July 2, 2003
Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (also known as simply Sinbad) is a 2003 American animated adventure film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by DreamWorks Pictures. Like the studio's previous film, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, the film combines traditional animation with some computer animation. Featuring the character Sinbad the Sailor, it was directed by Tim Johnson and Patrick Gilmore (in his feature directorial debut) and written by John Logan, and stars the voices of Brad Pitt, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Joseph Fiennes. It covers the story of Sinbad (voiced by Pitt), a pirate who travels the sea with his dog and his loyal crew, alongside Marina (voiced by Zeta-Jones), the fiancée of his childhood friend Prince Proteus (voiced by Fiennes), to recover the stolen Book of Peace from Eris (voiced by Pfeiffer) to save Proteus from approving Sinbad's death sentence. The film blends elements from One Thousand and One Nights and classical mythology.
Sinbad was released on July 2, 2003, and received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the animation, action sequences, and voice performances, but criticized the storyline and polarizing CGI. Grossing $80.8 million on a $60 million budget, Sinbad was a box-office bomb, causing DreamWorks to suffer a $125 million loss on a string of films, which nearly bankrupted them. To date, this soon became the final DreamWorks Animation film to use traditional animation, as this studio abandoned that in favor of computer animation. However, DreamWorks brought 2D animation back for the 5-minute short film Bird Karma in 2018.
Storyline[]
Sinbad and his pirate crew attempt to steal the magical "Book of Peace" and hold it for ransom as one last job before retiring to Fiji. Sinbad is surprised to see it is being protected while on board to Syracuse, Sicily by Prince Proteus of Syracuse. Proteus was once Sinbad's best friend as a child and he tells him if it ever meant anything he can prove it. Sinbad tries to steal the book anyway, but is prevented when Cetus attacks the ship. The two work together to fight off Cetus and for a moment reaffirm their bond. Just when it seems the beast is defeated, Sinbad is dragged off the ship. Proteus goes to save Sinbad, but he is stopped by his crew.
Drawn underwater by Cetus, Sinbad is saved by the beautiful Goddess of Discord, Eris, who offers him any boon he desires in exchange for the Book of Peace. Sinbad and his crew go to Syracuse to steal the Book, but leave without doing so. Anticipating this, Eris impersonates Sinbad and steals the Book. Sinbad is sentenced to death, whereupon Proteus sends Sinbad to retrieve the Book instead, placing himself as a hostage, and Proteus' fiancée Lady Marina goes to make sure that Sinbad succeeds. To prevent them from succeeding, Eris sends a group of mythical sirens, who entrance and seduce the men aboard Sinbad's ship with their hypnotic singing voices, but do not affect Marina, who pilots the ship to safety. Eris later sends a Roc which captures Marina, but she is rescued by Sinbad.
After these and other incidents, Sinbad and Marina talk in a brief moment of peace - Marina reveals that she's always dreamed of a life on the sea, and Sinbad reveals that he distanced himself from Proteus 10 years earlier because he loved Marina. They suddenly then reach and enter Eris' realm where she reveals that her plan was to maneuver Proteus into Sinbad's place, leaving Syracuse without an heir, and agrees to surrender the Book of Peace only if Sinbad truthfully tells whether he will return to Syracuse to accept blame and be executed if he does not get the Book. She gives him her word that she will honour the deal, making it unbreakable even for a god. When he answers that he will return, Eris calls him a liar, and returns him and Marina to the mortal world. Ashamed, Sinbad admits that Eris is right, truly believing deep down that he is a selfish, black-hearted liar. Marina pleads for Sinbad to leave, admitting her feelings for him.
In Syracuse, the time allotted to Sinbad has elapsed. Proteus readies himself to be beheaded, but at the last minute, Sinbad appears and takes his place. An enraged Eris appears suddenly and saves Sinbad by shattering the executioner's sword to pieces. Sinbad, shocked, realizes that this was still part of her test and that he has beaten her by proving his answer to be true after all. Eris is furious but cannot go back on her word and gives the book to Sinbad. Eris then leaves to cause chaos elsewhere. With the true culprit revealed, Sinbad is pardoned for the crime of stealing the book and is now well-respected.
With the Book restored to Syracuse, Sinbad and his crew prepare to leave on another voyage, leaving Marina in Syracuse. Unbeknownst to him, Proteus sees that Marina has fallen deeply in love with Sinbad and life on the sea and releases her from their engagement, sending her to join Sinbad's ship. Marina surprises Sinbad by revealing her presence on the ship just as it begins to sail, and the two share a kiss. Now together, they and the crew set out on another long voyage as the ship sails into the sunset.
Also See[]
Movie Trailer[]
Sound Effects Used[]
- Hollywoodedge, Dog Medium Barks Inte PE023201
- Hollywoodedge, Splashes Small PlopL TE049201 (Heard in the DreamWorks SKG logo at the very beginning of the movie.)
- Hollywoodedge, Swish 11 Double Swish PE117001
- Hollywoodedge, Swish 12 Single PE117101
- Hollywoodedge, Sword Shing Long Clan PE245201
- Sound Ideas, CARTOON, MONSTER - PREHISTORIC CREATURE SCREECHES, CREATURE (Heard once in a high pitch, Crab only)