Review of Jason and the Argonauts (1963) by David G — 30 Aug 2010

"Rise up you dead, slain of the Hydra. Rise from your graves and avenge us. Those who steal the Golden Fleece must die!".

Fast-paced fantasy adventure which sees ancient Greek hero and rightful King of Thessaly Jason (rocking an American accent, natch) putting together an elite crew and setting sail on a quest to recover the "Golden Fleece", a legendary gift from the Gods which will allow him to overthrow the wrongful King Pelias and bring peace to Thessaly. Of course we don't actually know if that happens or not (the film ends right after Jason escapes with the Fleece), but that's not really important. What is important is the spectacle of the adventure itself with Jason and his "Argonauts" (including a strangely stupid Hercules) running into various mythological beasties including an angry bronze giant, Harpies, a Hydra and a squad of skeleton swordsmen. Ray Harryhausen is in charge of the creature effects and so naturally they're glorious, with the skeleton fight arguably his finest work - the animation is great but the integration with the live action footage is astonishing!

With the fast pace, memorable encounters, kick-ass score and classic vintage effects, Jason and the Argonauts is just ridiculously watchable, which explains why it's been on TV pretty much weekly for the past 30 or so years!