Jason and the Argonauts (1963)
Jason and his crew sail to recover the Golden Fleece.
Genre
Characters/Groups
King Phineus - Patrick Troughton
Character thumbnails with links to profiles
Detailed Synopsis
King Pelias walks up as a Priest prepares to read the ashes from an urn to see if Zeus favors Pelias in his forthcoming battle. The Priest tells Pelias that he will win the throne of Thessaly, but eventually lose it to one of King Aristo's children. Pelias and his army attack the palace and when he spots Briseis running into a temple with a child he follows her. After he leaves, a soldier from King Aristo's army runs away with a different child. Briseis begs Hera to protect her sister Philomela and herself. Pelias enters the temple and murders Briseis before a priestess of the temple tells him a one sandaled man shall be the one to overthrow him. On Mount Olympus, Zeus tells Hera that Jason shall get revenge and Pelias will be punished for profaning her temple. Hera then insists that she be the one to help Jason. Zeus then allows Hera to help Jason the amount of times Briseis asked for help, five times.
Twenty years later, Pelias is riding his horse when Hera scares the horse, causing it to dump him in a nearby body of water. Jason sees Pelias struggling in the water and drags him ashore and Pelias notices Jason only has one sandal. Pelias then invites Jason to his camp and after hearing about Jason's plan to find the Golden Fleece and overthrow Pelias, Pelias, who has not told Jason who he is, tells him he will fight with Jason against Pelias once he returns with the Fleece. Pelias then tells Acastus to follow Jason on his quest. Jason is wandering around a destroyed temple when he comes across the Priest, who reveals himself to be Hermes after Jason tells him he doesn't believe in the Gods. Hermes then takes Jason to Olympus where Jason is greeted by Zeus and Hera. Jason tells Zeus his plans for retrieving the Fleece and Hera tells Jason that she may help him five times. Hera then tells Jason to search in the land of Colchis for the Fleece. Jason then holds a large games competition. Winners include Polydeuces, Castor, Acastus, Phalerus, Euphemus, and Spyros. Hercules arrives and he is automatically considered a member of the crew without having to compete. He is then challenged by Hylas in discus throwing, which Hylas wins by using his intelligence. Jason then goes to Argus and asks him to build him a boat. Argus shows Jason the boat and the figurehead, which he placed on the back of the boat and which Jason realizes has an uncanny resemblance to Hera.
The next day the Argonauts set sail on the Argo. After a few days water supplies start to run out and Acastus suggests that they turn back to the coast. Jason then asks Hera for help and Hera tells Jason the man he saved was King Pelias and to set sail and steer north where they will reach the Isle of Bronze. Hera then warns Jason not to take anything from the island which he warns the crew about. Hercules and Hylas go chasing after some goats and come across a rectangular building with the name Talos written on it and a large bronze statue on top. They enter the building and find it full of treasures. Hercules then takes a giant sized brooch pin despite a warning to leave it from Hylas. Suddenly the statue starts to move and Talos comes alive. Talos chases the crew onto the Argo and they row away. As they try to row out into the ocean, the Argo is grabbed by Talos and tossed around and broken. Jason asks Hera for help once more and she tells him Hercules is the cause of waking up Talos and he can only destroy Talos by finding the weak point in its ankle. Jason manages to get behind Talos and pulls out a plug in Talos' ankle, letting loose a large amount of oil and Talos crashes to the ground, killing Hylas in the process. The Argonauts rebuild the Argo and are forced to say goodbye to Hercules who refuses to leave the island without finding Hylas. Polydeuces and Phalerus both say that they will refuse to sail without Hercules and Jason asks Hera for help one last time and Hera reveals herself to the crew and tells them to sail to Phrygia to seek help from King Phineus.
On Phrygia, King Phineus sits down to eat food, but is attacked and driven away by a couple of Harpies who steal his food. The Argonauts arrive on Phrygia and the Harpies fly away. Phineus agrees to tell Jason anything he wants in exchange for getting rid of the Harpies. That evening, food is set out for Phineus and when the Harpies attack him, the Argonauts use nets to capture them. Phineus tells Jason how to get to Colchis beyond the Clashing Rocks and gives him a pendant. Phineus then eats a meal while the Harpies, imprisoned in a wooden cage, cry in frustration. The Argonauts arrive at the Clashing Rocks and watch in horror as another ship is crushed in between the rocks which move as the ship gets between them. The Argo is also shaken and Lynceus falls to his death from the masthead. Jason decides to risk going through the Clashing Rocks and as the rocks start to move, Hera uses Triton to help keep the Clashing Rocks from closing. The Argo then makes it through the Clashing Rocks and after Argus spots someone from the other ship lying on wreckage, Jason jumps into the water and pulls Medea out and onto his ship along with two other survivors. Acastus challenges Jason to a fight when Jason accuses Acastus of planning on killing him and stealing the Fleece. After losing the fight, Acastus jumps overboard and Euphemus jumps into the water after him. Later Euphemus is pulled from the water, dead but holding a bloody piece of Acastus' tunic. The Argonauts arrive at the palace of Colchis and watch as Medea leads a ritual dance. King Aeetes arrives and Medea tells everyone that the goddess Hecate has declared that the only thing anything shall tell Jason is to meet with Aeetes. Aeetes then tells Jason to bring all of the Argonauts to his palace. At dinner Aeetes accuses the Argonauts of being deceitful and has them all imprisoned and Aeetes gives public thanks to Acastus for exposing the Argonauts, and it is finally revealed to Jason that Acastus is Pelias' son.
Medea begs Hecate for help and later steals the jail keys from a guard and frees Jason and the Argonauts. Medea then tells Jason that she must leave with him as she no longer has a country of her own. Argus hears a noise and has Castor, Phalerus and Dmitrius wait near the door at the ready. Meadea and Jason enter and she tells Argus where the Argo is docked. King Aeetes' Captain tells him that the Argonauts have escaped and the guards were drugged and Aeetes figures out Medea helped Jason and is probably taking him to the Fleece. Argus hears soldiers in the woods and has Castor and Phalerus come with him while Polydeuces stays with the others on the ship. Jason arrives at the Golden Fleece and is forced to fight the Hydra, which has already killed Acastus. Jason kills the Hydra by stabbing it repeatedly in the base of its necks. Argus arrives and tells Jason the Colchians are coming. Aeetes calls upon Hecate to get revenge and he gathers the Hydra's teeth. While trying to escape, Medea is hit by an arrow and Jason uses the Fleece to heal her wound. Aeetes arrives and drops the Hydra's teeth onto the ground and from each tooth, a Skeleton arises. Argus takes Medea back to the ship while Jason, Castor and Phalerus stay to fight the Skeletons. During the battle both Castor and Phalerus are killed and Jason escapes by jumping into the sea. He then swims onto the Argos and kisses Medea while Zeus and Hera plan other adventures for Jason.