Clash of the Titans

It's always difficult to review something in 1999 which was made 18 years earlier. The first thing that people do is to criticize the special effects. Does this mean that every movie made before computer graphics should be rejected out of hand. Should we start by throwing out The Wizard of Oz because the flying monkeys used piano wires? It ultimately gets down to whether there is a story worth telling and how well that story is told. Clash of the Titans is not a masterpiece. It does, however, tell a pretty good story. The characters are interesting and the thread of mythology is interesting enough to carry it to its conclusion. The special effects are the stop action kind that were the only thing available at this time. Believe me, they were a lot of fun when the movie first came out.

This tells the story of Perseus who is not as well known in mythology as say Hercules, Theseus, or Jason, but his story is a fun one. The quest for the evil Medusa, the need to figure out a way to defeat her without being turned to stone, the evil Calibos (a complete creation), and, of course, the beautiful Andromenda (Judi Bowker, who is absolutely stunning) is the prize. It is paced nicely and the scenery is pretty breathtaking. The music is also very nice. I enjoyed the creatures. I liked the boatman and the river of death. I liked Pegasus, I liked the sound effects. But I don't mind suspending my disbelief.

The downsides are numerous but I think they have more to do with what the director chose to do. The gods and goddesses are stiff and uninteresting, including Laurence (anything for a buck) Olivier. Some pretty important actors to throw away at these Olympian debriefings. They could have lost the owl. He is a mini version of R2-D2 with his silly metallic bleeps and erratic actions. I'm sure they did this for the kids but it really diminished the integrity of the story. Still, if you allow yourself, you can have a lot of fun with this film.