Clash of the Titans (1981)

 

Hello, sentiment of old! Glad you could make me relive this film and doubly so because it has some of Ray Harryhausen's finest work. 

I mean, sure, 'The Golden Voyage of Sinbad' or 'Jason & the Argonauts' aren't slouches either, but there is something so enormously magical about this one and even though Harryhausen's creations always steal the show in whatever film they're in, this one takes the cake. 

'Clash of the Titans' is a bastardized version of the tale of Perseus, the Greek hero. After being dropped in the sea by his grandfather Acrisius, his real father Zeus is a bit miffed and orders the destruction of the island of Argos by Kraken. Thus it was so. 

Perseus grows up to be a fine man, looking amazingly like chiselled chin-wielding Harry Hamlin. He is transported to the city of Joppa, where he discovers a beautiful princess named Andromeda. However, suitors must answer a riddle or be cast to the flames. Perseus receives godly gifts and discovers that Andromeda is transported to the marshes and the realm of Calibos, a former prince who is now a hideous creature. 

Well, he looks like a suntanned satyr, so it's not thàt horrible, actually. 

Perseus discovers the riddle and is to be wed to Andromeda. Alas, Andromeda's mother Cassiopeia does a faux pas when comparing Andromeda's beauty to that of the goddess Thetis, who is pissed off and wants Andromeda to be sacrificed to the Kraken in a month's time.

You know, the gods really are fickle. And you have to wonder why they always leave so much room for someone to mess up their plans. No wonder they're extinct.

So Perseus heads off to the Stygian Witches who tell him that only the head of Medusa the Gorgon can kill the Kraken. Naturally, Perseus goes to the Island of the Dead to decapitate Medusa, return to Joppa and save his love. 

If you can fall in love after seeing someone all of about five minutes, of course. But I guess those are just details. 

Let's just start off by saying that the acting is often rather stilted and stiff. This all feels quite like a traditional play in that respect. So don't expect any Oscarwinning performances. Heck, the best actor present is Meredith Burgess as the playwright who guides Perseus. Everyone else is rather, well, stiff. This makes sense when the gods are at play (with legends as Laurence Olivier and dame Maggie Smith), but the humans manage to convey emotions about as well as a cardboard cutout. 

But of course they are not the reason why you watch this. It's the utter amazement and pleasure anyone can derive from Ray Harryhausen's creations, that look absolutely terrific. You get a real smorgasbord: scorpions, a giant vulture, Calibos, Pegasus, the Kraken (who looks awfully similar to the Ymir from '20 Million Miles to Earth'), a two-headed dog and of course Medusa. The scene with Medusa is absolutely the showstopper of this film. Not only is her movement suitably creepy, Harryhausen matched the light from the burning fires to his animation, which is quite a tremendous task considering this is stop motion and he did nearly everything himself. Even after so many years, it still looks brilliant, as the man always imbued his creations with little traits and idiosyncracies to make them stand out. Watch this scene with the lights out, it truly is a marvel to behold. 

We could have done without the comic relief in the shape of Bubo, a mechanical owl, but you can't win them all, I suppose. And it's extra fun for the kids. 

It really is a shame that this kind of stop motion pretty much disappeared when CG started to take over. Yes, it is very time and labour-consuming, but it still has that wonderful sheen of film magic to it. It might not look as 'real' as you want, but it still fits in perfectly with stories like this one. And in the end, 'Clash of the Titans' is a wonderfully extravagant adventure, filled with mythology and spectacle. This one will always have a warm place in my heart and it is highly possible it will also become one you will gravitate towards for that old-fashioned feeling of wonder.