The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958)

At their best, films offer an escape from reality, a journey into fantastical worlds that defy common sense but still manage to inspire awe and wonder and at the very least, a bloody good time. This also explains why some films are timeless masterpieces and others are quickly forgotten.

'The 7th Voyage of Sinbad' is, in every sense of the words, a timeless masterpiece.

Allow me to wax a little further, if you will.

Nowadays, it is often the practice that studios and media boast about how much money a film has cost and has made and how very detailed the special effects look. That last item is not a bad thing per se, but it is not the main reason why you should watch a film or enjoy it. The main reason will always be that the story is enthralling, special effects can only heighten the illusion of the other world you have visited. In the olden days, you had to get a lot more practical and very often, that shows in a lot more effort. This film has tons of effort and the result is that everything is believable, in a fairytale sort of way.

The exotic settings of ancient Bagdad and the mysterious island of Colossa are brought to life by lavish sets and wondrous matte paintings. You can tell that even though it might not be historically accurate (and there is a definite exaggeration of the word 'might' in there), effort was made to at least make it otherworldy. Sure, the costumes are a little garish in colourschemes from time to time, but they stand out. Of course, one of the reasons colours were very loud is that the studio had to show off their Pana- or Whatevervision they used, so to our modern day standards, they are pretty bloody flashy at times. Take as an added bonus that the hero has a soft colour and the villain has black, that makes it easy to instantly smell evil.

Our plucky hero Sinbad is on his way to Bagdad to marry his princess and the only thing that tends to become somewhat silly is their lovey-dovey banter. They are very much in love and oh boy, will you know it by the time this film hits the ten minute mark.

They come across an island where they save a magician named Sokuraj from a monstrous Cyclops, but in doing so, he loses his magical lamp. Naturally he wants it back. No one wants to go back, so is anyone surprised that he schemes and plots to get back there? Yes, you are allowed to think that all the other characters are idiots for not seeing Sokurah is behind the misery that befalls the princess, because they apparently do not see it.

The princess is shrunk to about ten centimetres, by the way. It is creative, I will grant you that.

So, with no other options left, Sinbad heads back to the mysterious island in hopes of returning his bride to be back to her normal self. On the way, there is a mutiny, the crew encounter more Cyclops (Cyclopes? Cyclopses? Cycles on Opioids?), giant two-headed birds called Rocs and a genuine fire-breathing dragon.

Will our dashing hero prevail? Where you born yesterday?

This, my friends, is adventure at its finest. There is never a dull moment and everything moves briskly from one scene to the next and you will gaze in wonder at the next tableau the film throws at you. The colours are vibrant, the adventure is engaging and even though the dialogue can be a little hammy (it was the fifties, after all), you will gather enough suspension of disbelief to go with the flow.

But for me, thé biggest reasons to love this film are twofold. One is the fun and exhilarating score by Bernard Hermann. Trust me, after seeing this film, you will be humming the main theme for days on end. The other one is the special effects by the god himself: Ray Harryhausen.

If you are jaded, you will balk at the stop motion presented here. And yes, in current days of CG, sometimes the movement looks slightly stilted. But this is the best craftsmanship at work here. This took lots of times and even more lots of effort and it shows. Harryhausen embues his creations with not just life, but with character. The different Cyclops have different little mannerisms that instantly makes you tell them apart. The dragon clearly shows a different way of moving once it is set free and the snakelady dance has an eerie and disturbing feeling to it all. If you are having doubts about seeing this film, just do so for the stop motion alone, you will most likely not regret it.

Times and tendencies change. It is unlikely that films like this one will be made yet again. Perhaps we have become to cynical in our modern age. Maybe we are just no longer open to this kind of adventure. I am not saying adventure films are no longer being made, but they do not hit the same notes and beats like films of this kind do. A shame really, because not everything has to be gritty and dirty.

Sometimes, just sometimes, films can just be beautiful. And be all the more loved and loveable because of it.