Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977)

☆ ☆ ☆

Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977) – S. Wanamaker

Surprisingly, I found this penultimate Ray Harryhausen production a good watch – but perhaps I have simply adjusted my expectations after watching three of his earlier films first or perhaps it is because I am watching them with my 7-year-old son and seeing them through his eyes.  In this one, Sinbad (a different actor each time; this time Patrick Wayne) needs to help a prince who has been turned into a (dynamation) baboon by travelling with a Greek philosopher and his daughter to the arctic where a mysterious pyramid will help to transform the prince back to human form.  Sinbad’s love interest is the prince’s sister (Jane Seymour) and the main foe is evil witch Zenobia (Margaret Whiting).  A lot of the special effects here are camera tricks (characters grow big or small and change into seagulls and such) but Harryhausen animates a (friendly) troglodyte (early human), a sabre-toothed tiger, some alien-looking monsters, a big bee, a bronze minotaur, and an awesome giant walrus.  That walrus was something else.  Again, the plot is rather beside the point here, come instead for the Harryhausen creations which are pretty well integrated into the live action.