xianplanet Sometimes I will buy a DVD on a whim if it is cheap enough. This is one of those cases. I paid about 14 bucks including shipping. I am a fan of Sinbad films, but the ones I like are Ray Harryhausen made. I never even heard of this movie before. But I saw the cool cover and the bird with the chicks head on it. It also came with another movie so I went for it, figuring it couldn't be all that bad. It wasn't till after I watched it and researched it that I discovered it was actually the subject of an MST3K episode. I can only imagine the job that Joel and The Bots did on this barely watchable film. In fact I only learned afterward that it was originally a Russian film called 'Sadko' and had no connection to Sinbad. Now that makes perfect sense after watching it. 'Sadko' was made in 1953 and actually an award. But the dubbed version is what I am reviewing here. I can forgive it just for the simple fact it was made in 1953. The American distributors obviously tried to cash in on The Sinbad films. The movies even starts out with a reference to The Cyclops and The Roc. And that's where it ends any similar connection to the character of Sinbad. This 'Sinbad' is a bearded, singing and harp playing guy who is totally disrespected by the rich merchants of his home village. He has the best intentions of ending the poverty, starvation and overall plight of the people. He sets off of with several ships to find this bird of happiness that he has no clue where it lives to save his village. Great idea genius. He gets help from Neptune's daughter to finance the trip via some golden fish. His crewmen must past an important test to be admitted- they must chug a couple pints of wine and get punched without falling! They encounter some Vikings who don't seem all that formidable and then travel to India where cock fighting is a popular sport. In India they learn about a magic bird that sings of happiness. Sinbad wins a chess match to get the bird. And to be honest, the bird is the only cool effect in the whole film. A relatively hot chick who looks like Evil-Lyn from He-man with a bird's body. She is not the bird they are looking for but use her sleep inducing song to escape India. During a storm Sinbad jumps overboard as a sacrifice to Neptune and visits the non impressive undersea kingdom of Neptune which includes a dopey fish puppet and a cool octopus prop. Sinbad decides to give up the search for this bird and return to his true love. Upon his return he is welcomed back to the cheers of the villagers despite his failure to bring that bird home. He tells the people that happiness is here, at home or something like that. And somehow, the people accept this statement. What a load of BS. The guy fails and returns to the village under the same condition. What is so happy about that ?! I found this ending so contrived. I would definitely not recommend this movie. I only give 2 stars of 10 and that is because it was made in 1953.

Bill357 I've only seen the dubbed version so I'm relying on that alone to write my review.The Magic Voyage Of Sinbad (Sadko to the purists) is a mildly interesting relic of Soviet propaganda film-making, mixing Marxist philosophies with children's fairy stories.Sinbad returns home, having gave away a fortune, looking a bit like Lenin in a blonde wig and finding the merchants rich and fat while the rest of the city remains poor and hungry, deviating from the west in that usually the poor people in these types of movies are being subjected to harsh taxation by the state.Nowhere is it stated how these fat cat merchants got so rich selling to people with no money nor does it matter. They're the villain that needs to be straightened out by Lenin/Sadko/Sinbad.After outsmarting the capitalists and giving away all their wares, the now brainwashed merchants are portrayed as happy only to have a smiling Lenin take one last dig, "Stupid merchants".Sadko then embarks on a quest to spread Communism and find the "bird of happiness" only to find treacherous, warmongering, inferiors that reject enlightenment, inhabiting the outside world.One thing I find very ironic is the racist portrayal of Indians from the supposedly enlightened Soviet Communists, the USSR having formally outlawed racism.In the end Sinbad/Lenin/Sadko realizes that the bird of happiness (religion) does not exist and orders the ships home. They then drop their blue sails and hoist the red ones while Lenin changes from a gray cape to a crimson one, essentially wrapping himself in the Soviet flag!

Robin Cook Seldom do I have goosebumps from watching a fun fantasy film as I did with this wonderfully restored Russian FAMILY VIEWING film. I applaud the restorers for doing this timely work (and the translators for the subtitles!). I pray that they endeavor with more restorations of many Russian classics that we American's have not had opportunity to view. I have not watched the other version with the English language dubbing (The Magic Voyage of Sinbad), but I can gather from another user's comments that it had to have been pretty bad. I prefer original language in such films anyway and don't mind reading the movie.Considering the film was done in 1953 without our cgi stuff and other advanced technology of today, the visuals are absolute gems (well done). I had a flash forward of a Finding Nemo type fish in one of the scenes, which was about the only part that was more of a hokey cheaply done prop filler, which could and perhaps should have been edited out. However, due to the nature of that fishy prop, it was rather unique and funny, and added more to the fantasy theme of the movie.Even though the acting was somewhat stiffly hokey by mollywood viewers of the Americas, Russians have a certain flair akin only to their culture. It was refreshing to listen to the Russian men's deep voices that we usually associate with ruffians in many movies. And the Russian dancing! Loved it! So, to comments about the acting? Well, methinks ya need to know a few Russians (and their flair), and to turn back the clock in remembering when this movie was made ... without this "acting" this movie would have been the Pitts ... it gave the film that certain further flair of saying, "This is a fantasy flick, so don't take anything too seriously." Excellent family film (as long as the kids can read)!

sulaykamara The original Russian version with subtitles is one you should consider watching than the English dubbed version of Sadko called the ''magic voyage of Sinbad''. Not to say the English version is not worth watching but how can one make more of a masterpiece when it is already an acclaimed masterpiece and doesn't need any salt and pepper (re-dubbed & re-cut) to spice it up. The result can be devastating if you've already seen the original (Sadko 1952).There are good and bad comments about this film, thanks to the re-dubbed version. I'm sure everyone that has seen the original version (sadko) will give it at least an 8 out of 10.Someone made a comment that the film is goofy because Sinbad wasn't wet when he visited the great kingdom at the bottom of the sea and how did he manage to hold his breath that long. Well... the film is a fairy tale, not a documentary or reality show...nothing is real and it would have looked goofy if they were wet. As a matter of fact the underwater scenes are a feast for the eyes and a big step in special effects during its time (1952). This film should be treated with more respect. I'm sure if these critics see the original(sadko 1952), their views will be totally different. And I think ''the magic voyage of sinbad'' should not be credited with ''SADKO''. Little is known about sadko while magic voyage of sinbad was well advertised 10 years later. That explains the reason why sadko suffers the bitterness of its good for nothing sequel, magic voyage of sinbad 1962. Like I said, ''SADKO 1952'' is a classic and a masterpiece nothing more or less.