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Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas

compiled by Jeffrey Overstreet

from Film Forum, 07/10/03

Brad Pitt, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Catherine Zeta-Jones provide the voices for the major players in Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, the new animated adventure from the screenwriter of Gladiator and the Dreamworks animators of The Prince of Egypt.

Seafaring adventurer Sinbad (Pitt) has been framed for the robbery of a treasure called the Book of Peace, and he must find it if he wants to save the life of his best friend Proteus (Joseph Fiennes). Marina (Zeta-Jones), Proteus' beautiful fiancée, goes along to make sure that Sinbad succeeds. But the goddess of chaos, Eris (Pfeiffer) plans to stop them, turning loose monsters and storms, even causing a mutiny among Sinbad's companions.

Michael Elliott (Movie Parables) says, "The story is strong, the adventures are exciting, the characters are well-defined, and the message (one of trust, honor, and friendship) is worth hearing."

While Jimmy Akin (Decent Films) finds some flaws in the film, he calls it a "high-flown animated adventure at its most impressive, with swashbuckling feats that could not be achieved and believed in a conventional, live action format."

He also answers the concerns Christians may have about the film's mythological source material. "Some parents might worry about the non-Christian elements in the film, but trust me: Nobody would be tempted to worship pagan gods based on this movie."

Bob Smithouser (Focus on the Family) thinks the movie is "a good popcorn flick. Sinbad soars when it tackles virtues such as nobility, unselfish love, redemption and supreme sacrifice—great discussion starters for families. It would be an easy film to recommend if not for a few crude lines, an amoral view of piracy, and dubious theology."

Ted Baehr (Movieguide) writes, "It's an extremely exciting, well-written animated movie with some exciting sequences that rival big screen epics. I have seldom seen such an enthusiastic response from children at a screening."