#127: Jason and the Argonauts
Stop motion skeletons aren’t all this crazy Greek mythology mashup has to offer
This review was originally posted to Twitter on July 3, 2019.
Initial release: August 7, 1963
Director: Don Chaffey
If there’s a film that more exemplifies the subgenre of mythological sword-and-sandal than Jason and the Argonauts I’ve yet to see it, because this is the big budget Greek mythology film. Based — loosely — on the tale of an usurped heir to the throne, the sturdy ship he commands, and its sturdier crew, it tells the tale of Jason and his friends in search of a mythical golden fleece that will help him retake the throne from his evil uncle and bring prosperity to Thessaly.
Obviously, to keep this thing from being five hours long, some things were changed or dropped completely, and so the version of the story presented here is pretty sharply truncated. On the other hand, it makes for a better movie, albeit one that hints at a sequel that never came.
The Greek pantheon of myth of course makes an appearance, framing the story as a sort of game of strategy between Zeus (who calls himself “sentimental” which is a nice way of saying he’s a supernatural sex pest) and his long-suffering wife Hera.
I can tell you right off that this movie is, generally, less overtly silly than 1981’s Clash of the Titans, the other big Greek mythology movie. Produced by Ray Harryhausen, the special effects (including the stop motion) have aged far better in this 1963 film than his later work in the 1981 film. A big part of that is the fact that the special effects were more seamless in this movie than they were in the later film. The infamous skeleton fight scene at the climax of the film is a perfect example of this.
(Fun fact: Jack Gwillin, who plays King Aeetes, would later take on the role of Poseidon in Clash of the Titans, which just further cements the relationship between the two films.)
Other than a tacked-on romantic subplot, and plot threads that go nowhere (like Hercules randomly exiting the film in search of a friend who’s already dead) this film approaches what in a lesser film would be silly with an earnest seriousness that one cannot help but believe.
Everything is big in this film. The budget is big. The cast is big, the special effects are big. Hell, even the statues are big. This is one of the greats of the historical fantasy genre. If you’re looking for an easy way into Greek mythology as translated by film, Jason and his friends won’t steer you wrong.
