Big Picture Big Sound

The Film

In this 1958 production, directed by Nathan Juran, in order to return the Princess Parisa (Kathryn Grant) -- who has been miniaturized by the villainous magician Sokurah (Torin Thatcher) -- to her normal size, Sinbad (Kerwin Matthews) must obtain the shell from a fabled roc's egg for the magician to use in his potion. Along the way, he battles a barrage of mythological beasts -- a Cyclops, an army of skeletons, a two-headed roc and a fire-breathing dragon.

The '50's adventure film is light on the plot but heavy on the action bolstered by the incredibly proficient work of Ray Harryhausen and his stop-motion animation techniques. Harryhausen, often credited with being the man who invented special effects, put on a display of technical wizardry which, by today's standards may seem to some as a bit underwhelming, but in the terms of 1958 was well ahead of its time. Ray Harryhausen brings the film's beasts to life in a manner that somehow seems perfect for a film from 1958. In these days of GGI, it's easy to forget that there was a time when effects had to be accomplished using more practical means, and that Harryhausen and his crew were able to achieve what they did and fool audiences of the day into thinking that they must have been using people in costumes to create the effects, is truly a feat worth mentioning.

Aiding the drama in Sinbad is the wonderfully instrumented score by long-time collaborator Bernard Herrmann, whose score blends Central Asian and Western styles for something resembling Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade and perfectly captures the Middle Eastern themes and adventuresome mood of the film's protagonists. Utilizing different tonalities and themes for particular characters, Hermann's score, just as the rest of this film, looks ahead to much of the modern fantasy and science fiction films that populate the landscape today, such as The Lord of the Rings and Star Wars. One must ask, where would many of those films be without groundbreaking predecessors in  the form of films such as The 7th Voyage of Sinbad?

The Picture

Filmed in Technicolor and framed at 1.66:1, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad arrives on Blu-ray disc in a transfer that not only shows the effects of its 50-year-old age, but also exposes some of the inherent limitations of the Technicolor format. Let me first start by saying that Sony's AVC/MPEG-4 transfer does well at capturing the source without any visible compression artifacts or processing effects such as edge enhancement and it is as sharp as it can be given the source material. There are also good shadow details, even if the blacks aren't the deepest I have seen. The Technicolor process, however, particularly in 1958, was inherently grainy and often prone to some visible variations in color contrast and density. As such, this transfer is very grainy and does display some of those variations as well as some flickering throughout. One also has to remember that the Technicolor process was known for its hyper-realistic, saturated palette that often yielded something more surreal than realistic. Therefore, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad doesn't necessarily display natural flesh tones, but something more in line with what one would expect from a Technicolor production.

In fact, most of what we see today when Technicolor films are remastered are color palettes that are toned down to be more in line with what audiences today expect to see. I'm not certain Sinbad is even as hyper-saturated as it should be, but it looks well enough reproducing the film's colorful Middle Eastern garb and bright, sunny blue skies.

The Sound

Sony continues their trend of providing multiple language tracks on their Blu-ray releases with The 7th Voyage of Sinbad.  In this case there are two lossless options in the form of a newly remixed English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack and a French Dolcy TrueHD 5.1 dub as well as the original English mono soundtrack and a Thai Dolby Digital 5.1 dub. The new lossless English 5.1 mix offers a slightly more expansive soundfield that lets the score by Bernard Hermann breathe, exposing more of its intricate instrumentation. The dialogue is well balanced, if a bit harsh, and intelligible while the film's action sequences are lively with subtle use of the LFE to provide some much needed weight to the otherwise thin sound.

The original mono soundtrack is also rather good, if obviously less engulfing. It is well balanced with good dynamics, clear dialogue, and ample low frequencies.  Sadly, instead of utilizing soley the center channel for a true monaural 1.0 configuration, Sony has provided the soundtrack in a Dolby 2.0 configuration. Still, it is good to have the original mix represented on this release.

The Extras

The 7th Voyage of Sinbad offers an abundance of exploratory supplemental materials that offer much insight into the work of both Ray Harryhausen and his longtime collaborator, composer Bernard Herrmann. Fans of film history, special effects and Harryhausen should be pleased by the wealth of informative extras available here.

