Review of Jason and the Argonauts (1963) by Daniel K — 26 Oct 2010

3: The special effects are pretty impressive, even if I have seen them many times before. I'd never actually seen the film, but the effects scenes are routinely included in the special features documentaries about the history of special effects and/or the films that have had the greatest influence on current effects/filmmakers.

This must have seemed pretty amazing to audiences of the day, even if it was thirty years after the brilliance of King Kong. The effects are so good that they actually hold up fairly well on Blu-Ray, which can't even be said of some relatively contemporary films.

I do have to say that myths like this seem to work far better on the page than they do on the screen. It is quite difficult to convey the majesty and magic of myth on the screen, whereas it seems ideally suited to the page as ones imagination can simply run wild.

This is certainly not a hard and fast rule, but this is the film more notable for its technical, rather than its storytelling, brilliance. Still, it is an entertaining and memorable journey.