Clash of the Titans (1981)

This is one of those classic movies that, despite being clunky and laughable by today's über-polished standards, evokes a time in the viewer's life when such trivial details went overlooked in the face of a good-versus-evil, over-the-top, beautifully simple story that gave you a magnificently happy ending.Harry Hamlin didn't have to act or even emote - it was enough just to look at that gorgeous chiseled face and see him scantily clad in a revealing toga. Ursula Andress, despite having only a single line in the whole thing, is beyond exquisite. Good thing, too, since every line in the movie is overblown... because come on people, we're talking Olympian gods and myths here! If, like me, you grew up in the 70s and 80s, this grand operatic gem of a movie gave you a warm fluffy visual treat equivalent to a brownie sundae. Not a nutritious meal, but it left you feeling giddy, slightly overcharged, and ready to believe that syrupy goodness wins out in the end. Handsome hero overcomes seemingly impossible odds, beautiful maiden is swept off her feet by romantic besotted stranger, wise and benevolent adviser offers advice and quips in the background, and all against a backdrop that is as overdone and self-aggrandizing as the acting itself. The music is equally epic and quite hummable when you're stuck in traffic.The entire movie begs you to suspend your disbelief and just accept the story, no matter how awkwardly strung-together it is to those of us who are now sadly spoiled by modern special effects. And it's a sacrifice I make gladly, every time, because like Scully and Mulder I WANT TO BELIEVE. If you were lucky enough to be of an impressionable age when it came out, it made you a believer too.The lurking terror of Medusa's lair, the menace of the Stygian Witches, and the raw overwhelming wish-fulfillment of the whole epic struggle are so charming that the viewer is glad to let go of their adulthood and believe in childish ideals again. Harryhausen delivered monsters that, while not necessarily perfect, were JUST RIGHT for the feeling at hand. A little romantic, perhaps a little forced and silly at times, but isn't that what it's all about? Myths aren't meant to be realistic. That's what makes them myths.Clash of the Titans is a movie version of every child's favorite teddy bear. It may be moth-eaten and grubby by today's standards, but you love that bear anyway and you wouldn't trade it for a thousand new ones. It kept you safe from the monsters under the bed. It gave you hope. It made you believe that all was right with the world. And that's a gift that you never outgrow, and you'll always look past its flaws and remember the comfort it provided when you were young.

I consider this Jason And The Argonauts part 2.Except Jason was a good movie that I liked and this is a piece of crap that I hate. It's too long and boring.If they cut out 30 minutes it would be bearable. Most people hate the robot owl but he's the best character in the movie. I was always surprised the Sinbad movies were rated G.All that violence and cleavage,what did it take to get a PG back then? Apparently it takes full frontal nudity. The boobies are the only reason to watch this.There isn't much of a plot and the action is sub-par.I don't understand why this movie was so popular. Watch expecting it to suck and you might be pleasantly surprised or not.

Ray Harryhausen has provided the special effects for many movies, some of them quite good. In "Clash of the Titans," however, one gets the feeling that instead of the special effects being used to dramatize the story, the story is guided by the desire to display some special effects. The result is rather lackluster. The story in the movie, however, such as it is, is a big improvement over the original myth. In fact, this movie, when compared to the source material, provides an excellent example of the need to modify ancient tales in order to make them suitable for modern audiences.As for the story in the movie, much is driven by the lunacy of the gods. When the unmarried Danaë has a child (Perseus) out of wedlock, her father, King Acrisius, feels that he and all of Argos have been dishonored by her sin. He is especially put out by the fact that he had locked her in a room where no man could get at her beautiful body, but she got pregnant anyway. (In the original myth, Danaë's son was destined to kill Acrisius, which was his motive for trying to keep her away from men, but in the movie, Acrisius is simply jealous of her beauty.) To purge the dishonor, he condemns his daughter and her child to die in a coffin set adrift at sea. Zeus, it turns out, was the father, having visited Danaë as a shower of gold. Zeus is horrified that Acrisius of Argos would commit a murder, so to punish him, he has Poseidon unleash the Kraken, a sea monster, to wipe out the entire city of Argos.Perseus falls in love with Andromeda, who is under the spell of Calibos, the hideously disfigured son of Thetis. Perseus chops off the hand of Calibos, who then begs his mother for justice. She is reluctant, because she suspects her son wants revenge rather than justice. But when Queen Cassiopeia dares to claim that her daughter Andromeda is more beautiful than Thetis herself, that is just too much. As punishment for insulting her beauty, she demands that Andromeda be sacrificed to the Kraken. Almost as an afterthought, she says that this will give her son justice too. So, Andromeda must be punished for what Perseus did to Calibos as well as for a remark made by her mother Cassiopeia, a remark, by the way, which happens to be spot on. A running theme through all this is that guilt and punishment are not individual matters; instead, punishment may fall on anyone who is associated with the person who committed the misdeed. Unfortunately, such insane notions of justice are frequently found in the myths of ancient religions, and there are still vestiges of such notions even today.Anyway, Perseus has to figure out a way to kill the Kraken and save his beloved Andromeda. After much to do, he learns that he must obtain the head of Medusa, a gorgon whose look will turn any living creature to stone. Perseus chops off her head and returns in time to let the Kraken get a good look at it, turning him to stone. Andromeda is saved, and she and Perseus are married and live happily ever after.Now compare that with the original story. When Perseus set out to get the head of the Medusa, he didn't know Andromeda from Adam. He just needed a wedding present for a king who was getting married. Perseus got the head, put it in a bag, and headed for home, hoping he would be in time for the nuptials. On the way there, he saw the beautiful, naked Andromeda tied to a rock, while being threatened by Cetus, the other name for the sea monster. He decided to save her, but first he made sure nothing happened to his wedding present by putting it behind some rocks for safekeeping. Then he killed Cetus with his sword. Having seen Andromeda naked, he just had to have her, so they got married. Then he grabbed the bag with the head in it and headed off for the wedding that started it all.The story is vastly more complicated than that, especially since different versions stand in contradiction with one another. But the point is that the story in the movie is a definite improvement, and so much so, that it proves that we should not be terribly concerned with how faithful a movie is to the source material, so long as the movie is enjoyable. Unfortunately, "Clash of the Titans," while an improvement over the original myth, is only fair.

