REEL RETRO CINEMA | 13th Dimension, Comics, Creators, Culture

Apr20

50 YEARS LATER: The Kitschy Greatness of THE GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD

Posted by Dan Greenfield on Apr 20, 2024

50 YEARS LATER: The Kitschy Greatness of THE GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD

REEL RETRO CINEMA: The Harryhausen classic was released in America five decades ago! — UPDATED 4/20/24: The Golden Voyage of Sinbad was released in the U.S. 50 years ago this month, on April 5, 1974! Perfect time to “reprint” this piece from 2016! Dig it! — Dan — OK, so there’s a special reason Rob Kelly’s latest REEL RETRO CINEMA column is focused on this Sunday-matinee staple. See, over the last year or so, ever since Sir Christopher Lee died, he and Caroline Munro have become minor obsessions of mine. It’s because I’m convinced that the two of them should have been Ra’s al Ghul and Talia in a ’70s Batman movie that should have been made but wasn’t. (Read about that here.) This is an idea that goes back to childhood. (Read about that here.) Anyway, we’re right now in the thick of NEAL ADAMS MONTH (again, click here) in which the legendary artist provides us with daily commentary on every variant cover he’s done for DC in February, each one based on one of his Bronze or Silver Age classics. But during our lengthy discussions, I made sure to ask him about the Lee-Munro idea — and he was really into it. (You can read about that here.) So the timing seemed right to revisit The Golden Voyage of Sinbad in all its Munrovian glory… — Dan — By ROB KELLY “Trust in Allah, but tie up your camel.” 1973’s “The Golden Voyage of Sinbad” was producer Charles H. Schneer and Ray Harryhausen’s second Sinbad film, following 1958’s The 7th Voyage of Sinbad. This time around, John Phillip Law (Diabolik himself!) plays the world-traveling, sword-wielding adventurer. Let’s set sail! Directed by Gordon Hessler (who helmed many fine films, plus KISS Meets The Phantom of the Park), the movie opens aboard Sinbad’s ship as it cruises the high seas. A small winged homunculus flies above, dropping a golden tablet. Sinbad wears it around his neck, and that night has a strange vision of a mysterious woman with an eye tattooed on her hand. A strange storm blows the ship off course, and Sinbad and his crew find themselves at a coastal town in the country of Marabia. While on land, Sinbad is accosted by a stranger in black who demands the tablet, showing off his sword for emphasis....

Mar28

BATMAN RETURNS: How the Comics Adaptation Improves Upon the Classic 1992 Movie

Posted by Dan Greenfield on Mar 28, 2024

BATMAN RETURNS: How the Comics Adaptation Improves Upon the Classic 1992 Movie

BATMAN WEEK: A special REEL RETRO CINEMA column… — Welcome to BATMAN WEEK 2024 — celebrating the 85th anniversary of the release of Detective Comics #27, on March 30, 1939. Over seven days, you can look forward to all sorts of groovy and offbeat columns, features and cartoons that pay tribute to the greatest comics character in the history of mankind. Click here for the rest of the BATMAN WEEK features. You’ll be glad you did! — Dan — By ROB KELLY The excitement the teenage me had for the release of 1989’s Batman was so intense and all consuming that even seeing the movie didn’t fully satisfy it. I think it was less than a week later before I started thinking, “OK, when’s the sequel?” I clearly wasn’t the only one—I remember watching a segment about the film’s massive success on a local current events TV show out of Philadelphia and the host started speculating who might be the villain and play the role. “Rumor is the next villain will be the Penguin, to be played by Danny DeVito… and that is perfect casting.” Flash forward three years. The excitement I had for Batman Returns was, while not as white hot intense as it had been for Batman, it was more fun to luxuriate in because I didn’t have any worry that they weren’t going to get it right. We already had cinematic proof that Burton and company knew what they were doing when it came to Batman. This time, I could just sit back and enjoy. For the most part, I did. Then and now, I’m most immediately struck by the tonal changes Burton brought to the Batman movie universe in Returns. Both films seem to exist in an indeterminate time period, where modern technology sits alongside buildings and costumes from decades past. But while 1989’s Batman has a grittier, more film noir feel, Batman Returns is sleeker, cleaner, and purposely more artificial. Surely some of that is due to the change in cinematographer, from Roger Pratt (Brazil, Chocolat) to Stefan Czapsky, who worked with Burton on Edward Scissorhands and would do again on Ed Wood. While there were some outside scenes in Batman, the entire world of Batman Returns is shot on sets, making the whole movie feel like a snow globe—completely self-contained. Also, the screenplay by Daniel Waters (Heathers, Hudson Hawk) is more jokey...

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