RainArgifel

Review

2007-06-21T23:45:00.000-07:00

You have a classic tale full of drama, passion, and adventure. A tale of universal archetypes that speak to everyone. A tale that has remained unfailingly popular for thousands of years. Why not spice it up with a wacky mechanical owl? Such was the thinking behind Clash of the Titans. Maggie Smith, Laurence Olivier, and Harry Hamlin (one of these things is not like the others...) star in a toga-ripper about a valiant hero, capricious immortals, and lots and lots of giant stop-action monsters. Perseus (Hamlin) is the favored son of the god Zeus (Olivier), but he has unwittingly ticked off the sea goddess Thetis (Smith). Just to make things worse, Perseus falls in love with the lovely Princess Andromeda, who used to be engaged to Thetis's son. Soon Perseus is off on one quest after another, with Zeus helping, Thetis hindering, and lots of innocent bystanders getting stabbed, drowned, and squished. Of course, the whole thing is just an excuse to show as much of Ray Harryhausen's stop-motion animation as possible, and good thing too. It's an old technique, but it still looks pretty darn cool, and it means the cast can just relax and do a bunch of reaction shots. Don't use this one to study for that big classical mythology exam, but if you just turn your brain off and enjoy the Kraken, it's pretty good fun.

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Flah Scenes

2007-06-21T23:42:00.000-07:00

When Andromeda wakes up to find Perseus has left for the Isle of the Dead without her, we see her from behind standing and looking in the direction he's gone, and her long hair is tucked in under the blanket around her shoulders. When we see her from the front, her hair is clearly pulled out from under the blanket and blowing in the wind.

Anachronisms: As the destruction of Argos begins, heavy winds blow the tunic of a man pulling a donkey on a rope to reveal a pair of modern-day gym shorts underneath
.
Revealing mistakes:

When Perseus follows the Vulture carrying Andromeda through the air, there is a shot that shows the Vulture flying over the city. Two peasants can be seen walking up a hill at the bottom of the screen. When Persus enters the screen from the top left, riding Pegasus, the two peasants suddenly disappear and instantly reappear a few steps back, then repeat their walk up the hill. In the much later scene when Perseus rides Pegasus to save Andromeda from the Kraken, the same two peasants are briefly visible in the exact same position.
When Perseus tames Pegasus, in the close-up of him jumping onto Pegasus' back, it is clearly an ordinary white horse, not the winged Pegasus.
Continuity: During the fight with Dioskilos (the two-headed dog), Perseus slashes its right neck, leaving a large, bloody wound. When Diokilos falls off the ledge, the wound disappears, and then reappears in the next shot.
Anachronisms: When Perseus is invisible, he leaves footprints which are those of modern shoes, not sandals.

Later on in the movie, when Perseus and his guards are fighting the two-headed wolf, his two guards put a slash in the cheek of the wolf. There is a brief splash of blood shown on the left head of the wolf on the right side of its face. Then a couple seconds later, the blood is completely gone.
Continuity: When Calibos releases the scorpions from the Medusa's head, there are three of them. One kills a soldier, one is killed by Thallo and one is killed by Perseus. Then the fight ends. The one which killed the soldier disappears mid-battle.

Factual errors: In the scenes after Perseus leaves to go on his journey, in some of the shots, the soldiers are wearing the proper Grecian helmets. However, in other shots, the soldiers are wearing helmets that would have been worn by Roman Centurions.

