Jason et les Argonautes

Nice and elaborate juvenile adventure based on The Argonauts 250 BC, written by Apolonio of Rodas, telling of the famous myth of Jason and his crew of derring-doers and their search for the Golden Fleece. As Jason, heir of the Iolco kingdom : Jason London, is aided or hindered by assorted whimsical Gods on Olympus, Zeus : August McFayden , and Hera : Olivia Williams, as he quests for the Golden Fleece. Along the way his father is killed by his evil uncle Pelias , Dennis Hopper in braids , who has taken the throne and usurped his inheritance. In order to reclaim it, Jason must retrieve the magical animal from distant Colchis and bring it to Pelias. Jason has to meet the blinded prophet Phineas : Derek Jacobi who knows the Fleece location, but he is continuously harassed by some winged demons or Arpias. As Jason assembles the ordinary motley crew : Hercules : Brian Thompson, Castor : Djalili , Polux : John Sharian , Orpheus : Adrian Lester, Argos himself : David Calder, all of them would-be heroes and set sail on the Argos for uncharted waters and numerous adventures to arrive in Colchis where governs a sinister king : Frank Langella who has two sons, the astute Aspyrtes : James Callis and the clairvoyant Medea : Jolene Blalock who falls for Jason . At the same time, Jason confronts rutless Amazons women : Natasha Henstridge, a corpulent bull, sword-wielding living plants and a giant dragon, among others.

Epic and mythological fare, fun for the whole family with several adventures, thrills, emotion, noisy action and the film itself is given an enormous boost thanks to computer generator special effects. As the impressive adventures are well recreated by superb FX with multitude of mythological creatures. As during his quest for the Golden Fleece Jason has to combat the giant Poseidon, a huge iron bull, winged she-devils and a dragon guarding the Fleece, this battle is the highlight of the movie. The gigantic mechanical bronze bull that Jason fights is an arthritic disappointment but most of the other inventions are pleasingly imaginative. Great fun, as these things go, with a colorful cinematography by Sergei Kozlov and a good musical score by Simon Boswell, to boot . The motion picture was professionally directed by Nick Willing.

This one is a TV rendition, there are other cinematic adaptations as The Giants of Thessaly 1960 by Riccardo Fedra with Ronald Carey, Ziva Rodann, Alberto Farnese, Tamberlani, Massimo Giroti. And the best : Jason and the Argonauts 1965 by Don Chaffey, including captivating FX, the actual stars of the movie, by master Ray Harryhausen with Todd Armstrong, Nancy Kovack, Jack Gwillin, Honor Blackman, Douglas Wilmer, Gary Raymond.

Perhaps one of the upsides to viewing this miniseries is the opportunity to see pre-'Enterprise' Jolene Blalock as Medea, the female lead. The word "chameleon" comes to my mind when i compare her physical appearance in this to that in the Star Trek series.

I agree that the Harryhausen version set the standard but this was enjoyable viewing on its own merits inclusive of seeing Ms. Blalock before she assumed the role of T'Pol.

The criterion "sense of wonder" is commonly applied to sci-fi works, but is even more relevant to the fantasy genre. When the reader or viewer is touched by feelings of awe and mystery, they feel "moved" and have a deeper, more positive reaction to the artwork being witnessed.

The Harryhausen film was much more successful at this: the Bernard Herrmann score was masterful, and certain scenes portraying the interaction of gods and human beings (such as in the temple of Hera, the transformation of Hermes, the awakening of Talos) conveyed the deep reverence and awe that Bronze Age Greeks must have felt towards their gods. This newer Hallmark version conveys an attitude towards the Greek gods closer to mockery and amusement, perhaps appropriate for the "sophisticated" Athens in the age of Euripides or Aristophanes, but certainly out of touch with the period over a thousand years earlier when Jason lived.

In watching the movie, it was very difficult to get past Jason London's poor acting. At no point during of the movie did it ever seem like he had any grasp of his part--he never seemed regal, charismatic (a leader), or powerful. London always seemed out of place with a reasonably strong cast around him. Too bad...the movie could have been pretty good.

I enjoyed the 'Jason and the Argonauts' remake. I almost bought it, until I reached the end of it and realised that Talos, the Bronze Giant, had not made an appearance in it. C'mon, this character made the first one so special, so great. Talos really comes alive in glorious special effects; I wish they'd kept him in, I really do. Then I would've bought the re-make, which in other respects is more faithful to the mythology. Admittedly, Talos was only peripherally important in the myth: he lived on the island of Crete and used to hurl large rocks at passing vessels. Only by Medea's charm can the monster be overcome. They did the same to 'The Odyessy': left out the Sirens, who lured unwary sailors to their doom on the rocks. C'mon! How can you have a film about 'The Odyessy' and not include them? Let us hope the next person to write a screenplay based on an ancient myth will include all the important bits seemingly left out of modern remakes. even though they do look good.