The Worst Film Ever

Fantastic!

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

I guess the reason that I originally bought this DVD was because it was based on an Ancient Greek legend, however I must admit that the text that we have of this (The Argonautica) is pretty average compared to some of the other texts that we have available. However, at least the movie covers more than the 1963 film, though by doing so it sort of throws the film out to something like three hours. Throw in some fairly average acting and you pretty much have what probably amounted to a television mini-series.The story is sort of faithful to the original, though Heracles stays around longer than he does in the book. In the book he gets left behind after one of Jason's stops along the way, nor is he killed. In fact the death of Heracles in this film could not be any further from the truth, since according to legend, Heracles pretty much committed suicide by throwing himself onto his own funeral pyre.I also found the Negro Orpheus to also be a bit far fetched. To me it seemed that this character was the token Negro, which in a sense really does annoy me. Orpheus was a Greek, not a Negro. Not only do they have the token Negro, but they also have the token girl that goes along as well, and nothing of the sort ever happens in the original. In fact Greeks never bothered with token characters, but then because their stories are based on myth, and also because the Greek were pretty racist, and sexist, the thought of having token characters would, to them, have been stupid. If the Greeks wanted to criticise some of their long standing prejudices, then the playwright (or storyteller) would focus on a myth that involved a woman or a foreigner.

This was a truly fantastic surprise to discover one day when I was roaming the Sci-Fi Channel. I only ever roam the Sci-Fi Channel on a sunny day when I have nothing else to do. I just need something to criticize on days like that. But in this case, I didn't find something to criticize, but instead, something to be impressed at. "Jason and the Argonauts" is a made-for-TV movie and was obviously made on a low budget. It stretches about three hours in its running time, four when you include the commercials, and yet, I did not find myself bored or tired with it until near the very end. I have never seen the original film with Ray Harryhausen's stop motion effects, nor am I all that familiar with the original Greek myth upon which that film and this film was based. But I did very much enjoy this film.One of the many things that impressed me about this film was the good quality presented in its computer graphics. Unlike most features presented on the Sci-Fi Channel, the effects in this film are very convincing. They weren't entirely flawless, but were realistic enough. My favorite out of all the creatures was a giant lizard-like dragon that appears about mid-way through the film. It looked reptilian and the lighting effects used on it to make it blend in with everything else was magnificent. I was not as impressed, however, with Poseidon, the sea-god. Here, he is represented as this giant stone humanoid figure that literally roars a dinosaur's roar. If Poseidon were to roar at all, I think it would be an electronically altered human-made sound. But nonetheless, a fine addition to the story.Even though the film is three hours long, like I mentioned earlier, it does play itself well. There was merely one sequence that I felt was removable and that was the part where Jason and his crew encounter an island full of beautiful, but cannibalistic women. While it wasn't a badly done scene, if there was to be another scene removed due to pacing problems, it would have had to be this one.With a well-written script, fine acting, surprisingly good special effects and sound design, and a very impressive-for-its-type entertaining value, this version of "Jason and the Argonauts" is a very delightful surprise to discover. It managed to keep me interested on a day where I would have rather been outside, and in a case like that, it takes a good movie to keep me to sit still for four hours. And it did. I recommend it and there are hopes from me for others like this.

For some people 'Jason and the Argonauts', one of the most representative tale of the rich Greek Mithology, is one the most intense adventure yarn of all times. For this reason, maybe, this story - with more than three thousand years - is always returning to delight children and adults. This new TV version is an accurate and well done entry of the classical adventure. The movie - starring young Jason London as Jason - has a correct cast (with an impressive Dennis Hooper as the cruel King Pelias) and extremely good special effects. Maybe the movie is a bit too overlong which causes some uneven development of the plot, with some parts less interesting than others. For example, the movie goes down when the argonauts are made prisoners in the island of the Amazon women. But there's other great moments: the fight to take the 'Velocino' and the fight against the Minotauro. Although some old guys will remember and miss the old movies about Heroic Greece - especially the movies made with the assistance of the master of the special effects, Mr. Ray Harryhausen - this new version is capable and well done.

Perhaps one of the upsides to viewing this miniseries is the opportunity to see pre-'Enterprise' Jolene Blalock as Medea, the female lead. The word "chameleon" comes to my mind when i compare her physical appearance in this to that in the Star Trek series.I agree that the Harryhausen version set the standard but this was enjoyable viewing on its own merits inclusive of seeing Ms. Blalock before she assumed the role of T'Pol.