Ray Harryhausen – Lee Duigon

A Fun Movie

leeduigon(patty)February 10, 2025

SINBAD AND THE EYE OF THE TIGER Stock Photo - Alamy

Here’s something you don’t see every day…

I am, after all, supposed to rest: doctors’ orders. I try to get my blog work done in the morning so I can take the afternoon off. That usually involves a cigar and a movie.

I am a huge Ray Harryhausen fan–greatest special effects wizard ever. Today’s movie, Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger–featured more special effects than you can shake a stick at. I wonder what Harryhausen’s dreams were like.

It’s not Oedipus Rex, but it is a very fun movie from 1977 and I can’t imagine how Patty and I could have missed seeing it in the old Forum Theater (and that was fun, too! I wish it would re-open). Monsters galore, wonderful sets, and non-stop action and adventure: who could ask for anything more?

Anytime you want to give your brain a rinse, this Sinbad movie would be a good place to start.

Let’s Watch ‘Jason and the Argonauts’

leeduigon(patty)December 10, 2023

Skeletons vs Jason & The Argonauts, 1963

Finally, at last, our brand-new Windows 11 computer is working again. It’s raining outside, PSE&G called to warn us about losing power in a coming storm… and we want to relax.

What with Ray Harryhausen’s special effects and Bernard Herrmann’s music score, Jason and the Argonauts looks like just the ticket for a rainy afternoon. Pure entertainment: it will make no demands on us.Haven’t had much luck with our weekends lately; we hope that is about to change. We’ve got a ton of preparations to make, sailing toward Christmas.

But first… Oy, Rodney. That’s relaxing, too.

Skeletons Attack!

leeduigon(patty)February 10, 2023

All right, enough nooze already.

This scene from Jason and the Argonauts, a masterpiece by special effects wizard Ray Harryhausen, is one of my all-time favorites.

And hey! When it comes to martial arts, that bit when the skeletons suddenly scream and rush in to attack your opponent–it really works! Provided you can get the skeletons going in the first place. I can’t say I ever mastered that aspect of karate.

Attack of the Skeletons!

leeduigon(patty)May 9, 2021

I’d like to watch one of my all-time favorite movies today–Jason and the Argonauts (1963), featuring two of the most extraordinary special effects scenes ever created: the skeletons’ attack, and the colossal statue of Talos coming to life. These were the work of the late Ray Harryhausen: and although most of our current special effects tools and techniques were not available to him in 1963… he didn’t need ’em!

So here is a bit of the skeletons’ attack. The whole movie’s available on YouTube, in case you want to join me in watching it. If you’ve never seen it before, you’ll be astounded by what could be done, back then, without computers.

Hey, you might even get a little bit scared, for a minute or two! But don’t worry: this kind of scare only lasts a few minutes, and then you can have a laugh about it. Really, it’s a form of sanity medicine.

Genius at Work: ‘The 7th Voyage of Sinbad’

leeduigon(patty)December 19, 2020

The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958) – Midnight Only

And here comes the Cyclops…

Sometime between Christmas and New Year’s, I’ve got to find time to revisit one of my favorite movies–The 7th Voyage of Sinbad. When it came out in 1958, my parents wouldn’t let me see it: thought it’d be too scary for me.

But this movie provides a rare opportunity to enjoy not one but two geniuses at work. It’s got the music of Bernard Herrmann, one of the all-time greats of movie music, and the special effects of Ray Harryhausen, the greatest monster-maker ever. It took the special effects art 40 years to catch up to him.

Oh, the theme music! To say nothing of that gorgeous music we hear when the Roc flies. Bernard Herrmann said this was among his favorite movie scores, and who can argue with him?

And of course Harryhausen gave us the Cyclops, a dragon, the Roc, and an animated skeleton–what’s not to like?

It’s gonna be so great, to hear that theme again! Oh, look, here it is–

Where Did Everybody Go?

leeduigon(patty)June 3, 2019

Not much action here, throughout the afternoon.

Well, maybe I need some other material. Like Sinbad and the Roc, for instance. I just love the music by Bernard Herrmann, and the stop-motion monster by Ray Harryhausen. The clip is from The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad, vintage 1958. Heh-heh, this’ll fetch ’em!

Bonus Video: A Dawn Horse

leeduigon(patty)April 20, 2019

The Eohippus, “Dawn Horse” (aka Hyracotherium), comes to life in one of my favorite movies, The Valley of Gwangi–another wonderful special effect by the stop-action wizard, the late great Ray Harryhausen.

James Franciscus is about to be tempted into a very great folly…

When Statues Attack, Part II

leeduigon(patty)May 25, 2018

As long as we’re on the subject of statues coming to life, here is the all-time boss statue-coming-to-life scene ever, created by special effects genius Ray Harryhausen for Jason and the Argonauts (1963). My cats seem to enjoy it when I imitate Talos, although I must say it never helped me during job interviews.

A Bit of Mythological Silliness

leeduigon(patty)October 24, 2017

Image result for images of jason and the clashing rocks

One way to get your ship through the Clashing Rocks…

You do wonder about some of the things that go on in Greek mythology.

Jason and the Argonauts have to get through the Clashing Rocks that guard the Bosporus, without the ship getting cracked like a nutshell. In the Ray Harryhausen movie, this giant merman-thing (pictured above) comes up and holds the rocks apart for them. In other versions of the story, this doesn’t happen. Instead, for instance, they send a dove through the rocks and, after they move apart again after squashing the poor bird, the Argonauts are able to row real fast and get through, with only the Argo’s stern ornament bitten off.

Uh, guys… why didn’t you beach the Argo and haul it overland on rollers, as ancient sailors often did with their ships, and put it back in the water when you’d passed by the Clashing Rocks? No one seems to have thought of that. One is reminded of Laurel and Hardy in The Music Box, lugging the piano up those horribly steep stairs when they could’ve just carted it around the block to the front door. Duh…

Oddly enough, in later centuries, Greek and Roman ships routinely passed through the strait without seeing hide nor hair of the Clashing Rocks. The myth says that after Jason got through, the rocks didn’t clash together anymore. Perhaps their failure to crush the Argo made them give it up. Who knew great big rocks can get down-hearted?

Ah, well, they don’t call it mythology for nothing.