Review of Jason and the Argonauts (1963) by Rob S — 12 Jun 2015

It's the hoard of battling skeletons that are always cited as being the highlight of this film and one of Ray Harryhausen's finest creations. However, for me, it was and still is Talos, the giant bronze statue, that stands out.

As a kid, this was the monster that really scared me and I still find him to be an amazingly realised creation. Stop-motion does look a little creaky these days, but the legacy that such films left us is the inspiration they provided to many of the current movie makers.

Jason and the Argonauts is pretty much the gold standard of this kind of movie. It uses the Greek legend as a basis for the screenplay and adds a little bit of Hollywood artistic licence to spice things up a bit.

Whilst it is true that the acting is variable to say the least, the story is entertaining and the settings are good. It's nice to see Patrick Troughton in one of his character roles as the blind man Phineas, tormented by the Harpies as a punishment from the gods and Douglas Wilmer makes for a suitably arch Pelias.

I do find that the ending, however, is somewhat disappointing. The whole point of the voyage the Argo was to ensure that Jason never gained his rightful throne from the scheming Pelias but we never find out how this actually pans out.

A shame, as Jason and the Argonauts is rightly seen as an influential classic and often cited by movers and shakers in the movie industry as one of their favourite films.