Along the way sinbad must abttle an army of mythical creatures, including the legendary Cyclops, to get bck the love of his life. Based on the classic Arabian Night stories, Sinbad The Fifth Voyage is a spectacular fantasy adventure that will enchant and thrill audiences of all ages."
I do like a good Sinbad movie. The romance of ancient Arabia - a dashing, swashbuckling hero with the soul of a poet - fabulous monsters - wicked sorcerers - beautiful exotic women in those Harem girl outfits...all jolly good fun.
Sadly this is not a good Sinbad movie.
It's not for lack of trying. Shalin Sean Solimon not only stars but writes, produces and directs so this is very much his baby.
(How he feels about his name not even appearing on the front cover is anybody's guess. Especially since Patrick Stewart only gets about a dozen lines, all off-screen in his role as Narrator.)
Anyway Mr Solimon was clearly trying to pay tribute to the classic Sinbad films of yore, eschewing CGI for the classic stop-motion technique of Ray Harryhausen, while at the same time injecting a little romantic back-story.
It doesn't quite work.
The story is serviceable enough, as is the acting. But the stop-motion is nowhere near as good as The Master's and would be considered weak for a low-budget Metal video. (The giant crab-thing is ...silly. But not in a good way.) The frequent flashbacks just trip up the narrative. And as for the supposed Big Bad himself...The White Deev manages to be more ridiculous than menacing.
It really is a shame. There's moments when "Sinbad..." hints at greater things but as it is, I found myself watching a film that wasn't stupid enough to be a cheesy guilty pleasure but not really up to the goals it set itself.
How much did I pay for this? £4.99
Was it worth it: I can't say that it was. Sorry.
And can anybody explain to me why everybody insisted on calling our hero Sanbad?
Time for some screenshots.
The Sultan looks pleased with his life.
I don't blame him. Jammy get.
The lovely Princess Firoozeh isn't so sure about the next act though.
A mysterious masked magician who sounds like he's got a sort throat...
He's clearly not going to turn out to be a wrong'un, is he?.
Personally if I were Sultan I'd institute a Standing Order .
To whit "Any magicians who get within a mile of my throne are to be shot on sight."
Sinbad ..sorry Sanbad ... looking heroic and stuff.
"Oh shit. It's a giant Plasticine bird! Run away!"
"This is my scary face! Raargh"
Time for a mega-monster smackdown!
Not as cool as it looks, sadly.
Here's the trailer
That's all folks.
what a shame BigD. they seem to have wrecked a damn good story
ReplyDelete