I was totally surprised at how great this film.You could feel your paranoia rise as the film went on and as you gradually learned the details of the real situation.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

When my Sixth Grade class was studying Ancient Greece in history class, we watched this movie. As the competitor to Star Wars, its stop motion animated creatures and effects were a bit dated but it worked as Ray Harryhausen's last film. We get the story of Perseus, demigod son of Zeus, and his quest to save the princess Andromeda from certain doom. Avoid the remake and its followup and see this! It's got some family friendly moments though some of the scenes may be a little dark for young eyes. The creatures were the best part and they have nothing on today's CGI, which seems a little overrated and overdone. This and Jason and the Argonauts should be your movies if you love Greek mythology and want to try a movie based on that theme. Of course, if you want to learn more about that mythology in books, you can always get Percy Jackson. But this is the better version of Clash of the Titans. No spoilers!

Perseus must battle both Medusa and the Kraken to save the Princess Andromeda.Anyone who loves fantasy or classic genre film knows Ray Harryhausen and loves his work. Never will you ever hear, "That Harryhausen! What a rube!" And this film, more than any other, is probably the definitive showcase of his work -- from Pegasus to the owl to Medusa to the kraken... it is just so many iconic figures in one film.And what a film! Certainly epic in scope, it is possibly the best Greek myth captured on film. I mean, really, what even comes close? Those endless cruddy Hercules movies? Nope "Jason and the Argonauts"? Maybe, but still nope. If there is ONE must-see, this is it.

Sadly, this was the last movie for stop-motion man Ray Harryhausen, and therefore the last real fantasy epic made in Britain (whoever said KRULL, I said "real"!). While not as visually impressive as JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS - and let's face it, how could it be? This being an '80s film compared to a '60s film after all - CLASH OF THE TITANS certainly has moments where it recaptures some of the magic of Harryhausen's golden years and these alone make the film worth watching. Relying heavily on Greek mythology as a basis, CLASH OF THE TITANS is set aside from other muscleman entries by having a number of scenes set in the supposed palace of the Gods, who spend most of their time bickering and arguing like little children.Laurence Olivier is Zeus. No, he IS Zeus. I've heard some people complain about his performance but I can't imagine anyone else being as stern and authoritative in the role. Basically, it seems like it was written for him, and Olivier is great. Let's say no more about it. Zeus' companions are played by Maggie Smith (great at being "evil"), Claire Bloom and an almost unnoticeable Ursula Andress, a Goddess of Standing Around in the Background and Looking Beautiful. These scenes serve to give the movie a heavyweight backbone and act as a basis for the plot, which is basically a string of action scenes where Perseus and his companions battle whatever twisted creation comes next from the genius mind of Ray Harryhausen.I'm not sure of the budget with this film, but I'm guessing it was quite high with most of the cash being eaten away by the wealth of stars appearing. However, the photography is colourful and great to look at, the film is well made throughout and the various historical landscapes - generally swathed in atmospheric mist and fog - are all excellent, most being filmed in the Mediterranean to give an extra oomph. The only thing really lacking is a noticeable score along the lines of Bernard Herrmann, but I can forgive that.Harry Hamlin is cast as Perseus, the toned hero. It always amuses me how the Italians always had bodybuilders as their mythical heroes while us British made do with athletic but generally skinny guys along the lines of Kerwin Matthews and John Philip Law. Hamlin is probably one of the most wooden heroes in a film of this variety, and almost totally lacking in charisma too. Thankfully the producers recognised this flaw and so give him little emoting to do, instead just run around a lot and look pretty. Andromeda is played by Judi Bowker, a ravishing beauty who looks a lot like Linda Hayden, which is no bad thing.Also cast as a sidekick is the inimitable Burgess Meredith, who is still quite good even though he really doesn't have anything to do. Also appearing are the likes of Flora Robson and Freda Jackson as disturbing Stygian witches, extremely clichéd creations (and blind too) but still masterpieces of the grotesque. Being a post-Star Wars movie aimed at kids, they had to throw in a mechanical creation a la R2-D2, so we have to put up with an annoying tin owl which makes lots of stupid noises throughout the movie and seems more a home in a science fiction epic than a supposed fantasy. I remember thinking that the owl was really cute as a kid but it just grates now as an adult.Once again, Harryhausen's excellent stop-motion creations dominate the film and here are some of his finest models in his entire filmography. The best of the lot has to be the Medusa, a ferocious-looking creature who through the use of shadow actually manages to look quite terrifying, and certainly scared me LOADS as a kid. It certainly beats the Italian variant in MEDUSA VS THE SON OF HERCULES, what a load of rubbish that was in comparison! After Hamlin cuts off the monster's head (a great-looking prop too), we get to witness oozing blood from the neck wound, an image ingrained in my memory since childhood and still pretty disgusting to this day.Like the Baboon in SINBAD AND THE EYE OF THE TIGER, there is also a "good" creature here, which this time is the Pegasus, again a well-animated beast which is slightly overused. Also appearing are a giant vulture (good), a horned troll-creature (very good, and almost devilish in look), a trio of nasty scorpions, a two-headed dog (very realistic this one) and to top it all, a gigantic Kraken which threatens to give the colossal statue in JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS a run for its money. Other non-Harryhausen but fun effects include skeleton boatman Charon rowing across the River Styx (creepy, and a perfect representation of the Grim Reaper) and the destruction of Argos, complete with tidal waves and falling masonry - simply stupendous! Being the '80s, the audience demand for graphic violence was at a high, so we get to see the various creatures bleed a lot too as they are hacked to death by our heroes and there's a lot of general violence to enjoy. In all, CLASH OF THE TITANS was great fun as a kid and is still pretty enjoyable today, and even if it pales in comparison to Harryhausen's earlier work it's still a fitting finale for the master of stop-motion.

