Captain Sindbad

source: Captain Sindbad

Captain Sindbad

I agree with most of the reviews posted. I too saw it when it first opened. I was a huge fantasy fan, especially the Harryhausen movies, and I worshiped Disney's Zorro. But this one may not quite reach their class. Despite the lavish costumes and sets it's easy to see how cut rate many of the special effects were, stock background music, hokey dialogue, and acting that ranges from wooden to over the top. It also becomes apparent that Guy Williams' square-jawed looks, and not his acting, were responsible for most of his success.

Admittedly, nostalgia is coloring this review, since I remember it fondly from my childhood. Who could forget the giant fist in the tower, trying to crush Sinbad as he tries to stab the evil ruler's satin pillow of a heart? Or Sindbad climbing a six foot thick diameter rope? We looked for years for the "Sinbad" movie with the magician who lengthens his arm, and hit upon it by chance one day. Who knew there was a Sindbad movie among the later Sinbad movies? Sort of like the cheesy space movies that preceded the earth shattering Sci Fi classic, Star Wars, you have to suspend your sense of disbelief, not fixate on the fact that the special effects are not lifelike. Just try to remember what it was like, having fun watching a movie on Saturday, like when you were eight years old, and lucky enough to get money and a ride to the movies. This is an antidote to movies with computer special effects overload, like Transformers. Back to the age of innocence? Maybe not, but still good clean fun.

For what it is worth, the Arabic is best transliterated as As-Sindibaad Al-Bahri, therefore Sindibad or Sindbad not Sinbad, so the name of the main character in this film is MORE accurate then the other "Sinbad" movies not less. The classic translation of the Arabian Nights remains that of Sir Richard F. Burton, who uses Sindibad. The primary problem with Captain Sindbad is that the special effects are awful even for the time that it was made. The acting is, overall, good. Guy Williams is a better actor then most of the other Sinbads and is a much better swordsman. (He actually could fence, not up to Basil Rathbone, who was superb, but much better then the average.) The plot is much better then usual and certainly as good as that of The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad. It would be interesting to see this film with new effects sequences inserted over the originals.

In Baristan, the magician Galgo is experimenting with weather. He shows Princess Jana a vision of a storm which cause havoc on Captain Sindbad and his ship The Golden Lion. The king is tired. The soldiers led by the ruthless El Kerim has returned after putting down a rebellion. Using a ring stolen from Galgo, El Kerim takes over the kingdom. This is a B-movie of a certain era. It is terribly kitschy. The sets are garish. The special effects are old fashion and wide-ranging. Whether it's the miniature creature or the elongated arm, the product looks a little cheap. The aim is high but it inevitably falls back to earth. It has its fun but its inferior quality eventually wins out.

It's been about 30 years since I saw this as a kid and now I just recently bought it on the new remastered WB Archives DVD. DID I WASTE MY MONEY?...Heck No! It was even better than I remembered. Wonderful fun, beautiful colors, great imagination and those surreal sets, WOW, WOW, WOW. Any lover of fantasy and whimsy will love this movie providing that they have an imagination to make up for any production shortcomings. The computer effects generation of movie goers who need to be spoon fed scene by scene a depressing story with lots of vulgarity should stay away from this one. This is a fine and super fun movie for the whole family.

Through many viewings I've enjoyed this Sin(d)bad film much more than any in the better-known Columbia/Harryhausen series, which I thought had great monsters but dull stories and heroes. This one has it all: gorgeous color photography, interesting plot and characters, and unusual monsters (including an invisible (!) dragon. The late Guy Williams is fine as Sinbad, and more mature and dignified than any in the Columbia films. And Pedro Armendariz, in one of his last roles before his untimely cancer-related death, is simply wonderful as the villain, El Karim. This film (produced by the same folks who gave us "Gorgo") is aimed at young audiences, but I've watched it with viewers of varying age, and never run across anyone who wasn't delighted with it.

People who complain about the special effects in this 1963 adventure flick just don't understand how different the state of film fx was 45 years ago. I suspect that they're all too young to know much of anything. Back in the day, it wasn't the quality of your CG artists that counted. It was "how do I find simple photographic tricks that tickle the imagination, still tell the story and are fun"? This movie is full of well done yet low budget effects that beat all hell out of all the crappy, cookie cutter CG stuff out there today. Tell me you didn't smile when the magician's arm grew out about two miles long. Go on, tell me. And if you're answer is "I didn't" then why are you even watching this movie? Go somewhere and crow about how great the effects in that snorefest remake of King Kong was and leave the fun to the rest of us. I mean, really--so it's not Harryhausen. Get over it. It's still great fun.