Harryhausen decided to base their production in Spain, specifically in Madrid and on the island of Majorca, to take advantage of the region's rugged scenery. At one point, they considered filming some scenes at the famous Alhambra palace in Granada, but the rental fees demanded by the local authorities were too high. Instead, they filmed at the Royal Palace of La Almudaina in Palma, Majorca. Additional scenes were shot in the Caves of Artà (used as the temple of the Oracle) and the Torrent de Pareis.^[6]

The film was shot between June and August 1972.^[7]

An early charcoal/pencil illustration depicted a one-eyed centaur battling a giant Neanderthal-like creature. However, this creature was eventually replaced by a griffin in the final version of the film. The idea of the Neanderthal was later used in Sinbad and the Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977).^[8]

The Golden Voyage of Sinbad received generally favorable reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a rating of 75% based on 16 reviews, with an average rating of 5.6/10.^[9]

In the United States and Canada, The Golden Voyage of Sinbad emerged as a commercial success at the box-office, earning a total revenue of $11,000,000, including $5,000,000 in rentals, bringing its total gross to $16,000,000—the equivalent of $78,227,342 in 2016 dollars.^[10] The film was produced on a modest budget of $982,351, a small sum even for a film in the early 1970s.

Overseas, it sold 37 million tickets in the Soviet Union and 527,437 tickets in France, for a combined total of at least 37,527,437 tickets sold internationally.^[11][12]

However, Columbia Pictures did not fully benefit from the film's success, as they had sold off all their interest in its 1974 slate to Bright-Persky Associates.^[5]

On 25 February 2018, filmmaker John Walsh, a trustee of the Ray and Diana Harryhausen Foundation, gave a talk at the historic Regent Street Cinema in London during a special 45th anniversary screening of a restored version of The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, alongside Caroline Munro.^[13]

Marvel Comics published a two-issue adaptation of The Golden Voyage of Sinbad in Worlds Unknown #7–8 (June & August 1974).^[14] Titled The Golden Voyage of Sinbad: Land of the Lost, it was scripted by Len Wein, penciled by George Tuska, and inked by Vince Colletta.

The Golden Voyage of Sinbad was released in the United Kingdom on VHS in 1991.^{[citation needed]}

It has been released in Blu-ray, in a limited edition of 3000^[15] and in the series The Fantastic Films of Ray Harryhausen (along with The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, Jason and the Argonauts and Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger).^[16]

• Scapperotti, Dan R; Bartholomew, David (1974). "The Golden Voyage of Sinbad". Cinefantastique. Vol. 3, no. 2. pp. 4–5, 42–45 – via Internet Archive.

• The Golden Voyage of Sinbad at IMDb
• The Golden Voyage of Sinbad at the TCM Movie Database
• The Golden Voyage of Sinbad at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films