Ray Harryhausen.
Fans of movies with computer generated special effects trade barbs with fans of stop motion animation like the shipboard pirates and landlubbers firing cannonballs at one another in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland. CGI fans regale its smooth animation, complex shots with thousands (or even hundreds of thousands) of characters running, fighting, screaming, and dying, all seamlessly captured and breathtakingly realistic. Fans of stop motion animation crow about the filmmaker?s artistry in combining live action figures and hand-animated extras into one shot, making the animation even more special because the key frames and in-between frames are all made painstakingly and lovingly by hand, frame by frame.
Whether you?re in the former camp or the latter, both animation styles have their place in film history. And you?d be hard pressed to find anyone currently in computer generated animation and effects that wasn?t in some way influenced by the pioneering work of the master, Ray Harryhausen.
And now, many of his best monster films are being offered in a convenient box set called, appropriately enough, The Fantastic Films of Ray Harryhausen: Legendary Monster Series.
And let it be known, it?s a pippin.
The Fantastic Films of Ray Harryhausen: Legendary Monster Series Box Set is made up of five films (listed in order of their release): ?The 7th Voyage of Sinbad,? ?The 3 Worlds of Gulliver,? ?Jason and the Argonauts,? ?The Golden Voyage of Sinbad,? and ?Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger.? Their relative strengths and weaknesses as films are just that, relative. Everyone has their own favorite(s) in the series and the debate about who was a better Sinbad (Kerwin Matthews, John Phillip Law, or Patrick Wayne) is almost as epic as, say, Betty vs. Veronica or Mary Ann vs. Ginger.
This review will deal with plot synopsis and the overall quality of the box set?s extras.
And with that, let?s be off!!
?The 7th Voyage of Sinbad? -- Princess Parisa is turned into a living doll by sorcerer Sokurah, and it?s up to Sinbad to take her to the island of Colossa to have her restored. This isn?t a walk in the proverbial park, however, as his way is beset by nasty Sirens, a feather-brained Roc, the wonderfully animated Cyclops, and a particularly malevolent dragon. Oh, and did we mention that Sokura is lurking about, too. Luckily, Sinbad also has the help of a plucky genie who gets him out of a few scrapes and who helps make the end of the story a very happy one indeed.
?The 3 Worlds of Gulliver? -- Loosely based on Jonathan Swift?s novel, this movie has the adventuring Gulliver shuttle between Lilliput (everyone is small), Brobdignag (Gulliver is small), and his own homeland of England (where everyone?s ability to digest Gulliver?s stories becomes small). One actor, three worlds, and one amazing bunch of visual effects.
?Jason and the Argonauts? -- Greek mythology should always look so good. Jason is denied his rightful place on the throne of Thessaly, but is spared death through the graces of goddess Hera. He must recover the Golden Fleece to complete a quest and get things back on track. Various gods and goddesses help and hinder him. The climactic clash with an army of skeletons is an absolute show stopper, if not a heart stopper.
?The Golden Voyage of Sinbad? -- Sinbad and his crew must go on a quest to find a golden tablet that is both valuable (hey, it is gold) and magical. Among the film?s special attractions are a six-armed statue, a one-eyed centaur, and a griffin. While Sinbad shag interest Caroline Munro isn?t stop action, fans of lovely ladies probably wish there was more action...
?Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger? -- Sinbad seeks the hand of Princess Farah in marriage, but can?t get her brother, Prince Kassim, to agree. Whassup with that, you ask? You?d be bitter too if your evil stepmother turned you into a baboon, as has befallen poor Prince Kassim. In order to set things right, Sinbad must travel to a far away place and find the wizard who can break the evil spell and return Kassim to human form. Talk about going the extra mile. But then again, Princess Farah is Jane Seymour... grrrrrrrrrrrrrrowl!).
The extras in The Fantastic Films of Ray Harryhausen: Legendary Monster Series Box Set are very much a mixed bag, until you consider that each of these films was originally sold as a standalone offering. Each DVD has its own selection of extras and some, inexplicably, have nothing to do with the film that?s on the DVD. Here are a few examples:
?Jason and the Argonauts? offers the normal DVD stuff, along with interviews with Ray Harryhausen by director John Landis.
On the other hand, ?The 7th Voyage of Sinbad? is rather stuffed with goodies. It has anamorphic video and digitally remastered audio, production notes, two interviews: ?A Look Beyond the Voyage,? and ?Jason and the Argonauts,? a featurette on the movie?s special effects, ?Ray Harryhausen Chronicles,? trailers, talent files, and the original theatrical poster.
?The Golden Voyage of Sinbad? offers the same audio and video improvements as the 7th Voyage, but offers featurettes for various other Harryhausen films, such as ?The 3 Worlds of Gulliver,? ?Earth vs. the Flying Saucers,? and ?Mysterious Island.?
In all, fans of Harryhausen will have as much fun with The Fantastic Films of Ray Harryhausen: Legendary Monster Series Box Set as Sinbad himself did courting all those princesses. The movies themselves are quality; the extras and features, while scattered, are fun to watch and provide useful information. And the fact that you can now purchase all of it for one low price is perhaps the best reason to buy The Fantastic Films of Ray Harryhausen: Legendary Monster Series Box Set.
