While similarly named, the film does not follow the plot of the tale "The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad the Sailor" but instead has more in common with "The Second Voyage of Sinbad the Sailor", which featured the giant roc bird.
In 2008, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Legendary adventurer Sinbad the Sailor (Kerwin Mathews) and his crew are lost on the ocean but accidentally find the island of Colossa. They land for provisions. While exploring, Sinbad finds an enormous cloven hoof-print which leads him to a stone-carved opening in the shape of a giant face. He encounters Sokurah the magician (Torin Thatcher), fleeing from a giant cyclops through the opening. They are able to escape when Sokurah orders the genie of his magic lamp to create an invisible barrier, the Genie is unable to work harm so cannot slay the Cyclops. However, Sokurah drops the lamp when the cyclops throws a boulder into the sea, overturning their boat, though the men are able to swim to the ship. The cyclops retrieves the lamp from the water after the barrier disappears. On board ship Sokurah offers Sinbad many jewels to get it back for him, but Sinbad refuses. He and Princess Parisa (Kathryn Grant), from the kingdom of Chandra, are on their way to Sinbad's native Baghdad to be married. Their union would cement ties between their two nations.
The Caliph of Baghdad (Alec Mango) allows Sokurah to provide entertainment on the night before the wedding. Sokurah combines the Princess's handmaiden with a serpent and she performs an exotic dance. When the serpent part tries to strangle her, Sokurah turns her back. The Caliph refuses to provide Sokurah a ship and crew to retrieve his lamp and threatens to have him blinded if he is not out of Bagdad before sunset because he prophecises war between the two nations when asked to look into the Future of the two nations. That night, the magician secretly shrinks Parisa to the size of a hand. When she is discovered her father threatens Bagdad with war. Sinbad is able to find Sokurah as he leaves the City. Sokurah claims he knows of a potion that can restore Parisa, but it requires a piece of the eggshell of a roc, a giant, two-headed bird that coincidentally nests on the peaks of Colossa. The caliph has no choice but to provide a ship. Sinbad enlists his loyal men from the previous voyage, but they are not enough and the story of the Cyclops has spread through Bagdad, so he also has to recruit inmates from the Caliph's prison.
Before they reach the island of Colossa, the cutthroats mutiny and capture Sokurah, Sinbad, and his men. However, the sounds of screaming demons from an island south of Colossa madden the crew, and the ship is in danger of being dashed upon the rocks, after which sea-serpents will devour the sailors. Sokurah told Sinbad of the danger meaning Sinbad is prepared. One of the mutineers releases Sinbad so he can save the ship and the leader of the mutineers falls from the mast. Sokurah tells Sinbad of a narrow channel through the rocks. Afterwards, Sinbad regains control of the crew.
On the island of Colossa the men construct a giant crossbow to protect them from harm, Sokurah showed the design in Bagdad. As some of the sailors enter the valley of the Cyclops, Sokurah insists on splitting into two groups, claiming if one is captured the other may attempt to free them. When Sinbad's party is captured by the cyclops, Sokurah makes no attempt to release them from their cage, instead going on the find the magic lamp. The rest of the men drink from a river of wine that Sokurah told them was poisoned and become drunk. The cyclops chases Sokurah while Sinbad has the miniature Parisa slip between the bars and unlatch the cage. Three of the drunken men are killed by the Cyclops. However, Sinbad manages to blind the cyclops and leads it off a cliff to its death.
Sinbad still needs Sokurah to guide him, but takes possession of the lamp. Parisa enters the lamp where she finds the unhappy boy genie Barani (Richard Eyer). He shows her an inscription inside the lamp of how he can be freed and tells her the words to summon him in return for her promise to free him.
The party reaches the nest of the two-headed roc, just before a giant hatchling emerges from its shell. Some of the men break open the egg and slay it as they feel hungry, which incites an attack by the infuriated parent. Meanwhile, Sokurah kills Sinbad's faithful lieutenant Harufa when he prevents him getting the lamp. The magician then abducts the tiny Princess and takes her to his underground fortress, while the Roc captures Sinbad in its talons and drops him unconscious in its nest.
Sinbad recovers, is told by the Genie what happened, and climbs down into the valley of the Cyclops to the entrance of Sokura's cave. He slips past the chained guardian dragon. Upon finding the magician he agrees to restore Parisa to her normal size in return for the lamp. However, Sinbad then refuses to give him the lamp until they get back to the ship, so Sokura brings to life a skeleton swordsman to challenge him. Sinbad eventually defeats it by knocking it off the top of a spiral staircase. He and the Princess flee. As they cross over a river of molten lava Sokurah causes part of the bridge to break off. The Princess summons the Genie who gives the two a rope to swing over. Parisa recalls part of the prophecy the genie told her about. She throws the lamp into the lava to free the genie from his captivity.
When the two leave the cave, they encounter a second Cyclops. Sinbad releases the dragon who goes on to defeat the Cyclops in the ensuing battle by biting its neck. During the struggle, Sinbad and Parisa make good their escape back to the shore. Sokurah orders the dragon to follow and kill them. However, Sinbad's men have time to organize the giant crossbow ballista. This they fire at the dragon which, mortally wounded, falls on Sokurah. It continues to follow the men, but dies on the shore as Sinbad, Parisa, and the other survivors depart. They are joined by the genie, Sinbad's new cabin boy, who has placed the treasure of the Cyclops in Sinbad's cabin as a wedding gift.
Cast
Kerwin Mathews as Sinbad, the main protagonist of the film
Kathryn Grant as Princess Parisa
Richard Eyer as Barani, the genie
Torin Thatcher as Sokurah, the main antagonist of the film
Alec Mango as the Caliph of Bagdad
Harold Kasket as the Sultan, Parisa's father
Alfred Brown as Harufa, Sinbad's loyal right hand man
Directed by Nathan H. Juran
Produced by Charles H. Schneer
Ray Harryhausen
Written by Kenneth Kolb
Starring Kerwin Mathews
Torin Thatcher
Kathryn Grant
Richard Eyer
Alec Mango
Music by Bernard Herrmann
Cinematography Wilkie Cooper
Editing by Roy Watts
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)
December 23, 1958
Running time 88 min.
Country United States
Language English
Budget $650,000
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