The Golden Voyage of Sinbad



"Trust in Allah, but tie up your camel."

1974 Arabian Nights Days fantasy movie starring John Philip Law, Tom Baker, and Caroline Munro's Cleavage.

Sinbad the Sailor searches for the lost continent of Lemuria with the help of his trusty crew along with the disfigured Grand Vizier of Marabia and the perpetually under-dressed ex-slavegirl Margiana. Along the way they will battle the evil sorcerer Prince Koura and encounter fantastic creatures such as the griffin and -in the film's most technically stunning moment -- a six-armed statue of Kali brought to life through Koura's magic.

With special effects by Ray Harryhausen and a musical score by Miklos Rozsa (who also scored the 1940 version of The Thief of Bagdad) The Golden Voyage of Sinbad is definitely an enjoyable experience -- they don't make 'em like this anymore.

Not to be confused with the MST3K-featured The Magic Voyage of Sinbad (actually the film Sadko).

This movie provides examples of:
"SINBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD!"
 * Absolute Cleavage: Caroline Munro, oiled.
 * Blood Is Squicker in Water: Prince Koura in the Fountain of Destiny.
 * Cast From Lifespan: Prince Koura can use black magic, but at the price of aging every time he casts a spell.
 * Catch Phrase: see the page quote.
 * Dual Wielding: Kali, with six blades.
 * Dull Surprise: John Phillip Law, all the time.
 * Everybody Laughs Ending
 * Fake Nationality: Pretty much the entire cast. But unlike Harryhausen's other two Sinbad movies, everyone here actually looks Arabic and puts on an approximation of an Arabic accent.
 * Fanfare: For the Grand Vizier.
 * Flynning: all over the movie, particularly pronounced in the fight with Kali. The fight with Koura might be justified, as he's invisible at the time and the only visible part of him is his sword.
 * Free Sample Plot Coupon: The Grand Vizier of Marabia gives Sinbad a quest to find the three golden tablets before the evil Koura does. Luckily Sinbad accidentally acquired the first tablet from Koura before meeting the Vizier, and uses it to locate the area where the other two tablets can be found.
 * Give Me a Sword
 * The Good Chancellor: One of the few Arabian Nights movies with a good Grand Vizier instead of an evil one.
 * Good Scars Evil Scars: The Grand Vizier (who, as mentioned above, is a good guy, unusual for these sorts of stories) had his entire face burned off thanks to the mischief of Prince Koura, and so now wears a golden mask. He takes it off to scare some hostile tribesmen away, and later
 * Harryhausen Movie: One of his later ones.
 * Hey Its That Guy: Prince Koura is played by Tom Baker.
 * And Sinbad is played by Kalgon from Space Mutiny.
 * Hollywood Torches
 * Horned Humanoid: Explains the plot for them.
 * Human Sacrifice: Mariana's birthmark signals that she is supposed to be one for the Cyclops Centaur
 * Large Ham: it's Tom Baker, what do you expect? This is especially true when he's controlling the figurehead and when he swordfights with Sinbad near the end.
 * It's true from his very first scene:


 * Living Statue: Kali and the animated figurehead.
 * Mad Oracle
 * MacGuffin Location: The Fountain of Destiny
 * Ms. Fanservice: Margiana, played by Caroline Munro. Lord have mercy. Essentially her only role in the story is to look pretty in not very much clothing-- even her significant birthmark turns out.
 * Multi Armed and Dangerous: Kali.
 * Neutral Female: Margiana, so much
 * Our Centaurs Are Different: The Cyclops-centaur.
 * Our Homunculi Are Different
 * Our Gryphons Are Different
 * Plunder: The Crown of Many Riches.
 * The Power of Blood
 * Blood Magic: Prince Koura uses his own blood to create the bat-homonculus.
 * Power Degeneration: See Cast From Lifespan.
 * Sadly Mythtaken: Kali.
 * Saved By the Phlebotinum: Prince Koura's youth is restored by one of the tablets.
 * The Stoner: Hassan's father is tired of him lying around all day smoking hashish, so he pays Sinbad gold and a slavegirl to take the boy away.
 * What Happened to The Mouse: what happened to Koura's second-in-command and the ship he came on? Koura sends the sailors who row him to Lemuria and later his second back to the ship, and that's the last we hear of it.
 * You Didn't Ask: Hassan is glad to finally be on land. When Sinbad asks him "Even dangerous land?" he panics, asking why Sinbad didn't tell him this was going to be dangerous. Sinbad responds with this trope.