Many of the most famous films legendary stop motion animator Ray Harryhausen worked on were produced by Charles H. Schneer. I normally couldn’t care less about who was a producer on a film, which is odd when I really think about it, as some producers have had a greater impact on many pictures than the director did. But I smiled wide when seeing his name as the first credit on 1981’s Clash of the Titans.
My expectations were high, as this partnership had previously resulted in such films as Jason and the Argonauts, The Valley of Gwangi and Earth vs. the Flying Saucers. And this film didn’t let me down. It is a callback to those classic films in almost every way possible.
The material is perfect for Harryhausen’s brand of effects, as this is set in the age of mythology. That provides the opportunity for all manner of stop-motion creatures: a flying horse, a cloven-hoofed monster, giant scorpions. The best of the lot, if not one the artist’s all-time greatest creations, is Medusa, who has multiple living snakes in lieu of hair.
I won’t pretend to know much about mythology, but I sensed the script plays fast and loose with it. Laurence Olivier is Zeus, and he is as horny and capricious as I have come to understand those gods were in the original tales. He had gotten busy with a human woman who, as the film opens, is being sacrificed to the sea, along with the illegitimate son, Perseus, they had together.
It was Poseidon (Jack Gwillim) who delivered the news, having witnessed this as a seagull and then changing to human form when he enters Zeus’s court. I didn’t know the Poseidon of legend could shape-shift like that, but I’m going to call him Seagullman from now on. I’m surprised they didn’t name him that and maybe try to spin him off as an action hero. It can’t be much worse that what the DC cinematic universe has been doing lately.
Olivier decides to save the woman and child, while destroying the people who banished them to the sea. This, despite the number of temples those people built as worship to him and his court. He commands Seagullman to raise the wind, stir the sea and, “Let loose the kraken!” Doesn’t have quite the ring of the remake’s “Release the kraken!”, for which I am grateful. It was bad enough having the later still be a catchphrase over a decade later. I’m glad we didn’t have the former permeating 80’s pop culture.
Some others in the court of Zeus include Maggie Smith, Claire Bloom and Ursula Andress. That’s a fair amount of star power for a movie like this. Alas, Bloom will not have much to do, while Andress does not have a single word of dialog, to the best I can recall. I wonder if she was irked by that, or enjoyed such an easy paycheck.
It is Smith who will have the lion’s share of the work, as the mother of a legitimate son she bore of Zeus, named Calibos. She’s not thrilled by all the attention and assistance he’s giving the bastard son instead of their own. And not only is he favoring the illegitimate son, but he’s even going to make the other into a literal monster.
There’s a wall of clay figures representing different characters in the film and Olivier takes down the one of Calibos. We will see the shadow of that figure as Olivier says what will be the fate of that character. Calibos will become monstrous, as we see from an animated distortion of that shadow. It is a brilliant manner of visualizing what is happening to that poor guy.
Smith is furious Zeus could do this to their son, and so does something to the bastard Perseus, who is now an adult played by Harry Hamlin. While asleep, he is transported to a land unknown to him. Here he meets Burgess Meredith, who will be our exposition dump and comic relief.
Despite Smith’s meddling, Hamlin will also receive three gifts from his dad, the supreme being. There’s a sword which can cut through stone. There’s a shield, which also acts as a Zoom call for Zeus, though apparently only for one time. I guess that is a “burner” shield. Lastly, there’s a helmet which will make the wearer invisible. Hamlin will lose the helmet at one point, so dad gifts him a mechanical owl that can distract enemies. Zeus, the original helicopter parent.
Hamlin will need these to rescue the princess Andromeda (Judi Bowker) from Calibos. That villain is an interesting combination of human actor (Neil McCarthy) and a stop-motion figure, though never in the same shot. She actually used to be in the love with the guy at one time, later telling Hamlin she found Calibos to be funny and intelligent. Conveniently, she didn’t appear to see those traits in him anymore once Zeus hit him with ugly stick.
Saving Andromeda from Calibos simply pisses off Smith, who declares Bowker must be sacrificed to the kraken 30 days hence. Awfully decent of her to give everybody time to form a plan to defeat that monster and prevent this sacrifice. But doing so requires getting information from three blind witches, who direct him to get the head of Medusa, and so on. It always amuses me how the structure of such tales clearly influenced games of the Nintendo era, with their goal-based storytelling and the occasional boss fight.
Two others accompany Hamlin to Medusa’s island. They have to cross the river Styx to get there, and so have to pay the ferryman to do so. I’m wagering the afterlife has exactly this arrangement, but with an “exact change only” policy. My plan to live forever is to always carry nothing smaller than a $100 bill, which means I won’t ever get on that boat. Our three heroes next have to battle a giant two-headed dog. All around the place are the stone remains of Medusa’s previous victims. We know why Hamlin is there, but what did all those previous victims come there for?
Let’s face it, anybody watching this picture is doing so for the special effects. The stop-motion is stellar, which is no surprise, given it is Harryhausen at work. The success of other kinds of effects is highly variable. Bluescreen work is largely subpar, with a glowing edge around objects. Then there’s Bubo, that clockwork owl I mentioned earlier. This thing is in a class of its own, and I imagine it polarizes audiences. I can see it either being somebody’s favorite element of the film or a great annoyance. Just from the sounds it makes, it is pretty much the R2-D2 of this world. Pegasus, the flying horse, is especially well-done, though every time we see it, I thought the movie was starting over, only this time preceded by the TriStar logo.
Clash of the Titans is a blast, not only channeling the spirit of Harryhausen pictures from two decades prior, but often looking like those earlier works, as well. Unlike modern films of this nature, I was easily able to follow the fairly convoluted plot and the performances are adequate all around. I may not have seen it yet, but I doubt my assessment of the remake would be as favorable.
Dir: Desmond Davis
Starring Harry Hamlin, Laurence Olivier, Maggie Smith
Watched on Warner Bros. blu-ray