Jason and the Argonauts (1963) is a fantasy-adventure movie that surprised audiences in the early 1960s who were used to seeing cheap, Italian-imported "sword and sandal" movies featuring Hercules and other such heroes. The film features a cleaned-up (but otherwise fairly faithful) version of the ancient Greek legend of "Jason and the Golden Fleece." Special effects wizard Ray Harryhausen carefully planned the production to showcase several amazing scenes of monsters and mythological creatures; it features a 100-foot-tall bronze statue which comes to life and grabs a giant wooden boat out of the water, a pair of bat-like harpies that torment a poor blind man, a serpentine seven-headed Hydra that guards the Golden Fleece, and a group of seven sword-wielding living skeletons that do battle with Jason and his fellow Argonauts.

Unlike some other special effects epics, Jason and the Argonauts holds great interest during the scenes between the effects set-pieces. The Greek legends are cleverly handled by screenwriters Jan Read and Beverley Cross, yet the tone is respectful. The forward progression of mortal Jason (Todd Armstrong) in his quest to assemble a crew of warriors and athletes, find a suitable ship (the Argo) and go out in search of the fabled Golden Fleece is observed from Mount Olympus by the gods Zeus (Niall MacGinnis) and Hera (Honor Blackman). The husband and wife gods squabble with each other and literally play games with Jason and his Argonauts, controlling their fate with chess pieces on a game board. The solid story structure, fine acting, and eye-popping special effects are further complimented by the music score, one of the best by famed movie composer Bernard Herrmann.

Jason and the Argonauts was a fairly elaborate release from Columbia Pictures; it took nearly two years to complete and the $3 million budget was considered high at the time, particularly for a movie of this genre. There was concern that the film would be confused in the public's mind with the cheaply-made "sword and sandal" imports that were flooding the market in the early 1960s. While Jason and the Argonauts did well with the same matinee audiences that went to see those Italian "Hercules" films, it did not perform as expected at the box-office. Those who did see it, though, were rewarded with an unforgettable effects spectacle that easily eclipsed the run-of-the-mill gladiator movies they were used to seeing. Jason and the Argonauts has been cited as an influence by a number of present day movie directors, actors and technicians. Director Tim Burton has said "another kind of film that influenced me were the fantasy films of Ray Harryhausen like Jason and the Argonauts with monsters animated in stop-motion. I thought those monsters were the greatest." Actor Tom Hanks, who awarded Harryhausen with a special Oscar® in 1992, remarked at the time, "Some people say Casablanca [1942] or Citizen Kane [1941]. I say Jason and the Argonauts is the greatest film ever made." When the era of CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) special effects began with Jurassic Park in 1993, the hands-on style of stop-motion animation that Harryhausen brought to the mainstream began being replaced. Harryhausen lamented the loss, but he lived to the age of 92 and legions of modern special effects technicians were able to thank him in person for his efforts and cite his films as the reason they got into the business.

By John M. Miller