Coinciding with next week's dedication of the new Ray Harryhausen Theater at Sony, JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS arrived this week on Blu-ray (Sony Pictures Home Ent.). The influential 1963 mythological adventure, featuring the best of Harryhausen's signature Dynamation, includes the famous fight sequence between live-action warriors and a small army of stop-motion-animated skeletons. Jason has never looked or sounded better than in 1080p, 1.66:1, DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1.
Bonus features include:
* Commentaries:
- Peter Jackson and Randall William Cook (Lord of the Rings animation designer/supervisor) share childhood memories of how Harryhausen inspired them to get into the industry. Cook recalls going through Harryhausen's personal collection of puppets, molds, artwork and dailies, which Jackson is transferring to 4K video. Jackson states that most of the shots were animated in one take.
- Ray Harryhausen and film historian Tony Dalton
* Never-released interactive photo gallery with original storyboards (including the skeleton fight)
* Interviews with Ray Harryhausen by John Landis
* RAY HARRYHAUSEN CHRONICLES
* THE HARRYHAUSEN LEGACY
* BD-Live