Clash of the Titans (Snap Case)
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Movie Reviews of Clash of the Titans (Snap Case)
Movie Review: Clash of the Titans' effects still look pretty good considering it was 1981
Summary: 5 Stars
Before you see the newly updated version with fancy CGI, I highly recommend taking a look back to 1981's "Clash of the Titans" directed by Desmond Davis. Looking at it today for the first time, the special effects do seem pretty silly in places, but if you think about it from the perspective of its first audiences, this was probably OFF THE CHAIN! (though no one used that expression either) In an ancient world of petty jealous feuding gods, Perseus (Harry Hamlin) is the son of Zeus (Laurence Olivier) and is put through many trials and tests to ultimately win his bride, the beautiful Andromeda (Judi Bowker).
The gods are so deliciously childish and vengeful, it's like watching a soap opera. Laurence Olivier uses all stiffness of his stature to go monarch on everyone else. Hera is played by Claire Bloom and Aphrodite is played by Ursula Andress whom you might remember as the first Bond girl.
Poseidon is played by Jack Gwillim whose special effect of being able to breathe underwater for long periods of time is pretty funny. My favorite god (or goddess rather) would be Thetis played by none other than Maggie Smith. I was so excited to see her younger looking face onscreen! She is usually known these days for playing older women roles like Mother Superior in "Sister Act" and Professor McGonagall in the "Harry Potter" franchise due to the unique tone of her voice and sweet older appearance.
Her giant watery eyes lend so much emotion to everything she does, even when being an immature vengeful god! I think my favorite special effect in this movie is when her tribute statue falls apart after the queen makes an offhand remark about her beauty and her statue head's eyes open and she issues threats to the people. It doesn't match up perfectly, but wow, I could see how cool that must have been to see in '81!
Perseus is a mop-top of a strong youth with a killer island boy tan and serves as the brunt force of the film. He fights, slices, dices, and manages to also occasionally outwit his foes and move quietly and gracefully around Medusa until ready to strike. Most of the time, the other characters have to tell him what to do and the gods cheat by sending him weapons and a golden owl that would annoy Harry Potter's Hedwig.
Andromeda is beautiful in that Princess Buttercup/Robin Wright sort of way that just defies today's standards and brings us back to a simpler time of ringlet curls and sparkle and innocence. What I enjoyed about her character is that she attempts to fight her own battles as well by trying to accompany Perseus on his missions. The others look a little annoyed at her tagging along but I thought it showed guts to take that stubbornness and want to try and be useful in thwarting her demise. She is graceful, dutiful, and looks great in a very sparkly sacrificial dress.
This is a great 80s adventure movie for sure. There are lots of giant creatures like scorpions and crows, a flying horse we all know as Pegasus, a gadgety owl, the giant seamonster Kraken, and the favorite, the slithery glowing eyed Medusa in all her stop-motion glory. It's a lot of fun, the pace moves well for the time. I expect the new updated version to be edited so tightly in the action sequences that we'll all get practically dizzy, especially if in a 3D showing.
Movie Review: Classic Harryhausen
Summary: 5 Stars
-I really love this movie. It's a textbook example of what a fantasy story should be which is just fun and show you things you've never seen before and not these recent fantasy movies that bore you to tears and have CGI so bad it takes out of the movie completely. You know of whom I speak of. Harryhausen didn't direct this but you can feel him throughout the movie. This was the last movie he did the effects for and it's quite honestly his best. The imagery in this is just gorgeous and the creatures are what fantasy stories are made of. I just love how it's so rooted in fantasy and puts that element first before anything. I love magic and seeing weird creatures, so movies like this always gets the blood flowing.
-The stop motion animation in this has grown far since the days of the early work on Kong. They are more fluid and more detailed although you can still tell it's fake. The most impressive stop motion sequence for me was the Medusa sequence and just how well blended the actors were to the animation. Plus what Harryhausen and his team did with the animation was a new challenge at the time, which was adding flames to a stop motion animation. If photographing an object one frame at a time is painful then imagine how painful it must be to add dancing flames to it.
-The flying horse Pegasus is well done too as they make you believe for a second there that a creature like that may exist. That's what fantasy is suppose to do to you and it's heartbreaking that filmmakers today have totally forgotten that. Well except for Andrew Adamson with "Narnia" that is and Peter Jackson with "Two Towers". Stop motion may not be used anymore but it is still alive today with CGI animators who much like the animators of the past have to create every single frame we see.
