Nice and elaborate juvenile adventure based on The Argonauts 250 BC, written by Apolonio of Rodas, telling of the famous myth of Jason and his crew of derring-doers and their search for the Golden Fleece. As Jason, heir of the Iolco kingdom : Jason London, is aided or hindered by assorted whimsical Gods on Olympus, Zeus : August McFayden , and Hera : Olivia Williams, as he quests for the Golden Fleece. Along the way his father is killed by his evil uncle Pelias , Dennis Hopper in braids , who has taken the throne and usurped his inheritance. In order to reclaim it, Jason must retrieve the magical animal from distant Colchis and bring it to Pelias. Jason has to meet the blinded prophet Phineas : Derek Jacobi who knows the Fleece location, but he is continuously harassed by some winged demons or Arpias. As Jason assembles the ordinary motley crew : Hercules : Brian Thompson, Castor : Djalili , Polux : John Sharian , Orpheus : Adrian Lester, Argos himself : David Calder, all of them would-be heroes and set sail on the Argos for uncharted waters and numerous adventures to arrive in Colchis where governs a sinister king : Frank Langella who has two sons, the astute Aspyrtes : James Callis and the clairvoyant Medea : Jolene Blalock who falls for Jason . At the same time, Jason confronts rutless Amazons women : Natasha Henstridge, a corpulent bull, sword-wielding living plants and a giant dragon, among others.
Epic and mythological fare, fun for the whole family with several adventures, thrills, emotion, noisy action and the film itself is given an enormous boost thanks to computer generator special effects. As the impressive adventures are well recreated by superb FX with multitude of mythological creatures. As during his quest for the Golden Fleece Jason has to combat the giant Poseidon, a huge iron bull, winged she-devils and a dragon guarding the Fleece, this battle is the highlight of the movie. The gigantic mechanical bronze bull that Jason fights is an arthritic disappointment but most of the other inventions are pleasingly imaginative. Great fun, as these things go, with a colorful cinematography by Sergei Kozlov and a good musical score by Simon Boswell, to boot . The motion picture was professionally directed by Nick Willing.
This one is a TV rendition, there are other cinematic adaptations as The Giants of Thessaly 1960 by Riccardo Fedra with Ronald Carey, Ziva Rodann, Alberto Farnese, Tamberlani, Massimo Giroti. And the best : Jason and the Argonauts 1965 by Don Chaffey, including captivating FX, the actual stars of the movie, by master Ray Harryhausen with Todd Armstrong, Nancy Kovack, Jack Gwillin, Honor Blackman, Douglas Wilmer, Gary Raymond.
