Giasone e gli Argonauti

For some people 'Jason and the Argonauts', one of the most representative tale of the rich Greek Mithology, is one the most intense adventure yarn of all times. For this reason, maybe, this story - with more than three thousand years - is always returning to delight children and adults. This new TV version is an accurate and well done entry of the classical adventure. The movie - starring young Jason London as Jason - has a correct cast (with an impressive Dennis Hooper as the cruel King Pelias) and extremely good special effects. Maybe the movie is a bit too overlong which causes some uneven development of the plot, with some parts less interesting than others. For example, the movie goes down when the argonauts are made prisoners in the island of the Amazon women. But there's other great moments: the fight to take the 'Velocino' and the fight against the Minotauro. Although some old guys will remember and miss the old movies about Heroic Greece - especially the movies made with the assistance of the master of the special effects, Mr. Ray Harryhausen - this new version is capable and well done.

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.

This TV mini series was on over the Easter Holidays and i was caught by the impressive cast that they had lined up for this movie.... i also had to watch it also because i really enjoy greek mythology. What i got was over 3 hours of false mythology that doesn't even deserve to share the same title as the 1960's original.

Jason London was not convincing as the main character Jason, neither was Dennis Hopper unfortunately who fell victim to a silly scene at the end where hes wearing the fleece on his head, it cracked me up, he looked an idiot. Natasha Henstridge and Derek Jakobi were not in it enough to make any sort of impression and the gods were too merciful i thought.

The SFX was okay, but i still prefer the ground breaking effects of Ray Harryhausen who's designs for the titans in the original scared me when i was younger.

This film was false when it comes to sticking by the facts of greek mythology i.e. there were no female argonauts - Atlantas is a false. Also the fact that Orpheus was greek and not African, these are just a few points from many mistakes that effected this series.

My two biggest groans though must be.... a) Why did they replace Talos the bronze giant with that stupid bull, Talos was my favourite Titan in the original and i was looking forward to see him redesigned for this series.......but not into a stupid bull that breathes fire....OH DEAR! Also the Hydra was replaced by a dragon......why?......i don't know?

and b) The sound effects were not as ground breaking as the original. The sound for the original film captured half the scene, an example being the appearance of Talos - it created tension. It was sorely missed.

In the end Hollywood have spoilt mythology and replaced it with a child's bed time story........5/10

It's a good indication of just how bad television is becoming when one spends four hours watching such reprehensible ineptitude as this. As a guy who has grown up with Greek myth since I could understand language it's difficult to express how insulted I was by this ludicrous film. Taking liberties with a storyline is one thing. Reinventing it to fit a Hollywood formula is something different: the inclusion of blacks and women among the Argonauts is inexcusable no matter what the producer's motives--not because Atalanta wouldn't have made a good Argonaut, but because she wasn't, and Orpheus was Greek, not Ethiopian. The involvement of Hercules for the entire voyage instead of for only part of the first stage like in the real legend is almost forgiveable after that. For all of that however, the biggest beef with "Jason and the Argonauts" is not that it leaves out huge slabs of the journey, makes up new parts and juggles characters to suit itself. In fact, it gets some parts right: sending the dove between the clashing rocks for example, and Jason's relationship to Pilias among little else. Overall, this film is just lame, a poor, typically made-for-television sham of a cracking good story, exploiting all the best bits for all their worth and completing omitting or changing others. For those who only know the legend from this film: Orpheus wasn't black, Atalanta wasn't an Argonaut, Medea was a cold-blooded conniving bitch who cut up her own brother and fed him to the sharks and Hercules quit the voyage early on to go searching for his gay lover who got spirited away by river nymphs. Let's hope that, one day, some film producer has the guts to tell this story the way is was supposed to be told--and maybe use Hercules' real Greek name (Heracles) to boot.

The mini-series is not dead as some had proclaimed. This retelling of Jason's epic journey to gain the Golden Fleece has an excellent cast and impressive FX.

Jason London is impressive as the young hero, giving this actor a long-overdue chance to shine as a new star in the heavens over Olympus. His character is the center and the anchor of the sprawling story, and he gives a strong yet appealingly vulnerable quality to his character who happens to have the same name.

Though it was odd that Poseidon looked like a bunch of rocks with legs instead of the more-common image of him as a crowned merman with trident, most of the other magical or divine elements in the story were well-acted and believably realized through the computerized FX.

This TV mini-series is a worthy successor to the 1963 film.