MovieChat Forums > Jason and the Argonauts (1963) Discussion > Great movie, lots of fun, but feels inco...

Great movie, lots of fun, but feels incomplete!

posted 3 years ago by PrimeMinisterX (8859)
3 replies | jump to latest

I just watched Jason and the Argonauts last night for the first time. I enjoyed it more than I expected to and had a lot of fun with it. It's a pretty damn cool movie and I would recommend that everyone check it out!

It's got Greek gods and heroes, high adventure and derring-do, cool old school look and feel, and cool old school (but very impressive) effects courtesy of Ray Harryhausen.

Watching it, for me, was also very nostalgic even though I wasn't alive when the film was first released. Sometimes people talk of nostalgia for a time they didn't actually live in. That's how I feel when I watch these Golden Age epics. They have a look and feel to them makes me yearn for a simpler time.

My only complaint with the movie is that it ends very abruptly. While the ending point is a logical point at which to bring the story to a conclusion, it definitely felt like there was more to do, as if Jason and the Argonauts Part II was supposed to be coming out next year to complete the adventure. Like, wasn't he supposed to go back and kill king Pelias? When the movie was over I couldn't help but feel the story was incomplete.

[–] thingmakersback (1444) 3 years ago

It's probably just as well. In the Greek tradition from which Jason and the Argonauts is adapted, Jason was a bit of a dick and things did not go well. A considerable bit of rewriting would be required to carry on the story in the same spirit and there are no more "monsters", so you would have to add them in. Have a look at where things went..

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medea

[–] PrimeMinisterX (8859) 3 years ago

Well that does sound depressing.

I think if I were the screenwriter then after Jason grabs the Golden Fleece I'd just abandon the Greek myth and have Jason go back, kill Pelias, and reclaim his kingdom. That's where the film seemed like it was headed from the beginning.

The whole story of Jason being a king in exile is never resolved! You'll remember that the movie begins with a prophecy that says one of King Aristo's children will avenge him, and yet at the end of the movie Jason is far away from the kingdom and Pelias still sits on the throne. WTF?

[–] PrimeMinisterX (8859) 3 years ago

I just went to buy the Blu-Ray and found that the Region 1/Region A disc is apparently out of print. What in the actual fuck?

Why is a film like this not perpetually in print? This is very troubling since, considering the direction physical media seems to be going, it raises a lot of doubt as to whether or it will ever get another pressing or be released on 4K Blu-Ray.

Sellers on eBay are selling it for $60, but fuck, I don't want to pay that for it.