''Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger'' is a 1977 fantasy film directed by

Sam Wanamaker Samuel Wanamaker, (born Wattenmacker; June 14, 1919 – December 18, 1993) was an American actor and director who moved to the United Kingdom after becoming fearful of being blacklisted in Hollywood due to his communist views. He is credited as ...

and featuring

stop-motion Stop motion is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames ...

effects by

Ray Harryhausen Raymond Frederick Harryhausen (June 29, 1920 – May 7, 2013) was an American-British animator and special effects creator who created a form of stop motion model animation known as "Dynamation". His works include the animation for '' Mig ...

. The film stars Patrick Wayne, Taryn Power,

Jane Seymour Jane Seymour (c. 150824 October 1537) was Queen of England as the third wife of King Henry VIII of England from their marriage on 30 May 1536 until her death the next year. She became queen following the execution of Henry's second wife, Anne ...

and

Patrick Troughton Patrick George Troughton (; 25 March 1920 – 28 March 1987) was an English actor who was classically trained for the stage but became known for his roles in television and film. His work included appearances in several fantasy, science fiction ...

. The third and final ''Sinbad'' film released by

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the multi ...

, it follows '' The 7th Voyage of Sinbad'' (1958) and '' The Golden Voyage of Sinbad'' (1973).

Plot

In the kingdom of Charak, a celebration is taking place for the coronation of Prince Kassim, but Kassim's evil stepmother, Zenobia, places a curse on him just as he is going to be crowned

Caliph A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...

. Sinbad, a sailor and Prince of

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesipho ...

, moors at Charak some time later, intent on seeking permission from Prince Kassim to marry Kassim's sister, Princess Farah, but finds the city under curfew. Sinbad and his men are offered hospitality by a man named Rafi, but during their meal one of Sinbad's crew is poisoned and the rest are attacked by Rafi, who is Zenobia's son. Sinbad defeats him, but Zenobia summons a trio of ghouls, which attack Sinbad and his men. Sinbad disposes of the ghouls by crushing them under a pile of huge logs. Sinbad meets with Farah, who believes that Kassim's curse is one of Zenobia's spells, and unless Kassim is cured within seven moons, then Zenobia's son Rafi will become caliph instead. Sinbad, Farah and Sinbad's crew set off to find the old

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

alchemist Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim world, ...

Melanthius, a

hermit A hermit, also known as an eremite ( adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a C ...

on the island of Casgar, who is said to know how to break curses, and Farah brings with her a huge prehistoric baboon, who is really Kassim, transformed by Zenobia's curse. Zenobia and Rafi follow in a boat propelled by the Minoton, a magical bronze automaton created by the sorceress with the appearance of a

minotaur In Greek mythology, the Minotaur ( , ;. grc, ; in Latin as ''Minotaurus'' ) is a mythical creature portrayed during classical antiquity with the head and tail of a bull and the body of a man or, as described by Roman poet Ovid, a being "pa ...

. Sinbad and Farah land at Casgar and find Melanthius and his daughter Dione, who agree to help them. Melanthius says they must travel to the land of

Hyperborea In Greek mythology, the Hyperboreans ( grc, Ὑπερβόρε(ι)οι, ; la, Hyperborei) were a mythical people who lived in the far northern part of the known world. Their name appears to derive from the Greek , "beyond Boreas" (the God of ...

where the ancient civilization of the Arimaspi once existed. On the way to Hyperborea, Kassim enjoys having Dione's company and develops a love interest towards her. Zenobia uses a potion to transform herself into a seagull to spy on Sinbad. Once aboard his ship, she turns into a miniature human and listens as Melanthius tells Sinbad how to cure Kassim. Alerted by Kassim, Melanthius and Sinbad capture Zenobia. Unfortunately, her potion vial spills and a wasp ingests some of it. The wasp grows to enormous size and attacks the two men, but Sinbad kills it. Zenobia uses her remaining potion to become a seagull again and fly back to her own ship, but with not enough potion left, the lower part of her right leg remains a seagull's foot. After a long voyage, Sinbad's ship reaches the north polar wastelands. Sinbad and his crew trek across the ice to the land of the

Arimaspi The Arimaspi (also Arimaspians, Arimaspos, and Arimaspoi; grc, Ἀριμασπός, Ἀριμασποί) were a legendary tribe of one-eyed people of northern Scythia who lived in the foothills of the Riphean Mountains, variously identified with ...

