Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger starts with Captain Sinbad (Patrick Wayne) arriving ashore after a long voyage to see his friend Prince Kassim (Damien Thomas) & his sister Princess Farah (Jane Seymour), however he discovers that Kassim has been transformed into a Baboon by his evil step mother Zenobia (Margaret Whiting) using black magic so her son Rafi (Kurt Christian) can become king. In order to prevent this Sinbad agrees to do all in his power to turn Kassim back into a human being & see him take his rightful place as king of his land. First he must find a wise man named Melanthius (Patrick Troughton), but that is just the beginning of the journey that spans continents & is full of danger & evil...<br /><br />This English production was directed by Sam Wanamaker & I personally liked it a lot, I like all the Sinbad fantasy films & this is no exception. The script by Beverly Cross & producer/special effects man Ray Harryhausen has a simple yet functional story, it has a villain, plenty of monsters & mythical creatures, exotic locations, action scenes, sword fights, black magic & a chess playing Baboon, what more do you want? The film moves along at a nice pace, is never boring or dull & provides terrific entertainment of the kind that will never be seen again. The character's are a bit on the thin side with only Zenobia the villianess standing out as being memorable & the dialogue isn't great either but that's not the reason you would want to see Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger is it? Persoanlly I think it's a magical, hugely entertaining fantasy adventure with plenty of monsters thrown in there for good measure. I really, really liked it, it's as simple & straight forward as that.<br /><br />Director the late Wanamaker seemed an odd choice, he's much more widely known as an actor & Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger was the only theatrically released film he ever directed, everything else he directed was made-for-TV. Anyway, he does an OK job & he integrates Harryhausen's effects & monsters into the action quite well although no one set piece really stands out as being brilliant, they're all very good but not as memorable as some of the other monsters & fights Harryhausen created for some of his earlier films. I loved the bronze Minatour & he was easily my favourite creature from the film. The special effects don't hold up that well in the light of today's multi million CGI effects but I'd rather watch the magical work of Harryhausen rather than a soulless computer graphic. Interestingly Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger came out the same year as Star Wars (1977) which probably put Harryhausen out of business & just about ended his career.<br /><br />Technically the film is good, with nice locations, decent effects, costumes, sets & production design. There seems to lots of varying locations as well including the open sea, rocky mountains & a snow covered pole. The acting isn't anything special apart from Whiting who seems to be enjoying herself as she plays it up as the villain.<br /><br />Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger is a terrific film, it has all the elements one wants in a fantasy film such as this. My only question is why is it called Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger? Sure there's a cool sabre-toothed tiger in it but it doesn't have much significance & it's eye is never even mentioned or has any relevance at all. This was the third & final Sinbad film following The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958) & The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973).