I giganti della Tessaglia

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.

The tale of Jason and the Argonauts has understandably attracted a number of filmmakers over the years. I haven't seen every adaptation, but I am pretty sure that this particular one would be considered the dullest. The biggest sin the movie makes is that it's simply boring for much of the running time. There isn't a terrible amount of action, and the little action there is is at its best just routine. To be fair to director Riccardo Freda, the script didn't just give him little opportunity to try and add some excitement. The story plays like a Cliff's Notes look at Jason and company. The story starts in the middle of the quest, and the various adventures and encounters that we do get to see often feel rushed and/or missing key footage. Although this particular telling can be found cheaply (since it's in the public domain), you'd be better off spending a few extra bucks to view the much superior 1963 British movie "Jason and the Argonauts" instead.

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.

THE GIANTS OF THESSALY is one of the better PEPLUM films made during the PEPLUM/Musclemen/Sword & Sandal explosion of the the late 50s/early 60s. The assured hand of Riccardo Freda keeps it going even if there are some weak spots in it, the weak aspects being the acting (there's a scene with an actress tied to a rock and her acting is pitiful) and some cheesy sets and effects. But the bad aspect of this film do not diminish the entire overall effect and it's pretty cool. British actor Roland Carey makes a nice change over the usual Steve Reeves or Mark Forest or Gordon Scott. Physically, Roland is imposing. He looks tall and built but not too built like a body builder. His physique is believable. Roland plays Jason and the story is basically the quest for the Golden Fleece (part of this story was already incorporated in HERCULES(1958) ).

He leads a boat filled a beefy crew and they got through a bunch of great and not so great adventures, culminating with the finding of the Golden Fleece. The scene when Roland Carey gets the fleece is one of the greatest moments ever made in a PEPLUM. From the boat, to climbing up a cliff that leads to the statue where Jason as to climb all the way to the top of the statue to retrieve the fleece is simply amazing. Combined with the rousing score (one of the best and most familiar scores in any Sword & Sandal) and you have a brilliant scene. It makes the movie and Riccardo Freda's direction really shines here.

The DVD available in the US is of terrible quality. I've seen a clear fully widescreen HD version and it's amazing. The US DVD doesn't do it justice.

And to those who think this is nothing more than a weak rip-off of the Ray Harryhausen version of Jason & the Argonauts, well THE GIANTS OF THESSALY was made 3 years before the Harryhausen flick.

Pretty average spectacle of the crank 'em out kind that showed up every weekend when I was about six or seven.

Mickey Hargitay musta been busy greasin' up his biceps or frolicking around with Jayne and Reeves wanted good money so they opted for Roland Carey who despite a decent chest is very colorless and blah.

The plot is as thin as pizza but serves well for the usual blend of fight,flounder and flex.

TO it's credit there is some good fantasy music,a hilarious one eyed gorilla,a wacky witch and the requisite harem dance.

If you got some pals that are good with the MST3K style of back talk you'll have plenty of fodder here.Fans of SOuth Park will hardly resist a remark or two about Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride.

If your a fan ,check it out otherwise forget it unless you want something to clear the kids out of the room.