By the will of Zeus, Pelias (Douglas Wilmer) has successfully conquered the city of Thessaly, but with one caveat. It is prophesied that a child of the former king will return to Thessaly and dethrone the usurper, and for 20 years, the ruler has been looking over his shoulder for the "man with one sandal" who turns out to be our hero, Jason (Todd Armstrong). Warned that killing Jason will destroy himself, Pelias doesn't take down his would-be killer upon first sight. Instead, he dupes the man into thinking he also opposes the tyrant ruler and suggest that Jason go on a quest to help better his fight against Pelias. He suggests that Jason sail to the ends of the world and return with the Golden Fleece as both protection and a rallying point.
Jason takes up the quest and asks the most famous ship-builder, Argos, to construct the best ship for the voyage. Along with the Argo, Jason assembles the best men from around Greece, determined by a massive competition. The winners in each event like swimming, discus, javlin throwing, archery and so on (essentially the Olympic Games) are each awarded a position on the Argo, along with the demi-god Hercules (Nigel Green), and thus the Argonauts are made.
Jason's voyage is closely observed by the gods of Olympus. In an effort to entertain themselves, Zeus (Niall MacGinnis) and Hera (Honor Blackman, later known for her role as Pussy Galore in Goldfinger) play a game with Jason and his crew and throw everything from a giant living statue named Talos, to the Clashing Rocks, to harpies in their way. Eventually, Jason and the Argonauts rescue the high priestess of Hecate, Medea (Nancy Kovack), and she tells them how to get to her kingdom, which holds the Golden Fleece. Of course, the tasks of actually grabbing the gift of the gods and getting it back to Thessaly isn't all that simple as Jason will not only have to fight a hydra, but also several skeleton creatures in one of the most memorable fights of stop-action animation.
What's great is, it seems like pretty much every special feature in this wonderfully restored Blu-ray disc is new. There is one from the previous DVD release where John Landis, a director known for everything from The Blues Brothers to Spies Like Us, Trading Places, Three Amigos and Coming to America, interviews Harryhausen about everything from stop-action animation in general to Jason and the Argonauts itself. In another special feature, "The Harryhausen Legacy," many contemporary filmmakers comment on Harryhausen's influence in their lives, most of them referencing the first "Dynamation" film, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad. There is also an hour-long documentary about the life of Harryhausen narrated by Leonard Nimoy, and two new commentaries for the film. The first commentary is between Peter Jackson and Randall William Cook, both prominent filmmakers who were inspired heavily by Harryhausen, and the other commentary is with Harryhausen himself and film historian Tony Dalton.
The Jason and the Argonauts Blu-ray release really does have the whole package. Not only are the sound and visual aspects of the film greatly cleaned up, but the amount and quality of the special features far surpasses what you will find on the DVD release of this film. Harryhausen fans should definitely get this release, even if you've already got it on DVD.
