Ray Harryhausen

[Ash Armstrong]

These were delivered today! I've been meaning to get them for a while. I've had Jason and the Argonauts for ages on Blu-ray, and it's been a favourite since I was a boy.
THere's something 'honest' about Harryhausen's stop-motion animation that I find irresistible. CGI can be wowsing (if that's a neologism then sue me) but it's somehow, often, less beguiling because it's too realistic. There's a poetically-beguiling quality about his work I love, perhaps because it rarely gets in the way of the story-telling. His creations seen to have a personality that CGI can't quite manage.
Any other fans of his work out there? What's your favourite?

[Soundwaveseeker]

Jason And The Argonauts for me too, classic stuff that's never left me no matter how many years go by. The Sinbad ones are cool and of course the first one I'd ever seen in the theaters, Clash Of The Titans. Your right - there's a certain purity to the stop motion animation, it has a flavor all its own. Some have maybe said that the effects are 'cheesy', but I say no - it's not better or worse than CGI, it's its own dimension. It's neither up or down, but sideways. I also loved the stop-motion creatures from the old late 70's live action kids show Jason Of Star Command. I'm not sure how many people remember that show. Yeah, Ray Harryhausen - good stuff.

[Yorkshire Square]

I remember the fighting skeletons vividly.

Re CGI v other types of animation, one of the big plusses of LOTR over the Hobbit trilogy (apart from the better storyline, acting etc) was the use of physical effects rather than virtual ones.

[Ash Armstrong]

Jason And The Argonauts for me too, classic stuff that's never left me no matter how many years go by. The Sinbad ones are cool and of course the first one I'd ever seen in the theaters, Clash Of The Titans. Your right - there's a certain purity to the stop motion animation, it has a flavor all its own. Some have maybe said that the effects are 'cheesy', but I say no - it's not better or worse than CGI, it's its own dimension. It's neither up or down, but sideways. I also loved the stop-motion creatures from the old late 70's live action kids show Jason Of Star Command. I'm not sure how many people remember that show. Yeah, Ray Harryhausen - good stuff.

I've not heard of Jason of Star Command. I don't think it made it over the pond, but I'm intrigued.

[Ash Armstrong]

I remember the fighting skeletons vividly.

Re CGI v other types of animation, one of the big plusses of LOTR over the Hobbit trilogy (apart from the better storyline, acting etc) was the use of physical effects rather than virtual ones.

Against the Children of the Hydra's Teeth, there is no protection!

[Oldie on the Goldie]

The 1960s classic Mysterious Island was great too. Hard to beat the giant crab picking up the poor guy with its claw.

[Ash Armstrong]

The 1960s classic Mysterious Island was great too. Hard to beat the giant crab picking up the poor guy with its claw.

It's a gem!

[pianozach]

These were delivered today! I've been meaning to get them for a while. I've had Jason and the Argonauts for ages on Blu-ray, and it's been a favourite since I was a boy.
THere's something 'honest' about Harryhausen's stop-motion animation that I find irresistible. CGI can be wowsing (if that's a neologism then sue me) but it's somehow, often, less beguiling because it's too realistic. There's a poetically-beguiling quality about his work I love, perhaps because it rarely gets in the way of the story-telling. His creations seen to have a personality that CGI can't quite manage.
Any other fans of his work out there? What's your favourite?

Stop motion, especially that or Harryhausen, is proof of perfection being overrated. CGI is programmed and realized to be perfect. Stop Motion has a personal component, a certain "slop", that makes it endearing. It's romantic rather than robotic.

I don't have anything against CGI, but stop motion has a "Feel" to it.

[Ash Armstrong]

Stop motion, especially that or Harryhausen, is proof of perfection being overrated. CGI is programmed and realized to be perfect. Stop Motion has a personal component, a certain "slop", that makes it endearing. It's romantic rather than robotic.

I don't have anything against CGI, but stop motion has a "Feel" to it.

Yes! Exactly that.

[OB1kenOB]

Jack the Giant Killer has stop motion animation that is an obvious nod to Ray Harryhausen. It was the first movie I saw in a theater. It was at the Indiana Theater (now Buskirk Chumley) in Bloomington Indiana. At that time the interior design on the sides and above the screen looked like a castle so the experience was immersive. Spoilers ahead...
When the tiny jester transformed into the (stop motion) giant I totally freaked out so bad we had to leave in the middle of the movie.
I was 5 years old and I don't think there has been anything in the last 60 years that has scared me that much. I've watched it since becoming an adult and with the exception of the stop motion sequences it is such a crappy movie.

[Soundwaveseeker]

I've not heard of Jason of Star Command. I don't think it made it over the pond, but I'm intrigued.

It might not have made it across the pond. It was done by Filmation, and itself was a spinoff from another live action sci-fi kids show called Space Academy which featured Jonathan Harris as the commander. I got the box set of both complete series paired up with another 70's live action show Ark II. Gloriously 70's. Something pristine about both stop-motion and 70's sci-fi. The lighting and the cardboard hallways and everything. I like that a lot of that kind of stuff.

[Ash Armstrong]

My afternoon viewing:
Clash of the Titans

Dir. Desmond Davis (1981)

Harry Hamlin
Judi Bowker
Burgess Meredith
Maggie Smith
Ursula Andress
Lawrence Olivier
Claire Bloom
Susan Fleetwood
Sian Phillips
Pat Roach
Tim Pigott-Smith
Jack Gwillim
Flora Robson
Donald Houston
Neil McCarthy

Visual effects: Ray Harryhausen.