*For the next few days, I’m going to add a random film the great Ray Harryhausen worked on. The legendary special effects MASTER passed away on May 7, 2013 at age 92 in London and yes, the film world has lost a true giant as well as a fine and talented gentleman…

When I was much younger, I wondered why Ray Harryhausen didn’t make more films until I found out how long it took him to design all those characters from drawing and painting some outstanding concept art to the construction and creation the visual effects. Let’s just say the man gained all the respect I had after that. That said, 1977’s Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger is an example of what happens when a movie studio decides to rush things a bit too quickly, as it’s not his best work of the decade on display.

Yes, there are some major showpiece moments, but between some awful matte shots and a few creatures missing Harryhausen’s trademark expressionism, the film suffers a bit from a “by the numbers” look that’s noticeable to the point of distraction. Then again, that the film arrived in theaters a few months after Star Wars opened and was still generating a huge amount of money. I’m sure to many viewers blown away by George Lucas’ epic, Sinbad seemed almost like a relic from another decade…

And in a way, it was unashamedly so. The plot was about as thin as possible and basically there to bounce Sinbad (Patrick Wayne) and company from one lovely fantasy location to another, meet and do battle with a less than fantastic creature (more on them in a bit) and push the plot along like a Red Bull chugging Sisyphus diligently doing his daily duty. Actually, Jane Seymour makes a pretty enough princess to keep you watching and Taryn Power also pops up as eye candy with a purpose. If you turn your more critical eye off, the movie is really fun fluff that’s not insulting at all and yes, the kids will love it unless they’re too used to CGI effects and start getting all prickly about some of the less impressive visuals. Yeah, you know those darn kids who do that… I always want to lock them in a room with Georges Méliès’ A Trip to The Moon until their sense of wonder gets reactivated.

As for those monsters, the film goes for a mix of fantasy characters (the Minoton and Troglodyte) and super-oversized Walrus and Tiger. I’d say the best creature in the film is the baboon one character is transformed into, as Harryhausen really did some stellar work in animating it. Some of the other figures are a bit too straightforwardly animated and as noted above, lack the more expressive characteristics found in some of his earlier films, but the kids probably won’t notice this either. At the end of the day, what’s here isn’t “bad” at all – it’s just not quite the film it could have been thanks to the tight effects shooting schedule. Of course, it’s still a great training film for anyone who wants to experiment with stop motion, so feel free to say this is an “educational” film if you like.

That said, definitely check this one out as a double feature with The Golden Voyage of Sinbad or even better, as a triple feature with The 7th Voyage of Sinbad just so you can see Harryhausen’s style evolve over the years. Er, just don’t accidentally rent or buy the 1986 “B” action flick Eye of the Tiger unless you want to expose yourself and the little ones to Gary Busey and his crazy performance, a cheesy well-armed off-road truck and a ton of stuff blowing up. It sounds like fun, but it’s just dumb and loud and will make your brain cells hurt from you laughing too much…