--- In sonsofkong@yahoogroups.com, "Dean" <sonofvulcan@a...> wrote:
> What's your favorite Ray Harryhausen movie? That's a tough question
I
> know, with so many great candidates to choose from.
>
> For me the answer has to come down to the one that had most
visceral
> effect on me...Valley of Gwangi.
>
> The "7th Voyage of Sinbad" is superb, and "It Came From Beneath the
> Sea" is especially taught and well told, and "Jason and the
> Argonauts" is a tour de force, and "Twenty Million Miles to Earth"
> gives us a fresh take on classic monster stuff, but when push comes
> to shove the vision of cowboys fighting a dinosaur is just too
cool.
>
> What's your favorite?
>
> Dean

Well, it wouldn't be 'Clash of the Titans', which with my failing
memory I think was the only film Harryhausen directed entirely, but I
well could be wrong about that. As for films that feature stop-
animation by Ray Harryhausen, I'll still go with 'Jason and the
Argonauts' since I was exactly at the right age (11 or 12) to be
enchanted by the skelton warriors sequence when I first saw it in a
theatre. 'Valley of Gwangi' would mind up far down on my list, I'm
afraid, although I will usually watch it when I have a chance. I do
like the Sinbad films, but none strike me as any more memorable than
the others and viewing the first five minutes of each, I would be
lucky to be able to tell them apart. I do think the stop-motion work
in early fifties films like 'Earth vs the Flying Saucers' and 'The
Beast from 20,000 Fathoms' (is that the correct title? or is that
just one of many alternate titles?) often outshines the rest of the
film(s).

For what it is worth,
Jon