Todd Armstrong

Nancy Kovack

Gary Raymond

Laurence Naismith

Niall MacGinnis

Michael Gwynn

Douglas Wilmer

Jack Gwillim

Honor Blackman

John Cairney

Patrick Troughton

Andrew Faulds

Nigel Green

John Crawford

Ferdinando Poggi

Ennio Antonelli

Harold Bradley

Aldo Cristiani

Eva Haddon

Doug Robinson

Davina Taylor

Tim Turner

Beverley Cross

Don Chaffey

Charles H. Schneer

Maurice Rootes

Bernard Herrmann

Apollonios Rhodios

Wilkie Cooper

Jan Read

Ray Harryhausen

Eddie Powell

Harry Gillam

Geoffrey Drake

Phyllis Crocker

Paul Maslansky

Cyril Collick

Leonardo Scavino

Herbert Smith

Red Law

Alfred Cox

Dennis Bertera

John Dark

Jack Maxsted

Jimmy Komisarjevsky

Tony Sarzi-Braga

James Wines

Adventure

Family

Fantasy

Jason and the Argonauts

Morningside Productions

Columbia Pictures

United States of America

English

ship

skeleton

hero

bravery

menace

greek mythology

vlies

stop motion

ancient greece

golden fleece

based on myths, legends or folklore

sea voyage

CinemaSerf

I always find with these stop-motion animation films that the wonderful Harryhausen creations always far out-act the human talent! Sadly, here is no different - Todd Armstrong in the title role and Nancy Novak as " Medea" are as wooden as the Argo in this retelling of the ancient Greek myth. It is still, however, an exciting action adventure though, with plenty of episodes to keep it moving along as Jason fights monsters and treachery to seek out the legendary Golden Fleece from the distant land of Colchis. It's got a decent enough, largely British, supporting cast with Honor Blackman standing out as his patron "Hera" and Nigel Green making for a wonderfully over-the-top "Hercules", but the spoils definitely go to Talos, the Harpies and the skeleton battle is fabulous.

**_Swords & Greek Mythology in the Mediterranean_** 

Jason (Todd Armstrong), the rightful heir to the throne of Thessaly, Greece, gathers a crew of intrepid sailors to find the magical Golden Fleece, a quest that brings clashes with a 100’ bronze statue, a couple harpies, the venomous Hydra and a squad of sword-wielding skeletons.

“Jason and the Argonauts” (1963) is a sword & sandal flick based on Greek Mythology with Ray Harryhausen’s stop motion special effects, which were state-of-the-art at the time. It’s very similar to "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad" from five years earlier and on par in all-around entertainment. 

You can’t beat the scenic Mediterranean locations, the vessel, the costumes and the mystical action sequences. The fight with the skeleton warriors only runs three minutes, at most, but it took Harryhausen four months to produce it.

Unfortunately, this isn’t as compelling, story-wise, as “Ulysses” (1954) and “Mysterious Island” (1961) or future flicks like “Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger” (1977) and “Conan the Barbarian” (1982). Those movies feature a fairly prominent female presence to counteract the sweaty men in loin cloths; this one doesn't. Sure, Nancy Kovack is on hand, but she doesn’t show up until well past the hour mark and not enough is done with her.

The film runs 1 hour, 44 minutes, and was shot on the coasts of southern Italy (Salerno) with studio stuff done in Rome and Shepperton Studios, just west of London.

GRADE: B-

Jason and the Argonauts (1963) ORIGINAL TRAILER [HD 1080p]

Ernest Dickerson on JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS

Jason and the Argonauts( 1963)

The epic story that was destined to stand as a colossus of adventure!

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A review by CinemaSerf

Written by CinemaSerf on Sun Mar 27 2022

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