, but are attacked by a giant

walrus The walrus (''Odobenus rosmarus'') is a large flippered marine mammal with a discontinuous distribution about the North Pole in the Arctic Ocean and subarctic seas of the Northern Hemisphere. The walrus is the only living species in the f ...

. It destroys most of their supplies and kills two men, but Sinbad and the others fend it off with spears. Zenobia uses an ice tunnel to reach the land of the Arimaspi, and she, Rafi and the Minoton climb subterranean stairs to emerge in the warm, Mediterranean-like valley above. Sinbad and his crew also reach the valley. While resting, they encounter a troglodyte, an , fur-covered

caveman The caveman is a stock character representative of primitive humans in the Paleolithic. The popularization of the type dates to the early 20th century, when Neanderthals were influentially described as " simian" or " ape-like" by Marcellin ...

-like being with a single horn on the top of its head. The troglodyte proves not dangerous, but rather friendly. The adventurers name him Trog for short, and he leads them to the giant pyramidal shrine of the Arimaspi. Zenobia and Rafi arrive at the shrine first, but as she has no key to enter, Zenobia orders the Minoton to remove a block of stone from the pyramid's wall. He succeeds, but the block crushes the Minoton and destabilizes the pyramids structure and thus the shrine's power. Sinbad and his friends arrive minutes later and enter the shrine's main chamber, the interior of which is covered in ice and is guarded by "The Guardian of the Shrine", a

smilodon ''Smilodon'' is a genus of the extinct machairodont subfamily of the felids. It is one of the most famous prehistoric mammals and the best known saber-toothed cat. Although commonly known as the saber-toothed tiger, it was not closely related ...

frozen in a block of ice. Zenobia orders Rafi to attack Melanthius and is about to stab Dione with a knife, but Rafi is attacked by Kassim and is killed falling down the temple stairs. Momentarily overcome with grief, Zenobia cradles her son while Sinbad and Melanthius raise Kassim into the column of light at the top of the shrine, which breaks the spell on him. Seeing Kassim restored to human form, Zenobia transfers her spirit into the smilodon. Breaking free of its icy prison, the giant tiger attacks the group, but Trog engages the smilodon in combat wielding Minoton's spear. Initially gaining the upper hand, Trog is disarmed, overcome and killed. Sinbad and his men fight against the beast, but find themselves outmatched. The smilodon attacks Sinbad, who impales it on Minoton's spear, killing both it and Zenobia. The adventurers flee the temple as it collapses, becoming buried in snow and ice as the Mediterranean-like atmosphere disappears and is replaced by the freezing polar winds. Sinbad, Kassim, Farah, Melanthius and Dione return home just in time for Kassim to be crowned Caliph. Amidst the celebration, the film fades to black and the eyes of Zenobia appear on the screen.

Cast

* Patrick Wayne as Sinbad * Taryn Power as Dione *

Margaret Whiting Margaret Eleanor Whiting (July 22, 1924 – January 10, 2011) was an American popular music and country music singer who gained popularity in the 1940s and 1950s.Mapes, Jillian.Margaret Whiting, Iconic Standards Singer, Dies at 86. ''Billboard' ...

as Zenobia *

as Farah *

as Melanthius * Kurt Christian as Rafi * Nadim Sawalha as Hassan *

Damien Thomas Damien Thomas (born 1942 or 1943) is a British actor noted for his roles in British films and television, such as his role as Father Martin Alvito in the 1980 hit miniseries '' Shōgun'' and as Richard Mason in the 1983 BBC production of '' Ja ...

as Kassim *

Bruno Barnabe Bruno Bianco Alberto G. G. Barnabe (3 April 1905 – 20 June 1998) was an English film and stage actor. He performed in the West End, on Broadway, and in Egypt, Australia and New Zealand. Biography Barnabe was born in St Giles, London ...

