"Clash Of The Titans" (1981)
Directed by Desmond Davis, Written by Beverley Cross, Based on Perseus from Greek mythology, Produced by Charles H. Schneer & Ray Harryhausen, Music by Laurence Rosenthal, Cinematography by Ted Moore, Edited by Timothy Gee, Starring Harry Hamlin, Laurence Olivier, Judi Bowker, Maggie Smith, Burgess Meredith, Neil McCarthy & Ursula Andress.
Perseus, son of the Greek god Zeus, grows up on a deserted island. His destiny is to marry Princess Andromeda, who will someday rule the city of Joppa. But as long as the satyr Calibos who uses a giant vulture to kidnap Andromeda's soul every night is alive, no one can marry her. Perseus travels to Joppa, where he must defeat Calibos and other mythological monsters to rescue Andromeda.
I make no secret to the fact I love this film. This was one of the films I had on VHS (recorded off the TV) that I watched in heavy rotation as a child. When I was a kid I just enjoyed the adventure, the swords and shields and obviously the fantastic creatures and the horror aspects of the film. It was also cool that even though it was a kids/family film that TV channels in the UK would show on a Sunday afternoon you do get to see bare boobies about 11 minutes in. As an adult (I still appreciate seeing the boobs) but I can add that I love that the film is just stacked with acting talent and any cast member whose acting isn't A+ looks perfect in the role. I can appreciate the truly remarkable musical score by Laurence Rosenthal who seems to have mainly worked in TV but had done quite a few movies mainly westerns and comedies but really delivered something special on this film.
Where as a child I wondered at the magical and gruesome creatures and now as an adult I wonder at the talent of Harryhausen and the amount of skill and artistry one man could bring to a project.
When it comes to cast lets first look at the pure acting talent / Royalty that appear in this film,
Zeus king of the gods is played by the one and only Laurence Olivier.
Olivier was probably one of the most famous stage actors ever reaching the height of his powers between 1936 and 1963 but also enjoyed a prolific movie career appearing in 65 motion pictures.
He is absolutely pitch perfect in this!
The goddess of water Thetis is played by Maggie Smith, Smith is British acting royalty she started her acting career on the stage in 1952 but became a star in 1969 when she won the Oscar for her performance in the title role in the film "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" and has appeared in 62 films and is still working today at the age of 89. She is a radiant and formidable talent who also brings gravitas to her role as Thetis.
Actor / Play-Write Ammon is portrayed by American character actor Burgess Meredith.
Burgess had a tremendously successful acting career being active for six decades he had appeared in 82 films before Clash of the Titans and 19 after, he has over 50 TV credits including four episodes of The Twilight Zone including one of the best episodes called "Time Enough at Last" in pop culture he is probably most famous for playing arch villan "The Penguin" in 21 episodes of the 1960's
Batman TV show or for his role as Mickey Goldmill the gravelly voice, intense trainer in the Rocky movies.
Harry Hamlin who plays the hero Perseus was 28 years old had only been a professional actor for a year before landing the role in this film. Judi Bowker who appears in the film as Andromeda predominantly worked in television but is very charming in her role.
English actor Tim Pigott-Smith puts in a fantastic supporting performance as Thallo and Neil McCarthy is wonderful under vast amounts of make-up as the evil Calibos.
The Swiss actress Ursula Andress appears in the film as Aphrodite the Goddess of love, Susan Fleetwood plays Athena the Goddess of wisdom with her owl and Siân Phillips is perfect in her role as Cassiopeia the mother of Andromeda.
In addition to the cast of human actors we also have the cast of fantastic creatures some heroic but most of them evil / dangerous. In order of appearance.
Technically the first creature we see in the film is a sneak peek of The Kraken as Posidon releases it to destroy the kingdom of Argos then returns it to captivity but we only see the Titans tail swimming which is achieved with a practical tail filmed moving under water and the epic scale is communicated by the God Posidon's reaction.
The giant Vulture, Pet of the Evil Calibos the giant bird carries a human size cage to transport the soul of Andromeda to visit Calibos in his swamp lair while she sleeps in her bed. This is the first full stop-motion creature in the film that is created via "Dynamation"
Pegasus The last of sacred winged horses of Zeus due to all the others being hunted and slaughtered by Calibos. Pegasus is a beautifully sculpted and animated creation of Harryhausen which magically brought to life this mythological creature.
The evil mutated Calibos is played by the actor Neil McCarthy in heavy make-up in close up and for dialog but in action and fighting scenes he is a stop-motion model animated by Ray and blended with live action using his "Dynamation" process.
Below is Calibos's henchmen who live in a swamp. They are played by human actors of all shapes and sizes made up to look like cavemen.
Bubo the mechanical automaton owl who was forged by Hephaestus and sent by Goddess Athena to aid Perseus in his quest to save the princess Andromeda. He is basically the star of the film!
The Stygian witches are blind and see through a shared mystical eye, which they put near their ocular holes to see. Played by three actresses in prosthetic make-up. They totally freaked me out as a child.
Charon, in Greek Mythology, is the ferryman of Hades who carries souls across the River Styx to Erebus or the Underworld. Who transports Perseus, Thallo and their men to the Isle of the dead that is the home of Medusa. He is played by a tall actor with a skull mask in a robe while his skeletal hands are controlled via puppetry.
Dioskilos is a huge two-headed wolf, confronted by Perseus in Medusa's Temple on the Isle of the Dead.
Dioskilos is a stop-motion creation of Ray Harryhusen which is brought to life and battles with Perseus and his men via the movie magic of "Dynamation".
One of the most iconic creatures in this film and one of the most iconic creations of Ray Harryhausen's career is Medusa in Clash of the Titans. Medusa was a priestess of Athena and was a very beautiful woman. However, she was seduced by the god Poseidon and they made love in the goddess's temple, which angered her. She decided to punish Medusa by turning her into a Gorgon and banished her to a temple in the Underworld. she killed any men who came into her hideout by petrifying them to stone or by using her archery skills.
What Harryhausen achieved with the animation of the reptilian Gorgon is just truly stunning.
When some of Medusa's blood spills on the ground and when normal sized scorpions touch the Gorgons blood they grow to over 6 feet long and attack Perseus and his men. These are stop-motion creations which battle with the life action actors via "Dynamation"
The final creature to appear in the film is The Last of the Titans "The Kraken" an enormous sea monster under control of the sea god Poseidon and his wife Thetis.
Painstakingly animated by Harryhausen the multi armed aquatic monster also seems to have a drop of King Kong DNA about him and the giant beast going to grab a damsel in chains seems to be a fitting special effects sequence for the climax of this film and has a certain poetry considering Kong sparked the Imagination of the 13 year old Ray.
The film was shot on location in Italy, Spain, Cornwall and on the 007 sound stage at Pinewood Studios in England.
Clash of the Titans was released on June 12, 1981 in the UK and in the US.
The film was made for a reported budget of $9 million ($34 million in 2024) and grossed
$70 million at the worldwide box office ($267 million in 2024) The film was a total smash hit even though it was out at the same time as "Raiders of the Lost Ark".
If for some strange reason you have never seen "Clash of the Titans" (1981)
I highly recommend you do!
The film is available to rent online via Prime Video or Apple TV for £3.49
But as always I recommend that any movie buff should own this film on physical media.
HMV have a special edition Blu-ray and there is also a standard Blu-ray available
End of part seven!
