Review of Jason and the Argonauts

Pelias (Douglas Wilmer) is set to attack the kingdom of Thessaly in Greece. His soothsayer (Michael Gwynn) advises him he will conquer Thessaly and kill its king, Aristo, but that one day one of Aristo's children will return and defeat him. He vows to kill all of Aristo's children. In the ensuing attack he kills Aristo's oldest daughter in Hera's temple. Hera (Honor Blackman) appears to him as a priestess and tells him that it is Aristo's son, Jason who will avenge his father and will appear to Pelias as a one-sandaled man.

Twenty years later Pelias is riding alone through his kingdom when Hera causes him to fall off his horse and fall into the water. Jason (Todd Armstrong) jumps in and rescues him and loses a sandal in the process. Pelias immediately recognizes that this man is Jason. He invites Jason to his camp where Jason, not knowing who he is talking to, reveals that he has returned to kill Pelias and reclaim the kingdom. He is uncertain how to do this but thinks if he goes and gets a golden fleece at "the end of the earth" that he has heard about, he can bring peace and prosperity to his kingdom. Pelias tells him he should go get the fleece and bring it back before he tries to do anything else. Pelias then tells his son, Acastus (Gary Raymond) that Acastus is to accompany Jason on this journey.

Although Jason claims not to believe in the gods, Pelias' soothsayer, who is actually Hermes in disguise, brings him up to Mount Olympus and makes a believer of him as Zeus (Niall MacGinnis) offers to give him a ship and crew to make the trip. Jason refuses, saying he will do this on his own. He is made aware that Hera is his protector and she will give him help five times, after which he will be on his own.

Jason assembles his crew by holding a games in which Acastus, among others, is successful. At the last minute, Hercules (Nigel Green) shows up and signs on as does a smart little guy named Hylas (John Cairney), who beats Hercules at discus throwing by the use of his brains, earning Hercules' friendship and a spot on the crew. They set sail on their ship, the Argo, but soon run out of drinking water. Acastus suggests they turn back. At this point Jason discovers that Hera, through the masthead which has been carved in her likeness, can speak to him. She tells him that the man he met in Thesally was, in fact, Pelias. Her first favor was to pull Pelias into the water where Jason went to save him. Her second favor was to tell him on Mount Olympus that the fleece could be found in Colchos. So, the help she is providing now is actually her third favor, leaving only two.

She tells Jason of an island they can stop at that was once the forge of the Gods. She tells him that once on the island the men are to take nothing but food and water. But once on the island Hercules and Hylas find the treasure chamber of the gods and Hercules tries to take something. The huge iron guardian of the chamber, Talos, comes to life and grabs the Argo and destroys it, throwing the men into the sea. They come back to the island and defeat Talos with Jason's fourth favor from Hera (she tells Jason how to defeat Talos) but Hylas is killed and Hercules decides to stay on the island. Acastus tries to foment dissent by accusing Jason of abandoning Hercules. Jason then uses his fifth and last favor to have Hera tell the crew to leave Hercules and go to Fridgia to ask the blind man, Phineas (Patrick Troughton), for help.

They go to Fridgia where Phineas is being tormented daily by harpies who steal his food. This is his punishment for some offense against the gods. Jason comes and agrees to take care of the harpies. The men contain the harpies in nets and then put them in a cage. The blind man, Phineas, tells them how to get to Colchos where the fleece is. But he warns they will have to get through the clashing rocks to get there. He gives Jason his necklace, which is a miniature figure of Poseiden, for luck.

The crew sets off and when they come to the rocks they see another ship destroyed by the rocks, which seem to attack ships by moving together and raining stones down on the ships. Jason tries to get through and the rocks attack. Disgusted he throws the necklace he got from Phineas in the sea and proclaims that men are better off without the gods, who are too cruel. At that point Poseiden arrives and holds the rocks apart so the Argo can move through.

On the other side they discover a shipwreck from the ship they had seen destroyed by the clashing rocks. Among the survivors is Medea (Nancy Kovack), a young woman who says she is a temple dancer for the goddess Hecate, the goddess favored by Colchos, the kingdom that has the fleece. She tells Jason how to get to the kingdom. Jason tells his men he will approach the kingdom openly and try to reason with the king about taking the fleece. Acastus states they should attack the kingdom under darkness. Jason responds that he believes during this attack he would end up dead, clearly implying he would expect Acastus to use the opportunity to kill him. They fight and when it appears that Acastus is going to lose he jumps into the sea. Jason sends his best swimmer, Eupaemus, after him but Eupaemus turns up dead.

