The Golden Voyage Of Sinbad

Second in the series of Sinbad films that Ray Harryhausen made for Columbia Pictures is 1973’s The Golden Voyage Of Sinbad. The film which won the Saturn Award for best Fantasy Film stars John Phillip Law as Sinbad with Tom Baker, Takis Emmanuel, the sultry Caroline Munro, Douglas Wilmer & Martin Shaw.

While sailing Sinbad comes across a golden amulet dropped by a flying creature and he wears the tablet, which looks like part of a large piece, along with a chain around his neck. At night Sinbad dreams about a mysterious man in black robes and a beautiful woman with an eye symbol on her palm. During the nigh a storm blows the ship off course and towards a coastal town in the country of Marabia. As soon as he reaches land, Sinbad is approached by a dark cloaked man who demands the amulet but is chased away by guards. Sinbad meets the grand Vizier of Marabia, who wears a golden mask to hide his disfiguration and who happens to have another piece of the tablet. 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 final piece of the amulet and the fountain. They join forces against the Prince Koura the man in the black robes who is a wizard hell bent on conquering Marabia.  It was Koura who burnt the Vizier’s face with fire horribly scarring it. When Sinbad goes to find supplies he meets the trader’s slave girl Margiana, who has the same eye symbol on her palm. Sinbad bargains with the trader who asks that the captain take his own lazy son Haroun with him – to which Sinbad agrees and also asks for Margiana to be sent with him. Along with a sleeping Haround and Margiana, Sinbad and his men set sail with the Vizier on their ship, followed closely in secret by Koura. The wizard uses his magic to try and stop Sinbad along the way – including animating the ship’s siren figurehead which steals the map to the fountain from Sinbad – but each time he uses his powers, Koura drains his energy and grows aged. Koura gets to the island first, using the map, and seals the men inside a cave but Sinbad is able to get them out. Koura animates a six-armed Kali idol when he is captured by hostile natives, causing them to free him. However, Sinbad and his men arrive and fight and defeat Kali. The natives capture Sinbad and his crew and give Margiana to a one-eyed centaur, the fountain’s guardian of evil. Sinbad and the others escape when the Vizier shows his burnt face, scaring the natives.

The Centaur fights a Griffin, a guardian of good, but Sinbad however then stabs it to death. Meanwhile Koura has all 3 pices and has reached the fountain and he drops it into the waters. His heath is restored and he attains invisibility and fights Sinbad using swords but is killed. Sinbad then find the crown in the water and gives it to th Vizier, whose face is restored once he wears it. With Margiana by his side, Sinbad then sets sail with his men, Haround and the Vizier back to Marabia. It’s better than the first one and is a fun movie to watch. The date special effects were groundbreaking back then and still holds a certain charm to this day. 7.5 outta 10!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.