The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958)

 

The 7th Voyage of Sinbad has a lot of elements of both epic hero stories and classic fairy tales. It tells the story of Sinbad, a sailor and next in line for the Caliph of Baghdad. He is engaged to the lovely Princess Parisa, daughter of the Sultan of Chandra. For some reason, she's on his ship when he lands on Colossa, an island populated by enormous, terrifying monsters.

When Sinbad and his crew arrive on Colossa, they manage to save a sorcerer, Sokurah, who is being chased by a cyclops. In the course of the rescue, Sokurah loses his magic, genie-inhabited lamp (you'd think he'd take better care to secure it, wouldn't you?), but Sinbad refuses to return to Colossa so Sokurah can retrieve it.

This ship returns to Baghdad, where Sokurah, desperate to return to Colossa to retrieve his lamp, secretly shrinks Parisa down to only a few inches tall. When Sinbad and Parisa's father find her, Sokurah explains that he can set her right with a potion...but it requires a shell from the egg of a fantastic bird that (surprise, surprise) is found only on Colossa.

Unsurprisingly, Sinbad agrees to return to the island with Sokurah, who warns him about the monsters on the island. He provides Sinbad with a blueprint for a gigantic crossbow that Sinbad and his crew can use to defend themselves. What is surprising is that Sinbad chooses most of his crew from among the local violent prisoners, because this will surely not backfire.

It backfires in a bloodthirsty mutiny, but it's over quickly. Sinbad, his first mate Harufa, and Sokurah survive and make it to Colossa, so we shan't dwell here.

On Colossa, Sinbad and his crew encounter the island's many monsters: a cyclops, a Roc (the bird whose eggshell they need), and the Roc's (short-lived) babies terrorize the men as they seek both the eggshell and the magic lamp.

The lamp contains the genie Barani, whom Parisa encounters and strikes a deal with: Barani agrees to be summoned to the group's aid in exchange for being freed at the end of the journey, which Parisa promises.

But Sokurah, evil wizard and man about town, betrays Sinbad (who could have possibly seen that coming?): he murders Harufa (traitor!) and abducts Parisa, taking her to his convenient underground castle (real estate on Colossa is mostly zoned MH/EWHQ—monster habitats and evil wizard headquarters).

Sinbad, in possession of the lamp, summons Barani, who transports him to Sokurah's castle, helping him overcome the obstacles he must face (including a dragon at the entrance). Sinbad at last reaches Sokurah, who returns Parisa to her regular size. But when he demands the lamp, Sinbad tells him it's no dice.

Sokurah, however, is not without resources. He brings a skeleton he happens to have around to life and conjures it to fight and kill Sinbad. The ensuing battle on Sokurah's spiral staircase to nowhere (why does he have one of those?) results in a victory for Sinbad. Huzzah!

Sinbad and Parisa escape, and on the way out of the cave, they throw Barani's lamp into the handily placed lava river, freeing him from his life of servitude. But don't count Sokurah out—he's got one more dragon-sized trick up his sleeve. 

He sets the dragon on Sinbad, Parisa, and the surviving sailors. The sailors, however, have the crossbow ready, and they kill the dragon...which falls smack dab on top of Sokurah, ending his life and bringing to light that he was actually kind of a sad evil wizard.

The survivors set sail for Baghdad once more, and Sinbad and Parisa are presumed to live happily ever after. Aww.

What makes The 7th Voyage of Sinbad significant?

The 7th Voyage of Sinbad  was inducted to the National Film Registry in 2008, and I think its significance largely boils down to the animation of the enormous monsters of the aptly named Colossa. This film employs Ray Harryhausen's Dynamation (the new miracle of the screen!) to stop motion animate Colossa's monsters. 

Harryhausen (whose name you may recognize from the trendy restaurant in Monsters, Inc.) was a stop motion pioneer, and his innovative techniques are on outstanding display in The 7th Voyage of Sinbad. This is not the stop motion you're probably thinking of—the Rankin/Bass Christmas special style of animation that specializes in awkward movements and cold, dead eyes. 

Harryhausen's techniques are on a whole other level. The movements are fluid and true, and the scene with the skeleton battle in particular really holds up well. It may look a little silly by today's CGI and AI animation standards, but bear in mind that just fifteen years before The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, we were throwing stuffed animals at actors from off screen in Cat People.

The acting may not be anything fabulous, and storytelling-wise I don't know that this brings much new to the Sinbad mythology, but the visuals? They're worth checking out, 100%.

In conclusion

I can't claim that The 7th Voyage of Sinbad is a new favorite of mine, but I don't dislike it either. I would gladly watch it again, and I would even recommend it for anyone craving something old-school and campy, or for an animation lover. 

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go mourn Harufa.