Review of Clash of the Titans (1981) by Corpse M — 20 Mar 2010

I'm still pretty pissed that home video was in it's infancy when I was a kid. Every once in awhile I'd catch snippets of Ray Harryhausen's stop-motion fantasy epics like "Jason and the Argonauts" or "The 7'th Voyage of Sinbad" on television and wish I could just go out see his films whenever I wanted. Too young to have seen them in the theatre, too old to have it readily available on DVD, what's an imaginative kid to do? Needless to say when television ads trumpeted that Harryhausen's long awaited return to fantasy film-making would be released exclusively into theaters on June 12, 1981, I was more jazzed than Dizzy Gillespie. I bought the action figures. I read all the articles about the film in "Famous Monsters" as well as Alan Dean Foster's novelization. I cut out pictures of the creatures from the back of a Honeycomb cereal box and made up a speculative board game based on the film (before you declare just how pathetic that is please note that this was before the days of the "interwebs" and before video games became even remotely good). I was psyched. Release day came and I went to the theatre with my cousin and sweet, sassy mollassy what an epic! I really didn't give a crap about the combined acting pedigree of the Olympians gathered here such as Laurence Olivier or Maggie Smith. What did blow me away were two things:

(1) Like "Logan's Run", "Clash of the Titan's" was made during a less puritanical era when films rated PG would actually feature considerable nudity and not automatically get an "R" rating. When both Judi Bowker and Vida Taylor appear in various states of undress in scenes bookending the film, a fuse instantly burnt out in my 11-year-old brain.

(2) The creations of Ray Harryhausen brought magically to life in front of me were absolutely stunning.

Fast forward more than a few years and I go to re-watch "Clash of the Titans" in anticipation of the remake and I'm aghast at how blatantly crappy many of the film's elements are. The costumes look like they were borrowed from a High School presentation of "Antigone". With the exception of the "hero" sword and shield of Perseus, the props look dime store cheap. When not shooting on location a lot of the sets look amateurish. The matte paintings and composite effects are sometimes laughably terrible. If you decide to watch this, check out the scene where Poseidon is cranking a winch to open the underwater gate to "Release the Kraken!" (a phrase I'd recommend anyone shout at the top of their lungs in a crowded mall just to watch people's reactions), the effects plate featuring actor Jack Gwillim and the crank MOVES BACK AND FORTH ON THE ROCK FACE. In fact, it's sad to say but it could be argued that the effects are actually worse than Harryhausen's stop-motion films from the 50's and 60's. In his defense, it's actually the "Star Wars" style blue-screen effects that are really poor, but I also have to admit that there's nothing here that surpasses or even rivals the Skeleton battle in "Jason and the Argonauts". Rumor has it that the film was rushed somewhat and it certainly does has a half-completed whiff of slapdash about it. Also I'm told that this is the first film Harryhausen had assistants on. Nevertheless, there are some spectacular segments here. Perseus' battle with the Gorgon is tense and well choreographed. The scorpion attack is pretty brutal. By the time the Kraken shows up a few new classics have been added to Harryhausen's stable of mythical beasts. CGI may have made stop-motion somewhat antiquated by there is an undeniable charm to these effects, which modern films like "Coraline" and "Nightmare before Christmas" certainly realize. The level of personality that Harryhausen is able to invest into what amounts to rubber puppets moved one frame at a time shows undeniable artistry. I fear this may be vacant somewhat from the remake, which at face value looks inexplicably dark and the art design doesn't even look as if it's set in ancient Greece. The human component here is serviceable. Supposedly Laurence Olivier was quite ill while making the film, and his advanced age certainly doesn't project the image of an all-powerful God but his sheer presence alone is enough to make you sit up and pay attention. Harry Hamlin as Perseus seems a bit white bread and frail at times but he does a great job selling Harryhausen's creatures as if he were fighting on-set with them. Judi Bowker sleepwalks her way through the love-interest role of Andromeda, but in her defense, she isn't given a lot to do. Burgess Meredith is quite the treat as Ammon and seems to be having fun playing a character other than Mickey from "Rocky". But we don't watch pictures like this for the human actors, do we? All told, "Clash of the Titans" is one of those films that looks great through the rose-colored glasses of childhood but needs to be given a bit of a pass when viewed with modern sensibilities. It's still a charming film, crammed chock-a-block with big scale imagination that technology hadn't quite caught up with yet. Tilt: up.