Review: 'The 7th Voyage of Sinbad' Blu-ray set

In 1958, Ray Harryhausen stretched himself beyond pictures menaced by a single big octopus or space monster for a greater challenge and a huge leap into pure fantasy. With The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, a whole menagerie of stop-motion creatures were required, and the master outdid himself with the film's towering cyclops, horned dragon, two-headed Roc, four-armed cobra lady, and swashbuckling skeleton. Perhaps the work wasn't quite a refined as it would be five years later in Jason and the Argonauts, and one skeleton is no substitute for a whole regiment of them, but with his first stop-motion-showcase mythological swashbuckler, Harryhausen virtually created a new genre of film that he and he alone would continue to master with Jason, Sinbad's two returns in the seventies, and Clash of the Titans.  If 7th is a bit primitive compared to those later entries, it is no less charming. 

With its visual dazzle, historical significance, and massive fan appeal, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad was a good early choice for blu-ray presentation when the medium was still in its infancy in 2008. That edition, with its good visuals and 5.1 audio refurb and welter of extras, has been the only one available in the States for the past eighteen years. For fans with 4K blu-ray players, its all-new upgrade to that format will be big news, and they'll be hungry to read a review of how it stacks up to its likely out-dated 2008 incarnation. I'm sure you're simply dying to know whether or not you can see each and every blackhead on Kerwin Mathews's nose.

Psych! This is not that review. Psychobabble is retro to the core and does not understand your futuristic 4K space machines. That does not mean there's nothing to review here today, it's just that we'll be reviewing the Blu-ray disc conscientiously included in Sony Pictures Home Entertainment's new double-disc edition of The 7th Voyage of Sinbad. This is the same disc as the 2008 one, so perhaps the subtitle of this review should be "Better Late Than Never," and though this is a nearly two-decade old presentation, it still looks pretty good, if inconsistent. The image is rarely exceptionally sharp and the grain is pretty heavy, but colors are really nice and vivid. Certain shots are clearly pulled from very inferior sources, as when Sinbad's tiny girlfriend helps free him and his friends from a cage. The 5.1 audio track, the likes of which existed way back in 2028 but surely did not way, way, way back in 1958, is a grand showcase for Bernard Herrmann's superb score. The sound effects aren't featured in the surround speakers as prominently, but they do make appearances, most notably in a noisy sea storm sequence. The original mono mix is included for purists as well.

The extra features remain a ransom of riches, with their audio commentary starring the film's true star, Harryhausen himself; some very informative on-screen Ray action in "Remembering The 7th Voyage of Sinbad"; a famous-fan tribute called "The Harryhausen Legacy"; a delightful vintage interview between Harryhausen and John Landis; a near-half-hour documentary about Hermann; and a few very short pieces, such as a vintage promo featurette and a shockingly boss music video, of all things. 

For those like me who aren't set up for 4K, you're not missing much in the supplemental department if you already own Jason and the Argonauts, because the 4K disc only repeats the hour-long, Leonard Nimoy-hosted Harryhausen Chronicles that already appeared on that disc. This documentary was shot on video, so it's safe to say it was not given the same 4K treatment as the main feature.

This blu-ray was sponsored by AV Entertainment and Movie Zyng and can be purchased at Movie Zyng here.