StuOz Everyone likes the vintage film the most, I was never really into the original, perhaps that is part of the reason that I think that "Jason 2000" is just fine, in fact I would call it a knockout way to begin the century! The year 2000 was not exactly swarming with quality content on the big or small screen, so "Jason 2000" holds a special place a being a "2000 highlight".I love nearly everything about this production, the fake CGI creatures do a bit of damage, but just about everything is fine. The whole cast, including Jason, is outstanding. I have a soft spot for fantastic sea adventures and the footage of the ship in danger is well filmed. There is even a bit of dark comedy involved in the way the bad guy kills people...it was funny to me at least.The DVD special features reveal that the production was rushed a bit too much, perhaps that explains why the Jason actor was not able to give everything he had to his performance. The actor complained that he was tired due to lack of sleep. Despite this issue, I was not bothered by his acting at all (but many other reviewers are bothered by him).A less talked about element is the high quality grand music score that plays over the show, giving some scenes a huge lift. Is there some reason that this kind of music is less used in film/TV these days?

Robert J. Maxwell Gary Lewis and the Playboys, Buddy Holly and the Crickets, Jason and the Argonauts. Sounds like a 1950s rock band but this outfit has legs, the story being at least 2300 years old -- and an oral tradition before that.It's a complicated narrative too. In order to save his mother's hide, Jason is forced by the king (Dennis Hopper) to undertake a dangerous sea voyage with two-dozen crew to a distant island and bring back the golden fleece, which is a sheepskin made of golden wool. The crew is full of familiar names. There are Castor and Pollux (who speak with Slavic accents), Hercules, Orpheus, Atalanta, and some others. Well, they're not household worlds exactly, but famous nonetheless.Along the way they encounter dragons, clashing rocks, harpies who are half-bird and half-women and resemble my second-grade teacher, an army of women led by Natasha Henstridge, an angry Poseidon, clashing rocks, armed skeletons born of dragon's teeth, the witch Medea (Jolene Blalock), the jealous king who wants to keep the golden fleece for himself (Frank Langella), and various other dilatory things and events that happen to ordinary people who are in a hurry to get someplace.This movie, splendidly photographed, comes to us from Hallmark, along with their superior production of The Odyssey. There have been a couple of other retellings of the Greek myths lately and I think I know why. It's a chance for a special effects extravaganza. Willis O'Brian of "King Kong" fame was replaced by the more sophisticated effects of Ray Harryhausen, and now it's time for computer-generated images. They're pretty good too. The argonauts land on a rocky island and plant a spear and a giant eyeball appears nearby -- it's not an island at all, but the barnacle bedecked Poseidon taking a snooze, and, man, is he cranky when he wakes up.The weakest part of the film is in the performances. Jolene Blalock, who looks like Hilary Swank, is the image of a beautiful model -- and she acts like one. Adrian Lester, the African-American yuppie in "Primary Colors", still looks like a yuppie. Olivia Williams as Hera isn't bad at all, but most of the gods and goddesses are no more than competent. For a great Zeus, a Zeus who has a touchy relationship with Hera because she knows he's been getting it on with mortal women, posing as a shower of coins or a swan or something, watch Lawrence Olivier in "Clash of the Titans." The central figure of Jason is given to Jason London. Now, he may be a great guy in real life for all we know. He probably loves his dog. But he's gotten the pretty boy treatment in this movie. His hair looks done by a fashionable salon on Rodeo Drive. Every female in the film falls in love with him. They fawn over him, give him presents, happily rub oil or wine on his body (twice). It's disgusting. And as if that weren't enough, London's acting is as flat as a pancake, perfectly suitable for a high-school play. Dennis Hopper is a great maniac, but he has to be seen (and heard) as a murderous Greek king to be believed. The best performance, surprisingly, is by Brian Thompson as Hercules. You'll recognize him when you see him. He's been an alien on the X-Files and a lank-haired greaseball of a heavy in some features.Still, this would make a good movie for the family. I suppose there are a few semi-nude scenes involving Natasha Henstridge -- not enough to suit me, but not enough to make any 10-year-old's eyes goggle either. The kids will probably treat it as nothing more than another action flick with plenty of CGI, but if they remember it at all, they'll be remembering a Greek myth. It might get them a bonus point on an IQ test sometime later in life.

oandogcw Perhaps one of the upsides to viewing this miniseries is the opportunity to see pre-'Enterprise' Jolene Blalock as Medea, the female lead. The word "chameleon" comes to my mind when i compare her physical appearance in this to that in the Star Trek series.I agree that the Harryhausen version set the standard but this was enjoyable viewing on its own merits inclusive of seeing Ms. Blalock before she assumed the role of T'Pol.

taz2-uk This is yet another version of classical Greek myth... this one is a bit closer to the 'original' that the 1963 Harryhausen one.I know the above will be a bit inflammatory to some but it is true. The baseline for them myth is the Apollonius poem and Harryhausen himself said they had added to the story to make it more Hollywood.Apollonius states that Jason was more of a charismatic diplomat/trader than a warrior... both qualities I felt the actor was unable to play to the level required.Medea was the daughter of Aertes and a High Priestess. She saved Jason and the Argonauts by cutting the brother into pieces and scattering them behind the Argo so that the pursuing fleet would have to stop and pick them up for burial. Jolene Blalock has the exotic looks for the part but the wooden acting style of Keanu Reeves...The journey was well portrayed - the stop at Lemmnos especially so. It was also nice to see Jason facing the fire breathing bull - though it was not originally mechanical and there were two of them. The fact that he had to plough the fields and sow the Teeth was also a good point. Medea had given Jason an ointment to protect him from the fire of the Bulls (included in the scene) - she also gave him a magical stone with which to defeat the warriors (note, they were never skeletons in the original), a sort of magic grenade which made short work of them.Retrieving the Fleece was well done - it replaced the Harryhausen Hydra (which was not in the original - he 'stole' it from the Lernaen Hydra Hercules fought) - with a lizard that Orpheus sang to sleep. The Apollonian story had a huge, horned snake calmed and put to sleep by the sound of Medea's voice - so it was a slight bending.The fall of Hercules was interesting... and I felt Brian Thompson was underused badly here...The return to Iolchos to face Dennis Hopper (who played a good part in the paranoiac Pelias) ended in a bit of a farce with the Fleece being stolen (as if Jason/Medea would let it out of their sight!) then paraded through the streets... Medea's approach to Pelias was difficult to understand - did she go to stay with the Fleece or was it to kill Pelias? But after short fight scene (indoors to keep down the number of extras required) the survivors all live happily ever after in true Hollywood style...Of course, if you go back to the original tragic myth (pre-Apollonius), Pelias refused to give up his throne, Jason could not kill him (against Greek law), so Medea killed him by magic and ended up being exiled with Jason (who she later killed along with their children when Jason wanted to leave her for another woman)...All in all, a reasonable version - the effects were iffy at times and the standard of acting let it down - but still a watchable version that is totally different from the Harryhausen Hollywood spectacular.