JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS on TV
By: Frederick C. SzebinDate: Saturday, May 06, 2000
The story of Jason and the Argonauts, with its bravery, adventure and tragedy, remains one of world literature's most exciting and moving tales, and one of the most influential quest myths in the world. It has been translated and retold for centuries, but filmed only once before in 1963, directed by Don Chaffey, and starring Todd Armstrong along side Ray Harryhausen's stop-motion wonders.
Robert Halmi Sr. and Jr. strike once again with yet another of their very expensive, CGI-loaded mini-series, not so much remaking the beloved 1963 feature as returning to the original Greek legends to tell the whole story in a two-part, four hour adventure. The Halmis began very well in their mini-series business with Gulliver's Travels and Merlin, but stumbled rather badly with Alice In Wonderland, Earthquake in New York and the terrible double play of Leprechauns and The 10th Kingdom, well-meaning productions all that suffered from too much time and not enough story. With Jason and the Argonauts, father and son return with some fine story telling that has more going for it than against it.
On Night One, we are very quickly thrust into the world of 2000 BC: Jason is a little boy, and his father's kingdom is attacked and quickly overrun by the forces of Pelias (Dennis Hopper), Jason's uncle. Little Jason looks on as Pelias kills his father, then turns to kill Jason when one of the wounded guards grabs the boy and runs. This opening sequence is a dream of remembrance for the grown Jason (Jason London), who does not know of his past until a friendly Centaur tells him of his birth rite as King, and of his mother, who lives as Pelias's long-suffering wife in the once great kingdom his father ruled.
Jason travels there to find his mother, but first comes across a mysterious old woman whom he helps cross a river, losing a sandal in the process. 'Your charity will not be forgotten,' she tells him and disappears. Jason's arrival in his father's city is foretold by Pelias's seer, who describes one who walks in one sandal, with vengeance in his heart. Jason is brought before Pelias and almost sent for execution when Jason tells the old king that he will get the magical Golden Fleece of legend and bring it to him. In return, Pelias will restore Jason to prince, or if he's not back in six months, Jason's mother will be killed.
Pretty heavy stuff, and it all takes place in a quick-paced, tightly edited 15 minutes. From there, night one goes on to tell how Jason gets his legendary ship, the Argo, gathers his unlikely crew and sets off to find the Table Top Island where Phineas (Derek Jacobi), the only one who can tell Jason how to get to the end of the world and find the Golden Fleece, is tormented by deadly Harpies.
On night two, Jason makes it to Colchis, the land of Aertes (Frank Langella), the owner of the Fleece, which is watched over by his beautiful and magical daughter, Medea (Jolene Blalock). To get the Fleece, Jason must prove himself by taming the mighty Minean Bull and plow the field of Ares, sowing it with dragon teeth. But there is treachery in the air as jealous Aspyrtes (James Callis), saved by Jason, confronts his sister Medea, blaming her and his father for his almost dying at the Clashing Rocks through which Jason was able to sail safely. Many adventuresand more human treachery and Godly shenanigansface Jason and his put-upon crew on the second, and best, night of the two-night event, which is much more of a human story than Harryhausen's Saturday Matinee monster fest. The monsters here (except for maybe the Minean Bull, which is nothing like what reared its head at Gilleys) are quite impressive CGI creations. The Harpies are genuinely grotesque beasts, and the dinosaur-like thing they have to fight to get the Fleece is better than anything on Jurassic Park, and provides the whole production with a stunning and at times startling sequence that shows what these usually overblown and overlong productions could and should be.
There are bound to be comparisons to the 1963 production. In place of the skeletons that rise from the ground in Harryhausen's film, this Jason battles weed-like warriors that rise around him, doing more damage to each other than Jason does to them. It's a neat scene, but nowhere near the show-stopper Mr. Harryhausen's little models were. But Jason and the Argonauts was never meant to be a mere monster story. The monster attacks are set pieces in a tale of struggle and longing, tragedy and triumph, where men and women are pawns to the Gods, while at the same time trying to survive the magic around them as they war against each other.
In that respect this production succeeds admirably. The problem lies in the casting. Jason London is a handsome young man, but doesn't have any of the charisma or strength of bearing to pull off the role of Prince Jason, leader of men. And as Medea, Jolene Blalock is lovely but rather blank-faced and uninteresting, and neither of the young stars has any real chemistry. Much better is the supporting cast: Brian Thompson (The X-Files) is handsome and amusing as a boastful Hercules, more akin to the actual Greek myths than the clean cut All-American Kevin Sorbo. Frank Langella is regal as Aertes; Dennis Hopper has some fine momentsmostly in the last half of the second partas evil, murderous Pelias; Diana Kent is underused as bow-and-arrow expert Polymele, and Sir Derek Jacobi is, well, the great Sir Derek Jacobi, wonderful and unrecognizable as the blinded Phineas. Angus MacFadyen and Olivia Williams are quite good as the bickering Zeus and Hera, intent on using Jason as a pawn to their own ends. And once again, Jim Henson's Creature Shop has come up with some stunning creatures even the Greeks would have marveled at.
What makesJason and the Argonauts watchabledespite the lackluster leadsis that its four-hour running time is used to tell a full tale, and not padded with useless nonsense to get us to the next commercial. It's a classic story well-told, which just goes to show that the Halmi's, should they continue their mini-series cottage industry, should stick to pre-existing material, and not wander off with 'original' stories that meander uselessly while pretty special effects try to do all the work. Rugged Turkey landscapes, excellent production design (particularly the hairlove the hair) and a great story of struggle make Jason and the Argonauts that most rare TV experiencea mini series worthy of its running time.
JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS: NBC /Hallmark Entertainment; airing May 7 & 8 (9-11 p.m., ET both nights). Executive Producers, Robert Halmi Sr., Robert Halmi Jr. Producer, Dyson Lovell. Writers, Matthew Faulk and Mark Skeet. Director, Nick Willing. Creature Effects by Jim Henson's Creature Shop. Starring, Jason London, Jolene Blalock, Dennis Hopper, Natasha Henstridge, Frank Langella, Sir Derek Jacobi, Adrian Lester, Diana Kent, Brian Thompson, Olivia Williams, Angus MacFadyen, James Callis.
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