To regain his rightful place as the King of Thessaly, Jason must traverse deadly seas to the land of Colchis where a Golden Fleece of magical powers is housed. Assembling a crew of the toughest men around, and aided by the Goddess Hera, Jason and his Argonauts set sail unbeknown that perils await at every port.
Directed by Don Chaffrey and featuring some of stop motion genius Ray Harryhausen's best work, Jason And The Argonauts is still entertaining families over 50 years since its original release. For sure it's got a "B" movie heart, and no film in this genre is without a high cheese quota, but it's technically one of the genres best and for daring do shenanigans it has no peers. The gorgeous Meditteranean photography courtesy of Wilkie Cooper (Dynamation 90) goes hand in hand with the boisterously mythical score from Bernard Hermann, while Chaffrey's direction of the human aspects is solid and safe in preparation for Harryhausen's magic to move in and take over.
The cast may not cover themselves in glory, and yes at times some of them are a touch wooden, with only Honor Blackman (Hera) and Nigel Green (Hercules) seemingly able to grasp the sense of fun that is meant to be had. But really it's a minor itch, for when you have a big quest adventure containing harpies, a hydra, a giant bronze statue intent on destroying all, clashing rocks, angry gods and a brilliant Harryhausen skeleton army - well it's all good really isn't it! 9/10
Jason and the Argonauts
1963
Action / Adventure / Family / Fantasy
Jason and the Argonauts
1963
Action / Adventure / Family / Fantasy
Keywords: heroshipstop motionbraveryskeleton
Plot summary
Jason has been prophesied to take the throne of Thessaly. When he saves Pelias from drowning, but does not recognize him as the man who had earlier killed his father, Pelias tells Jason to travel to Colchis to find the Golden Fleece. Jason follows his advice and assembles a sailing crew of the finest men in Greece, including Hercules. They are under the protection of Hera, queen of the gods. Their voyage is replete with battles against harpies, a giant bronze Talos, a hydra, and an animated skeleton army, all brought to life by the special effects wizardry of Ray Harryhausen.
Uploaded by: OTTO
Director
Top cast
Tech specs
720p.BLU 1080p.BLUMovie Reviews
Never ever gets old, magical movie with a big mythical heart.
Fascinating...
The fascinating odyssey of Jason in search of the Golden Fleece. This is an adventure movie in the old style, with no pretensions, no pomposity... The genius and pioneer of the special effects Ray Harryhaussen gave us a handful of superhuman creatures who make things quite difficult for the brave Jason.
Some may think this special effects or the movie itself are obsolete. OK, now read this: the movie was made 43 years ago, Harryhaussen made them without computers or digital effects... so, show some respect!! In short: the movie is just fantastic.
*My rate: 8/10
Just a lot of fun...
While not my all-time favourite movie or anything, I really like Jason and the Argonauts. It does start off a little slow and Todd Armstrong is a tad wooden in the lead, but visually and audibly it is simply delightful. The scenery is splendid as is the cinematography, and Bernard Hermann's score is distinctive and really quite stirring. The story is exciting enough, with scenes involving encounters with gods and demons and Honor Blackman playing chess with the destiny of men, and moves along briskly, while the dialogue is pretty good on the whole. The direction is solid too, while the acting while nothing outstanding was not bad either. Honor Blackman is both alluring and cunning, while Patrick Troughton and Laurence Naismith are nice additions to the cast. Along with the score, my favourite asset of this film were the thrilling special effects by none other than the legend known as Ray Harryhousen- I particularly loved the sword-wielding skeletons and the giant man of bronze. Overall, this film is just fun and there is for me lots of it. 8/10 Bethany Cox