Clash of the Titans

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Myself

I first saw this film in year 3 when we were looking at greek mythology, specifically Perseus the Gorgon Slayer. I went nuts for this film and the other Ray Harryhausen films. I love it dearly despite a few problems. The remake leaves me with a bit of a sour taste but the best thing to come out of it was the tie-in release of the original on bluray.

It's also a little saddening to know that this film is the last of its kind. It's the end of an era. Even at the time of its release these effects were somewhat outdated and audiences seemed to have had enough. ILM was using motion control to make space ships fly with whole teams of people contributing to shots while Harryhausen was still a one man show, sitting in a room animating fantasy puppets frame by frame. But there's something magical about this that is almost timeless. You can see the art and the detail that goes into each creatures performance. Pegasus flying through the sky is just incredible, his run is so lifelike.

Medusa in this film is damn creepy, with a rattlesnake tail. I love how the star of that scene is silent and then you can just faintly hear the rattle as she approaches in shadow. It was freaky watching it as a kid. The new one is all big action and spectacle but it's not nears as effective as the insidious creeping menace hunting you through the halls.

The other thing I really didn't appreciate about the new version was their treatment of Bubo. I understand he is a little bit of an annoying kiddie sidekick but that kind of callous dismissal is a bit mean. As much as I didn't like Your Highness at least they can appreciate a good robot bird sidekick.

This is also the youngest I've ever seen Maggie Smith look in a film. Her character gets the raw end of the deal in this film but she is pretty bitchy. I do love bitchy Greek gods. Laurence Olivier playing Zeus is fun although I must admit the casting of Liam Neeson in the new one is one of the thing I really like about it.

I know this is probably blasphemous but Laurence Rosenthal's score for this film soars to greater heights than anything Bernard Herrmann wrote for Harryhausen's films. It's simply magical and I get it stuck in my head all the time. One of the greatest fantasy adventure scores.

Great fun catching up with an old favourite. Perhaps I'll give the remake another look now they are filming its sequel. But that film has far many more problems than this original version. If you've only ever seen the new one, do yourself a favour and check this one out.