Jason et les Argonautes

Hero Jason leads a team of intrepid adventurers in a perilous quest for the legendary Golden Fleece which has amazing healing powers. Jason sails on the Argo-ship to the land of Colchis seeking for the golden fleece in this mythological romp . This is one of the best sword and sandals film from the history , retelling the legend of Jason in search of the famous fleece for uncharted sea . The film deals with the myth Jason (Todd Armstrong), son of king of Thesaly , the young prince has had his heritage usurped by his nasty uncle Pelias (Douglas Wilmer) who has taken the throne . He travels in search for the fabled Golden fleece located in the Colchis where is guarded by seven-headed hydra . It's based on a poem of Greek poet named Apolonio of Rodas titled ¨The Argonautika¨ (250 B.C) . In order to achieve his throne, Jason must retrieve the magical calf housed from distant land of Colchis and bring it toward city of Iolco . Jason assembles a motley , brave crew formed by a valiant band as Hercules (Nigel Green) , Polydeuces (Crawford) , the traitor Acastus (Gary Raymond) ,Castor and others ; meanwhile , evil Pelias has usurped the kingdom and taken his throne . Jason successfully leads his crew of would-be heroes throughout a series of outstanding adventures . The Argo crew are under the protection of Hera (Honor Blackman) , queen of the gods . They're confronted by a heinous giant bronze named Talos at an island and many other dangers . Jason saves Medea (Nancy Kovack) , priestess of Hecate (who later to be revenged Jason , killing their sons) from waters and both of them go to Colchis . They sail unharmed along sea storm , suffering thirsty , famine and incredible adventures , encountering giant monsters , multitudes of mythological monsters and weird creatures .

This exciting picture contains lots of action, magic , fast-moving , thrills , impressive fights against monsters and lots of fun . It is an exciting fantasy-adventure full of special effects created by means of stop-motion technique by the magician Ray Harryhausen , the Dynamation man . The previous Ray Harryhausen films were generally shown as part of a double feature in "B" theatres , Columbia and the producer Charles H Schneer were able to book this film as a single feature in many "A" theatres in the United States. This time the large list of monsters result to be the following : a huge moving sculpture of Talos , as they battle against harpies , a venomous creature as hydra, and an animated terrifying skeleton army, all brought to life by the special effects masterfully created by the maestro wizardry Ray Harryhausen who regards this as his best film. In the ¨7th voyage of Sinbad¨ , Ray designed a sword-battling skeleton , here we see a whole army of them for Jason and his crew to fight at the ending of the film . It took Ray Harryhausen four months to produce the skeleton scene, a massive amount of time for a scene which lasts, at the most, three minutes . The runtime is adequate with various incidents and sub-plots . Harryhausen works his animation magic around a passable-developed screenplay and engaging acting by the entire performers . The cast is enjoyable with effective but unknown main actors , though important secondary Brit actors as Laurence Naismith (Argo), Niall McGinnis (Zeus) , Honor Blackman (Hera) , Michael Gwinn (Hermes) , Jack Gwillin (Aetes) . As usual in Sword and Sandal 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 was well directed by Don Chaffey although with little relation with the poem by Apolonio of Rodas . The film contains an evocative and powerful musical score by Bernard Herrmann conducting the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra . Colorful and spectacular cinematography by the great Wilkie Cooper . Fun for the whole family though it tends toward the ponderous at times but for the most part , it's a marvelous and entertaining movie . Other adaptations about this classic story are the following : ¨Giant of Tessaly¨ by Riccardo Freda with Ronald Carey and Massimo Giroti , ¨Hercules¨ by Pietro Francisci with Steve Reeves , Sylva Koscina and for TV ¨Jason and the Argonauts¨(2000) by Nick Willing with Jason London , Frank Langella and Olivia Williams .

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

It's really rather hard to believe that this picture received mediocre reviews when it first came out.It appears that most now regard it as a classic,and in certain circles,it has achieved cult status.True,Armstrong's Jason is a rather bland character,and could use some foibles and quirks to become more realistic and human,but this could be lodged against the writers.Kovacks as Medea certainly does look marvelous,but shows none of the inner torment of the character of classic mythology.(On the other hand,this movie was made for kids,and we don't need to introduce them to Eurypides' virago just yet.)An outstanding cast of well-trained British actors provides sterling support.Naismith personifies loyalty and good-natured common sense;Troughton is remarkable as a tortured sinner who is brave and hasn't lost his sense of humor;Green is probably the most realistic Hercules ever developed;And Gwilliam is the personification of outraged hospitality and necromantic malevolence.Wilmer has a good time doing a Rathbonesque villain.The special effects are first rate,given the state of the art at the time,and Blackman and MacGinnis develop wonderful portraits of the deities.They have a genuine relationship,and appear to be a man and wife.The plot has more depth than most films of this genre,and is lots of fun,besides.

I decided to contribute my comments when I read another commentator who mentioned that the leads were dubbed... this fact dealt a crushing blow to "Todd Armstrong" from which he sort of never really recovered.

As I was told, he showed up at the gala premiere and nobody had told him he had been dubbed over. What a horrible shock, in public, on one's 'night of glory'!

He had a highish voice, but one that was extremely expressive - a fine instrument. The dubbed voice is very low and flat. I can't tell you how I'd love to see the film with his voice restored!

Making movies, like any creativity, is full of compromises, some of them beyond one's control. "Todd" still loved the movie - it was filmed in southern Italy - he had a great time doing it. He was always a very, very handsome and strong man, and his physical presence shines through still.

It is really a memorable, powerful film! After seeing it I dreamt my favorite kitten had been slaughtered by the other kittens in the litter, who had become sword-wielding skeleton kittens!

I hope you all enjoy it and don't get too worked up about inaccuracies with the original story (as someone here has).

Because its overall professionalism and the magnificent special effects, this movie will live on despite being technologically outdated.

Can anybody speak to the possibility of finding the original actor's voice track? What's to be done? Thanks!

Fans of Ray Harryhausen's stop motion animation process will have a field day with JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS, which Harryhausen considered his best work. And certainly Harryhausen's special effects are the highlight of this film, which is generally based on the ancient Greek myth of Jason's search for the golden fleece.

The film as a whole is very much like a superior sword-and-sandal epic of the 1950s and 1960s, very colorful and over-run with manly men and beautiful dancing girls. A bit slow to start, once the story line is established the pace leaps forward--and we are treated to some of Harryhausen's most enjoyable creations, including Talos, the bronze statue; two of the most evil looking harpies you can imagine; a really nasty hydra; and Harryhausen's most famous (and his own personal favorite) bit of work: an attack by skeleton warriors.

In the wake of computer generated graphics, Harryhausen's work may strike some as dated, but this is actually part of its charm, for we will never see its like on screen again; it has a certain visual appeal not found in contemporary films, and Harryhausen's creations always have remarkable personality. On the downside, however, some of the film's other techniques have not aged as well, and the use of rearview projection is extremely noticeable (and often annoying) to the modern eye. Still, even those who aren't overly enthusiastic about these types of special effects will find the film an excellent choice as a "family night" film. As for Harryhausen fans--the film is a must-see, must-own, and must-watch as often as possible! Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer