The bronze statue of Talos that jealously guards the treasure
of the gods; the greedy Harpies who mercilessly hound a blind man in a ruined
temple; the deadly, multi-headed Hydra which watches over the golden fleece, and the
army of sword wielding living skeletons who set forth to incur their wrath upon
those who would dare to steal the golden fleece. These are the assorted menaces
and monsters who inhabit Jason And The Argonauts, the film that is considered by
many to be the masterwork of special effects artist Ray Harryhausen, displaying
some of his finest artistry in the field of stop-motion animation.
Any one of these sequences alone would be a show-stopper by itself in a lesser
film, but Jason has all of these imaginative and scary encounters packed into a
well-written and enjoyable storyline. Jason (Todd Armstrong) is the true ruler
of the land of Thessaly, but who is denied his rightful place on the throne by
an usurper named Pelias (Douglas Wilmer), who killed Jason’s family in an
attempt to defy a prophecy that claims Jason will one day kill him. Unable to
kill Jason outright, because according to the gods, to do so would be the cause
of his own undoing, Pelias instead encourages Jason to go on an epic quest for
the Golden Fleece, a magical item of great power that Jason believes will bring
hope to his people. Pelias hopes to avoid the prophecy by keeping Jason out of
Thessaly for years. Assembling the finest crew in Greece that includes Hercules
(Nigel Green), Jason sets sail for adventure, guided by the Greek goddess Hera
(Honor Blackman).
To understand the majesty of the special effects in Jason, one must understand
the stop-motion process: this involves moving a model, then taking a still frame
picture, moving it further, taking another picture, and so on. When the film is
run, the model looks as if it’s moving by itself. The original King Kong was
produced with this painstaking method, and Ray Harryhausen was responsible for
advancing this cinematic art well into the 20th century before his retirement in
the early 1980s. Keeping in mind the meticulous process of stop-motion, one can
then truly appreciate Harryhausen’s amazing work on scenes such as the one that
featured the Hydra, with its multiple heads, all of which had to be individually
moved with every frame of film. Or, better yet, there’s the now-legendary
skeleton battle, with a host of skeletons fighting live actors all in the same
frame.
Over forty years after its original release, Jason And The Argonauts still
stands as one of the best fantasy films ever made, and the DVD does it justice.
Despite a few unfortunate instances of scratchiness, the picture still looks
great, as does the sound. The disc offers you the choice of watching the film in either
widescreen or full screen, and while the extras are slim (just a trailer and an
interview with Harryhausen by director John Landis), it’s the film alone that makes this DVD worth
buying. Whether you’re reliving the joys of your childhood, or igniting the
imaginations of your children, Jason And The Argonauts is a must-have film for
your home video library.
--SF
Main Review Page | Fantasy Reviews |Buy This DVD Right Here!