Old School Review: Jason and the Argonauts

Just recently they remade Clash of the Titans which was the last film that showcased Ray's Harryhausen's art of stop motion effects.  I was fine with that, it falls into my philosophy that if you are going to remake a film remake a film that could be made better.  It didn't actually make a better version of Clash of the Titans but it didn't embarrass itself either.  Woe, however, to the man who wants to remake Jason and the Argonauts.

Along with the first two Sinbad films, Jason is clearly Harryhausen at his best.  There are so many goodies it is truly hard to pick a favorite.  The giant metal statue?  The harpies?  The hydra.  All good, but for my money the show stopper is the multiple skeleton army.  The little jerkiness of the stop motion technique actually adds to the character of the skeletons.  The sheer logistics of doing a multiple person sword fight with an army of bones is just mind blowing.

Don't get me wrong, the special effects are helped by a snappy script.  It's a neccessarily episodic affair as our hero goes from point to point to get the golden fleece, but it never feels disjointed.  And all the side characters are given a bit to shine.  I like Hercules who was correctly protrayed as "notay ootay ightbray."  This is the type of fantasy film to get your kids started on.  And definitely worth a re watch if you haven't seen it in a while.