Every culture has their own legendary stories or epics. The most common of cultures that writers and filmmakers look at are from early Roman and Greek mythology. There's something about the ancestry of man at that time, in that location, of which intrigues peoples. It could be as complex as the pagan beliefs and laws or as simple as the way clothing was worn. The reasoning behind the gravitation towards this culture is less clear than the subject at hand itself (which is quite honestly weird). Nevertheless, there have been adaptations to the screen before this one based on this topic, but this particular adventure film is different for a number of reasons. It's still not perfect but is hard not to like.Viewers will be introduced to Perseus (Harry Hamlin), an abandoned boy who is saved by Zeus, king of the gods. Apparently, Perseus is also the son of Zeus, which kind of puts the story of Hercules into question. As Perseus grows up, Zeus informs him of his journey that'll make him great and forever make him a staple in history. The weird thing is, Perseus just accepts this. Obviously, the belief of signs and omens were highly regarded back then, but not even a hint of doubt comes into his mind. You know this could all be a trick Perseus? Besides, before being told about his possible future, Perseus lives the life of luxury as it was. What if he was lazy and decided that he didn't feel a need to take on this opportunity that the Gods presented to him? Then what?There are also several other little things that clearly were not verified in the screenplay that Beverly Cross wrote. Cross was also behind the more popular Jason and the Argonauts (1963). This is not to say that all of the writing doesn't make sense, it just contains strange truths that aren't confirmed until after the claim is made. The story does however have good pacing and keeps the spirit of adventure and discovery high. Surprisingly there are also a couple of parallels that can be drawn to Disney's Hercules (1997). Some being that Hercules and Perseus fight giant creatures, ride a flying horse named Pegasus, were the son of Zeus and most visible are the three blind witches that look into an all seeing eye (and they sound like them from Hercules (1997) too!). Did Disney take inspiration from this movie? The cast is another element to make note of - some went on to be known for other roles or were already known, while others disappeared completely. The completely vanished group belongs to the main stars, Harry Hamlin and his love interest played by Judi Bowker. These two do contain a filmography history but didn't bother go on to anything big even though this movie performed well. But the section of cast that did flourish or was already well known were Maggie Smith (who plays in the Harry Potter series), Ursula Andress (she didn't move on far but was known for her 007 roles) and Burgess Meredith (from the Rocky series). However, these are not the only stars on the screen. One of the key highlights to the film is effects master Ray Harryhausen's creature stop-motion animation. Of course by today's standards it seems out of date but that's because of the limited technology at the time. In fact, there's a good portion of the film that still looks rather decent as old as it is. The most memorable scene of the film would be the battle of Perseus Vs Medusa. My favorite was Bubo the mechanical Owl. As Mr. Harryhausen's last film, it shows he went all out in effort to impress. Harryhausen also was the guy behind the effects in Jason and the Argonauts (1963). Timothy Gee, although doesn't have a big resume for films, effectively edited the film so that it cuts between live- action and stop-motion without losing the illusion. Finally, I was surprised in Laurence Rosenthal's score. For a composer who spent most of his time doing TV music, is not half bad. It had a theme to Perseus and it sounded very heroic. It wasn't memorable but it did match the mood of the film easily. Watch more for nostalgic reasons if nothing else.It lacks clarity for certain truths and its main character seems to have no humanity for he just follows what the Gods say. But as a whole, the special effects, although now considered old, are still great to watch, it has a decent cast and it's a steady moving adventure.