-As someone whose half god and half mortal I must say that Harry Hamlin captures our kind perfectly. His acting range may not be huge in this movie but who cares when he's flying on a horse half of the time. Judi Bowker plays the doomed Andromeda who has like two lines in the movie but she's pretty to look at so I'm not complaining. The great Laurence Olivier plays the almighty horny one Zeus who does his best at being as magical as he can be. Tim Pigott Smith plays the wise old Thallo that helps Perseus on his journey. There are other actors in the movie but those three are the ones we see most and they do okay jobs so nothing much to talk about there.
-Beverley Cross' script just feels like it was touched by the gods and the sweeping score by Laurence Rosenthal aids in that great epic feel that movie holds so well. With all our childhood movies being remade into crap self-indulgent movies it's scary to think that some studio may want to jump on the fantasy bandwagon and remake this. If that ever happens though, I hope they either get Gans, PJ or myself :)
-As childhood movies goes this movie brings back great memories. It's not perfect and it doesn't really try to be. If you can get past the man skirt that Hamlin wears then you should enjoy yourself
Movie Review: Here there be monsters....(and that's a good thing).
Summary: 5 Stars
Stop-motion effects...Greek mythology...a snake-haired Medusa...a giant sea-monster called the Cracken...Lawrence Olvier as Zues!!! Put it all together and you have Ray Harryhausen's master thesis for high adventure fantasy films.
From Jules Vernes novels to Sci-Fi monster flicks, Harryhausen's creatures were the stars of some great flights of fancy. But in an interview on this disc he tells how his heart was really drawn to this kind of adventure story from mythic tales past. Beginning with The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, Harryhausen took us to the edge of the map where it says, "Here there be monsters." He also coined the phrase "dynamation" to describe the stop-motion effects he perfected for that movie.
I really like Clash of the Titans best of his heroic myths. I know Jason and the Argonauts is often cited as the "go-to" Harryhausen classic but this movie has much to offer also. Based on the story of Perseus and the Gorgon, the story begins with Perseus and his mother locked in a box and tossed out to sea. They do find their way to another kingdom and Zues intervenes to help Perseus (who like Hercules, is yet another son by a fling he had with a mortal) find his destiny. But the goddess Thetis is not happy. She doesn't approve of Zues playing favorites while Calibos, her loyal subject, suffers. So Perseus is thrown into adventures that take him all over the ancient world and make him confront Calibos (the twisted man-creature who also loves Andromeda), Medusa (the hideous snake-haired woman who's glance turns men to stone), and the monstrous Cracken (who Thetis wants Andromeda sacrificed to).
It all adds up to a really grand adventure yarn. The story follows the original myth loosely. I say, close enough. All that matters is it gives us what we want in its fantastic monsters and heroics.
I will mention a couple of short-comings, though they are not significant. Bo-Bo the owl was an unnecessary character. Probably thrown in as a tip-of-the-hat to George Lucas' robots in Star Wars, the character does not add to the movie's appeal, though thankfully he doesn't ruin it. And the pace of the adventure is not the seat-of-your-pants, Indiana Jones jump from one fight to the next...which actually isn't a bad thing.
Which begs the question: Are modern movies that use computer animation and effects better? I enjoyed the last Harry Potter movie, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Spider-man 2 a whole lot. They are the heir apparents to Harryhausen. That said, I also think we're seeing some poor movies using computer effects. So I get nostalgic for these old fantasy adventures by Harryhausen. When I watch them I am grateful for the time he spent animating these creatues that have personality and are still fun to watch. Less really IS more sometimes.
