Dennis Schwartz started his review by saying, “Fun-loving
classic Greek mythological adventure tale geared for the kiddies, that’s too
bumpy to be a smooth ride but its tongue-in-cheek storytelling and its visually
spectacular rendering of its mythological setting leave it many golden moments.”
It mostly comes alive through the masterful special effects by Ray Harryhausen,
the king of stop-motion animation. Schwartz credited, “Harryhausen’s superb
special effects, perhaps his best ever, include the building of a fine replica
of the mythical ship the Argo, a lifelike version of the titan metal god Talos,
the fluttery screeching bat-winged battling Harpies that plague the blind
prophet Phineas (Patrick Troughton), the ‘crashing rocks’ through which the
hero’s ship must cross, a menacing seven-headed Hydra that the hero must fight
and the centerpiece sword fight with the hero and an army of skeletons who
emerge out of the teeth of Hydra.” Director Don Chaffey keeps a tight grasp on routing
it through so many great action scenes with its dull hero as the focus. It’s
based on the poem The Argonautica by Apollonious Rhodios and the
screenplay is done by Beverly Cross and Jan Read.
On Mt. Olympus, the Greek god Zeus (Niall MacGinnis)
and goddess Hera (Honor Blackman) see the killing of King Aeson of Thessaly by
his determined and cruel half-brother Pelias (Douglas Wilmer), who then kills
his victim’s two baby daughters but his baby son Jason escapes. Jason, played
by Todd Armstrong, is raised by his father’s loyal subjects and reaches the age
to return to Thessaly as a skilled fighter to take back his rightful throne.
After Jason saves Pelias from drowning, who he doesn’t recognize, he’s sent by
the evil Pelias on a quest to bring back the Golden Fleece (sheep’s wool made
of gold) so that the people will accept him knowing the gods favor him. Pelia
believes that Jason will never return alive from this impossible journey.
Jason gets Argo to build him a ship and he hires a crew
of the best fighters in Thessaly by having a competition and Hera, who received
the prayers of one of Jason’s sisters before she was murdered, as an exchange
for that act of faith will be Jason’s protector for only five times and clues
him in that he can find the Golden Fleece on the other side of the planet on the
island of Colchis. The hero is fearless as he travels through a series of
adventures to reach his destination and must also overcome Acastus, played by Gary
Raymond, a spy Pelias sent on the journey to make sure that Jason’s mission is
a failure. When Jason and the Argonauts finally reach Colchis, they must fight
the opposition of King Aeetes, played by Jack Gwillim, to accomplish their
mission of removing the Golden Fleece. Fortunately for Jason, the
high-priestess Media, played by Nancy Kovack, falls in love with him and goes
against her kingdom to free him from prison so he can successfully get the famous
Golden Fleece – an object of worship that has healing power and can bring
peace.
Schwartz ended his review by admitting, “The film also
comes with a rousing score by Bernard Herrmann, that evidently pleased many but
didn’t do much for me.”
I can’t do this film justice by reviewing it. This is
one of those that has to be seen to be believed. Currently this is streaming on
Tubi, so check it out on there. Whether you’re a fan of Greek Mythology or not,
you have to see it. The stop-motion special effects are one of the best ever
seen. You will appreciate everything about the film, given the time period it
was made.
Next week, we will be looking at the original “Clash
of the Titans” in the continuation of “Greek Mythology Month.”
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