Upon arriving in Colchos, Jason and his men go to the temple of Hecate where Medea is dancing. They are welcomed by the king, Aeetes (Jack Gwillim). However, the king, later in the evening, tells Jason he knows Jason is here to steal the fleece because Acastus has warned him. Acastus appears, looking very much alive, and Jason and his men are imprisoned. Medea, begs the goddess Hecate to tell her what to do because she loves Jason. She frees Jason and his men. Meanwhile, Acastus goes to the grove where he sees the fleece. Jason shows up shortly thereafter only to be confronted by a many-headed hydra monster that is guarding the fleece. Held in the hydra's tail is Acastus, who is injured. Jason kills the hydra and, after seeing that Acastus is dead, takes the fleece and prepares to leave with Medea and his crew. But Aeetes shows up with his soldiers. When he sees the fleece is gone, he calls upon Hecate to avenge him and then uses the hydra's teeth to create skeleton soldiers who kill two of Jason's men in battle. Jason finally escapes by diving into the sea with the skeleton soldiers following him to their end. He rejoins his crew on the Argo and has a romantic reunion with Medea while the gods look on and plan more adventures for him.

Yeah, I love it. It's just so much fun to watch. The Ray Harryhausen stop-animation used for Talos, the harpies, and the skeleton soldiers is still fabulous to see. This movie truly holds the attention. Unfortunately, the actors playing Jason and Medea are not very good. In fact, I'd like to single out Nancy Kovack as giving one of the worst performances I have ever seen in this film. I have doors less wooden than her performance. Apparently she was nominated for an Emmy for a guest turn she did on Mannix later on in her career. She must have really improved after this movie. Interestingly, Todd and Nancy are the only Americans in the cast.

Everyone else in the film is great. There are a few comical moments such as when Aeetes screams to Hecate to bring on "the children of the night" to avenge the theft of the fleece. For a second I thought I was in a Dracula movie. Also, the scene where the skeleton soldiers come to life is weird. It takes forever for them to rise up from the ground. Jason and his two men could have been gone and halfway back to Thessaly if they hadn't stood there gawking while Aeetes throws the hydra teeth on the ground and waits for them to sprout into the skeleton soldiers. But the battle with the skeleton soldiers is so wonderful, I forgive this lapse because it really makes the ending of the film exciting.

What I do NOT accept is the manner in which Acastus is dispatched. He's killed by the hydra and is lying on the ground in the grove. Jason and Medea go over to check on him and then leave him there. This is in no way, shape or form how dead people were dealt with in those times. Even your worst enemy (which admittedly Acastus probably was) got proper treatment in death. I was so incensed when I watched this scene that I bought the shooting script from scriptcity.com to see what this scene looked like in print. In the script there is a close-up of Jason and Acastus as Acastus is dying and he says to Jason "You once asked why I joined you Jason (guess they cut that from the script too)…I said it was a discovery we would make on the voyage…but I discovered too late" He dies and Jason says to Medea that they will light the funeral pyre near the ship and bury his ashes at sea. Exactly, Jason, that's what is supposed to be done. And I assume I needn't point out that Gary was robbed of a decent death speech and another close-up in the process of this scene being cut.

He's a naughty troublemaker from the start in this one. When he first hears who Jason is, he demands to know why his father let Jason live. After Pelias explains that Hera told him that if he kills Jason he kills himself, Acastus is right with the program of sabotaging Jason's trip to get the fleece. He starts out trying to undermine Jason's authority early into the trip. The unpleasant interplay between the two escalates and culminates in the fight, which shows off Gary's sword-fighting training (presumably obtained at RADA) nicely. The scene where he turns up in Aeetes court after his crewmates presumed him dead is priceless. He never says a word but the smug look of triumph on his face says it all. My favorite moment is when he arrives at the grove and sees the fleece. His face is alight with a combination of wonder and avarice. He can't wait to get his hands on that fleece. Considering how few actual lines Gary has, he totally brings this character to life.

Lots of beautiful people in this one. Ms. Kovack is a very beautiful woman and managed to snare Zubin Mehta, who has been her husband since 1969. Todd Armstrong is also very good looking. John Cairney is adorable as Hylas. Gary looks just gorgeous in this film. He has a nice 'do-short hair with some bangs. He looks wonderfully tan, presumably from location shooting outdoors. This is also one of the few times he shows off his chest. During the game sequence he is bare down to the waist. It's positively delightful. I've watched that scene about twenty times. If this movie were made today I am sure everyone would be very buff. Gary clearly did not have any time in the gym as he is thin as ever but he looks very toned. After the games scene he wears a short tunic, which shows off his very nice legs to great effect. It's a wonderful skin fest, the likes of which he does not treat us to before or after this film.

Photos from "Jason and the Argonauts"

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