as Balsora *

Bernard Kay Bernard Frederic Bemrose Kay (23 February 1928 – 25 December 2014) was an English actor with an extensive theatre, television, and film repertoire. Career Kay began his working life as a reporter for the ''Bolton Evening News'', and a str ...

as Zabid * Salami Coker as Maroof * David Sterne as Aboo-Seer *

Peter Mayhew Peter William Mayhew (19 May 1944 – 30 April 2019) was a British-American actor. He was best known for portraying Chewbacca in the ''Star Wars'' film series. He played the character in all of his live-action appearances from the 1977 origin ...

as Minoton

Production

The strong box office success of '' The Golden Voyage of Sinbad'' led Columbia Pictures executives to begin work on a third Sinbad motion picture with the second still in theatrical release. The plan was to move away from some of the

legendary creature A legendary creature (also mythical or mythological creature) is a type of fictional entity, typically a hybrid, that has not been proven and that is described in folklore (including myths and legends), but may be featured in historical accou ...

s which had been features of previous films and use more recognizable

prehistoric Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use o ...

animals.Webber, Roy P. ''The Dinosaur Films of Ray Harryhausen: Features, Early 16mm Experiments and Unrealized Projects.'' Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co., 2004, p. 193. Schneer had worked with Sam Wanamaker on ''The Executioner'' and hired him for this because "I wanted an actor's director for Eye of the Tiger, to see if we could get more dimension out of other-wise cardboard characters. Sam didn't have to handle any of the technical aspects of the picture. He merely had to pay attention to them. Within the parameters of the technical work, he directed the dramatic sections. The technical work was carried out by Ray and me." Legendarily tall () performer

made an unbilled acting debut in the film in some live-action sequences as the Minoton, while Patrick Troughton (who had played the

harpy In Greek mythology and Roman mythology, a harpy (plural harpies, , ; lat, harpȳia) is a half-human and half-bird personification of storm winds. They feature in Homeric poems. Descriptions They were generally depicted as birds with the he ...

-plagued blind

Phineus In Greek mythology, Phineus (; Ancient Greek: Φινεύς, ) or Phineas, was a king of Salmydessus in Thrace and seer, who appears in accounts of the Argonauts' voyage. Some accounts make him a king in PaphlagoniaScholia on Apollonius of Rhode ...

in Harryhausen's 1963 film, '' Jason and the Argonauts'') played Melanthius. Kurt Christian, who played one of Sinbad's men in ''The Golden Voyage of Sinbad'', switched sides and played Zenobia's evil son Rafi. Patrick Wayne's casting was announced in May 1975, when Columbia said the director would be

. Schneer said "I thought we would have some chemistry with John Wayne's son and Tyrone Power's daughter, so I put them together. Pat did the best he could, but, frankly, he was only adequate. We had him grow a beard, and he looked fine, but as soon as he opened his mouth, we were in trouble." The film went into production under the working title ''Sinbad at the World's End''. The live action was filmed in

Almería Almería (, , ) is a city and municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of the same name. It lies on southeastern Iberia on the Mediterranean Sea. Caliph Abd al-Rahman III founded the city in 955. The city gr ...

, Spain;

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

; and

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Ri ...

.Van Gelder, Lawrence. "Kids Will Like Third 'Sinbad'." ''The New York Times.'' 13 August 1977. The treasury house of Al Khazneh at

Petra Petra ( ar, ٱلْبَتْرَاء, Al-Batrāʾ; grc, Πέτρα, "Rock", Nabataean: ), originally known to its inhabitants as Raqmu or Raqēmō, is an historic and archaeological city in southern Jordan. It is adjacent to the mountain of Ja ...

makes an appearance in one scene. Several castles near

Mdina Mdina ( mt, L-Imdina ; phn, 𐤌𐤋𐤈, Maleṭ; grc, Μελίττη, Melíttē; ar, مدينة, Madīnah; ), also known by its Italian-language titles ("Old City") and ("Notable City"), is a fortified city in the Northern Region of Ma ...

, Malta, were used as backdrops for the film and inserted using triple-exposure, and scenes of ships at sea were filmed in a huge water tank there. Most interior sequences were shot on a soundstage of Verona Studios near

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), an ...

