#American 'proper' cinema; the following year he'd be filming Jaws and cementing himself as a big screen icon so maybe he was right?

[thisbluespirit]

#the golden voyage of sinbad#fantasy film#ray harryhausen#1973#british cinema#gordon hessler#brian clemens#john phillip law#caroline munro#tom baker#douglas wilmer#martin shaw#kurt christian#takis emmanuel#david garfield#grégoire aslan#aldo sambrell#robert shaw#impossible for me to be unbiased about this film‚ which has an extraordinary nostalgia pull for me. i was Big into Harryhausen as a kid#and devoured all the films I could get my hands on‚ with this being a personal favourite of his colour works. with the benefit of age and#experience‚ it isn't without issue: from the varying levels of brownface on display to the really quite appalling dialogue‚ the thinly#sketched in characters and poor Caroline Munro‚ presumably holding her breath throughout so that she doesn't explode out of the skimpy#outfit she was given. but! but what fun. there are few films so colourful‚ so purely spectacular‚ so vibrant of image and adventure#Harryhausen's work here is some of his best‚ less so in the monsters (the living ones) than in the inanimates brought to life. a ship's#figurehead‚ tearing itself free and attacking the crew! the incredible figure of Kali conjured to life and fighting with six swords! truly#one of the great setpieces of fantasy cinema. and the set design! the miniatures! the temple of many faces! douglas wilmer's golden mask!#pure visual magic of a sort of timeless and universal quality. enormous fun and easily the best of the Sinbad trilogy#fun fact: the monstrous and distorted Oracle of All Knowledge is actually an uncredited Robert Shaw‚ who did a day's work as a favour to#producer Charles Schneer‚ but insisted his face and voice be unrecognisable as a goofy fantasy film might hurt his growing reputation in#American 'proper' cinema; the following year he'd be filming Jaws and cementing himself as a big screen icon so maybe he was right?

The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973)

"Your courage has deserted you."

"Me? No! My heart is full of bravery. But I have very cowardly legs..."