Myth Busters: Jason And The Argonauts(1963)

I don't usually buy Blu Rays of movies when I already own the specific movie on DVD but I do make the exception now and then, especially when it's a film I like to watch annually. Jason And The Argonauts(1963) is one such movie. It's a Columbia Pictures action-fantasy film originally theatrically released in 1963, directed by Don Chaffey and produced by Charles Schneer. The movie itself is based on Greek mythology.

In this movie "Jason", a Thessalonian trying to reclaim his rightful crown as king of his country, recruits a group of soldiers and athletes in Greece to embark on a journey to find and bring back a golden ram's head and fleece which Jason believes will bring peace and prosperity back to his home country which has been plagued by famine and civil war. Local shipbuilder "Argo" builds a ship for Jason and soon these men have set sail, the goddess Hera(played by Honor Blackman) literally watching their backs as a wooden figure of the goddess sits on the stern of the vessel. Jason, despite his general disdain for Zeus and the rest of the gods, grudgingly accepts the offer of assistance from Hera...and he'll be glad he did later in the movie.

In their search for the "golden fleece" Jason and his crew of "Argonauts" encounter various spectacular and deadly characters along the way including: a 150 foot tall bronze, sword wielding statue come to life called Talos, two winged, gargoyle like creatures called "harpys", a seven headed, serpentine monster called the "Hydra" and a horde of sword wielding skeletons borne from the slain Hydra's teeth. There's also a scene in which a giant sized Poseidon(god of the sea) appears to help the Argonauts navigate through a bottleneck of dangerous, moving rocks which employs miniatures and trick photography.

To bring all of these fantastic creatures to life in this movie (the late) Ray Harryhausen employs his special "stop motion" effects. Harryhausen's effects can be seen in many other movies but I've always liked them best in Jason And The Argonauts(1963). The Blu Ray of this movie cleans up the film noticeably although in many scenes I couldn't tell much difference between the BD and the DVD. Extras include a trailer, various audio commentaries and a terrific featurette on the influence of Ray Harryhausen on movie special effects. 

For anyone who enjoys the various "Sinbad" films and other sword & sorcery and/or fantasy films I'd recommend Jason And The Argonauts(1963)!

A trailer:
 
The Sony Home Entertainment Blu Ray release(2010) for sale at Amazon: JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS(1963) Blu Ray

7 Godzilla Facts That Will Make You King of The Kaiju!

GODZILLA BATTLE ROYALE **AKIRA TAKARADA** (FINAL 2014 FAN FILM TRAILER!!!!)

Godzilla (2014) Japanese trailer

Bunny Auditions - Cadbury Eggs TV Commercial

I don't generally like television commercials but there are some exceptions including the GEICO advertisments featuring "Max" the pig and this timeless classic promoting Cadbury's tasty chocolate candied eggs. The audio effects at 0:03 and 0:09 are funny. For reasons that will likely forever escape me the image of the lion wearing those bunny "ears" always makes me laugh.

American taxpayers foot bill for $400k camel statue in Pakistan

American taxpayers foot bill for $400k camel statue in Pakistan



For those Americans who willfully ignore the fraud and wasteful spending of YOUR tax dollars by the U.S. federal government, I present this article to you for your inspection. This IS wasteful government spending at its absolute worst! 

Obamacare Causes 5.6 Million Cancelled Insurance Plans | MacIver Institute

Obamacare Causes 5.6 Million Cancelled Insurance Plans | MacIver Institute



Today President Obama announced that 7.1 million Americans have signed up for a health insurance plan offered on the federal government's official health insurance exchange website. Forgetting for a moment that that number cannot be positively confirmed by the president's own administration, there's another statistic that President Obama conveniently left out of his announcement earlier today: that nearly 6 million Americans had their insurance policies canceled by their insurance carriers because these plans didn't conform to the ACA's(Affordable Care Act) stringent requirements. There's no way to know exactly how many Americans who had their existing health insurance plans cancelled were able to choose a plan listed at the official health care exchange. That will likely not stop the Obama adminstration from coming up with phony numbers to serve up to the American public as the liberal Democrat spin machine continues in full force to mislead the American people.



The ultimate goal of liberal Democrats in Washington is a bigger federal government, based on the assumption the vast majority of Americans cannot take care of themselves or think for themselves. Imagine a federal government controlled health care system in America and consider the billions of taxpayer generated dollars wasted by our government annually through fraud and poor accounting. How many government run agencies end up in the news for the taxpayer revenue they squander every year? The EPA, the U.S. Postal Service, FEMA, I could go on and on. Imagine what our health care system will be like with the federal government running it. 

[HQ] Boz Scaggs - "JoJo"

Godzilla(2014) - International Trailer/Official Warner Bros.

I can't wait to see this movie! It looks like it's going to be epic!

String theory: THE RED VIOLIN(1998)

Every now and then I manage to sit down in my recliner and watch a truly beautiful movie, a film that looks and sounds simply marvelous. The Red Violin(1998), a Canadian drama directed by Francois Girard, is a masterfully crafted tale about a very special violin created in the year 1681 and this instrument's journey from the past to present. Presented in flashback sequences, the "red violin" passes from one owner to another through the centuries and set amidst various geographic locations including Italy, England, China and finally to present day Montreal(Canada) where it sits on display in a prestigious auction house.This movie is available on both DVD and Blu Ray. I am definitely going to buy the Blu Ray for this engaging film!


To buy The Red Violin(1998) on Blu Ray at Amazon click on the link: THE RED VIOLIN Blu Ray