Jason and the Argonauts (1963) movie review

Is Percy Jackson too much of a YA movie for you? Disney’s Hercules not accurate enough to the old stories? Well, here’s a film from 1963 that’s an adaptation of one of the most famous of the Ancient Greek tales, the Quest for the Golden Fleece… and it’s well deserving of being called a classic.

For those unfamiliar with the story of the Argonaut’s quest for the Golden Fleece, here’s a little backstory.

It’s about a hero named Jason (one of the more pronounceable names in Greek mythology) who was sent on a mission by his cousin, Pelias, to fetch the Golden Fleece for him. If Jason succeeds, Pelias will give him the throne to the kingdom he rules over with no fight, no conflict, and no fuss. To help him on his quest, Jason assembles some of the greatest heroes in all of Greece, one of which is Hercules. The ship they sail on is called the Argo, making the team of heroes the Argonauts.

In essence, the Argonauts are the original Avengers. Each character has their own separate legends which are pretty cool on their own, but the Quest for the Golden Fleece is one of the coolest parts of their stories.

The movie released in 1963 is one of the more accurate movie adaptations of any Greek mythological story that I’ve seen. Sure, there are things they moved around, added, and removed, but it didn’t ruin the plot or make the tale unrecognizable. It remains very faithful to the overall story, which is more than I can say for other Greek mythology films.

Jason and the Argonauts is mostly regarded as a classic because of its special effects. The monsters are all done by stop-motion, with none other than special effects legend, Ray Harryhausen. His stop-motion is as good here as it has ever been. The monsters he brings to life in this movie are a huge bronze man named Talos (not the god from the Elder Scrolls games), harpies, a Hydra, and an army of skeletons. While the animation on each of them is great, the interactions between them and the live actors can be a bit… off at times.

Sometimes the actors are just waving at the air, barely looking like they’re fighting anything using any real strategy. It’s just flinging swords at nothing. It especially seems as such during the battle with the Hydra. Great stop-motion, but not too well thought out choreography to go along with it.

However, the fight against the skeletons at the end is astonishing. If you ask me, this has to be Harryhausen’s best sequence that he ever did in his entire career. Unlike pretty much every other fight with a creature in the film, the skeleton fight is leaps and bounds better in terms of the actors’ fighting choreography. It looks like the characters are actually fighting those skeletons. Imagine the timing and care that had to go into the skeletons’ animations in order to line up correctly with the actors’ moves! Imagine that combined with doing the compositing effects in just the right way so that the skeletons look like they’re in the same environment as the actors! Imagine the placement of the shadows when the skeletons go under something! I don’t even know how they did the shadows, and I’ve studied the techniques of old school special effects for a few years now! But probably most importantly to this action sequence… imagine all that went into getting the actors do to the right fighting moves! Comparing the skeleton fight to the Hydra fight is like night and day- one is vastly better coordinated than the other!

The skeleton sequence alone is worth it all. Through all the pros and cons that this film has, that whole scene makes it all worth a viewing. And yes, there are a few more cons that I have with the movie.

I think the biggest thing that could’ve been better was the gods themselves. They don’t have much screentime, but not all of them look very god-like. The one that looks really bad is whoever they got to play the king of the gods himself, Zeus. They just threw a costume on some old, fat, beardy guy and called him Zeus. He’s an okay actor, but he doesn’t look the part whatsoever! Zeus, while being fairly old, was strong, powerful, and had to be handsome enough to have all those affairs with mortal women (the part they didn’t tell you in the Disney movie). This guy….

Is not Zeus.

The only other thing I sort of have a problem with is the character development. They’re serviceable for the type of movie it is, but are by no means well developed. I think this is where the accuracy to the myth can be the downfall of a movie like this. If you read the translations of the myth itself, you’ll see how vague and unspecific and uncomfortably simple the characters are written to be. Some are written decently, but for the most part it’s nowhere near the level of development or depth necessary to put onto film without quite a few creative liberties, let alone for it to have a compelling, character driven plot to go with.

But if you’re not looking for a serious character story, and just want to be entertained and engrossed in the classic tale, then I don’t think the lack of character depth will bother you. It probably won’t bother you enough to take you out of the experience. The time period it was made in is kind of its excuse, to an extent. Back then, a movie like this was watched and made for the adventure and the spectacle, even more so than today’s fantasy films. Like I said before, the characters are serviceable.

In conclusion, aside from some uninspired casting choices, and the lack of character depth, I found Jason and the Argonauts to be a very enjoyable film. The special effects alone are worth the money to rent it online or buy it on Blu-Ray. If you’re a fan of Greek mythology and enjoy movies based on those myths, then I can’t recommend it enough.

FINAL RATING: 36 / 50

STORY: 3 / 5

ACTING: 3 / 5

CHARACTERS: 2 / 5

SPECIAL EFFECTS: 4 / 5

ADVENTURE: 5 / 5

SOUNDTRACK: 3 / 5

TONE: 3 / 5

ENJOYABILITY: 4 / 5

REWATCH VALUE: 4 / 5

OWNING VALUE: 5 / 5