The
lowdown: Produced by the legendary Ray
Harryhausen, 'Jason and the Argonaus' is a classic of Greek mythology.
It tells the story of Jason
and his quest for the Golden Fleece. Jason is destined to become King,
but the usurper Pelias
killed Jason's father and
tried to kill his entire family. However, the infant Jason was smuggled
away to safety, and the
goddess Hera prophesies
that Jason will ultimately kill Pelias. The two men meet 20 years later,
when Jason saves
Pelias from drowning. Pelias
of course knows who Jason is, and sends him on a dangerous quest to the
end of the world
to obtain the famed Golden
Fleece, which is said to have healing powers. He assembles a crew of the
finest athletes
in the land, and sets said
on a perilous mission, in which he encounters giant bat-like creatures
called harpies, a giant
bronze sculpture of Talos
that comes to life and the seven-headed Hydra. The final battle features
an army of re-animated
skeletons which are raised
from the dead by King Aeetes in an attempt to stop Jason from stealing
the Golden Fleece.
Patrick Troughton has a brief
but marvellous appearance as Phineas, a blind man who lives on an island
and is forever
tormented by the harpies.
He has incurred the wrath of Zeus, and as a punishment, he is doomed to
have his food stolen
by harpies every time he
sits down to eat a meal. Jason and his men agree to capture the harpies
in return for directions
for getting to Colchis,
where they will find the fabled Fleece. The Argonauts leave the island
with the harpies safely caged
and Phineas happily eating
his first uninterrupted meal in many years.
'Jason and the Argonauts'
is widely regarded as a classic, and one of the greatest special effects
achievements of all time.
Given that it was made long
before the era of computer-generated special effects, the stop motion animation
was very
impressive for its day.
For example, the scene with the fighting skeletons lasted for only about
three minutes, but took
four months to produce.
While it may look extremely low-tech compared with modern films, it is
an entertaining film with
a great story, and is highly
recommended for film buffs who appreciate how films used to be made rather
than just watching
today's CGI-enhanced productions
which often rely on dazzling special effects at the expense of plot.. The
only major
downside is the ending:
one would expect Jason to return with the Fleece triumphantly, and slay
Pelias as had been
prophesied, but the film
just ends. Perhaps Harryhausen had intended to make a sequel, but it was
never made and the
film suffers somewhat for
the disappointing ending.
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