Movie Info

RATING:

PG (for adventure action, some mild sensuality and brief language)

TIME:

92 minutes

GENRE:

Animated, Mythological Fantasy

STARRING THE VOICE TALENTS OF:

Brad Pitt, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Michelle Pfeiffer, Joseph Fiennes, and Dennis Haysbert

DIRECTORS:

Tim Johnson and Patrick Gilmore

WRITER:

John Logan

PRODUCERS:

Jeffrey Katzenberg and Mireille Soria

DISTRIBUTOR:

DreamWorks.

OFFICIAL WEB SITE

Please Note

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MOVIE REVIEW

Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas

By Ted Baehr
Publisher, MovieGuide Magazine

What's This?

CBN.com – Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas is a delightful surprise. Its an extremely exciting, well-written animated movie with some exciting sequences that rival big screen epics.

The movie tells the story of Sinbad of Arabian Nights fame. In this version of the oft told tale, Sinbad is a pirate, trying to cap off his career by stealing the Book of Peace. When he boards the ship which is carrying the Book of Peace, he discovers his old friend Proteus. Eris, the goddess of chaos, sends a horrific monster down to attack the ship because she wants the Book of Peace. Proteus and Sinbad fight side by side to destroy the monster.

When they get to the town of Syracuse, Sinbad is feted at a banquet for helping to save the ship. The Book of Peace is put in an honored position in a lighthouse, and the kings of the Seven Cities drink a toast in a service that resembles communion, with Proteus father holding a chalice with a cross on it.

Meanwhile, Eris impersonates Sinbad and steals the Book of Peace. Sinbad is blamed and condemned to death, but Proteus says that he will take Sinbads place, freeing Sinbad to go to the edge of the world to the home of Eris in Tartarus to retrieve the book. Proteus betrothed and beloved, Marina, goes with Sinbad to make sure he retrieves the Book of Peace. Many harrowing adventures occur, some of them extremely exciting and frightening, before some twists and turns bring this mythic tale to an end.

The good news is that Sinbad has many very positive themes. Sinbad the thief and sinner needs to choose the right way, recovering the Book of Peace. He needs to lay down his life for his friends. He needs to choose honor over selfishness, truth over falsehood, and trust over irresponsibility. . . in fact all those Christian virtues which are set forth so clearly in the Bible, the real Book of Peace. Thus, there is a Christian allegory running underneath the mythological story.

Sinbad, himself, has to look in the mirror to find out who he is and who he wants to be. He sees that hes been selfish, cold-hearted, cruel, and irresponsible. So convicted, he chooses the truth and the right way.

There are several minor cautions, however. Much of the mythology seems all too convincing. Some of the action violates the logic of the story. The world of chaos ruled by the goddess is nominalistic. There are several clear sexual innuendoes, and the sirens almost appear to be naked at times. Furthermore, there are some Romantic elements, in the philosophical sense, which, though rebuked, are not entirely resolved. Also, there is a lot of sword play, scary monsters and frightening situations.

Even so, Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas has some incredible writing. The story carries you to the end in such a dramatic fashion that the children sitting next to me at the screening were clapping and cheering. I have seldom seen such an enthusiastic response from children at a screening.

The quality and moral virtues of Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas are surprising because the trailers and advertisements do not even hint at the excellence and virtues of the movie itself which can be summed up in the biblical mandate from John 15:13, Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. (NIV)

NOTE from Dr. Ted Baehr, publisher of Movieguide Magazine: For more information from a Christian perspective, order the latest Movieguide Magazine by calling 1-800-899-6684(MOVI) or visit our website at www.movieguide.org. Movieguide is dedicated to redeeming the values of Hollywood by informing parents about today's movies and entertainment and by showing media executives and artists that family-friendly and even Christian-friendly movies do best at the box office year in and year out. Movieguide now offers an online subscription to its magazine version, at www.movieguide.org. The magazine, which comes out 25 times a year, contains many informative articles and reviews that help parents train their children to be media-wise consumers.