Loose retelling of the ¨ 1001 Arabian nights¨ , based on ancient legends , deals with Sinbad The Sailor (Patrick Wayne) sails to deliver a cursed prince Kassin (Damien Thomas) to a dangerous island in the face of deadly opposition from a powerful witch (Margaret Whiting) . In the mysterious land Hyperboria Sinbad along with a sorcerer (Patrick Troughton) and his crew encounter magical and mystical creatures .

This exciting picture contains swashbuckling , magic , fast-moving plot , thrills , impressive fights among monsters and lots of fun . It is an exciting fantasy-adventure full of special effects created by means of stop-motion technique by the magician Ray Harryhausen . The runtime is adequate with various incidents and sub-plots . Harryhausen works his animation magic around a passable-developed screenplay and engaging acting by the entire performers . The cast is enjoyable with sons of famous actors as Patrick Wayne and Taryn Power and a gorgeous and very young Jane Seymour . Agreeable film but hamhanded and confusing if you seek the hidden plot . Ray can once again claim credit for the unusual and marvelous mythical creatures springing to life , such as Smilodon , Troglodite , Mandril , an enormous mosquito , a giant Morse and many others . The picture belongs a trilogy , produced by Ray Harryhausen and Charles H. Schneer , along with ¨The seventh voyage of Simbad¨ (1958) by Nathan Juran with Kerwin Matthews and Kathryn Grant and ¨Golden voyage of Simbad¨ (1973) by Gordon Hessler with John Philip Law , Tom Baker and Caroline Munro . Great and rousing musical score by Roy Budd . Colorful cinematography by Ted Moore , filmed in Jordan (Petra) and Spain . Rating : Acceptable and passable . The motion picture was professionally directed by the usual actor Sam Wanamaker . Don't watch this one for the screenplay , which almost doesn't exist , otherwise , mildly fun .

Other pictures about the great hero Simbad are the following : ¨Sinbad the sailor¨ (1947) with Douglas Fairbanks Jr , Maureen O'Hara and Anthony Quinn ; ¨Sinbad of the seven seas¨ by Enzo G Castellari with Lou Ferrigno and John Steiner and the cartoon movie ¨Simbad the legend of seven seas¨ (2003) produced by Dreamworks , a combo of computer generator and hand-drawn animation by Patrick Gilmore and Tim Johnson with voices from Brad Pitt and Catherine Zeta Jones.

Patrick Wayne ( son of John ) was a busy little guy in 1977. Not content with fighting dinosaurs and volcano worshippers in 'The People That Time Forgot', he also starred in Ray Harryhausen's third and final 'Sinbad' epic. Now, for those of us of a certain age, the name Ray Harryhausen conjures up powerful memories. Whenever one of his films opened in '70's Britain, it was as though manna had fallen from Heaven: 'Clapperboard' ( an I.T.V. children's programme about movies ) devoted a two-part special to its making ( featuring interviews with everyone including the tea boy ), clips found their way onto 'Screen Test', 'Blue Peter', and, if you were lucky, 'The Krypton Factor', and bubble gum cards containing action scenes went on sale in sweet shops. There'd be a paperback book ( the one for this film was by John Ryder Hall ) and a poster magazine. Then you'd trot along to the local picture house to get in line to buy popcorn and see the thing ( praying the best seat in the house would not be taken ).

The plots were identical - Sinbad and his crew ( with a pretty girl thrown in for good measure ) are on a dangerous quest to find some mythical artifact which gives its owner eternal life or magic powers or whatever. But an evil wizard would try to beat them to it, and conjure up all manner of grotesque monsters to slow them down. Of course good would triumph over evil at the end. So it is written.

'Tiger' opens with a coronation going badly wrong. Just before young prince Kassan ( Damien Thomas ) is crowned Caliph of Bagdad, he is unexpectedly changed by magic into a baboon. Being an ape can seriously impair one's ability to be a Monarch ( though its never proved much of a hindrance in Britain ), so his comely sister, Farah ( Jane Seymour ) turns to Sinbad for help. He sets sail for the home of benign magician Melanthius ( Patrick Troughton ). There must be a good hairdresser amongst the crew, as everyone's crowning glories looks permanently fresh and clean. Along the way they pick up Dione ( Taryn Power, sister of Tyrone ). Zenobia ( Margaret Whiting ) the evil witch who changed the prince in the first place, gives chase in a barge rowed by a minotaur-like creature ( Peter Mayhew ) with a clockwork heart. What about the monsters? Well there's a giant walrus, a big wasp, a troglodyte, a sabre-toothed tiger, and some weird looking skeletal things who fight Sinbad near the start of the picture. And we've got Jane Seymour and Taryn Power skinny dipping for good measure. All you want from a movie.

While not the best 'Sinbad' ( 1974's 'The Golden Voyage Of Sinbad' scoops that honour ) by a long chalk, this is still good fun, beautifully photographed by Ted Moore and nicely scored by Roy Budd. It drags in parts, most notably the scene where Zenobia changes into a seagull to eavesdrop on her enemies. As 'Zenobia', Whiting chews the scenery nicely. I wish her character's fate had been resolved though, and dear Pat Troughton's wizard anticipates his later role in 'The Box Of Delights' television series.

'Tiger' opened to a mixed critical response, but us kids loved every absurd word of it. No more 'Sinbad' pictures were made surprisingly. Ray went on to make 'Clash Of The Titans' ( recently remade for no apparently discernible reason ) in 1981 before retiring. While his stop motion animations ( or 'Dynarama' as they were grandly called ) may seem dated to modern eyes, to those of us who were there at the time they remain as thrilling as ever. His monsters look as though they were the creation of a genius. Which they were.

Directed by Sam Wanamaker ( Zoe's dad ).

Evil witch Zenobia (a wonderfully robust and wicked portrayal by Margaret Whiting) casts a spell on Prince Kassim (handsome Damien Thomas) which transforms him into a baboon. Courageous legendary sailor Sinbad (a solid and likable performance by Patrick Wayne) embarks on a dangerous journey to the chilly Artic in order to reverse the spell before it's too late. Assisting Sinbad on his perilous pilgrimage are fiery Princess Farah (radiantly played by the beautiful Jane Seymour), flaky wise old wizard Melanthius (a delightfully dotty Patrick Troughton) and Melanthius' feisty daughter Dione (a winning turn by luscious blonde looker Taryn Power). Standing in Sinbad's way are Zenobia and her no-count son Rafi (a nicely venomous Kurt Christian). Director Sam Wanamaker ably maintains a brisk pace throughout, stages the frequent thrilling action scenes with considerable brio, and effectively creates a charming magical atmosphere. Ray Harryhausen's extraordinary stop-motion animation creatures include a chess-playing baboon (the sequence where the baboon reacts to its reflection in a mirror with startled grief is truly remarkable), a trio of skeletal sword-wielding humanoid insect demons, a powerful bronze colossus called the Minoton, a savage gigantic walrus, a helpful horned club-brandishing troglodyte, and a ferocious saber-toothed tiger. The scene where Power and Seymour go skinny-dipping is pretty bold for a G-rated film. Roy Budd's splendidly stirring'n'sweeping majestic orchestral score and Ted Moore's exquisitely rich, vivid and vibrant saturated color cinematography further add to the overall enjoyment of this engaging and satisfying fantasy adventure treat.