Sinbad: Legend Of The Seven Seas Review:

Synopsis

Sinbad (voiced by Brad Pitt) is the most daring and notorious rogue ever to sail the seven seas. Framed for stealing one of the world's most priceless and powerful treasures - the Book of Peace - he has one chance to find and return the precious book, or his childhood friend Proteus (voiced by Joseph Fiennes) will die. Sinbad decides not to take that chance and instead sets a course for the fun and sun of the Fiji Islands.

But Sinbad's best laid plans are ruined when Proteus' beautiful betrothed, Marina (voiced by Catherine Zeta-Jones), stows away on his ship, determined to make sure that he fulfils his mission and saves Proteus' life. Eris (voiced by Michelle Pfeiffer), the evil goddess of chaos, lives up to her name by dispatching both monstrous creatures and the world's elements to do battle with Sinbad along the way, testing him to the limits as he reluctantly embarks upon his quest.

The Film

Sinbad: Legend Of The Seven Seas is yet another well-made animated action tale featuring familiar celebrity voices. The film will, rightly so, never attain the classic status of box-office giants as The Lion King or Aladdin, but there is much to admire for adults and children alike in this hybrid tale .

Brad Pitt lends his voice to Sinbad, a carefree adventurer with a roguish streak. However, troubles start to mount up for our 'hero' when Eris, the evil goddess of chaos (Michelle Pfeiffer), frames him for the theft of the Book Of Peace, a treasured artefact of much power. Sinbad is given a strict ultimatum - he must steal the book back from Eris and return, or else his childhood friend, Proteus (Joseph Fiennes) will be executed.

Sinbad sets sail and is tempted to simply run away, but Proteus' beautiful fiancée, Marina (Catherine Zeta-Jones), has stowed away on board to ensure he fulfils his moral duty. Eris, however, lives up to her name by sending monstrous creatures and the world's elements to do battle with Sinbad as he fights to reclaim the sacred book.

This playful tale is more than entertaining despite its somewhat generic crafting. The script is full of the one-liner humour found in most of today's animated films, while a wide range of influences have clearly influenced the story. For example, Sinbad's world is bizarrely populated with many ancient Greek references, such as Eris and the sirens, that have not been present in older versions of the legend. In fact, this Grecian feel essentially dominates the film and very little Arabian atmosphere has remained.

The A-list stars add much credibility to the proceedings with Michelle Pfeiffer perhaps deserving the most praise for her suitably alluring tones as Eris. Meanwhile, the animation style is a mix of standard techniques blended with CGI work - the end result is a fairly classic look for the film coupled with dynamic 'camera' moves at periodic intervals that were made possible through the computer wizardry.

Overall, Sinbad: Legend Of The Seven Seas is an enjoyable family tale that compensates for its somewhat unoriginal premise with plenty of action and an appealing fantasy setting.

Video

Big budget animated features tend to look near faultless on DVD thanks to their artificial origins - this disc is no exception. Colour reproduction is spot on, while black levels are satisfyingly solid under the most testing of circumstances. There is absolutely no print damage on display, while grain, noise and aliasing are also pleasingly absent.

Sharpness is very clean and, overall, this is a top-notch transfer that brings across the colourful visuals almost without error.

Audio

As with most high-profile DreamWorks DVDs, this title enjoys both Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1 soundtracks. As is almost invariably the case, both streams sound almost identical and those with the extra DTS hardware capabilities will not receive a terribly significant advantage by selecting the technically superior track.

Both 5.1 audio streams are designed fairly well, boasting clear dialogue, natural score reproduction from the rear speakers and periodic moments of ambience from the surrounds. Some directional effects also emerge from well-placed locations at the rear, but this occurs too infrequently and the sound design fails to truly sparkle as a result.

Overall, however, both soundtracks remain commendable - those with only Dolby compatability will not be missing out on much through their inability to utilise the DTS option.

Extras

The extras have been very carefully designed with the target audience in mind. As a result, the emphasis is on shorter, more interactive features that should keep children happily entertained for a considerable while. That said, there are still one or two features near the end that are aimed specifically at adults. Note that, where applicable, the extras are presented in non-anamorphic widescreen and/or Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo unless stated otherwise.

First up is the Cyclops Island interactive adventure , which is a 4 minute story presented in anamorphic widescreen with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. This is a short tale featuring some of the film's major characters - as the narrative unfolds, the viewer can choose the character viewpoint from which to watch. Meanwhile, 'The Voice Of Spike' featurette is a 3 minute look at how a large number of real dogs were sampled and mixed together to create the voice of Sinbad's dog, Spike.

The bonus material continues with 3 set-top games - the first, 'Sinbad's Sailing Adventure' requires three perilous challenges to be completed by the viewer, while 'Save The 12 Cities' is a symbols-related puzzle. An extensive 3D tour of Sinbad's ship, The Chimera, has also been included on the disc. Viewers can use their remote to navigate around the vessel and explore various locations on board.

The absolute plethora of DVD-ROM games and activities that follow are worth the price of the disc alone - they'll give you more than a few moments of peace and quiet from the little ones. The full range of activities includes four games, a Cyclops Island printable mask, a Cyclops Island printable game, a Cyclops adventure maze, Cyclops and Spike masks, a Sinbad And The Seven Seas mobile, Eris' zodiac calendar and colouring pages. Phew...

The final two features aimed at the younger audience members are 7 character biographies , covering the usual suspects, along with a minute-long 'Cat In The Hat' international teaser trailer . As is often the case, the promotional trailers and TV spots for the actual main feature have been omitted from the disc.

The remainder of the extras are much more serious in tone and definitely for the older viewers. First up is the 10 minute 'The Making Of Sinbad: Legend Of The Seven Seas' featurette, which takes a fairly decent introductory look at the voice talent, animation, CGI and scoring. Lengthening this item any further to include more detail simply wouldn't have been sensible given the age range of the target audience.

The supplements finish with 5 art galleries and an audio commentary by Directors Tim Johnson and Patrick Gilmore, Producer Mireille Soria, Production Designer Raymond Zibach and others. The commentary is quite technical and serious, making it the domain of the adults rather than the little ones. Finally, the menus are nicely animated and presented with Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo sound, while the disc itself is provided in a plastic amaray case.

Overall, this is a skilfully crafted set of extras that boasts a broad range of material that sensibly focuses on young viewers - the number of interactive features, DVD-ROM games and printables provide hours of additional entertainment for children.

Feature 7/10
Video 9/10
Audio 8/10
Extras 7/10

Overall 8/10

DVD Bulletin

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