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Clash Of The Titans
Studio: Warner Brothers
Year: 1981
Rated: PG
Film Length: 118 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 16X9 Enhanced Widescreen (1.85:1)
Ray Harryhausen is one of the greatest stop-motion
animators who has created fantastic films that have
amazed audiences. His trademark Dynamation method
made possible a whole genre of science fiction and
fantasy filmmaking. Often drawing from Greek and
Roman legends, Harryhausen created unprecedented
visions of imaginary worlds.
Some of my favorite childhood films were all
immortalized by the man that brought Mighty Joe
Young, Jason and the Argonauts and The
7th Voyage of Sinbad to life.
Harryhausen has once again created another
dazzling realm in Clash Of The Titans. This
1981 fantasy adventure has long been on the
request list of fans. Originally released by
MGM and acquired by Warner Brothers, the film
finally makes its way to DVD.
This is the story of Perseus, the son of Zeus,
king of the gods, and Dana", a mortal princess.
As the film begins, King Acrisius of Argos (Donald
Houston) has abandoned his daughter and child.
This outrages Zeus (Larence Olivier) who orders
Poseidon to destroy Acrisisus' kingdom. The
Kraken is released, and the city is destroyed.
Zeus spares the life of Dana and Perseus (Harry
Hamlin). When Perseus grows into a young man,
Zeus sends him a divine sword, shield, and helmet.
A face speaks to Perseus from the shield, and
tells him to fulfill his destiny. Perseus soon
discovers that destiny upon discovering princess
Andromeda (Judi Bowker) and the curse that she is
plagued with. In 30 days she is to be sacrificed
to the monster Kraken.
In order to fulfill his destiny and save the
princess, Perseus must face the challenges of
the three blind witches and Medusa, the monster
who turns to stone anyone who looks at her.
Perhaps his biggest challenge is Calibos, a
cloven hooved, horned creature with claws and
a tail, once Andromeda's betrothed but now
deformed by Zeus for his evil ways.
As Andromeda is led to the sea and chained up
as a sacrifice to the Kraken, it's up to Perseus
and the winged horse Pegasus to save the princess.
How is the transfer?
The transfer of Clash Of The Titans generally
looks quite good, but overall uneven. The shots
on Mount Olympus contain a lot of film grain and
the whites look very dirty. Many of the shots in
this film look a little hazy and unfocused with
facial tones running a little red. Meanwhile, many
other outdoor scenes in the movie look quite excellent
with brilliant colors and detailed clarity.
The overall rhythm of this DVDs transfer goes
from good to fair to good. I can't blame Warner
for any of this as it is apparent that all the flaws
are in the source material. I was amazed at how
the clarity of DVD brings out the flaws in many of
the effects shots. Underwater scenes were Poseidon
releases the Kraken look quite bad as you can plainly
see where the character is superimposed in the shot.
Please don't let any of the above make you wary
of the transfer. This is by far the best that
Clash Of The Titans has looked on any format.
The Dolby pro-logic surround is quite good, though
like the transfer, a little uneven. The rears
are very active throughout the film providing the
effect sounds. Even the more quiet effects such
as flames in Medusa's lair can clearly be heard
in the rear channels. Unfortunately, there were a
few instances that effect noises in the rear channel
were abruptly cut off and thrown back to the front.
Special Features
Warner has added some interesting material to
this disc that should please fans everywhere.
A conversation with Ray Harryhausen is
a very interesting opportunity to meet the legendary
man behind the magic. Harryhausen talks about
how his parents were great film buffs, bringing
him to see obscure films like Metropolis
and Lost World at his early age of 4. He
was fascinated by the worlds that these films
created, taking a special interest in mythology.
His early works in the 50's were monster movies
that featured lots of destruction, but soon
Harryhausen became tired of the genre, turning
his attention to Greek mythology, creating new
creatures for the Sinbad films. Harryhausen goes
on to talk about how much he enjoyed working with
the cast of Clash Of The Titans. He also
found more satisfaction introducing new film
locations in Europe. One of these coast line
locales can be seen in the very beginning of the
film. Harryhausen talks about the importance
of music in his films, and the many composers who
scored them. Harryhausen is very proud of his
legacy -- especially the fact that so many people
were influenced by his work as they were growing up.
(length: approx. 12 minutes)
A Map of Myths and Monsters explores the
characters that make up the film. It starts with
a map of 7 creatures. By clicking on each, you
are taken to an interview with Ray Harryhausen who
talks about the creation of that creature. For
instance, Calibos was originally only to
be an animated creature for the film. But extended
script dialogue led to an actor with a strong face
being used for the role. Harryhausen talks about
the realism brought to Medusa by upgrading
her look from former films, giving the clay model
an exquisite serpentine texture and adding flame
flicker to every frame to make her look more
realistic.
A cast and crew filmography offers extensive
resumes for 9 of the principal actors as well as
Ray Harryhausen, writer Beverly Cross, producer
Charles H. Schneer and director Desmond Davis.
Rounding up the extras is the film's original
theatrical trailer.
Final Thoughts
A typical damsel in distress story given new life
thanks to the creations of Ray Harryhausen, Clash
Of The Titans became one of the top ten hits of
the summer of 1981 (no small feat when you consider
that the summer was packed with other big hits like
Superman II and Raiders of the Lost Ark!)
Anyone who has grown up admiring the films of
Harryhausen should absolutely add this film to their
collection. This is a wonderful DVD with a transfer
that does its absolute best with the source material,
while adding an interesting amount of added content
thanks to the cooperation of Harryhausen himself.
Release Date: August 6, 2002