Link to review: 505 Magic Voyage of Sinbad
Story: Sinbad searches for the bird of happiness
Stars: A gal named... Luberia
MJs Grade: A+

At one time I felt that MVOS was the weakest of the Russian experiments. For whatever reason I couldn't get into at first. That has changed as the episode has grown on me every time I watch it. To the point that I ranked it right at the top with the other 3.

The riffs are very funny and the chinderwear skit made me laugh when Frank scratches an itch. (Plus they looked so silly with tiny undies on their faces)

A

Did anyone else pick up on the communist overtones? The working class leading the poor to victory over the shop keepers and merchants? Oh silly Soviet Russia...

I watched this episode a few weeks ago online, I feel in love with it very quickly. These Russo-Finish movies are such great fodder for the show. The riffing was top notch all the way through, esp in certain sections but my favorite stuff came when "Sinbad" goes underwater (and can breathe just fine!) and thats when I really went WTF is going on?! I dont recall any real dead spots.

Host segemts were good too.

A+ episode, all the way.

Yeah, it's easy to tell they were having a lot of fun watching and playing with this one. Kind of a shame that such a big-budget foreign mythological epic had to be reduced to this, but it's pretty funny all the same.

Final host segment: Puppets trying to figure out another puppet. Very meta.

Sinbad! Yay!! I absolutely loved this episode from start all the way up until he goes down into the water, then the episode as well as the movie took kind of a nosedive for me. Still, the tryouts for his crew were perhaps some of my favorite scenes out of all of them. Though the dubbing wasn't great, it sure as hell beat the crap out of Jack Frost's voice work :blink:. While this isn't the best of the Russo/Finnish productions, it still bears a place on my favorites (#37 to be precise). The riffs and the stupidity of a lot of the action just really blew me away for this one. Just one fine episode all around.

:Servo: :Servo: :Servo: :Servo: out of 5 Red-Toms!

Watching these movies makes me wonder about the history of Russo-Finnish Film industry. The Day The Earth Froze is definitely Finnish, but has the same Russian Director as Sinbad and Sword. (IMDB)

Was there some bizarre cultural friendship program during the cold war?

I thought Sword and Day were Finnish bc they had a different feel from the others, I was only half write.

My favorite line from this movie is when Luberia turns down Sinbad with a line "Fate will have us meet again" (something like that), I'm thinking about using it next time a loser hits on me :P

Now that I own Volume XX I decided it was time to revisit this episode. I had my best friend with me.

Oh this episode is sooo much fun. I love these Russo-Finish movies. They are so well made, look great.....and are just weird and bizzare (no thanks to the english dubbing from Roger Corman).

We really enjoyed the riffing on this one, lively and spot on. Joel and the Bots do a great job poking fun at how obvious he's not Sinbad, that it's Russia not the Middle East, and on just the overall weirdness of the proceedings.

Plus the host segments range from good to excellent. The SOLtie Awards was a hoot. The Invention Exchange is just awesome, Chinderwear and The Rat Pack Chess Set are both brilliant and hilarious. I loved Crow going on his own Quest like Not-Sinbad and how he just drops in from above when they go back to the theater.

And the ending is such a delight, Crow and Servo both perplexed and terrified by Joel's Catfish Puppet. Oh, and Fisty is cool too.

I may love Jack Frost and Day The Earth Froze a bit more than this one, but this member of the Russo-Finish foursome is still a great episode.

Just remember.....He's Not Sinbad.

My Grade: A

I've watched this one three times now since I got the set, and I love it more every time. It inspired me to do a little Googling about the original Sadko story. Although there are some differences there are definitely a lot of elements in common with our friend He's-Not-Sinbad. You get the business with the golden fishing, but apparently it's Neptune who supplies them on the condition that Sadko comes underwater to entertain him with his magic harp. Well, Sadko gets busy with his new wealth and forgets, and after a few years that's when Neptune jogs his memory with that storm. Sadko does go underwater to entertain Neptune and his wife, who do apparently argue about the merits of iron versus gold up above, and Neptune causes great harm with rough seas due to his dancing. Sadko stops this by deliberatly breaking his harp strings, and is forced to choose a daughter to make sure he comes back. He does, however, escape and ends up reuniting with his wife. I didn't see any references to looking for any type of bird on his journey so I'm not sure how that fits in. Maybe it all got lost in the dubbing.

Do we really want to know how Frank and Forrester ended up with each other's chinderwear and why the classic brief is no longer snowy white? :blink:

"I know all about your Luberia." "Hey, that cleared up."

What a strange film and what a great episode! The riffing was top notch. A pinnicle episode for Joel. Coney Island white fish! HAHAHAHA :bold:

This one gets better every time I see it. Everything from "I uthed to be able to walk; now all I do is thith!!" to "...Luberia." "But it's getting better!" has me reeling.

My favorite riff?

(Sinbad and co. meeting bird for first time, CU on old man's face)
Joel (as Sanford): "Whaddya think, Grady?"
Crow (as Grady): "I gots to 'gree with him, Freeeeed!"

Absolutely loved this episode - top 5 of the entire series. The movie itself was imaginative enough to be somewhat entertaining on its own yet goofy enough to arm Joel and the Bots to the teeth. Every aspect of an MST3K episode came together here to deliver a complete winner.

As far as the so-called Russo-Finnish trio goes, i found this to be every bit as good if not better than The Day the Earth Froze (with both putting Jack Frost to shame). Pretty much an even blend of the best parts from each of those; a bit whackier than DTEF but not as far beyond as JF. If I ever had to recommend an episode to someone who had never before seen the show, this would be on the short list.

Even the stinger is among the best.

A+