Touches You

Simply Perfect

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

This was one of my favourite films growing up in the 80s. Although it was made in the 60s I still liked the fantasy adventure style movies. I was lucky enough to grow up with Star Wars, Indiana Jones, back to the future and the likes but this is truly a classic. The story is one that we all know but it's the acting, pacing, music and special effects that's really sets it apart. It rumbles along at a nice pace with a solid storyline and regular moments or action. I would of liked to see more of Hercules and a stronger ending but what an achievement this film is. Simply a great watch even now. Hopefully it will be on again this Christmas.

because it is more a film about childhood than a film for children. the dialogues, the acting in few occasions, the special effects, the atmosphere are arguments for this status. in same measure, the gods who, in contemporary adaptations are ignored. it has fun and action and tension and the flavor of mythology book. and this is a real great virtue. because it becomes a travel in time, in the heart of a genre who was not only successful but useful for a couple of generations. heroes and fights. romanticism and impressive victories. slice from a Hollywood - refuge front to the success of too technical blockbusters. so, a perfect film. first, for its silly sins. than - for the air of the travel who preserves each image and emotion of the first ages.

Okay, you simply can't rate it by 21st century standards - that would make no sense. Okay, it has a cheeky, cheesy quality that would look bad in today's films, but that's part of its magic. I must have seen thousands of movies since that glorious today in 1963 (or was it 1964, I wasn't into dates at that age) and I've probably forgotten at least ninety-five percent of them, but this one is burned into my memory. Obviously, Ray Harryhausen is the one reason for its greatness. I'm so glad the DVD came with an interview with the great man. This is one of those films that launched a thousand imitations, but none of them could touch it.

Ray Harryhausen was the master of stop-motion special effects. Although he seemed to just get better with time, this is nonetheless one of the best films of the bunch, a thoroughly enjoyable drama with interesting moments of mythical creature action. Bernard Herrmann wrote a brassy score for this film while off duty from Hitchcock. Producer Schneer's and Harryhausen's goal was not a faithful rendition of the Greek myth, but a Hollywood action spectacle, and at that, they succeeded. The story takes many liberties with the original myth, such as the seven-headed hydra Jason fights to get the golden fleece. One liberty it does not take is politically correctness: the Greeks are white, no 'token women' join the Argonauts, and that is just fine.The general story holds true to the myth: Pelias steals the throne of Thessaly and puts all but one contender to death - Jason. To return to his rightful throne, Jason, with aid of the Goddess Hera, obtains the Golden fleece of Colchis, accompanied by the trusty band of Argonauts through many adventures, and marries the pagan sorceress Medea. Many adventures ensue throughout, such as saving Phineas from the harpies, squeezing past the Symplegade rocks (no dove in the film ). Much is also left out, some of which can be seen in the more recent miniseries, and much is added to make for more stop-motion spectacle.The special effects are a bit rickety as all stop-motion animation is, but they often interact very well with the human characters. For example, the skeleton fighting scene has not been topped by any modern efforts, whereas the hydra scene has a lot of sword stabbing at thin air and little engagement. Before faulting the film for that, consider Obi Wan Kenobi fighting droids and drones in Star Wars Episode I: so many years later, so much CGI money, and the interactivity is less than Harryhausen's fighting skeleton's scene. The drones fall and get cut apart without really seeming to put up a fight; and boy, do they miss a lot for machinery that should have millisecond response time."Jason" is not perfect: the acting is often wooden, many fight scenes look very staged, and the story occasionally bogs down. So it stays at the level of a grand Saturday matinée, of which Indiana Jones many years later reflected the best spirit also, with an archaeologist hunting myths, instead of the myths themselves.