Probably one of the Best screen adaptations of the 1001 Nights action hero: Sinbad the Sailor, in Ray Harryhausen’s The Golden Voyage of Sinbad with John Phillip Law in the title role aided by the ever Busty Caroline Munro and Memorable Stop Motion Creatures. I recall seeing this movie in Shiraz when it was released at the Cinema Aryana in Zand Street. What an excitement for the eyes and ears it was at the time …
The Golden Voyage of Sinbad is a fantasy film released in 1974 and starring John Phillip Law as Sinbad. It includes a score by composer Miklós Rózsa and is noted for the stop-motion effects by Ray Harryhausen. The film is the second installment of Harryhausen’s “Sinbad trilogy”, the others being The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958) and Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977).
Trailer:
And Sinbad’s amazing fight with the One Eyed Centaure ( Don’t be distracted by Munro’s Boobs) :
Sinbad fights the Kali:
Plot:
While sailing, Sinbad comes across a golden tablet dropped by a mysterious flying creature. He wears the tablet as an amulet around his neck. That night, Sinbad has a strange dream in which he sees a man dressed in black, repeatedly calling Sinbad’s name. Sinbad also sees a mysterious girl with an eye tattooed on her right palm. The next day, a mysterious force brings his ship to a coastal town in the country of Marabia.
Sinbad encounters the Grand Vizier of Marabia (Douglas Wilmer) outside his palace. The Vizier, who wears a golden mask to hide his disfigured face, says that Sinbad’s amulet is actually one piece of a puzzle; the Vizier has another. The Vizier relates to Sinbad a legend that the three pieces, when joined together, will reveal a map showing the way to the Fountain of Destiny, hidden somewhere on the lost continent of Lemuria. The legend tells that he who bears the three pieces of the puzzle to the fountain will receive “youth, a shield of darkness, and a crown of untold riches.”
Sinbad agrees to help the Vizier find the fountain. They join forces against Koura (Tom Baker), an evil magician who wishes to conquer Marabia. Koura had locked the Vizier in a room and set it on fire, horribly burning his face. The creature that dropped the gold tablet was one of Koura’s minions, a homunculus created by his black magic.
Shortly afterward, Sinbad meets the girl he saw in his dream, Princess Nookie (Caroline Munro). She, her master’s son Haroun (Kurt Christian) and the Vizier board Sinbad’s ship. Koura hires a ship and crew of his own and follows Sinbad, using his black magic several times to try to stop Sinbad. However, each attempt drains away part of his life force and he ages noticeably.
Sinbad fights a one-eyed centaur, a statue of Kali, and his ship’s own wooden figurehead, the latter two animated by Koura’s magic, on his journey. Once they reach the fountain, Koura obtains all the pieces, assembles the puzzle, and drops it in the fountain. His health is restored and he becomes invisible (the “cloak of darkness”). However, he is slain in a sword duel by Sinbad, who then takes the “crown of untold riches” that rises out of the fountain and gives it to the Grand Vizier. Sinbad explains to Margiana that he values freedom more, and a king is never really free. The crown’s magic powers causes the Vizer’s mask to dissolve to reveal his healed face.
