Jason & The Argonauts

I almost want to say this is the first time I've seen this.

Oh I absolutely knew of it growing up and the stop motion effects by Ray Harryhausen, but I truly believe this is my first watch through. So how was it? Pretty solid I gotta say, this is one of the earliest greek epics that I'm aware of concerning a young man with a quest to reclaim a homeland and slay a tyrant who is given a near impossible task from the gods to obtain a golden fleece to aid his revenge. What's interesting is this is a tale that literally predates The Odyssey so it made since to showcase it this week, and it honestly bears some similarities with the hero making a long journey with several courageous men, the gods on Olympus treating the heroes just like pawns in chess to see who wins, and encountering fabled mythical creatures. Now obviously when most people refer to this movie it is indeed for the stop motion effects, but it is a very good movie on it's own that should be watched. That being said the effects by Harryhausen are still great and show good variety ranging from giant metal statue Talos, to a hydra, to flying harpy's, and of course sword wielding skeletons which is still just as rad as it was in 1963. I was a bit surprised to learn this was not a great financial success for Columbia when it was first released despite good reviews, and only through the passage of time has it gotten reappraised and considered a classic of the fantasy genre. I think Todd Armstrong is a damn good lead as Jason, a stalwart hero with conviction and wisdom that carries the film just as well as the stopmotion effects. Honor Blackman as Hera was a treat to see and really it doesn't seem that much of a stretch to see her as a goddess, as she aids Jason on his quest while in somewhat friendly competition with Zeus. Though not on the crew for long I gotta say Nigel Green as Hercules was a major highlight, I can't fully explain why but his physicality and warm demeanor made me wish he stuck around to end credits and I'll be damned to think of a better live action Hercules in anything! For a movie roughly an hour and forty-five minutes long it certainly doesn't feel like it, keeping a good brisk pace that's easy to follow and has a charm to it that not many newer movies could have. And I think that's the reason why it's a classic of the genre. It has this old Hollywood charm to it, from the way it's shot, to the actors in it, how the special effects are showcased, it fits the ancient tale because it feels like someone is retelling it at that point in time. So all in all I give it 3 stars, 7/10, and next time we get to a movie that I honestly can't believe I haven't talked about yet.