Weird-Ass Movie Reviews: Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger

You’ve probably heard about legendary special effects wizard, Ray Harryhausen before. He’s the one who was behind the awesome stop-motion creatures in films like Jason and the Argonauts, Clash of the Titans, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, and tons more. The movie I’m going to review, though, is not one of the better-known Harryhausen features. It’s the third of his Sinbad movies, (preceded by The 7th Voyage of Sinbad and The Golden Voyage of Sinbad), 1977’s Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger!


Now, the other two Sinbad movies are great. I’m certainly not trying to knock them by leaving them out of this review. But for sheer weirdness, you just can’t beat Eye of the Tiger. Let’s start with the plot. Basically, Sinbad (played by Patrick Wayne, son of John Wayne) is traveling to meet up with his buddy, Prince Kassim. It seems Sinbad is looking for permission to marry up with Kassim’s sister, Princess Farah (played by Jane Seymour). But, upon getting into town, Sinbad finds that things are under total lockdown. Then, almost immediately, Sinbad and a couple of his crewmen are forced to fight for their lives against a trio of weird, bug-eyed monsters. One thing leads to another, and Sinbad takes Jane Seymour and a baboon onto his ship. But that’s no ordinary baboon…no sir. This baboon can play chess and even write on walls. Why, it’s none other than Prince Kassim!


That’s right. Sinbad’s stepped in it again. It seems an evil witch has turned Kassim into a baboon so that her son can be caliph instead of Kassim. Now I know what you’re going to say…”Why not just kill Kassim so the evil son can take over?” Not so fast, you murderous bastard. It seems that anyone who kills a member of the royal family can’t be caliph (which appears to be synonymous with “king”). So, naturally, they just turn Kassim into a baboon and hope that no one will ask too many questions as the evil son ascends to the throne.

Well, Sinbad’s not going to stand for it. He finds an old man and his hot daughter on some lost island and they go off to find some place called Hyperboria. Apparently, the old man thinks that something in Hyperboria can change Kassim back. Why the rush? Three reasons, really. First, with the passage of time, Kassim turns more and more into a baboon (in terms of his mental state). So, if they don’t fix him fast, Kassim is stuck in his babooneous form. Plus, they’ve got to change him and get him back before the 7th full moon. And, if that wasn’t enough, the evil witch and her evil son are chasing Sinbad and company on an evil boat. But she didn’t just bring her evil son. No. She’s made an evil bronze minotaur named Minaton to accompany them.


After a perilous journey, a fight with a big wasp, the evil witch getting stuck with having a permanent seagull leg, fighting a living Kali statue, meeting a friendly giant Troglodyte named Trog, a missed chance for some female nudity, and a giant walrus attack, the crew finally makes it to the ancient chamber and changes Kassim back. Yay! Sinbad saved the day. Time to get home and let Kassim get his caliph on. Not so fast! During a little struggle, the evil witch’s evil son is killed. Being evil, you might not think that she has much of a maternal instinct. But you’d be wrong. This lady’s pissed. She sends her spirit into a frozen saber-tooth tiger and it attacks. Luckily, Trog’s ready for action. He battles the saber-tooth tiger and sacrifices himself. The final blow goes to Sinbad, who spears the tiger after Trog buys the farm. NOW, things can come to a conclusion. Kassim gets crowned caliph, and everyone lives happily ever after (except the dead evil son, the evil witch with her spirit trapped in a dead saber-tooth tiger, and about a dozen dead sailors).


As I said, it’s not a bad movie at all. The plot is fast-paced and entertaining. It’s got loads of Harryhausen creations, including: the three bug-eyed monsters that Sinbad fights at the beginning of the film, Kassim in baboon form, the giant wasp, Minaton, Kali, Trog, the giant walrus, and the saber-tooth tiger (I think that’s all of them). Plus, both of the female leads in the movies are fun to look at.

There are some problems, however. My biggest complaint is the misuse of Minaton. Throughout the entire movie, you’re looking forward to Sinbad having to fight this badass bronze minotaur. But it never happens. All Minaton gets to do is row the evil witch’s evil boat, pull out a big stone, and then get crushed under said stone. That’s IT! It’s quite a disappointment. This guy looks like he could really kick some ass and take out a few of Sinbad’s seemingly endless supply of expendable sailors. Who wouldn’t love to see a battle between this bronze colossus and Patrick Wayne? The creators really missed their chance here. In fact, this COULD have led to a whole genre of “sailors battling giant minotaur” movies. But somebody high on the ladder really miscalculated.


Also, segueing to Patrick Wayne, he just isn’t a great Sinbad. For my money, John Phillip Law (from the Golden Voyage of Sinbad) gives the best portrayal of the character in these three films. Patrick Wayne doesn’t give any attention to an accent, doesn’t adequately convey the wonder and awe of what he’s seeing unfold before him, and really comes off as a guy with a beard and an earring. But, who am I to criticize? After all, this is the third time Sinbad’s gone out to some grand adventure in these movies. He’s seen it all. Maybe this stuff is just blasé to him at this point. Maybe Patrick Wayne is trying to convey Sinbad’s boredom with the life he’s chosen. Or, maybe Patrick Wayne’s just not that great of an actor.

I’m also pretty perturbed at the above-mentioned missed chance for female nudity. Immediately prior to Trog’s introduction, Jane Seymour and the old man’s daughter are frolicking nude in the water and then resting in the sunlight. This is a PERFECT opportunity for some nudity, but we don’t get any. THEN, after Trog shows up, Jane Seymour and the other girl run away in terror. Now I ask you, if this happened in real life, wouldn’t you just run away naked? I’m sure I would. But NO! These two virtuous girls take the time to gather up their robes and whatnot before running off to Sinbad for help. What a rip-off!

If Jane Seymour’s reading this, I want her to realize how disappointed I am. I’d TOTALLY buy one of those heart necklaces from her if she had showed a little more skin in 1977. But, you had to be greedy with your nudity, Jane Seymour. You couldn’t even talk the other hot actress into giving us some nudity. So, for that, I hereby swear that I’ll NEVER buy one of those necklaces from you. So there you have it, Jane Seymour. You made your bed. Now lie in it. And don’t email me over and over with apologies. You had your chance and you blew it.

But I digress.


This movie is definitely worth checking out. For fans of Harryhausen, it’s some of his best work. The stop-motion animation is nearly flawless. Even on the hairy creatures, (the baboon and the saber-tooth tiger), you can almost believe that they’re alive. Plus, you get to see a giant walrus attacking sailors AND a baboon playing chess. What other movie can offer you both of those prizes all in one package?

If you like old adventure movies, or just have an appreciation for weird, weird films, this is one for you. Yeah, it’s got it problems and is probably the weakest of the three Sinbad films. But, no other Sinbad film can match it for pure bizarreness. Watching Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger makes me feel like I’m 8-years-old again, spending my Saturday afternoon watching some strange, forgotten adventure movie that I stumbled across on a local cable station. It’s not great cinema by any means, but you’ll probably enjoy it. Hell, there’s worse ways to spend two hours of your life.

And as for you, Jane Seymour…I’m not buying any Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman DVDs either. Think of me when you’re standing in line at the welfare office and ask whether it was THAT important that you didn’t show off your boobs 30-some years ago.