Das Schwert des roten Giganten

This was the American dubbed version entitled The Giants Of Thesally.

This movie whisks you away to a magical land of far far away, where men were real men on boats, women were slightly thinner men on boats, and real women stay at home to deliver plot dumps whilst staring wistfully off into the middle distance.

Badly made, appallingly edited, poorly dubbed, with effects that only 1940s BBC sci-fi would admire, yet bizarrely, very nicely scored.

Brought to you in No Continuity-O-Vision!

Goes well with a few beers and laughs.

This is one of the best Peplum or sword and sandals film from the history , retelling the legend of Jason in search of the famous fleece for uncharted sea . The film deals about the myth Jason (Roland Carey) , he travels in search for the fabled Golden fleece located in the Colchis . It's based on a poem of Greek poet named Apolonio of Rodas titled ¨The Argonautika¨ (250 B.C) . In order to stifle the anger of Zeus and other Gods and with volcano's eruption included , Jason must retrieve the magical calf housed from distant land of Colchis and bring it toward city of Iolco . Meanwhile , his nephew Adrasto (Alberto Farnese)and underling Antinoo (Raf Baldasarre) have usurped the kingdom , taken his throne and imprisoned his spouse queen (Rodan) named Creusa (she's actually Medea who later to be revenged Jason , killing their sons) . Jason assembles a motley , brave crew formed by a valiant band as Orpheo (Massimo Girotti, father of Terence Hill or Mario Girotti) , Euristeo (Luciano Marin) , among others . Jason has to climb an enormous sculpture where is the Golden fleece . Jason successfully leads his crew of would-be heroes throughout a series of outstanding adventures . They're confronted by a heinous witch named Gaia at an island of women called Lemmos . Besides , he embarks in the ship a stowaway named Atlanta , she's condemned to death but the philosopher , musician Orpheo , a love expert , saves to her(as the poem says , Orpheo actually accompanied the Argonauts though his love for Euridice was much later) . They sail unharmed along sea storm , suffering thirsty , famine and incredible adventures , encountering a giant monster (made by Carlo Rambaldi : ET) and a scheming witch . The film even rips off from Homero's Odyssey , when there appears a giant bearded Cyclops (such as Kirk Douglas in Ulysses by Mario Camerini) and Jason hurls a lance into his only eye .

As usual in Musclemen films here appears the choreographic girls dancing and lots of action with several adventures including spectacular fights , storms , witchery, and some good effects . This elaborate recounting is well directed by Riccard Freda although with little relation with the poem by Apolonio of Rodas . The film contains an evocative and spectacular music by Carlo Rustichelli . Fun for the whole family though it tends toward the ponderous at times but for the most part , it's a marvelous movie . Other adaptations about this classic story are the following : Jason and the Argonauts (1963) by Don Chaffey with Todd Armstrong and for TV (2000) by Nick Willing and with Jason London.

Not the greatest movie of its kind, but far from the worst. Certain things are low points. Like continuity. Its so so. When a terrible storm hits the Argos you'd expect the deck to pitch and not be stable. As the movie moves from one part of the story line to the next certain things seem to be left out. But for the most part these things are nonessential and their lack does not make the thing hard to follow, so the loss is minimal. But the upside ... The sets and costumes are well done. The movie, despite the lack of continuity in spots, flows well and is easy to follow. The dubbing, this flick being Italian, is OK. Dubbing, I think, can never be better than just OK. When a person speaks in one language and then the thing gets dubbed in another, well, the mouths and words are never going to match up all that well. But the folks who did the dubbed voices did their job very well. They carry the emotions that go with the plot and characters very well. In fact thats probably the best aspect, technically speaking, of the whole film. The choreography is pretty good. Fights actually look, more or less, like fights. The one eyed monster is campy style cool. The plot is fair for a movie about Jason and his friends. Its not hard to watch. If you like this genre I think you'll enjoy this movie.

This is an earlier version of the same events narrated in JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS (1963), arguably the screen's finest mythological epic and Ray Harryhausen's magnum opus, and it's a reasonably intelligent and enjoyable retelling in which, surprisingly, even the comic relief works. Still, Roland Carey makes for a colorless Jason - but Massimo Girotti is a suitably morose Orpheus, though his contribution is minimal and was probably only featured for marquee value!

Though a subsequent effort - MACISTE ALL' INFERNO (1962) - proved a disappointment, Riccardo Freda's involvement here ensures that this is one of the better peplums, even if the result is rather static and hokey overall (particularly the cheap-looking Cyclops). Besides, Carlo Rustichelli's score - which may have been borrowed from some other film or was perhaps re-used, as it sounded oddly familiar to me! - is pretty good...

Elaborate sets, imaginative monsters, bloody battles, and the usual quota of oiled hard-bodies fighting over sultry beauties, "Giants of Thessaly" is a coherent and well-produced entry in the 'peplum', or sword and sandal genre. Here, the evil Adrasto (Farnese wearing a great beard sans moustache) is plotting to overtake Thessaly and forcibly acquire the yummy-mummy Creusa (brief international starlet Rodann) as his wife, but must first persuade the kingdom that his cousin and rightful ruler King Jason (Carey) is not returning from his treacherous journey to recover the coveted golden fleece.

Jason and his argonauts battle a giant cyclops, a mysterious island of witches masquerading as beauties, and encounter talking sheep as they bumble their way to glory and return to Thessaly to find Adrasto on the brink of taking Creusa as his wife. It's formulaic but satisfying nonetheless. Carey isn't quite as ripped as his contemporaries Reg Park or Brad Harris, but he still seems to charm the ladies.

Some bloody battles (check out the guy with the arrow through his ears), a ubiquitous dancing scene and even a sermon on the virtues of first true love, there's surely something for everyone if you're prepared to ensconce yourself in this unique brand of Italian film-making.