The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958) *spoilers*

It's amazing how far special effects have come. Hard to believe a time where producers looked at a script and said, "Excellent idea, but we have no way of doing this". Today, if there is something impossible to be made, it it's done with CGI. Anamatronics. miniatures, perspective, over exposure and a good costume are used out of aesthetic and not practicality. When movies like The 7th Voyage of Sinbad came out; they didn't have CGI. Luckily, a man by the name of Ray Harryhausen had a unique claymation style known as "dyanamation" which made him a must have for any scifi or fantasy movie. He made the impossible possible and worked on like films Jason and the Argonauts and Clash of the Titans. However, competing with movies today; does "dynamation" stand a chance against modern day effects?

This looks interesting

The 7th Voyage of Sinbad is about a sailor and his crew. They happen upon and island where a man is being chased by a monster. After rescuing him, Sinbad finds out he is Sokura; a powerful magician. They bring him back with them to Baghdad to meet the Caliph. Sokura requests a crew to go back to the island and gain the treasures he lost there. Sinbad and the Caliph both agree that such a mission would be too dangerous and denied Sokura's request. As an act of retribution, the magician comes into princess Parisa's room and shrinks her down to the size of a mouse. When she is found in that state, Sinbad implores the help of Sokura, The magician explains that she can only be transformed back if they get the egg shell from a giant mythical bird known as a roc found on the island he came from. Sinbad agrees and gets a rag tag crew together for a mission back to Collossa. Unfortunately, this trip will be more difficult than Sinbad realizes. Sokura has alterior motives and with an untrustworthy crew; Sinbad has his work cut out for him.

The reason this movie is to be watched is for the claymation monsters. The plot isn't excellent but it offers great set up for the effects. There are engaging fights between people and monsters alike. There is an especially excellent scene were a dragon and cyclops battle to the death. Harryhausen was a genius and it's wonderful to see he gets so much recognition. It took him 11 months to film the movie and some scenes that take moments took up to 3 weeks to animated. It's this dedication which makes watching a movie like this worth it. The cyclops, the dragon, the snake woman, and the roc are all animated very well. There is also a great fight with Sinbad and a skeleton which was so popular, Harryhausen did it again in Jason and the Argonauts. While claymation is big in this movie, the other part to "dynamation" is superimposing the foreground into the back ground shot making the scene look seamless. There are scenes where Princess Parisa is small and the set is made gigantic to accommodate the perspective. Dedication like this is what put the movie in the National Film Registry based on the film being "culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant" in 2008.

I'M SIGNIFICANT!!!!

This is not a movie for everyone. The effects look great and do stand up to even monder effects, but we have come too far for main stream to find this enjoyable. There is a time and a place for these effects, but with movies like Avatar and Peter Jackson's King Kong do everything that Harryhausen did, but they look much more realistic. With that said, this movie still holds it's own. Movie goers of all ages can enjoy this classic if they are willing to give it a chance. Overall, the story is simple yet engaging and keeps the audience interested.  It's movies like this that keep film history exciting and wonderful. Personally, I would watch this movie again right now if I didn't have a thousand more to watch. I give The 7th Voyage of Sinbad eight magic lamps out of ten. If you have never seen and consider yourself a movie buff, then give this one a watch immediately. I doubt you will be disappointed.

2 weeks my butt. Doing this in 2 minutes