Jason & The Argonauts

Product Information

Even though the stop-motion effects may not win over younger audiences, Harryhausen's work is an influential steppingstone in cinematic history and is still impressive even today.

Jason and his crew must overcome incredible obstacles including a 100-foot bronze giant, the venomousHydra-a huge creature with the heads of seven snakes-and a spectacular battle with an army of skeletons. In London, writing partner and biographer Tony Dalton accompanies Ray on one of his best movie tracks. Sony did such a superb job with JASON that I am sending them a snail mail letter commending the effort.Colors can be pretty rich and vibrant--especially the deep crimsons of the actors' cloaks and the greenery of plant life--and whites can look phenomenal. Grover Crisp of Sony wisely chose a slightly taller 1:66 aspect ratio, which adds image to the top and bottom of the frame while placing narrow pillars at the sides of the HD image. But this takes nothing at all away from what is surely the best ever transfer that these films have received.

But you don't watch this one for the melodrama and scenery; you watch for the effects and this is where things break down.I agree with other web observers that the Hydra seemed to be bluer, and that the Day For Night Harpy sequence was originally a bit darker, like the D for N in The Guns of Navarone. There is some print damage in the shot that pans across the faces of the crew as they witness the figurehead of Hera speak (this has always been present), but, all things considered, this is remarkably blemish-free and clean.

At the time of its release in 1963, 'Jason and the Argonauts' was one of the first Harryhausen films to get a single billing in theaters (as opposed to being part of a B-movie double feature) and mesmerized audiences of all ages. can be found on various Blu-ray editions of "The 3 Worlds of Guillver", "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad", "The Golden Voyage of Sinbad", and "Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger". No wonder there was no sequel to Jason, as the official follow-up is a timeless lesson of what happens to women who love ambitious and unscrupulous glory-hunters.Luckily I also just purchased a Region FREE Blu Ray player that allows me to play movies from anywhere in the world. But this is the nature of the beast - and certainly not something that you can put down to the transfer. The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products. All things considered, though, Sony's Blu-ray transfer for 'Jason and the Argonauts' is a good one and easily trumps Warner's for 'Clash of the Titans' for sure.