#127: Jason and the Argonauts

Jason and the Argonauts

Don Chaffey
Initial release: August 7, 1963 (USA)

images c/o movie-screencaps.com

While the sword-and-sandal genre has a long history going back to at least 1914 with Cabiria, there is perhaps no film that more exemplifies sword-and-sandal than Don Chaffey's Jason and the Argonauts. This 1963 classic is the big-budget Greek mythology film: everything since, including Christopher Nolan's Odyssey, walks on the skeleton-infested ground sown by Chaffey.

Based — loosely — on the story of Jason, an usurped heir to the throne of Thessaly, and the sturdy ship and sturdier crew that he commands on his quest, Jason and the Argonauts tells the tale of Jason and his friends searching for a mythical golden fleece that will help him retake the throne from his evil uncle and bring prosperity to Thessaly. Obviously, to keep this thing from being five hours long, some things were changed or dropped completely, and so the version of the story presented here is pretty sharply truncated. On the other hand, it makes for a better movie, albeit one that hints at a sequel that never came. The Greek pantheon of myth of course makes an appearance, framing the story as a sort of game of strategy between Zeus (who calls himself "sentimental" which is a nice way of saying he's a supernatural sex pest) and his long-suffering wife Hera.

I can tell you right off that this movie is, generally, less overtly silly than Clash of the Titans from 1981, the other big Greek mythology movie of the 20th century. Produced by Ray Harryhausen, the special effects (including the stop motion) have aged far better in this 1963 film than his later work. A big part of that is the fact that the special effects were more seamless in this movie than they were in the later film. The infamous skeleton fight scene at the climax of the film is a perfect example of this.

(Fun fact: Jack Gwillin, who plays King Aeetes, would later take on the role of Poseidon in Clash of the Titans, which just further cements the relationship between the two films.)

Everything is big in this film. The budget is big. The cast is big, the special effects are big. Hell, even the statues are big. This is one of the greats of the historical fantasy genre. Other than a tacked-on romantic subplot, and plot threads that go nowhere (like Hercules randomly exiting the film in search of a friend who's already dead) this film approaches what in a lesser film would be silly with an earnest seriousness that one cannot help but believe. If you're looking for an easy way into Greek mythology as translated by film, Jason and his friends won't steer you wrong.

-june❤