Film

Jason and the Argonauts

Name: Jason and the Argonauts
Genre: Adventure, Family, Fantasy
Released: 1963
Cast: Todd Armstrong, Nancy Kovack, Gary Raymond, Laurence Naismith, Niall MacGinnis

Ray Harryhausen's stop-motion menagerie carries this one: Talos creaking to life, seven skeletons clashing swords, harpies shrieking overhead. The story is simple myth-quest scaffolding, but it exists to hang miracles of hand-animated creature work on. Slow by modern pacing standards, gloriously earnest, and still the gold standard for practical fantasy spectacle. Perfect for anyone who wants to see where a lot of modern blockbuster imagination actually started.

TMDb rating

3.6

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you love old-fashioned adventure built on handmade wonders, where a clanking bronze giant or a skeleton army matters more than polished realism and every set piece feels like a storybook come alive.

Skip it if you need brisk modern pacing or sharp, grown-up psychology, since the dialogue is stagey and the characters are more archetypes than people, with a gentle, creaky charm rather than tension.

What it asks of you: About an hour and three-quarters of patience for episodic voyage scenes, then a sudden surge of effects-driven spectacle; it is light in tone and asks you to accept its theatrical, storybook manner.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Clash of the Titans1981

Harryhausen's last feature and his valedictory address: Medusa, the Kraken, another Greek myth quest built the same handcrafted way as Jason's monsters.

But Pacing sags in the middle, and Bubo the mechanical owl is comic relief that hasn't aged gracefully for everyone.

The 7th Voyage of Sinbad1958

An earlier Harryhausen triumph with the Cyclops and dueling skeleton that essentially rehearses the tricks Jason later perfects.

But Creakier dialogue and Arabian Nights exoticism that read as dated rather than charming now.

Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger1977

Harryhausen's late, colorful run continues with a ghoul, a walrus creature, and a baboon transformation — pure matinee monster variety.

But Thinner story and campier tone than Jason, with effects that occasionally show their age.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Jason and the Argonauts

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Thief of Bagdad1940

This is where the visual language Harryhausen inherited actually came from — matte paintings and in-camera illusion doing the work stop-motion would later take over.

Gorgeous three-strip Technicolor and groundbreaking optical trickery — flying carpets, a genie, a mechanical horse — made two decades before Harryhausen's stop-motion took over.

But Slower rhythms and some colonial-era attitudes toward its Arabian setting that feel dated now.

The Golden Voyage of Sinbad1973

A six-armed Kali statue duels a swordsman in one of Harryhausen's most jaw-dropping sequences, wrapped in genuinely atmospheric adventure.

But Pacing is uneven and some effects seams are visible if you're watching for them.

Excalibur1981

Swap Greek gods for Arthurian legend and get the same grand mythic-quest sweep, filmed with genuine visual splendor and operatic seriousness.

But Considerably darker and bloodier — this is myth for adults, not the family matinee tone of Jason.

Conan the Barbarian1982

Same hero-versus-monsters adventure engine, dialed up into pulpy sword-and-sorcery grit with genuine mythic scale and a thundering score.

But Much more brutal and slower in stretches than the brisk, family-friendly Jason.

The Mummy1999

Pulpy globe-trotting adventure with practical-plus-CGI creature effects and a playful matinee spirit that channels the same boys'-own-adventure joy.

But Leans more horror-comedy than myth, and the CGI trades some of the handcrafted charm for spectacle.

Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief2010

A direct spiritual heir — modern kids stumbling into Greek gods and monsters, aimed squarely at the family audience Jason always had.

But The adaptation is uneven and lacks the visual distinctiveness that made Harryhausen's creatures iconic.

Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief poster

Time Bandits1981

Terry Gilliam's wildly inventive family fantasy shares that old-school matinee delight in practical trickery and episodic quest structure.

But Much weirder and more anarchic in tone — this isn't a myth quest so much as a fever dream.

Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan2012

It's the making-of you never got — the craft, the patience, and the influence behind every creature in Jason and the Argonauts, told by the people who grew up on it.

A warm, detailed documentary on the man who animated Jason's skeletons and Talos, with Spielberg, Cameron and Peter Jackson explaining exactly why he mattered.

But Talking-heads pacing and clip reels can't match the thrill of watching the actual monsters move.

Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan poster

O Brother, Where Art Thou?2000

Same mythic skeleton as Jason's quest — a hero, trials, and temptations lifted straight from the Greek source — but run through a completely different genre and register.

The Coen brothers rebuild Homer's Odyssey as a Depression-era bluegrass road comedy — wandering hero, sirens, cyclopean con man, same bones, entirely different skin.

But No monsters, no fantasy spectacle at all — this is dry, shaggy comedy rather than adventure.