The extras available on this release are:

• Commentary with Ray Harryhausen, visual effects experts Phil Tippet and Randall William Cook, author Steven Smith, and Arnold Kunert -- The men offer very detailed information on the filmmaking and stop-motion animation process as the film goes by in a very conversational manner. Ray Harryhausen, in particular, offers up many informative anecdotes about the film's production. One interesting bit of trivia that can be gleaned form the audio commentary is the fact that Harryhausen had not actually met the film's young actor Richard Eyer (The Genie) until only a couple of years ago. Because of the scheduling, all of the location filming in Spain, where Harryhausen was, used a young Spanish double in his Eyer's place, while Eyer did all of his filming on the set in the US with director Nathan Juran.
• Remembering The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1.78:1/standard definition) -- Ray Harryhausen reminisces on the production of Sinbad and his inspiration for doing the film. In the process, he offers up much information on the special effects techniques he employed during the filming.
• The Harryhausen Legacy (1.78:1/standard definition)-- John Landis and many visual effects artists speak of Harryhausen's influence on their work.
• The Music of Bernard Herrmann (1.78:1/standard definition) -- Music historian Steve Smith offers up an historical account of the legendary composer's music and tells of how he and Ray Harryhausen first came to collaborate.
• Photo Gallery -- A montage of stills from The 7th Voyage of Sinbad set to the film's score by Bernard Hermann.
• "Sinbad May Have Been Bad, But He's Been Good to Me" Music Video -- A promotional 45rpm recording created for the 1958 holiday season release ad campaign for Sinbad. The song is played back to a montage of promotional posters.
• A Look Behind the Voyage (4:3/standard definition) -- This is an archival television documentary on the career of Ray Harryhausen.
• This is Dynamation (Special Effects) (4:3/standard definition) -- A classic 1958 promo highlighting the film's special effects.
• Ray Harryhausen -- Interviewed by Director John Landis (4:3/standard definition) -- John Landis interviews Ray Harryhausen in what is am ore a friendly discussion in which Landis it is obvious that Landis holds Harryhausen in very high esteem. Harryhausen once again details much of the techniques he used in the filming of The 7th Voyage of Sinbad and many of his other films.
• Previews (high definition) -- Promotional spots for upcoming and currently available Sony Blu-ray releases:
  • Casino Royale -- Promo for the upcoming 2-Disc Collector's Edition
  • Men in Black
  • CJ7
  • The Waterhorse: Legend of the Deep
• BD-Live -- This disc is BD-Live enabled for users with BD-Live (Profile 2.0) capable players. The BD-Live features available on this release so far are just promos for other Blu-ray releases from Sony, and offer nothing of any real added value.

Final Thoughts

The 7th Voyage of Sinbad offers an interesting glimpse into the origins of special effects on the fantasy/science fiction genre of films that are so prevalent today. Without pioneers like Ray Harryhausen, much of the films and visual effects we have grown so accustomed to today may never have existed. Now is your chance to see this early master -- this inventor of special effects -- at work in what is the best possible presentation of this film on home video in this Blu-ray Disc release. It won't wow with its presentation by any means, but it is as good as it can get given the source. The inclusion of the original mono soundtrack also adds an element of authenticity making this a cinematic experience any true cineaste won't want to miss.


Where to Buy

• The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (Amazon.com)

Product Details

• Actors: Kerwin Mathews, Kathryn Grant, Richard Eyer, Torin Thatcher
• Directors: Nathan Juran, Ray Harryhausen
• Language: English Dolby TrueHD 5.1, English original mono (Dolby 2.0), French Dolby Digital 5.1, Thai Dolby Digital 5.1
• Subtitles: English, English SDH, Chinese, French, Indonesian/Bahasa Indonesia, Korean, Spanish
• Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
• Region: ABC (All Regions)
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: G
• Studio: Sony Pictures
• Blu-ray Disc Release Date: October 7, 2008
• Run Time: 88 minutes
• List price: $28.95
• Extras:
  • Audio commentary with Ray Harryhausen, visual effects expert Phil Tippett and Randall William Cook, and Author Steven Smith, and Arnold Kunert
  • Remembering the 7th Voyage of Sinbad
  • The Harryhausen Legacy
  • The Music of Bernard Herrmann
  • Photo Gallery
  • "Sinbad May Have Been Bad, But He's Been Good to Me" Music Video
  • A Look Behind the Voyage
  • This is Dynamation Special Effects Featurette
  • Ray Harryhausen Interviewed by Director John  Landis
  • BD-Live Enabled