Clash of the Titans (1981)

I was eight or nine years old when the first version of the movie Clash of the Titans was first in theaters. As such, I was much too young to have seen it in the theaters. Having been produced in part by MGM, it's a movie that shows up from time to time on TCM. Until now, I never actually watched it, so the last time it showed up I finally recorded it and watche it.

The movie starts off with an establishing scene of a Greek king banishing his daughter Danaë, who has recently given birth. That child, Perseus, is actually half-divine, having Zeus (Laurence Olivier) as a father, although of course neither son nor mother actually gets to see Zeus. Instead, they get washed ashore on a more idyllic island where Perseus is able to grow up (to be played as an adult by Harry Hamlin). Zeus, being ticked, kills Danaë's fahter, and released the Kraken, a sea monster.

Once Perseus becomes an adult, the sea goddess Thetis (Maggie Smith) transports Perseus to a Phoenician amphitheater where he meets Ammon (Burgess Meredith), who seems to have a way with weaponry. However, Ammon is being helped by the gods, who also help Perseus. Or at least some of them do, because the gods seem to be at war with each other. Part of that involves Phoenician queen Cassiopeia and her daughter Andromeda, who is supposed to be engaged to Thetis' son. But Andromeda asks difficult riddles of any potential suitor, killing anyone who can't solve the riddle. Perseus is smart, and has a few tricks up his sleeve to figure out the answer to the riddle Andromeda is going to ask him.

This really ticks off Thetis' son, so he gets Mommy to use the Kraken to go after Andromeda before Perseus can marry her. It's really difficult to defeat the Kraken, but once again Perseus is bright and knows who at least has the answer of how to defeat the Kraken, even if those people can't actually do it themselves. To beat the Kraken, Perseus is going to have to get the head of Medusa and use it against the Kraken. Of course, as we all know, Medusa can turn everybody to stone if the look at her.

For a mythology-based movie, Clash of the Titans has a surprisingly convoluted plot. It's probably better known for being the final film from the master of stop-motion photography, Ray Harryhausen, who produced a whole bunch of mythological creatures, some of which work better than others. Pegasus is way too obviously against rear-projection photography, but the owl Bubo is rather better. The big-name actors don't have a whole lot to do, while Hamlin is clearly there because he looks like what circa-1980 though of as a sex symbol what with the wavy hair. Think Michael Beck in Xanadu except that at least Hamlin is slightly more capable of an actor.

All that said, Clash of the Titans is a movie that will appeal to younger viewers who may not care so much about the effects. Fans of Ray Harryhausen will also enjoy it, I think. But it is a movie that is not without its flaws.