Jason and the Argonauts (1963)
Goofs
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Anachronisms (2) |
Audio/visual unsynchronised (1) |
Character error (1) |
Continuity (14) |
Crew or equipment visible (1) |
Factual errors (2) |
Plot holes (1) |
Revealing mistakes (8)
Anachronisms
In the scene where Medea is performing, she turns around only to reveal her dress has an obvious zipper. Zippers weren't invented until the mid to late 1800s.
After Jason's fight with Acastus, when Medea is telling Jason of the flower which can heal his wound, if you look past Medea you can see a mountain in the distance. On top of the mountain you can see a lighted building of some sort that appears to be a modern structure.
Audio/visual unsynchronised
As King Aeetes and his men watch the skeleton warriors emerge from the ground, Aeetes cries out as each one appears. But at one point, as a skeleton emerges, Aeetes is plainly seen mouthing something (probably "And still more!"), but his voice is not heard.
Character error
Hera tells Jason that Talos' ankles are his vulnerable spots, but it was his heel that was his downfall.
Continuity
Around 00:36:31, the ship's stern is near the rocks in the sea, near the beach. Around 00:36:43, the ship is at sea, there is nothing around it. Around 00:36:45, the ship is near the beach and rocks again.
Just before their fight with the skeletons, Jason and his two companions remove the leather straps they're wearing across their chests. In the immediately following close-ups of Jason, he's still wearing his.
Around 00:10:27, Jason got only one sandal on his right foot (the other lost into the river). Around 00:11:11, he's got sandals on his two feet.
In the opening battle scene, some of the streets appear wet with rain, while others are dry.
When Hylas and Hercules see the statue of Talos, they are standing in grasses, then there is a long shot of them walking, but the next shot shows them still in the grasses. The next shot shows Hylas walking, then in sand, then back in the grasses with Hercules again.
When Jason opens up Talos's heel, it's the heel on Talos's left foot in all the long shots with visual effects involved. However on all the shots where Jason is interacting with a practical giant foot, it's of Talos's right foot.
When Hylas went back to pick up the spear Hercules dropped when running away from Talos the spear's position changed by about 90 degrees.
As Talos lifts the Argos, sailors are seen falling from a ship that is obviously still in the water.
Before Hylas 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.
When the crew are being recruited, Hercules' arms are alternately crossed/uncrossed between shots.
When Jason stabs one of the skeleton warriors, it falls to the ground with Jason's sword stuck inside its rib cage. On the next immediate shot of the same fight sequence Jason fights off another skeleton warrior with his bare hands; but the skeleton warrior that was just stabbed is no longer visible however Jason's sword is still there lying on the ground by itself.
Hercules is shown on the beach setting out to search for Hylas, they cut to the ship and Hercules is missing from the beach.
When the seven skeleton warriors line up to fight, the two warriors carrying spears are positioned toward the rear. But in the immediate following shots as they begin to march, the position of one spear carrying warrior keeps shifting from the rear to the front and back to the rear.
When one of the Argonauts attempts to escape from two skeleton warriors by climbing to a higher level of the stone ledges, he lays down his sword on that higher level in order to better prop himself up. But on the next cut, after he is killed, the sword has disappeared.
Crew or equipment visible
In two scenes with the Harpies, first when the first Harpy appears and the second when Jason and his troop come up the trail; the wires controlling the Harpies are visible.
Factual errors
The King and Queen of the Gods are given their Greek names, Zeus and Hera. The boxing champion of Jason's games is called by his Greek name, Polydeuces. But the mythical strongman who is one of the Argonauts, is called by his Roman name, Hercules. The Greek name for him was Heracles.
The name "TALOS" above the entrance to the treasure chamber is written in Latin letters. Whichever alphabet could be in use in those legendary times the Greek one would have been more likely.
Plot holes
When Pelias invites Jason into his camp, nobody present gives Pelias away as being who he is. Somebody would have addressed him by name, or his guards would have snapped to attention and perhaps saluted when he came into view. Nobody would have known that Pelias was concealing his identity from Jason.
Revealing mistakes
When Jason is being held in the Hydra's tail, he strikes the tail with his sword, but the sword bounces off the tail as if the tail is made of rubber.
As the first harpy appears to torment Phineas, the wire holding it up is visible.
When the harpies attack Phinneus, the pillars behind them are visible through their wings.
Towards the end of the film Medea gets shot by an arrow. If you look closely you can see that no arrow is visible in the air, and that it would have to pass through Jason to actually hit her where it does, as he is in the way.
When Zeus is speaking with his wife Hera regarding Jason, there is a female sitting in the background staring off to the side. But she periodically breaks character by looking straight ahead at the camera then quickly snaps back into character and resumes looking to the side.
When the crew navigates past the merman through The Clashing Rocks, Argos yells at them to "pull" and the men desperately row backward. However, at the angle they are at when looking up at the merman, rowing backward would actually slow them down (or take them back to where they started).
Around 00:02:00, we can see the priest's shadow on the rock on the left, but the sun is also on the left, so the shadow should be on the right, like the men's shadows on the beach.
When Zeus decry's the fact that Jason refused his help, the other God's gather at his side. The featured extra to the left of Zeus makes the mistake of looking for his mark before moving to it for the shot. (GBK)
