Customer Reviews

Jason and the Argonauts (Widescreen/Full Screen)

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Jason and the Argonauts is an important work of cinematography, one of Harryhausen's materpieces. I've enjoyed the DVD version, and now have the Blu-Ray version. The high definition remastering and Blu-Ray transfer appear to be first rate as though filmed in high-definition as befits this fine film. Peter Jackson's Post-Production Studio performed the high definition remastering which appears to have been lovingly compiled frame by frame. Not surprisingly with an important work, this Blu-Ray version includes Extras such as commentary by the likes of Peter Jackson.

Mircea Eliade defined the triviality as the absence of physical tension in the human being.
If we agree this concept ; then the argonauts represent the fight against the triviality. Notice for instance the greek meaning of Argos: the white ship. And the white color means purification.
The seek of the golden fleece means the search for the triumph of the truth ; since the gold symbolizes spirituality and the fleece innocence ; the circle is completed.
Besides the mission has one last goal: to fight against the dragon and exterminate it ; because the fleece is its prisoner . The dragon symbolizes the perversity ; so if you want to access to the sublimity . you must to kill the dragon.
This movie is a winner. Ray Harryhausen inspired to many film makers , specially a teenager called Steven Spielberg who confessed this confidence to James Lipton in The actor's studio .
The mythical monsters are the magnificient background all along the movie. A film conceived as family entertainment but loaded of smart clues , who teachs us the huge wisdom who lives beneath the underestimated term myth: wrong choice as you know.
Great special effects ; and from all standpoints a cult movie since its release.!

This is a great popcorn movie - swashbuckling, mythic, and a little quaint by today's effects standards. The effects, acting, and visual style all work together well, though. It can't be compared to today's movies any more than Charlie Chaplain can.

Once you allow yourself into its mood, it's great entertainment. Treasure is captured, danger is faced, and other-wordly foes are defeated. Keep it around for a rainy saturday, and make sure you have popcorn.

It's amazing that so many science fiction/fantasy movies that were made in the 40's and 50's seem to be more outdated with each passing year. They were largely B-movies and deserve to be forgotten. But much of Ray Harryhausen's work still looks good, and that's easy to see why because he worked very hard on his stop motion models work and kept redifining how to process the visual effects fim work into the live action scenes so that it looked both beliveable and realistic. He also formed a good working relationship with composer/conductor Bernard Herrmann whose music added to the sense of wonder that Ray created with his stop motion work. This movie was the best project they ever worked on. Great story, great actors, and very smooth editing of both effects work and music score. If you only buy a few of Ray's movies on DVD, get this one, as well as 7th Voyage of Sinbad and Mysterious Island. They are all great.

Someday. Someday I'm going to invest on a 50' screen television and
this is going to be the first movie I watch,The way it's suppose to
be seen in all it's Fantasy Sword & Sandal glory. Again as in "The
7th voyage of Sinbad" Columbia pulls no stops in presenting a great
story with mythical characters & monsters abound. Talos, the bronze
giant, The devilish harpies, The seven headed Hydra who guards that
of the golden fleece and of course the battle of the seven skeleton
warriors which is now film folklore.

Harryhausen's effects combined with Herrmann's music score
(Is there any conductor's work more thunderous than Talos'march?)
are top notch As are the cast of Honor (Goldfinger) Blackman and
Nigil McGullis and Todd Armstrong. I always thought it was great
to have Hercules portrayed as his older self and not in the same
beefcake manner traditionally presented at that time(Speaking of
this film raised the bar for sword & fantasy to follow (none ever

reaching it's status "Hercules in the haunted world" "Goliath and
the Dragon" to name a few) I only gave the dvd 4 stars because of
lack of the "HarryHausen Chronicles" and the ORIGINAL trailer.

Ray Harryhausen's stop-motion special effects shine in this 1963 version of the classic Greek Myth. Despite some questionable acting by Todd Armstrong (Jason) and others,the basic script and screenplay capture the adventurous spirit of the fabled story. The poor acting is redeemed by the inclusion of more seasoned theatrical actors who give the film and story weight.

Although some of the film's special effects such as the clashing rocks and the hydra might seem corny by today's CGI standards, Harryhausen's brilliant work on harpies and the skeleton armies gives the film its special place in the annals of film history. So join Jason on his quest for his lawful claim to the throne of Thessaly by seeking the Golden Fleece in the distant land of Colchis. It's an adventure not to be missed.

There has never been an adventure movie made that is more fun that this one. I mean, seriously. Skeleton armies. What more needs to be said?

Just this. Don't knock the "old style" special effects. They are at least as realistic as today's "computer cartoon" effects that usually have no "weight" about them. The truth is, whether effects are stop-motion or CGI, most of them in the movie business are going to be poorly done. But the top 5 percent of both are amazing and never grow old.

Right here! BUY THIS DVD! And check out Ray's new star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame - very close to Graumann's Chinese Theater where, almost exactly seventy years before the wet cement event, Ray saw "King Kong" for the first of innumerable times!! . . . . I was already a huge Harryhausen fan in '63 when I dragged my consenting adult parents to the theater, along with my younger brother and sister, to be feted and regaled and thoroughly entertained by "Jason". My favorite semi-human character was Nigel Green (After "Mysterious Island"; before "Zulu!") as Hercules; the best of the pantheon? Honor Blackman: future Bond Girl in "Goldfinger"! Hera Galore! (Hey - I was thirteen!) Of the crew of the "Argo" of course it was the builder Argus 'imself: Laurence Naismith (Captain Smith of HMS "Titanic" in "A Night to Remember" and to play Professor Horace Bromley in "Valley of Gwangi")who was my fave human character. BUT HOW to pick a favorite monster? It would have to be the skeleton who acts surprised when he loses his skull!..... "Jason"'s was the only movie soundtrack I later attempted to tape on my little battery-powered reel-to-reel off Grandpa's COLOR TV, and I still use the Hermann 'skeleton theme' when stalking my grandkids! Recommended that you introduce this to kids 8-10 who might be prompted to do a bit of reading in Bullfinch as a followup. Watch this with the kids! make it a family tradition like one of our other reviewers has done . . .The DVD in widescreen will have to do (and do QUITE WELL, it will) until your local film society does a fantasy film retrospective on The Big Screen!

Ray Harryhausen has done some brilliant stop-motion effects over the course of his career, and nowhere do they shine as brightly as in this movie. The skeleton battle is unforgettable, but as I was rewatching it recently, it was nice to be reminded how good the Talos and Hydra scenes were as well.

The human actors were good, but fated by the gods to be upstaged by Harryhausen's miniatures. The film has a plot with a definite purpose behind it, something uncommon for an effects-driven film. To my eye, the film restoration looked good, especially compared to the unrestored trailer; sound quality seemed good, too (although the xylophones during the Harpy attack seemed an odd scoring choice). The lack of bonus features wasn't a problem for me; the Landis-Harryhausen interview was nice, but I don't really want more. This film stands on its own like few others; a behind-the-scenes featurette or a "how we did it" commentary would ultimately detract from this film's magic.

I can think of few movies I enjoyed as a child that have lived up to their memory when viewed as an adult. This is one of them.

If you like adventure movies like Clash of The Titans, you'll love this. It's a great adventure from beginning to end. A must have.