Clash of the Titans (1981)

Plot Outline: Perseus must stop Princess Andromeda from being sacrificed to the Kraken but needs a way to slay the massive sea monster. He must also do battle with Cerberus the two-headed dog, giant scorpions, the vengeful Calibos and finally Medusa, the gorgon, whose head he needs to turn the Kraken to stone.

The Review: This was a belated attempt by Ray Harryhausen to recreate the magic of his old films but it just doesn't work somehow. It's a bit of a mess at times and the plot constantly wanders. Perseus doesn't really seem to have a purpose when he encounters the various challenges - the only purpose seemingly being to show off a fancy stop motion monster (which I have no qualms about). The story isn't helped by a super-human cast featuring Laurence Olivier, Burgess Meredith, Harry Hamlin, Maggie Smith, Ursula Andress and a whole host of other big named stars. They don't do particularly well in their roles with the exception of the always-excellent Burgess Meredith, probably assuming this was a good pay day for them and they could play second fiddle to the stop motion effects (just as other actors had done in the previous Sinbad films). The creatures themselves are a mixed bunch, the pick being Medusa. The lighting and shadow effects on the creature are excellent and give it an eerie appearance. Harryhausen really put everything into that sequence to create a real moody moment. When you consider how intricate it must have been to move all the snakes on her head, plus Medusa herself AND make sure that the lighting is correct and continuity is followed. Other creatures resemble his earlier monsters, notably the Kraken which looks remarkably like the Ymir and the giant vulture which stinks of the Roc from 7th Voyage of Sinbad. But like the baboon from Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger, there wasn't much need for Harryhausen to turn some of the monsters into stop motion and could have saved himself work. For example Calibos is a man in make-up in close-ups but then turns into a stop motion model during other scenes. Surely they could have use the make-up a little more effectively and it would have saved Harryhausen a lot of time designing a creature he didn't need to do. Some of the creatures look pretty tame now and by 1981, the stop motion effect was wearing thin (especially with the new Star Wars era of special effects). But other than the stop motion creatures, there isn't anything to stop this from sinking like the later Sinbad films.

Final Verdict: Harryhausen's cinematic swan song is a decent way to go out on top but it's not his best work by a long way. However it marks the poignant end of stop motion as we used to know it and just an end to a whole era of filmmaking in general with the advent of quality special effects thanks to Star Wars. Clash of the Titans is innocent filmmaking - where the heroes were flawless and the villains were hissable; events happened because they simply could and magic and awe filled the screen.

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