Jason and the Argonauts (1963)

Director:

Don Chaffey

Writers:

Jan Read (screenplay) &
Beverley Cross (screenplay)

Release Date:

19 June 1963 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Family | Fantasy | Adventure

Tagline:

Greatest Odyssey Of The Ages - for the first time on the screen

Plot:

The legendary Greek hero leads a team of intrepid adventurers in a perilous quest for the legendary Golden Fleece.

Plot Keywords:

Golden Fleece | Skeleton | Hercules | Hydra | Harpy

Cast

Todd Armstrong	...	Jason
Nancy Kovack	...	Medea
Gary Raymond	...	Acastus
Laurence Naismith	...	Argos
Niall MacGinnis	...	Zeus
Michael Gwynn	...	Hermes
Douglas Wilmer	...	Pelias
Jack Gwillim	...	King Aeetes
Honor Blackman	...	Hera
John Cairney	...	Hylas
Patrick Troughton	...	Phineas
Andrew Faulds	...	Phalerus
Nigel Green	...	Hercules

Also Known As:

Jason and the Golden Fleece

Runtime:

104 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Australia:G | Iceland:12 | Finland:K-12 (cut) (1963) | Finland:K-16 (uncut) (1963) | Finland:K-8 (uncut) (2000) | Singapore:PG | USA:G (certificate #20139) | Norway:11 | Spain:T | Sweden:11 | UK:U | West Germany:12 | Ireland:G | Canada:G (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Quebec) | Canada:PG (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Capaccio, Salerno, Campania, Italy

Company:

Morningside Productions

Trivia:

Ray Harryhausen regards this as his best film.

Goofs:

Continuity: As Talos lifts the Argos, sailors are seen falling from a ship that is obviously still in the water.

Quotes:

Zeus: Hera my dear, You really *must* learn to win without cheating... or to at least lose *gracefully*.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Sasquatch Gang (2006)

Good old fashioned fun!

As entertainment this movie is perfect. The movie is a fun adventurous one, with lots of spectacular moments and fights. From a technical point of view this movie is even a masterpiece. The stop-motion scene's created by special effects pioneer Ray Harryhausen is simply brilliant and makes this movie one of the most influential and important one's, when it comes to special effects. But also the movie uses clever camera tricks and some well made miniatures. Yes, of course the effects all look out dated now but they still surprisingly, look convincing enough and at times they are even still simply breathtaking and spectacular to look at. Especially of course the legendary, fantastic end fight against the skeleton warriors.

The story is like good entertainment should be; Adventurous, exciting and simple to follow. The movie truly is none stop fun entertainment to watch with lots of spectacular moments with the legendary skeleton fight as the ultimate highlight. You don't have to be a fan of 'classic' movies in order to enjoy this movie, everyone should be able to appreciate this movie and be entertained by it, especially when you are a fan of ancient Greek tales.

Something that is not praised enough of this movie is the musical score by Bernard Herrmann.

The movie is not exactly filled with impressive and memorable actors. As many movies as I have seen in my life, I don't think I have ever seen any actors from this movie in any other movie, with the exception of course of Honor Blackman who will always be remembered for playing the Bond girl Pussy Galore in "Goldfinger". But this movie clearly isn't a character-adventure movie, it's a special effect adventure movie. The special effects are really the most important element of the movie. So for the fans of special effects this is especially most definitely a must see.

A movie that should be fun and enjoyable to everyone, of all ages.

8/10