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Feb. 23rd, 2010 01:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sessifetI love Harryhausen movies. There's no uhm-ing and ah-ing there. I just plain adore them. They take me straight back to my childhood, sitting on the sofa clutching a pillow and watching gods and monsters and heroes battle it out on screen. I didn't care (much) about the liberties taken with the Greek myths in Jason and the Argonauts and Clash of the Titans. And I still don't really care (much) when watching them now. Honestly. Ignore the small twitch in my left eye.
I watched Jason and the Argonauts last night and it was, as I remember, an Awesome Film of Awesomeness. I was mesmerised all over again. The kid brain went *glee!* and the adult brain went *glee!* and the critic brain went...well, not *glee!*, actually. Not universally. It went *glee!* at some bits and other bits really not so much.
Some of the special effects stand as the best examples of their time and the skeleton sequence is without a doubt still among the best stop motion sequences ever. There was also plenty of eye candy which made both adult brain and critic brain go 'yum'. Kid brain rolled its eyes in disgust, of course.
But! The dialogue! And the pacing! And the utterly idiotic responses!
Yes, Hercules is mostly brawn, but you'd think he'd remember that stealing from the gods is a bad idea. But no, he gleefully nicks the first thing that looks like a good Stab Monsters In Face weapon and then looks surprised when all hell breaks loose.
And when Aeetes turns up with a group of soldiers and does his sowing of teeth thing? Yeah, I sat there shouting at them to run. I mean, none of the soldiers have bows and arrows and I'm sure Jason and Co can run faster than them. So...run. Fleeeeee. But no, they stand around like mugs going 'oooh, magic trick! Shiny!'.
(In their defense, the source material seriously doesn't help. Everyone in Greek myth will at some point be bitten by the Stupid Monster and consequently suffer (and sometimes die) from 'Oh holy fuck, you idiot' syndrom.)
And now I shall watch Clash of the Titans and then eagerly await the remake.*
*Why yes, I did go *glee!* when I saw the trailer for that. Anyone surprised? It's got Liam Neeson as Zeus, for pity's sake! How can I not love this movie with all my heart already?
I watched Jason and the Argonauts last night and it was, as I remember, an Awesome Film of Awesomeness. I was mesmerised all over again. The kid brain went *glee!* and the adult brain went *glee!* and the critic brain went...well, not *glee!*, actually. Not universally. It went *glee!* at some bits and other bits really not so much.
Some of the special effects stand as the best examples of their time and the skeleton sequence is without a doubt still among the best stop motion sequences ever. There was also plenty of eye candy which made both adult brain and critic brain go 'yum'. Kid brain rolled its eyes in disgust, of course.
But! The dialogue! And the pacing! And the utterly idiotic responses!
Yes, Hercules is mostly brawn, but you'd think he'd remember that stealing from the gods is a bad idea. But no, he gleefully nicks the first thing that looks like a good Stab Monsters In Face weapon and then looks surprised when all hell breaks loose.
And when Aeetes turns up with a group of soldiers and does his sowing of teeth thing? Yeah, I sat there shouting at them to run. I mean, none of the soldiers have bows and arrows and I'm sure Jason and Co can run faster than them. So...run. Fleeeeee. But no, they stand around like mugs going 'oooh, magic trick! Shiny!'.
(In their defense, the source material seriously doesn't help. Everyone in Greek myth will at some point be bitten by the Stupid Monster and consequently suffer (and sometimes die) from 'Oh holy fuck, you idiot' syndrom.)
And now I shall watch Clash of the Titans and then eagerly await the remake.*
*Why yes, I did go *glee!* when I saw the trailer for that. Anyone surprised? It's got Liam Neeson as Zeus, for pity's sake! How can I not love this movie with all my heart already?
