KnotMissPriceless Why so much hype?

Cortechba Overrated

Ezmae Chang This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Rexanne It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

Leofwine_draca Hallmark Entertainment continues their adaptation of classic adventure stories and films with this remake of the stop-motion classic JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS. Some may say that the need to remake this already classic movie is a pointless one; personally I like to make up my own mind so I gave this miniseries a go.It is a miniseries that disappoints and delights in roughly equal measure. Sadly, the convention of today's television means that a lot of - shall we say "sentimentality" creeps into things, with also a lot of modern cheesiness which is definitely not cool. As in CLASH OF THE TITANS, we repeatedly get to see the gods in the sky bickering as Jason embarks on his voyage, except that this time Zeus is some young American bloke - I think not! Sadly, JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS also has a tendency to show things which should really be left to the imagination - do we really need to see Zeus' hand come down from the clouds and stir the ocean to create a typhoon, or for him to drink from the ocean and gargle with the water? This is childish stuff, and the actor and actress playing Zeus and Hera are far too young for their parts anyhow. Being family entertainment, the worrying trend to spoon-feed the audience by having the characters speaking modernised language and sometimes slang is apparent here, but not overwhelmingly so.A modern movie is limited in what it can do by what has come before. JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS falls into the trap of using clichés, and a lot of them too, which is probably unavoidable these days. However, most of the clichés are disguised well so that hopefully you won't recognise them. The themes of a boy prince escaping from a villain has been done to death yet it shows up again here to passable effect. Thankfully, this film does have a lot to recommend it. A stalwart cast of major actors in minor parts, familiar bit players, and some international talent (I was pleased to see that the cast includes several British actors as well as the expected Americans) make things easier to handle. The budget shows here too, and authentic filming in the likes of Turkey gives the movie a colourful, atmospheric look which counts for a lot.The cast is a mixed bag. Mainly at fault is Jason London, playing a rather wimpy Jason. Firstly, he's just too young to look as if he should be leading a ship full of older men, and secondly he's just not heroic enough. I wasn't convinced in his various abilities at all. Don't get me wrong; London isn't a bad actor in this film, but he's simply wrong and shouldn't be in it. Hopper is fun as always as the villain, and Derek Jacobi virtually unrecognisable as the blind wise man Phineas. The actors playing the crew of the Argo are a mixed bunch but most of them, as in Adrian Lester's case, put in good, solid performances with their assorted personalities. Sadly, Frank Langella is wasted in the minor role of King Aertes who doesn't get to do much.Most impressive of all is Brian Thompson as Hercules. Physically he looks the part with his beard and muscles, and he also has the charisma to pull off the role too. Much better than pretty-boy Kevin Sorbo in any case. Peplum fans will be pleased to hear that Hercules is up to his old tricks in this movie, lifting ships single-handedly, uprooting trees whole, fighting armies and destroying temples with his strength alone. Way to go, Brian! Although JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS can't hold a candle to the '63 version, it is a fair attempt to tell the story in a new way, and it's nice to see that people are still making these mythological movies - however corrupted by modern sensibilities they may be - in this day and age. Fun and pretty to watch, but deeply flawed.

MARIO GAUCI When I acquired this, I had actually ordered the original 1963 classic – at the time I had no use for it, so I gave the disc to my father; however, following the recent passing of Dennis Hopper, I decided to check it out regardless and, as it turned out, fairly enjoyed this epic of Greek Mythology. Being a good 75 minutes longer than the movie version (which was sparked by Ray Harryhausen's iconic stop-motion animation and a marvelous Bernard Herrmann score), this runs the risk of crumbling under its own weight – but, for the most part, the plot retains much of its inherent sense of adventure and fantasy.While I do not usually condone remakes, I think one has to make concessions for essentially timeless material such as this; thankfully, when this came out, there were still enough thespians (in its case, the afore-mentioned Hopper, Frank Langella and Derek Jacobi) around who could be depended upon for this kind of larger-than-life fare – but with Hopper now gone (not to mention the likes of Oliver Reed, Richard Harris and Alan Bates), it cannot last for much longer! That is not to say that the younger members of the cast do not have sufficient talent to carry the film, but they do lack that extra ounce of personality and charisma demanded to portray demi-gods with conviction.Anyway, comparisons between the two versions of the tale is inevitable and though, as I said, the narratives are reasonably similar, this does add its own stuff (necessary to pad out the running-time) while omitting or changing others. For instance, the demonic Harpies (designed by the Jim Henson company) and the fighting legion of the dead (actually grown from seed this time around!) are here, and so is Poseidon (though he is depicted as a monster rather than a savior in the 'moving rocks' sequence, which is subsequently rendered pointless), but not the statue that comes to life. The hero is then made to tackle a mechanical bull, while his entire crew falls prey to an island of murderous females (a scene which had already appeared in the peplum HERCULES UNCHAINED [1959]); the latter character also turns up here (as he did in the original), along with a black Orpheus (in keeping with the 1959 Oscar-winning film of the same name). Inevitably, the CGI-rendered special effects are not a patch on Ray Harryhausen's charmingly archaic Dynamation stuff and the recurring imagery of Zeus and Hera watching over mortal subjects from their Olympic abode in the skies grew too cheesy for words at times!

TheUnknown837-1 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.

gazineo-1 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.