Patrick Wayne ( son of John ) was a busy little guy in 1977. Not content with fighting dinosaurs and volcano worshippers in 'The People That Time Forgot', he also starred in Ray Harryhausen's third and final 'Sinbad' epic. Now, for those of us of a certain age, the name Ray Harryhausen conjures up powerful memories. Whenever one of his films opened in '70's Britain, it was as though manna had fallen from Heaven: 'Clapperboard' ( an I.T.V. children's programme about movies ) devoted a two-part special to its making ( featuring interviews with everyone including the tea boy ), clips found their way onto 'Screen Test', 'Blue Peter', and, if you were lucky, 'The Krypton Factor', and bubble gum cards containing action scenes went on sale in sweet shops. There'd be a paperback book ( the one for this film was by John Ryder Hall ) and a poster magazine. Then you'd trot along to the local picture house to get in line to buy popcorn and see the thing ( praying the best seat in the house would not be taken ).
The plots were identical - Sinbad and his crew ( with a pretty girl thrown in for good measure ) are on a dangerous quest to find some mythical artifact which gives its owner eternal life or magic powers or whatever. But an evil wizard would try to beat them to it, and conjure up all manner of grotesque monsters to slow them down. Of course good would triumph over evil at the end. So it is written.
'Tiger' opens with a coronation going badly wrong. Just before young prince Kassan ( Damien Thomas ) is crowned Caliph of Bagdad, he is unexpectedly changed by magic into a baboon. Being an ape can seriously impair one's ability to be a Monarch ( though its never proved much of a hindrance in Britain ), so his comely sister, Farah ( Jane Seymour ) turns to Sinbad for help. He sets sail for the home of benign magician Melanthius ( Patrick Troughton ). There must be a good hairdresser amongst the crew, as everyone's crowning glories looks permanently fresh and clean. Along the way they pick up Dione ( Taryn Power, sister of Tyrone ). Zenobia ( Margaret Whiting ) the evil witch who changed the prince in the first place, gives chase in a barge rowed by a minotaur-like creature ( Peter Mayhew ) with a clockwork heart. What about the monsters? Well there's a giant walrus, a big wasp, a troglodyte, a sabre-toothed tiger, and some weird looking skeletal things who fight Sinbad near the start of the picture. And we've got Jane Seymour and Taryn Power skinny dipping for good measure. All you want from a movie.
While not the best 'Sinbad' ( 1974's 'The Golden Voyage Of Sinbad' scoops that honour ) by a long chalk, this is still good fun, beautifully photographed by Ted Moore and nicely scored by Roy Budd. It drags in parts, most notably the scene where Zenobia changes into a seagull to eavesdrop on her enemies. As 'Zenobia', Whiting chews the scenery nicely. I wish her character's fate had been resolved though, and dear Pat Troughton's wizard anticipates his later role in 'The Box Of Delights' television series.
'Tiger' opened to a mixed critical response, but us kids loved every absurd word of it. No more 'Sinbad' pictures were made surprisingly. Ray went on to make 'Clash Of The Titans' ( recently remade for no apparently discernible reason ) in 1981 before retiring. While his stop motion animations ( or 'Dynarama' as they were grandly called ) may seem dated to modern eyes, to those of us who were there at the time they remain as thrilling as ever. His monsters look as though they were the creation of a genius. Which they were.
Directed by Sam Wanamaker ( Zoe's dad ).
The plots were identical - Sinbad and his crew ( with a pretty girl thrown in for good measure ) are on a dangerous quest to find some mythical artifact which gives its owner eternal life or magic powers or whatever. But an evil wizard would try to beat them to it, and conjure up all manner of grotesque monsters to slow them down. Of course good would triumph over evil at the end. So it is written.
'Tiger' opens with a coronation going badly wrong. Just before young prince Kassan ( Damien Thomas ) is crowned Caliph of Bagdad, he is unexpectedly changed by magic into a baboon. Being an ape can seriously impair one's ability to be a Monarch ( though its never proved much of a hindrance in Britain ), so his comely sister, Farah ( Jane Seymour ) turns to Sinbad for help. He sets sail for the home of benign magician Melanthius ( Patrick Troughton ). There must be a good hairdresser amongst the crew, as everyone's crowning glories looks permanently fresh and clean. Along the way they pick up Dione ( Taryn Power, sister of Tyrone ). Zenobia ( Margaret Whiting ) the evil witch who changed the prince in the first place, gives chase in a barge rowed by a minotaur-like creature ( Peter Mayhew ) with a clockwork heart. What about the monsters? Well there's a giant walrus, a big wasp, a troglodyte, a sabre-toothed tiger, and some weird looking skeletal things who fight Sinbad near the start of the picture. And we've got Jane Seymour and Taryn Power skinny dipping for good measure. All you want from a movie.
While not the best 'Sinbad' ( 1974's 'The Golden Voyage Of Sinbad' scoops that honour ) by a long chalk, this is still good fun, beautifully photographed by Ted Moore and nicely scored by Roy Budd. It drags in parts, most notably the scene where Zenobia changes into a seagull to eavesdrop on her enemies. As 'Zenobia', Whiting chews the scenery nicely. I wish her character's fate had been resolved though, and dear Pat Troughton's wizard anticipates his later role in 'The Box Of Delights' television series.
'Tiger' opened to a mixed critical response, but us kids loved every absurd word of it. No more 'Sinbad' pictures were made surprisingly. Ray went on to make 'Clash Of The Titans' ( recently remade for no apparently discernible reason ) in 1981 before retiring. While his stop motion animations ( or 'Dynarama' as they were grandly called ) may seem dated to modern eyes, to those of us who were there at the time they remain as thrilling as ever. His monsters look as though they were the creation of a genius. Which they were.
Directed by Sam Wanamaker ( Zoe's dad ).