When SINBAD AND THE EYE OF THE TIGER was released in 1977, stop-motion animation was on its way out. Even the master, Ray Harryhausen, would only do one more film, CLASH OF THE TITANS, in 1981. Because of the film industry at the time, this final Sinbad movie would be besieged by a low budget and a dwindling fan base. Producers’ Harryhausen and Charles Schneer could not afford a proven director, so they hired actor Sam Wanamaker to direct, even though his meager experience was mostly on TV projects. Neither could they afford to have John Phillip Law return as the swashbuckling Sinbad, so they ended up hiring the Duke’s son, Patrick Wayne. The G rated film was lost amid the STAR WARS craze that year, but resurfaced on home video (on VHS and Laserdisc) in the ensuing years. But never has the film looked so good than on Columbia Tristar’s DVD release.

The film begins with the abortive coronation of Kassim (Damien Thomas), and then switches to Sinbad (Patrick Wayne) and his crew coming ashore after a year's voyage to find the town walls locked before curfew. They are lured into the tent of a merchant, where Zenobia (Margaret Whiting) mysteriously appears. She summons some demonic-looking skeletal creatures with insectoid eyes to try and kill Sinbad and his men. They escape and manage to evade the demons by toppling a pile of logs on them. Princess Farah (Jane Seymour) shows up and Sinbad takes her back to his ship. She informs him that her brother, Kassim, has been magically transformed into a baboon, and none of the court doctors (or wizards) can reverse the spell.

The next day, Sinbad prepares to set sail to meet with the legendary sorcerer Melanthius (Patrick Troughton). Zenobia (Farah's stepmother) shows up to threaten them and find out what Sinbad's plans are. Her son, Rafi (Kurt Christian), has fashioned a mechanical heart made out of gold, which Zenobia places inside a bronze statue of a Minotaur (a mechanical monster with the head of a bull and the body of a man). When it comes to life, she names it Minaton, and orders it to power a mechanical ship by turning a crank. They set off in pursuit of Sinbad, who has sailed off with Princess Farah and Kassim in his baboon form. Without too much trouble, Sinbad locates Melanthius (these sequences were filmed at the ancient abandoned city of Petra, which is noted for its beautiful pink rocks). Melanthius tells them Zenobia must be a powerful witch as he is unable to undo her spell. He advises Sinbad to go to the legendary continent of Hyperboria, where there exists a magical shrine powerful enough to return Kassim to human form.

Melanthius also warns this should be done as quickly as possible because the longer Kassim remains a baboon, the more the more bestial he'll become. In addition, if he is not crowned Caliph (ruler) in 7 months, he loses the throne forever. Sinbad persuades Melanthius and his daughter Dione (Taryn Power) to accompany them, and they all set off. To make up for time lost when her mechanical ship was beached on some shoals, Zenobia uses some of her remaining magical elixir to transform herself into a gull and flies to Sinbad's ship, where she appears as a tiny version of her human self. Melanthius captures her and discovers her tiny vial of elixir, but when he tests it on a bee, it grows to the size of a pigeon and attacks him. In the ensuing chaos, Zenobia frees herself, transforms into a gull and flies away. However, some of her elixir has been spilled and when she transforms herself back into her full size human form, one of her feet remains in the shape of a gull's webbed foot.

After 4 months, Sinbad's ship reaches Hyperboria. Soon as they leave the ship, a giant walrus attacks them. After it kills a crewmember, it just jumps back into the water, never to be seen again. Next, Sinbad and his friends encounter a Troglodyte. Melanthius persuades Sinbad to drop his sword, to try and befriend this ancestor of man. Trog can't speak English, but he responds to tone of voice, and he seems to have a rapport with the baboon. By drawing a picture of the shrine in the dirt, Melanthius gets Trog to point out the direction of the shrine, and he even leads them to it. Trog also opens the shrine's huge door, saving Sinbad and his men valuable time.

Meantime, Zenobia and Rafi have reached the shrine also. Unable to find the entrance, Zenobia uses her magic to loosen some of the pyramid's blocks, and the Minaton removes the blocks, but not before crushing himself in the process. Inside is a magical whirlpool with a flickering blue light and walls that are lined with colossal Egyptian statues. Melanthius tells Sinbad the baboon must be put in a cage and swung through the blue light. Before this can be accomplished Rafi tries to kill Melanthius and the baboon bites him; they both fall down the steps leading up to the shrine, and Rafi hits his head and dies. Kassim is restored to his human form by the magical power of the blue light. While everyone's attention was on him, Zenobia has infused her spirit into the guardian of the shrine, a Sabertooth Tiger (which had been encased in ice). The Sabertooth breaks out of the ice and attacks Trog, who is killed along with one of Sinbad's men. Sinbad fights it with a huge spear, and when the Sabertooth jumps at him, he angles the spear toward it. The Sabertooth is impaled on it, and then Sinbad gives it a killing blow with his sword. The shrine, its walls having been breached by Zenobia and despoiled by the blood shed, begins to crumble and everyone runs and escapes in time. Kassim returns home within the 7 month deadline, and is crowned Caliph. He rewards Sinbad with the hand of Farah in marriage.

SINBAD AND THE EYE OF THE TIGER certainly has some problems in the areas of direction, script, and character development. Sam Wanamaker does not have the skills of previous Sinbad directors (like Gordon Hessler and Nathan Juran), and because of this, the film has a generic style and tone. The script is basically a rehash of THE GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD (Sinbad’s crew travels to a legendary place and locates a magical shrine), and Harryhausen’s creations are carryovers from previous films. For example, the Troglodyte is a rip-off of the Cyclops (from 7^TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD), the Minaton is a recreation of the golden Talos (from JASON AND ATHE ARGONAUTS), and the Sabretooth Tiger could easily be mistaken for the Griffin (from THE GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD). The last half of the movie is very unevenly paced, and could result in even the most patient filmgoers becoming listless.

Too bad Ray Harryhausen could not have animated Patrick Wayne (Harryhausen’s creations have more personality than the bland Wayne does). But even the character of Sinbad doesn’t have much to do this time out, except for chauffeuring the cast around in his boat. It’s the rest of the cast that actually moves the plot along, like a young and sexy Jane Seymour as Farah. The character of Melanthius also is a centerpiece to the narrative, and ex-Dr. Who Patrick Troughton fills that role perfectly. Let’s not forget Margaret (UNDERWORLD INFORMERS) Whiting, who overacts in a highly entertaining way, as the wicked Zenobia. Taryn Power is nowhere near as talented as her father is, but damn she looks good in a toga!

- Phil Chandler