Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977) – Nostalgia Central

John Wayne’s son Patrick plays the legendary Arabian Nights adventurer in this rather dull effort.

Sinbad, a brave sailor and Prince of Baghdad, arrives in the kingdom of Charak. He intends to ask Prince Kassim (Damien Thomas) for permission to marry Kassim’s sister, Princess Farah (Jane Seymour).

Instead, he finds that Kassim’s evil stepmother, the witch Zenobia (Margaret Whiting), has cast a spell on the prince and transformed him into a baboon to prevent his coronation. This will allow her own son, Rafi (Kurt Christian), to claim the throne instead.

Before Sinbad can help, Zenobia summons three demonic insect-like ghouls to attack him, but Sinbad manages to defeat them.

Princess Farah joins Sinbad on his ship, bringing her transformed brother Kassim along. To break the curse, they sail to find Melanthius (Patrick Troughton of Doctor Who fame), a wise Greek hermit, alchemist, and scientist.

They also recruit his beautiful daughter, Dione (Tyrone Power’s pretty but untalented daughter, Taryn ).

Melanthius advises that the only way to reverse the spell is to travel to the frozen, mythical land of Hyperborea in the far north and take Kassim to the ancient, magical shrine of the Arimaspi.

Zenobia learns of Sinbad’s plan and pursues his ship in a magical boat powered by the Minoton, a giant clockwork, bronze minotaur she brought to life.

Sinbad and his crew brave the freezing waters of the Arctic and breach an ice barrier, discovering that Hyperborea is, in fact, a temperate, tropical valley hidden within the ice walls, warmed by volcanic heat.

Upon entering the valley, Sinbad’s crew is attacked by a giant, one-horned caveman known as a Troglodyte.

After subduing the creature, they realise it is peaceful and highly intelligent.

The Troglodyte befriends Kassim the baboon and agrees to guide the group safely to the pyramid shrine of the Arimaspi.

Zenobia arrives at the valley first, and the Minoton uses its immense strength to force open a hidden tunnel into the pyramid, but the entrance collapses, crushing and destroying the bronze minotaur.

Sinbad’s group arrives shortly after and enters the shrine through a high opening, assisted by the Troglodyte.

Inside the shrine, they locate the magical beam of light that can cure Kassim. Before they can use it, Zenobia confronts them and unleashes her ultimate weapon – a giant, prehistoric sabre-toothed cat (Smilodon) frozen in the ice, which she brings to life.

The Troglodyte heroically fights the cat to protect the group, but is killed when the pyramid roof collapses on them. Sinbad steps in and manages to kill the sabre-toothed cat with his sword.

With the monsters defeated, Kassim is placed into the mystical beam of light just before the coronation deadline passes. The spell lifts, and Kassim is successfully restored to his human form.

Zenobia is destroyed as the temple collapses around her.

Sinbad, Farah, and the crew escape and return safely to Charak, where Kassim is finally crowned King, and Sinbad marries Princess Farah.

The Ray Harryhausen effects are spectacular, but the script is boring and juvenile, and – lacking any sense of adventure – the film feels like it goes on forever.

At $3.5 million, this film was the costliest of the Ray Harryhausen Sinbad trilogy. It was also the second-costliest Harryhausen film overall, behind his next and last film, Clash of the Titans (1981), which cost $15 million.

The film was a commercial success, grossing roughly $20 million.

Sinbad
Patrick Wayne
Dione
Taryn Power
Zenobia
Margaret Whiting
Princess Farah
Jane Seymour
Melanthius
Patrick Troughton
Rafi
Kurt Christian
Hassan
Nadim Sawalha
Prince Kassim
Damien Thomas
Balsora
Bruno Barnabe
Zabid
Bernard Kay
Maroof
Salami Coker
Aboo-Seer
David Sterne

Director
Sam Wanamaker