(Thetis), Ursula Andress (Aphrodite), Sian Phillips (Queen Cassiopeia), Flora Robson (Stygian Witch), Freda Jackson (Stygian Witch), Donald Houston (King Acrisius), Neil McCarthy (Calibos).Clash of the Titans is a 2010 action fantasy film and remake of the 1981 film of the same name produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (the rights to which had been acquired by Warner Bros. Meredith (Ammon), Laurence Olivier (Zeus), Claire Bloom (Hera), Maggie Smith SchneerĬast: Harry Hamlin (Perseus), Judi Bowker (Andromeda), Burgess Produced by: Ray Harryhausen, John Palmer, Charles H.
He considered it "a mood piece with a lot of mysterioso lighting, plus the challenge of keeping the 12 snakes on her head in motion while she is in motion as well." Yet, for all the care Harryhausen lavished on the film, it was shut out of the 1981 Oscar race in the special effects category by the likes of Raiders of the Lost Ark and Dragonslayer. Like a magician." Despite this comment, Harryhausen will admit that one favorite aspect of working on Clash of the Titans was his creation of Medusa, the Gorgon. And that's what business we're in, we're in the business of illusion. I think there's far too much delving into, and analysis of, special effects.It's a pity that too much is discussed about how it's done because it destroys the illusion.
Still, it's fun to see Harryhausen's special brand of stop-motion animation compete with live actors, even though the master was loathe to explain how he did it (for the Cinefantastique interview): "I think there's a point where you lose interest in the picture. Singled out Bubo, the Owl of Brass, as an R2-D2 rip-off. The giant Vulture and theįorest Scorpions also have zero to do with Greek mythology, and some critics On Caliban from Shakespeare's The Tempest. The sea monster that destroys the city of Argos in the opening sceneĬomes from a popular Norwegian myth. Of the Titans's parade of evil strays quite a distance from the original Perseus and Andromeda since the Greek myth was first put on paper," Clash Schneer maintained at the time "we have givenįorm to what has been in the eye of people who have read the story of Heavens while Perseus goes toe-to-toe with the likes of Thetis (Maggie Smith, whose husband, Beverley Cross, wrote the script), Hera (Claire Bloom), and Athena (Susan Fleetwood, the sister of rock drummer Mick Fleetwood).Īlthough producer Charles H. Zeus (Laurence Olivier) gazes down from the The beautiful Princess Andromeda (Judi Bowker). It's very close to Seriphos, the island where legend has it that Perseus, the son of Zeus, was washed ashore in a trunk." In the movie, Harry Hamlin plays Perseus and fights an assortment of outlandish creatures in an attempt to save In an interview with Dan Scapperotti for Cinefantastique magazine, screenwriter Beverly Cross recalled, "I had the idea for Clash of the Titans in 1969 while I was living in Greece, on an island called Skiathos. Here they're playing toga-clad second bananas to Harryhausen's fantastical creations. It features a stellarĬast of actors, many of them famous for their stage work in Shakespearean productions. So the producers aimed higher with Clash of the Titans. Unusually inventive but just as equally hamstrung by weak casting and wooden performances. Harryhausen's previous ventures, such as Jason and theĪrgonauts (1963) and The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1974), were
In many ways, Clash of the Titans is best suited forĬhildren, though the by-now quaint nature of its effects should delight movie fans Photographed frame by frame to create the illusion of life. Produced through sweat - his creatures were moved inch by inch, then The Sea (1955) had only five arms, instead of eight). Harryhausen was working well before the dawn of computer animation and hugeīudgets (due to lack of money, his giant octopus in It Came from Beneath The main difference between Harryhausen and Lucas, of course, was that Getting with a Harryhausen stop-action film, and he was more than happy to Reverence by fantasy aficionados around the world. Harryhausen was the first effects wizard whose name was uttered with Team may have perfected this sort of thing with Star Wars (1977) (which has reached the level of overkill with the recent Lord of the Rings epics) but George Lucas and his Industrial Light and Magic Mythological spectacle Clash of the Titans (1981), is the father of modern For better or worse, Ray Harryhausen, the visual wizard behind the