(Spain). Principal filming took place between June and October 1975. Some sets were based on previous films in a wide variety of genres. The massive doors and deadbolt to the ancient shrine of the

in the

arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada ( Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm ( Greenland), Finland, Iceland ...

were based on a similar set of doors in 1933's ''

King Kong King Kong is a fictional giant monster resembling a gorilla, who has appeared in various media since 1933. He has been dubbed The Eighth Wonder of the World, a phrase commonly used within the franchise. His first appearance was in the novelizat ...

''. The interior of the shrine was very similar to the shrine set in the 1935 motion picture ''

She She most commonly refers to: *She (pronoun), the third person singular, feminine, nominative case pronoun in modern English. She or S.H.E. may also refer to: Literature and films *'' She: A History of Adventure'', an 1887 novel by H. Rider Hagga ...

'', complete with steep pyramidal steps, a vortex of light coming from above, and a

encased in ice.Webber, p. 196. The power source of the shrine of Arimaspi was actually made of dental floss. Harryhausen and the crew mounted dozens of floss fiber strands around a cylinder-like construction made of gauze, and this was mounted on a revolving mechanism and put in front of black velvet. It was then pulled out of focus to create shimmering and an inky light was run up and down the system to give it reflections. Harryhausen originally planned for an Arsinoitherium to make an appearance in the film. The massive, two-horned prehistoric rhinoceros-like creature was intended to fight the troglodyte in Hyperborea's land before the latter meeting with the protagonists. Harryhausen did preproduction designs showing the beast defeating the troglodyte, then getting caught and dying in a pool of hot tar. Harryhausen also said he planned to have Sinbad and his crew fight a

yeti The Yeti ()"Yeti"
''

woolly mammoth The woolly mammoth (''Mammuthus primigenius'') is an extinct species of mammoth that lived during the Pleistocene until its extinction in the Holocene epoch. It was one of the last in a line of mammoth species, beginning with '' Mammuthus sub ...

as the creature which Sinbad's crew meet in the arctic. Harryhausen's

animation work lasted from October 1975 up to March 1977. The stop-motion troglodyte figurine used in the film was later cannibalized to make the Calibos character in Harryhausen's 1981 film, '' Clash of the Titans''. The film featured a nude sunbathing scene by Jane Seymour. "The nudity came about in the development of the picture", said Schneer. "I wanted to keep up with those elements that had become plausible."

Home media

Blu-ray ''ALL America – Twilight Time – The Limited Edition Series'' * Picture Format: 1.85:1 (1080p 24fps)

VC MPEG-4 VC may refer to: Military decorations * Victoria Cross, a military decoration awarded by the United Kingdom and also by certain Commonwealth nations ** Victoria Cross for Australia ** Victoria Cross (Canada) ** Victoria Cross for New Zealand * ...

* Soundtrack(s): English (DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1) * Subtitles: English * Extras: * Isolated Score (DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1) * This is Dynamation (Featurette) (3:25, 480p) * Theatrical Trailer (2:15, 1080p) * Case type: Keep Case * Notes: Limited to 3,000 copies (none are numbered) DVD ''R1 America – Columbia/Tri-star Home Entertainment'' * Picture Format: 1.85:1 (Anamorphic) TSC* Soundtrack(s): English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono * Subtitles: Chinese, English, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish and Thai * Extras: * Theatrical trailer * ''

Chronicles'' – Documentary (57:53 min.) * ''This is Dynamation'' (vintage extended trailer, originally used as a teaser for ''The 7th Voyage of Sinbad'', 3:27 min.) * Bonus trailers: ''

20 Million Miles to Earth ''20 Million Miles to Earth'' (also known as ''The Beast from Space'') is a 1957 American horror science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imagination, ...

'', '' The 7th Voyage of Sinbad'', '' Jason and the Argonauts'', ''

Earth vs. the Flying Saucers ''Earth vs. the Flying Saucers'' (a.k.a. ''Invasion of the Flying Saucers'' and ''Flying Saucers from Outer Space'') is a 1956 American science fiction film from Columbia Pictures. It was produced by Charles H. Schneer, directed by Fred F. Sears, ...

