*** Official CLASH OF THE TITANS (2010) Discussion Thread

BTW, I thought the 3D was pretty mediocre since it was 3D-ified from the original 2D footage, and it just looks odd when they are trying to produce the 3D effects, like the footage with Hades early in the film in Olympus, and in the sea.  Even the effects in the Medusa segment failed to impress.

I could say something positive.  But I really can't think of anything I could say I won't feel bad about saying later.  This film has one of the most gimmicky, terrible 3D effects I can remember.  It looks, in general, blurry and bad.  The effects add nothing to the story, and they don't create an environment.  This is just doing 3D to get extra money out of your pocket.  Don't be suckered.

 

The film as a whole is generally not so good.  Some interesting sequences, but it is a very paint by the numbers effort that never surprises and you never really relate to any character.  I checked my watch three times.  That's a bad sign.

At first I was ok with studios doing the 3D conversion thing as long as they provided the 2D option too. Now I'm 100% against this.

My largest AMC I go to has it on 4 screens, 3 are in 3D and cost a whopping $20.50. Working in the industry I get tickets for $7.95 now, but 3D pics are exempt. The fourth screen is 2D and happens to be their smallest screen in the complex. I'm extremely picky about what auditorium I watch a movie in when I go to any multi-plex. If it is the small screen I go to the next time it is on the big screen otherwise I might as watch at home.

What's worse is that the small 2D screen is completely sold out for the night, this is at 4pm. The 3D screens are all under half compacity so far.

I really hope this 3D trend bites them in the ass. I want to see the movie, but the theaters aren't really giving me that option.

Most of the reviews I have read recommended the 2-D version and not the 3-D version for that reason.

I saw it in 3-D and while the 3-D was lousy, I can't imagine that the movie isn't lousy in 2-D too.

My thoughts too ( I have not seen the movie yet). If it is bad one way, would it not be bad the other. They stated that the 3-D was a distraction and took away from the picture. It was nothing but filler and blur.

Perhaps watching it without the distraction of bad 3D would have allowed one to focus more on the movie instead. Even in 2D the film wasn't great by any means, but I thought it had some entertainment value. I also thought some of the comic relief was well done and well placed, and the scene with Bubo got some laughs out of my audience. I was amazed that so many got it. The effects were generally good.

In the deficit column, Sam Worthington was completely boring as Perseus. B-o-r-i-n-g. The Mount Olympus scenes were pretty laughable, although I really don't know how they could have been done any better. Didn't much care for Ralph Fiennes as Hades. He looked stoned throughout the film. The whole scorpions as transports thing was laughable as they oh-so-slowly ambled up the hills with their passengers, because they had to reach their destination "as quickly as possible". I could have walked it faster.

All-in-all I would have liked a little more fantasy and a few more creatures. For a movie featuring silly Greek gods venting their glowing, pearly rage at humanity while their Shakira curls shook in anger, Clash of the Titans sure did take itself seriously.
Edited by dpippel - 4/5/10 at 5:21pm

 Saw this in regular 2d.
Clash 80 was one of my all time movies growing up.
I enjoyed this for some mindless special effects and good action.
But there are some serious problems.
First, Worthington is just not a leading man, he was fine in Avatar but 1/2 the time he was a cgi character.
Just like Terminator Salvation, he just looks like a soccer hooligan lunkhead.
The story is very confusing if you don't know the basic premise.
As with the first one, Titans have nothing to do with the story but I let that pass.
The other gods are given almost nothing to do, almost a cameo.
They even merged Poseidon's story into Hades.
And Zeus is so confusing, does he wants to help or create the problems?
The editing seems very sloppy, the guy in the 80s version who turns into a devil/animal creature is now Perseus' biological mother's husband.
But it is never explained how he got that way.  You see him struck by lightening and that is all.

 "The editing seems very sloppy, the guy in the 80s version who turns into a devil/animal creature is now Perseus' biological mother's husband.
But it is never explained how he got that way.  You see him struck by lightening and that is all."

That's the explanation.  When Zeus zaps you, anything can happen.  Remember, this is based on myth, not history.  

As for the film, I thought it an improvement on the original.  Sam makes for a more rugged hero than Ham.  Io is a better romance partner; Andromeda doesn't even know Perseus so you have to buy that love-at-first-sight thing, and then they're separated for the whole movie.  At least this change allowed us to see the two characters relate to each other.  And I love Ray Harryhausen, but the original really showed the limitations of the technology, re: interaction with the environment.  I liked how when Persus and Pegasus were chasing the demon-thingies, you would hear hoofbeats as he made contact with various surfaces.  And, sorry -- no Bubo!

You're right about the limitations of the technology Don, but the cast was fantastic. Laurence Olivier, Maggie Smith, Claire Bloom, Ursula Andress, Burgess Meredith, Sian Phillips, Tim Piggot-Smith, Flora Robson and more! Doubt if this cast will be of that calibre, they wouldn't be able to afford it!

Still love to watch it despite the technology.

 It's been a while since I've seen it, but I don't remember any of that quality talent being given anything that led to a knockout performance.

Finally caught the 2D presentation. (so glad I didn't experience this is FauxD)  What a let down. Not much really to say about it other than I really really want to see a full blown God of War movie.

A knockout performance in a Greek God fantasy/adventure film?  These type of films aren't exactly written for Oscar nominated performances.




Crawdaddy

 "These type of films aren't exactly written for Oscar nominated performances."

Isn't that what I said?  It's odd for Fred to point out the high calibre cast in the original Clash -- it just screams "waste!"