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    Home»Movies»Movies by Decade»Movies - 1980s
    Movies - 1980s Movies - C 3 Mins Read

    Clash Of The Titans (1981)

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    Greek mythology returned to the big screen in 1981’s Clash of the Titans, a bid to lure in the same kids who had sat spellbound through the new mythology of Star Wars (1977) and The Empire Strikes Back (1980).

    clashoftitans_021An impressive cast of stage and screen legends were assembled for the task – Laurence Olivier, Maggie Smith, Claire Bloom, Jack Gwyllim, Ursula Andress and more – but for most kids in the audience, the real stars of the show weren’t even human.

    Famed stop-motion animator Ray Harryhausen – Jason and the Argonauts (1963) and The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958) – brought his skills to the film as well, delivering unforgettable versions of Medusa, the Kraken, giant scorpions, a two-headed dog and much more.

    The film chronicles the heroic journey of Perseus (newcomer Harry Hamlin), son of mortal mother Hera (Clair Bloom) and immortal father – Zeus (Laurence Olivier), chief among the gods on Olympus.

    The vengeful goddess Thetis (Maggie Smith), seeing Zeus’ affection for the boy, spirits Perseus away from his peaceful island home to Joppa, where he befriends an ageing playwright named Ammon (Burgess Meredith).

    clashoftitans_022In Joppa, Perseus also learns of Princess Andromeda (Judi Bowker), the beautiful daughter of Cassiopeia (Sian Phillips) whom Thetis has cursed. If Perseus (or any other brave suitor) can solve Andromeda’s riddle, the princess will be his. A bad guess, however, means instant death.

    In searching for an answer, Perseus comes across the winged horse Pegasus, who becomes another friend and loyal companion.

    The handsome Perseus does solve Andromeda’s riddle, but Thetis has another foul trick up her billowy sleeve: In thirty days, Andromeda must be sacrificed to the great Kraken, an enormous sea beast or Joppa will be destroyed.

    The only way to defeat the giant four-handed Kraken is with the severed head of Medusa, a Gorgon with a serpent-covered head whose stare turns any creature to stone.

    But a quest to find and retrieve the Gorgon’s head would be nearly as suicidal as taking on the Kraken itself.

    Along the way, Perseus overcomes the three Stygian witches with one eye between them and a monstrous two-headed wolf-dog, Dioskilos.

    Clash of the Titans made the occasional nod to Star Wars, throwing in a cute mechanical owl called Bubo for comic relief, but the focus was fully on grand spectacle, delivered with old-school special effects and classical, mythic storytelling.

    Unfortunately, the movie opened around the same time as Raiders of the Lost Ark and was obviously no match for it at the box office.

    Perseus
    Harry Hamlin
    Zeus

    Laurence Olivier
    Ammon

    Burgess Meredith
    Thetis

    Maggie Smith
    Aphrodite

    Ursula Andress
    Cassiopeia

    Sian Phillips
    Andromeda

    Judi Bowker
    Poseidon

    Jack Gwyllim
    Hera

    Claire Bloom
    Athene

    Susan Fleetwood
    Thallo

    Tim Pigott-Smith
    Calibos

    Neil McCarthy
    Hephaestus

    Pat Roach
    Acrisius

    Donald Houston
    Danae

    Vida Taylor
    Huntsman

    Harry Jones
    Stygian Witch

    Flora Robson
    Stygian Witch

    Anna Manahan
    Stygian Witch

    Freda Jackson

    Director
    Desmond Davis

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