'' and '' The 3 Worlds of Gulliver'' * Cast & crew filmographies and biographies * Booklet, with production notes * Case type: Keep Case * Notes: Also in a 3-disc ''The Sinbad Collection'' box set, with '' The Golden Voyage of Sinbad'' and ''The 7th Voyage of Sinbad''.

Critical reception

The film was released in the same summer as the original ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has been expanded into various film ...

'' film, and suffered in comparison to that science fiction epic. Reviewer Lawrence Van Gelder, writing for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', called the acting "rudimentary", but found the film enjoyable: "...this latest Sinbad adventure maintains the innocent and atavistic juvenile charm of the others in the series." Reviewer Lorna Sutton said the film was "pure escapist entertainment which doesn't require serious analysis or criticism." She found the film enjoyable, despite its flaws. "The plot is familiar, the characters are predictable and dialogue is trite. But the action and the special effects provide for a fast-paced two hours of entertainment." Five years after its release, an anonymous reviewer for the ''

Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as ''The Bytown Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris, it was renamed the ''Citizen'' in 1851. The newsp ...

'' described the film as a "bad umpteenth entry" in the series, and slowly paced. Linda Gross in the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'' was kinder, declaring it "a fantasy laced with nostalgia and corn". In another retrospective review, Alan Jones of the ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in May 1923 by J ...

'' awarded the film three stars out of five, arguing that it "may not be up to the standard of the previous two Sinbad adventures—it's too long and Patrick Wayne is a distinctly charisma-free hero—but there's still plenty of pleasure to be had from the special effects of Ray Harryhausen." '' Halliwell's Film Guide'' described it as a "lumpish sequel to a sequel: even the animated monsters raise a yawn this time". Some modern reviewers find the stop-motion work lackluster compared to previous Harryhausen films. Harryhausen biographer Roy P. Webber found the ghouls highly derivative of the

skeleton warriors ''Skeleton Warriors'' is a 13-episode cartoon series created by Landmark Entertainment Group, which originally aired in 1994 on CBS. The show was created by producer Gary Goddard. Summary The story takes place on the fictional distant planet ...

from ''Jason and the Argonauts'', with the heads strongly reminiscent of the Selenites from Harryhausen's 1964 effort, '' First Men in the Moon''. He also found the Minoton and the giant wasp to be lacking in character and so ancillary to the plot as to be dismissed.Webber, p. 198. Harryhausen later admitted that the picture was too rushed, which led to many characterization problems in the animation.Dalton, p. 184. Other cinematic effects in the film have also been criticized. Webber, for example, notes that the traveling mattes used in the film to include various filmed elements are very poorly done, and the special effects used to show Zenobia transforming into a gull are "so bad that it is truly laughable." However, some aspects of the film have received enduring praise. Webber notes that the baboon animation was so good that many people were fooled into believing a real animal had been used. The battle between the troglodyte and the

is much better choreographed than the battle between the one-eyed

centaur A centaur ( ; grc, κένταυρος, kéntauros; ), or occasionally hippocentaur, is a creature from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse. Centaurs are thought of in many Greek myths as bein ...

and the

griffin The griffin, griffon, or gryphon (Ancient Greek: , ''gryps''; Classical Latin: ''grȳps'' or ''grȳpus''; Late Latin, Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a legendary creature with the body, tail ...

in ''The Golden Voyage of Sinbad'', and much more dramatic (with the

cat The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...

actually raking with its claws and biting with its teeth, leaving deep wounds on its opponent).

References

External links

*
''Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger''
at Moviephone * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sinbad And The Eye Of The Tiger 1977 films 1970s fantasy adventure films British fantasy adventure films Seafaring films 1970s English-language films Films directed by Sam Wanamaker Films based on Sinbad the Sailor 1970s monster movies British monster movies Films using stop-motion animation Films set in the Arctic Films set in the 8th century Columbia Pictures films Films shot in Almería Films scored by Roy Budd American fantasy adventure films American monster movies Films about shapeshifting Films produced by Ray Harryhausen Films with screenplays by Ray Harryhausen Films produced by Charles H. Schneer Films with screenplays by Beverley Cross Minotaur Films set in the Middle Ages 1970s American films 1970s British films