Sinbad The Spoofer?

Patrick Stewart lends his voice to a trailer that we think (hope?) is for a spoof film… Or a homage… or something. We’re not sure, to be honest

So, what is Sinbad The Fifth Voyage ? Watching this just released trailer, it's difficult to know, exactly…

First, the facts. It's a movie by Giant Flick Films, featuring Patrick Stewart (you can hear his voice in the trailer) and starring Persian-American actor Shahin Sean Solimon as Sinbad. It's scheduled to be released in January next year. And it's inspired by Ray Harryhausen films of old, right down to using traditional stop motion animation rather than CGI. It even claims to filmed in Dynamation, the term Harryhausen used to use.

That's all fine and dandy. But. let's be honest, the trailer is rubbish. The question is, is it supposed to look deliberately rubbish? And if it is, shouldn't it be more rubbish?

To be fair, there’s little wrong with the actual stop motion beasties. They look authentically Ray Harryhausenesque. But the actual trailer – bloke sitting around looking bored, then a couple of FX shots – tells you nothing about the tone of the movie.

If it's a "serious" homage, then, frankly it looks a bit cheap, dull and cheesy.

It it's a spoof, and it's supposed to look deliberately dodgy, then it's not very funny or incisive or obviously trying to be bad (though that font they're using is very bad).

So, we're confused about what this film is aiming to be. The film's official site and Facebook page don't really reveal many clues either.

What do you think?

Dave Golder
Freelance Writer

Dave is a TV and film journalist who specializes in the science fiction and fantasy genres. He's written books about film posters and post-apocalypses, alongside writing for SFX Magazine for many years.