TALOS - Ray Harryhausen and the Argonauts

January 22nd, 2022

‘Jason and the Argonauts’ is a film I have known all my life. I don’t recall the first time I saw it, but it was one of its many TV showings. The film has always mesmerized me back then, and I still find it very enjoyable today. I have had the opportunity to see the film theatrically – once as part of a series of screening held by the VES (Visual Effects Society), where a pristine print was shown.  

The film has some great characters and of course some fantastic creatures and action sequences. The most famous scene is the skeleton fight at the end. Young people who have grown up with the incredible realism of the Marvel movies still watch this sequence dumbfounded. They are aware it is not a new film and that it is not ’real’ but scratch their heads as to how it could have been done. or even contemplated back then. When you are familiar with the film techniques that Visual Effects Supervisor and Animator Ray Harryhausen used and the craftsmanship, creativity and imagination required to pull it off, it is even more of a head-scratcher. Unbelievable. A true ‘how did they do that?’ scene. Timeless.

The other sequence that really stands out to me in this film is one of my favourite sequences in any film. Upon arrival at the Island, Jason’s men search for food and water. Hercules (Nigel Greene) and his new friend Acastos (Gary Raymond) discover a deserted valley filled with giant statues – Titans - and hidden within the base of one of them a vast treasure chamber. Hercules sees this as fair game and steals a giant brooch pin the size of a javelin. As they leave, the giant bronze statue atop the chamber – Talos – stirs to life and eerily turns his head to look down on them. Ts is such a chilling moment. What follows is a thrilling battle as the Argonauts try to escape the island, pursued by the giant sentinel. One of his steps covers hundreds of feet and even though he walks slowly and stiffly he soon cuts them off and reaches down to the Argo and capsizes it. Jason (Todd Armstrong, dubbed by the heroic voice of Tim Turner) seeks help from Hera (Honor Blackman) who is embodied in the ship’s figurehead, to guide them to safety. Using his wits and courage Jason is able to stop the giant statue, but in the final death throws, Talos topples over crushing several of Jason’s men scrambling for safety, including Acastos. Afterward, Hercules is unable to find Acastos and decides to leave Jason to search the island for his friend. which we the audience know is a fruitless endeavour.

The writing (based on the Greek myths of course) and directing and acting in these scenes is all pitch perfect. Don Chaffey directed the film and rarely gets any credit. The sense of foreboding when they enter the valley of the statues, the eeriness of the statue coming to life. The futility of Jason’s men trying to stop it using spears and arrows. The music by Bernard Herrmann and the sound design is exceptional. Perfect. And Talos himself is such a great looking adversary. The stoic expression and character on its face and its physique look totally ‘of the time’ and really convey that this a tough customer. (His physique is really like that of Kirk Douglas - ‘Spartacus’).

Talos is not just a monster, there are moments where he stops to think and strategize about what to do next. He looks like a great warrior and behaves like one too.

The ‘Dynamation’ effects putting him into the scenes are great – although not flawless, there is the common issues of softness and graininess in some of the images. But it does not matter. It all works so beautifully together. There is a terrific shot of Jason and his men shielded by some rocks and the camera pans off them to the distant shore as Talos enters the frame.

I have always loved the design of this character. In doing this painting I really got to appreciate just how cool the design is. And the level of finesse in the model, which as only about a foot tall.  The chiselled features on his face, the hollowed-out eyes. The metal patina, the weathering and green patches of oxidation. It all works superbly well. It all looks right. Talos looks and behaves just the way you would expect it to. And creating the shots with Stop-Motion is perfect as this is an inanimate thing brought to life. Like the skeletons later in the film. These are not living things and maybe subconsciously this helps play into their credibility. Can you imagine this material in inferior hands, with these shots created any other way? Conveyed by a guy in costume and make-up, shot against blue-screen and put into the shots, or walking around miniature sets, which would have really been the only other approach available at the time. It just would not have the same visceral impact.

This sequence is a true classic.   

‘Jason and the Argonauts’, Don Chaffey 1963, is available on Blu-Ray and the version in ‘Ray Harryhausen Ultimate Collection’ looks terrific. The Harpy attack takes place at night, but numerous TV screenings had this colour graded to look like daytime – this has been corrected in this version, and possibly others too, but I cannot verify that.