Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas
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| Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Patrick Gilmore Tim Johnson |
| Produced by | Jeffrey Katzenberg Mireille Soria |
| Written by | John Logan |
| Starring | Brad Pitt Catherine Zeta-Jones Michelle Pfeiffer Joseph Fiennes |
| Music by | Harry Gregson-Williams |
| Editing by | Tom Finan |
| Distributed by | DreamWorks Distribution |
| Release date(s) |   July 2, 2003 July 25 August 21 December 19 |
| Running time | 1hr. 26 min. |
| Country | U.S.A. |
| Language | English/Cantonese/Italian |
| Budget | $60,000,000 (estimate) |
| Official website | |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas is a 2003 animated film produced by DreamWorks SKG with voices of characters from Brad Pitt, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Joseph Fiennes.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
The mainstream part of the plot begins when Arabian pirate named Sinbad is sent on a quest to find the legendary Book of Peace, a mysterious artifact that Eris, the Greek goddess of chaos, has framed him for stealing. Given his background as a pirate, Sinbad's accusers do not believe his protestations of innocence. Sinbad's childhood friend Prince Proteus of Syracuse intervenes, offering to stay imprisoned in Sinbad's place while Sinbad quests to recover the book; if Sinbad cannot recover the book and does not return in the time allotted for his quest, Proteus will receive Sinbad's death penalty and will be executed in his place. Initially, Sinbad would prefer to flee to the far corners of the world rather than undertake such a dangerous quest, hoping that Proteus' father will find some way to save his son; however, Sinbad discovers that the Lady Marina of Thrace, Proteus's spirited fianceé, has stowed away on board, determined to ensure that Sinbad fulfills his obligation to his friend, her betrothed. Prodded by her (and his own conscience), Sinbad ultimately decides to undertake the quest.
This story takes the name Sinbad, the presence of a Roc, as well as the incident wherein Sinbad and Company encounter an island that turns out to be the back of some great sea-beast from the Arabian Nights; however, much of the setting is derived from Greek mythology, including a trip to Tartarus to recover the Book and an encounter with the Sirens. The plot scenario of Proteus taking Sinbad's place is similar to the legend of Damon and Pythias. Throughout the film, Eris appears as a sadistic femme fatale who speaks in a lugubrious voice and is constantly in sinuous motion. During the course of events, Marina becomes very attached to Sinbad.
Ultimately, Sinbad reaches Tartarus and enters it, accompanied only by Marina. He meets with Eris, and realizes that her true goal in the theft was to prod Proteus into surrendering his life for Sinbad's. The execution of the heir to the throne of Syracuse will throw the entire region into chaos for years to come; something the Goddess of Discord greatly desires.
Sinbad bargains for the Book of Peace; Eris agrees to surrender the book if Sinbad truthfully answers a question: if he cannot gain possession of the book, will he fulfill his promise and return to die in his friend's place instead? Sinbad says he will return, but Eris accuses him of lying and sends him and Marina back to Earth without the book. Sinbad admits to Marina that he was lying, and that he did not intend to keep his word and die, even to save the life of his friend. Marina begs him to flee, hoping to return alone to Syracuse and somehow save both Proteus and Sinbad. Sinbad, however now knows that neither he nor she could live with themselves if Sinbad abandoned Proteus to die. Out of good conscience, he travels back to Syracuse, where he embraces the death penalty. Before the executioner can kill him, Eris intervenes, furious at Sinbad for his actions. Sinbad quickly realizes that, despite doubting himself earlier, he has indeed kept his word to return to Syracuse and surrender his life for Proteus, and that Eris, as a goddess, is bound to hold true to her promise to give him the Book. She gives him the Book and disappears, promising to find other places to destroy. Sinbad opens the Book and fulfills its purpose. Having saved the day Sinbad bids good-bye to Syracuse, to embark on another voyage, leaving Marina behind, despite their burgeoning romance. Proteus, however, has realized that Sinbad and Marina have fallen in love, and bids Marina to go with Sinbad. She and Sinbad sail away, presumably to have many more adventures in the future.
[edit] Cast
- Brad Pitt - Sinbad
- Catherine Zeta-Jones - Marina
- Michelle Pfeiffer - Eris, the Goddess of Chaos
- Joseph Fiennes - Proteus
- Dennis Haysbert - Kale
- Adriano Giannini - Rat the Lookout
- Timothy West - King Dymas
- Jim Cummings - Luca
[edit] Reaction and Box Office
The film was considered a commercial failure in the US, where it became the lowest earning film of 2003 to be shown at 3,000+ theatres. It would earn an estimated $26.5 million at 3,086 theatres in the US, though it managed to gross $74 million worldwide.[1] Because of this, it is the last traditionally-animated feature film made by DreamWorks. Additionally, the film's poor performance led Jeffrey Katzenberg to proclaim that traditional animation was dead, and the American public were more interested in computer animation, which led to much controversy with directors and animators who worked with the traditional format.
[edit] Production
Sinbad is the first movie to be produced fully using the Linux operating system.[1]
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Official website
- Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas at the Big Cartoon DataBase
- Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas at the Internet Movie Database
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