Jason and the Argonauts (1963)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

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 | Hercules | Skeleton | Battle | 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:

A brief scene was cut from the skeleton fight where the decapitated skeleton is seen feeling around for its head. In addition the UK cinema version was cut by the BBFC to remove the shrieking made by the skeletons from a face-on shot during the initial charge, and video versions featured the same print. DVD versions are uncut.

Goofs:

Continuity: Before Hylus hurls the discus, he hands his pack to a bystander. After hurling the discus, he is shown in close-up with the pack still slung over his shoulder. In the following scene, the pack is once again missing.

Quotes:

Jason: Now the voyage is over, I don't want any trouble to begin
Polydeuces: There won't be any trouble, Jason. Just tell us where the city is and when we attack.
Jason: We don't attack.
Polydeuces: But that's foolish, you have the finest fighting men in the world.
Jason: 40 fighting men against a nation?
Phalerus: Better forty than one Jason.
Jason: We're not *pirates*, Phalerus.
Acastus: What's that girl done to you? We thought you were a fighting man.
Jason: I'm going up alone in the morning. See what the situation is.
Polydeuces: Oh, you mean spy out the land. Well, why alone? Why not take a few of us scouting.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (2004) (VG)

Harryhausen's Masterpiece?

Possibly. His first "Sinbad" film in 1958 had one moving skeleton for the hero to fight; this one has a whole platoon of them, each part painstakingly moved one tiny distance at a time personally by Harryhausen through stop-motion techniques. The seven-headed Hydra is another technical marvel. There are some other nifty creatures for Jason and his crew to battle, but for me, the most impressive of them all turns up first: the gigantic Talos, the Man of Bronze.

I was a kid when this came out, and I don't think I'll ever forget that moment when the huge, crouched statue came to life, turned his head towards the two men below him (his bronze head screeching with the tear of metal), climbed off of his pedestal, and proceeded to chase Jason and his men. Talos was giant like Godzilla, but as single-minded as the Terminator: all he wants to do is track Jason's crew down until he kills them all. This gave me nightmares. Bernard Herrmann's score is one of his best, making music to match Harryhausen's images. (Herrmann was coming off of other Harryhausen's, plus Hitchcock's "Vertigo," "North by Northwest" and "Psycho," and knew how to thrill you.)

Tom Hanks, who was also a kid when this came out, has said: "Everybody thinks that 'Citizen Kane' was the greatest movie ever made. But if you were young in 1963, you know the real answer is: 'Jason and the Argonauts.'"