Jack the Giant Killer

Worth it just to see how bad stop-motion animation can be without Harryhausen. Utterly terrible, from the crap SFX to the wobbly sets to that feckin' leprechaun that makes me ashamed to be Irish. Really no reason to watch this unless you find a drinking game based around it.

A chimp in a black thong.. That will haunt me for the rest of my life now..

I guess that must be the 60s equivalent to the modern CGI fest with no plot and robots exploding at each others and actors paid millions in front of green screens. They went all out with the lights, magic, costume, and stop motion animation. It doesn't mean it is necessarily enough to save the plot issues and the fact most characters are tedious. The movie felt familiar at first until I realised I saw the RiffTrax of it and forgot about it.

It doesn't pretend to be more than it is; a pure adventure-fantasy entertainment. It's the kind of movie that if you give yourself over to its charms and therefor suspense your disbelief there is a lot to enjoy, if you don't there is a lot to fault. Biggest problem is that Juran forgot to bring back most important contributor from the Sinbad movies: Ray Harryhausen. The stop-motion effects are still competently done, but they and the creature design miss the real finesse of the master.

Goofy fun.

Meredith's smile is worth about 40 points.

Terrible special effects, FABULOUS outfits