***** Classic Greek Myth with Stop-Motion Skeletons!

argonaut n 1: someone engaged in a dangerous but potentially rewarding adventure 2: (classical mythology) one of the heroes who sailed with Jason on the Argo in search of the Golden Fleece (from dictionary.com)

"The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad" (1958) did good, so Ray Harryhausen was once again hired to do the monsters in a classic story, this time on Greek mythology. "Jason and the Argonaughts" (also called "Jason and the Golden Fleece" or "The Argonaughtica") is one of those classic Greek myths turned into a classic stop-motion movie. It didn't do all that good when it first came out (due to a lot of cheap Italian-made Greek myth movies flying around at the time), but it is now considered to be one of the best movies that Ray ever worked on!

Jason, the true king of Thessaly, wants to take back is throne after 20 years of growing up (it was "taken away" when he was born). But in order to do that, he has to get the legendary Golden Fleece from the other side of the known world! He gets a ship, the Argo, gets a crew, which includes another legendary Greek hero: Hercules, and runs off to get it. While he's doing that, a bazilion stop motion monsters pop up to try to stop him! There's the giant bronze guardian, Talos, the flying demons known as the Harpies, a seven-headed hydra, and, of course, and army of skeleton warriors! Jason finally gets the fleece and starts heading back, but that's where the movie ends.

First of all, this movie has some of the best stop-motion sequences ever made! The Talos looks very convincing, walking around like what you would think a giant 150-ft. or so living bronze statue would! The harpies aren't the best, but they are certainly not bad at all! The Hydra may be from the wrong myth, but who cares? It looks great and you can see the effort put into it (after all, there is seven heads to animate)! And then there is one of the most famous stop-motion sequence ever filmed: the skeletons. There was already a sword-fighting skeleton in the Sinbad movie, but now there is seven! The classic myth had zombies instead, but I guess Ray preferred skeletons over rotting corpses. Even though the stop-motion things are great, but there is even more great special effects! Not only is there your basic smoky transporting things, but there is also the clashing rocks scene. The Argo goes through an avalanche filed passageway, and is saved by King Triton, um, oops, I mean Poseidon, a classic Greek god. Sure, he is just a guy with mermaid makeup on, but it is quite convincing. Like most Ray Harryhausen made movies, this one had a small budget. But, it doesn't show it at all! It as a whole lot of special effects strewn throughout the whole thing, a realistic looking full-size ship, and a ton of extras in convincing Greek warrior costumes. Plus, all the mat paintings and on-the-spot location shooting makes it look like they really are in ancient Greece! Some of the visuals are really good, including the real Greek ruins and the spectacular isle of bronze, with its mate paintings of huge bronze statues.

Well, the special effects steal the show, but the plot is good to. It went a bit away from the actual story, but most changes are for the better. The acting is pretty good. Well, actually, there are two actors for most characters. The one that you see and the one that you hear. The voices were dubbed over, but I guess it's for the better, considering that I have no idea how these people really talk. But, their lips move with what they are saying, unlike certain Godzilla movies, for obvious reasons. But, not everybody is dubbed, and does it really matter anyways? The movie flows well, going from scene to scene without much gaps and everything appears in the right order. It rarely gets boring, being exiting from beginning to end without any unnecessary junk. One such peace of junk is the love story, it only comes in the end and it doesn't last long. Reason is because this was suppose to be a two-parter, but they never got around to making a sequel. I have no idea what the sequel would have been, but it obviously would have completed the great story.

The movie itself comes off as very convincing. It looks realistic! It even stands up with a lot of the movies nowadays! It doesn't look like it was made 38 years ago, even though it was. This movie is not only on par with today's standards, but it is even a precedent for a lot of movie being made after it. Particularly the classic skeleton sequence. That popped up again many times, most notably in "The Mummy" (1999). Recently, they made a TV movie remake. I was flipping through the channels, and I came across it somewhere in the midway point. It showed a person standing in a bathtub with goofy makeup on holding a toy boat with bad actor's heads popping out of the fog saying stupid things. I was so disgusted that I had to turn it off. I found out latter that as a whole, it wasn't that bad, but don't expect me to watch it. The classic original is good enough. In fact, it is one of the best monster films ever made according to me (and Tom Hanks). Also like some other people, I think that this has the best work that Ray Harryhausen ever did!

Great Plot

Extremely Great Special Effects

Great scenery

Great music to

It's Fun!

Great classic Greek adventure story!

Gotta love those skeletons! (the Talos and Hydra are good to)

One of the best movie that Ray Harryhausen ever worked on!

Nice hats!

Hydra is from another story!

Occasional lapse in the blue screen work (nothing is perfect)

Does every movie have to have dancing girls? (not that bad)

Bad acting (mostly in the beginning and end, but the rest is good)

Congratulations, you threw the discuss far! Now you can be the first one to die!

Credits