Movie Review: The Mythology Lover's Dream: An Epic Film
Summary: 5 Stars
It was 1981 when "Clash Of The Titans" premiered. Its claymation and special effects were the making of veteran "cinema-illusion" engineer Ray Harryhausen (Jason And The Argonauts, Earth Versus The Flying Saucer, and several 50's monster invasion films). It starred Harry Hamlin (from the 80's series L.A. law), Judi Boker, Laurence Olivier, Maggie Smith, Sian Phillips, Burgess Meredith, Claire Bloom, Ursula Andress and Flora Robson. The subject of Greek myth had been projected into the film decades before - the Steve Reeves Hercules films and the forementioned Jason and the Argonauts come to mind. A generation of people grew up watching these myth-based fantasy films. On DVD, we have commentary by special effects master Ray Harryhausen recalling his long career and claiming that such directors as Steven Spieldberg, James Cameron and George Lucas were greatly influenced and inspired by these types of films.Harry Hamlin stars as Perseus, the son of Zeus by the married queen Danae. Zeus, furious that Danae and his son were punished by being cast into the sea in a coffin on order of the king of Argos, unleashes the Kraken to destroy the city. This scene is very impressive, particularily the flooding of the city and the fall of a large statue of the king. Laurence Olivier's Zeus is the best on record. He was quite older by this time but delivers a truly imperious, tyrannical and vainglorious king of the gods. Opposing him is Maggie Smith's Thetis, goddess of the sea who resented that her own son, Calabos, was cursed by being made into a gargoyle-like demon. Soon enough, Zeus sends Perseus on a quest to save Andromeda. The magic moments in this film, enhanced by a fine score and the art of Harryhausen, include: the destruction of Argos, the meeting of the gods, the taming of Pegasus the flying horse, the defeat of Medusa, the encounter with the Stygian Witches and the descent into the Underworld conducted by Death himself and the final defeat of the Kraken. The score is composed by Laurence Rosenthal. This is a must have for fans of fantasy and mythology. Surely, Joseph Campbell would have loved this type of film. It's the most modern (at least for its time) rendition of myth- surpassin even the 50's and 60's Greek myth films. The cast is superb, particularily because it has Laurence Olivier as a strong backbone as well as other British actors- Claire Bloom, Maggie Smith and a very old Flora Robson as one of the Stygian witches. Flora Robson had performed Queen Elizabeth in "The Sea Hawk" opposite Errol Flynn and was a renowned British actress. The epic tale is brought to life through vivid color and special effects which is the real strength of this film as well as characters who must behave "like gods".
Movie Review: Greek Epic Myth On DVD: Fantasy Of High Calibre
Summary: 5 Stars
1981: Ray Harryhousen made the special effects, monsters and clay "creations" for this Greek epic myth about the heroic deeds of Perseus. Harryhousen had previously made the magic possible for such films as "Jason and the argonauts", another film revolving a Greek myth, and the sci-fi classic "Earth vs. the flying saucers." Harry Hamlin, tv actor from the 80's series L.A. Law (and a hot hunk I had a crush on as a girl), makes an impressive performance as the confident, toga-wearing, muscle-bound, swordsman Perseus, who defeats monsters, including the three headed dog from Hell and the sea monster Kraken. British actress Dame Maggie Smith (from Sister Act films and Hook) and the esteemed British actor Laurence Olivier play the roles of the goddess Thetis and Zeus, who are involved in a bitter feud. Zeus protects Perseus, as he is his son by a mortal woman, but Thetis is upset that Zeus shows no mercy to the deformed Calabos, her son, who was once a handsome prince. Calabos has the princess Andromeda (Claire Bloom) under a dark spell. She will be married to the man who solves the nightly riddles she is given. Perseus solves the riddle and becomes engaged to Andromeda. But when the queen Cassiopeia elevates her daughter's beauty above that of their patron goddess Thetis, Thetis becomes so enraged she puts Andromeda in a tight spot. She will be the sacrificial victim for the hunger of the sea monster, the Kraken. Perseus journeys to the Underworld, defeates the snake-haired Medusa and with his friends, the old wise man, the winged white horse Pegasus and a robotic owl (who chirps and buzzes almost like R2D2 in Star Wars). He frees Andromeda, who as the classical myth dictates, was chaind to a rock by the sea, and the ending is a very happy one.
Thanks to the fine acting by Harry Hamlin, whose heroism comes through as shining as Perseus (not to mention his good looks), Andromeda (Claire Bloom), Maggie Smith as the vindictive goddess and Zeus (Laurence Olivier) as an eloquent, authoritarian king of the gods. The London Symphony Orchestra fills the soundtrack with lofty themes, romantic melody and dramatic highlights. One of these highlights is the moment when Perseus tames Pegasus. This film was a classic in the 80's and is still great to watch, especially with the magic of DVD. A must have for fantasy fans, a great addition to fantasy films. Look for "Jason and the Argonauts" with Harryhausen effects, equally a match to this film, although dating from an earlier time, the 60's.