Review of Clash of the Titans (1981) by Michele S — 24 Mar 2010

Back in the day, I thought this film was awesome!!! However, I watched it recently and found the special effects so silly and laughable. Although modern day special effects put this movie to shame, I still think the story and special effects from 1981 still makes this movie worth a decent rating. Not that the special effects are great (they do totally suck now) but I think back then they were considered quite impressive. Now, it seems to be more like a sci-fi/fantasy with a touch of comedy. I was laughing right from the beginning when they zoom in on this guys mouth and you can clearly see he has fillings in his teeth. Uuummm, I believe pulling out teeth was the only cure for cavities back in the medieval days. I would think even back in 1981, someone would have thought to catch this blunder. Oh well!

As for the main characters, Laurence Olivier was pretty cheesy as Zeus. I can't really put my finger on it...he either over-acted or under-acted or maybe both. Come to think of it, I think they should have used additional special effects to make him look more godly but I guess having rays of lights emitting from behind his head was the best they could do. My biggest complaint is Harry Hamlin as Perseus. He was hot back in the day (when hair on the chest was cool) but damn, he was annoyingly ditzy in this movie. He always had his mouth hanging open like he was having "duh" moments. And, Andromeda was suppose to be the most beautiful woman ever...she was just alright, but she was good at putting Perseus in his place. Long story short, there was a curse on dear little Andromeda that she would have to sacrifice herself to the Craken (a water version of Godzilla) in 30 days or else everyone in her empire would be wiped out. Sweet Perseus decides to go on a journey to find out how to kill the Craken before the 30 days are up. He basically tells Andromeda to get her ass back to the castle cause it's a man's job. But she quickly reminds him how he's not married to her yet, he's still a nobody, and he can't tell her what to do. Needless to say, Perseus had no balls to put up an argument and had to settle for his female escort. The journey's interesting...he comes across shady characters and finally gets what he needs to defeat the Craken.

Anyway, watch or don't watch...it is a classic. Or, maybe it's best to hold out for the new version coming out in April. I know I'm looking forward to seeing it!