Every culture has their own legendary stories or epics. The most common of cultures that writers and filmmakers look at are from early Roman and Greek mythology. There's something about the ancestry of man at that time, in that location, of which intrigues peoples. It could be as complex as the pagan beliefs and laws or as simple as the way clothing was worn. The reasoning behind the gravitation towards this culture is less clear than the subject at hand itself (which is quite honestly weird). Nevertheless, there have been adaptations to the screen before this one based on this topic, but this particular adventure film is different for a number of reasons. It's still not perfect but is hard not to like.Viewers will be introduced to Perseus (Harry Hamlin), an abandoned boy who is saved by Zeus, king of the gods. Apparently, Perseus is also the son of Zeus, which kind of puts the story of Hercules into question. As Perseus grows up, Zeus informs him of his journey that'll make him great and forever make him a staple in history. The weird thing is, Perseus just accepts this. Obviously, the belief of signs and omens were highly regarded back then, but not even a hint of doubt comes into his mind. You know this could all be a trick Perseus? Besides, before being told about his possible future, Perseus lives the life of luxury as it was. What if he was lazy and decided that he didn't feel a need to take on this opportunity that the Gods presented to him? Then what?There are also several other little things that clearly were not verified in the screenplay that Beverly Cross wrote. Cross was also behind the more popular Jason and the Argonauts (1963). This is not to say that all of the writing doesn't make sense, it just contains strange truths that aren't confirmed until after the claim is made. The story does however have good pacing and keeps the spirit of adventure and discovery high. Surprisingly there are also a couple of parallels that can be drawn to Disney's Hercules (1997). Some being that Hercules and Perseus fight giant creatures, ride a flying horse named Pegasus, were the son of Zeus and most visible are the three blind witches that look into an all seeing eye (and they sound like them from Hercules (1997) too!). Did Disney take inspiration from this movie? The cast is another element to make note of - some went on to be known for other roles or were already known, while others disappeared completely. The completely vanished group belongs to the main stars, Harry Hamlin and his love interest played by Judi Bowker. These two do contain a filmography history but didn't bother go on to anything big even though this movie performed well. But the section of cast that did flourish or was already well known were Maggie Smith (who plays in the Harry Potter series), Ursula Andress (she didn't move on far but was known for her 007 roles) and Burgess Meredith (from the Rocky series). However, these are not the only stars on the screen. One of the key highlights to the film is effects master Ray Harryhausen's creature stop-motion animation. Of course by today's standards it seems out of date but that's because of the limited technology at the time. In fact, there's a good portion of the film that still looks rather decent as old as it is. The most memorable scene of the film would be the battle of Perseus Vs Medusa. My favorite was Bubo the mechanical Owl. As Mr. Harryhausen's last film, it shows he went all out in effort to impress. Harryhausen also was the guy behind the effects in Jason and the Argonauts (1963). Timothy Gee, although doesn't have a big resume for films, effectively edited the film so that it cuts between live- action and stop-motion without losing the illusion. Finally, I was surprised in Laurence Rosenthal's score. For a composer who spent most of his time doing TV music, is not half bad. It had a theme to Perseus and it sounded very heroic. It wasn't memorable but it did match the mood of the film easily. Watch more for nostalgic reasons if nothing else.It lacks clarity for certain truths and its main character seems to have no humanity for he just follows what the Gods say. But as a whole, the special effects, although now considered old, are still great to watch, it has a decent cast and it's a steady moving adventure.