Plot Summary

2007-06-21T23:11:00.000-07:00

King Akrisius ("he who lacks judgement") of Argos, expresses anger towards Zeus for impregnating his daughter, Princess Danae. He then casts Danae and her infant son Perseus out to sea in a wooden chest. Unknown to everyone, a white bird who witnessed everything was really Poseidon, who informs Zeus of Akrisius' unfaithfulness. Zeus orders Poseidon to release the Kraken to destroy Argos by flooding his entire kingdom. While Argos is completely devastated, Danae and Perseus are safely brought to the island of Seriphos where they live a happy life and Perseus grows up to manhood.
Calibos - the spoiled son of Thetis, the goddess of the Sea - was a handsome young man destined to marry Princess Andromeda, the daughter of Queen Cassiopeia; thus, one day, he would become ruler of the rich city of Joppa and eventually all of Phoenicia. Zeus entrusted Calibos to care for the Wells of the Moon; Calibos instead hunted, trapped and killed everything that lived there, including Zeus’ sacred herd of flying horses, leaving only the stallion Pegasus. As punishment, Zeus transforms Calibos into a monster; thus he is shunned and forced to live as an outcast in the swamps and marshes. Thetis, furious at her son's fate, vows that if Calibos cannot marry Andromeda, then no other man will either.
Perseus is brought by Thetis from his island home on Seriphos to Joppa. He learns of Andromeda and her plight: she cannot marry unless her suitor successfully answers a riddle, which is given to her by Calibos. Any suitor that fails to answer the riddle correctly is burned at the stake. Using a number of gifts given to him by the gods, including the winged horse Pegasus and a helmet given to him by Athena that renders its wearer invisible, he discovers the answer to the riddle. Calibos nearly captures him, but Perseus cuts off his hand with a sword (another divine gift, this one from the goddess Aphrodite).
At the next ceremony for a new suitor, Perseus enters, guesses the riddle correctly and presents Calibos's severed hand, winning Andromeda. At the wedding, Queen Cassiopeia foolishly compares Andromeda's beauty to that of Thetis herself, which angers the goddess. Thetis demands the life of Andromeda as a sacrifice to a sea monster (the Kraken) in 30 days; otherwise, the Kraken will destroy Joppa.
Perseus seeks a way to defeat the Kraken, who is known as the Last of the Titans (a reference to the race of monsters that pre-dated the gods.) He visits the Stygian Witches, three blind women who disclose that the only hope of survival in combat against the Kraken is by using the head of another monster, Medusa the Gorgon. Medusa, once a beautiful woman, was transformed by a jealous Aphrodite into a monster so horrible that mere eye contact will turn any living creature to stone, including the Kraken. She makes her home on the Isle of the Dead, which lies across the River Styx, at the very edge of the Underworld. Perseus travels there and kills her, removing her head, though he must contend with Calibos along the way - whom he finally kills with Aphrodite's sword (which Perseus had earlier used, fittingly enough, to behead Medusa).
Just as Andromeda is about to be sacrificed to the Kraken, Perseus appears astride Pegasus and turns the Last Titan to stone with Medusa's head, which is then cast into the ocean where it can do no more damage. Perseus frees Andromeda and they live happily ever after. The hero and heroine become constellations at the decree of Zeus, who does the same for Pegasus and Cassiopeia.
Clash of the Titans is a 1981 fantasy movie based on the myth of Perseus.

Perseus has to rescue Andromeda, before she has to marry a monster. Zeus has set up a few tests for Perseus on the way, like capturing Pegasus, defeating Medusa, and finding a way to kill the dreaded Kraken... Written by RainArgifel@gmail.com The Greek myth of Perseus and Andromeda in a realistic presentation of ancient Greece, featuring an all-star cast of actors and many classic mythological creatures like the winged horse Pegasus and the deadly Medusa whose glance turns people to stone. Written by RainArgifel@gmail.com
By answering a seemingly impossible riddle, Perseus, the son of Zeus, wins the hand of the Princess Andromeda in marriage. Trouble appears in the shape of Calibos, the princess's former love, and his mother, the Goddess Thetis. In order that the dreaded Kraken not be released, Andromeda has to be sacrificed and Perseus searches for the Medusa; her head is the only thing that can stop the Kraken

CLASH of the TITANS (1981)

2007-06-21T23:09:00.000-07:00

RainArgifel:
Oh impetuous... foolish... Ah dear, the young. Why do they never listen? When will they ever learn?
Zeus: Perseus has won. My son has triumphed.
Hera: A fortunate young man.
Zeus: Fortune is ally to the brave.
Thetis: What a dangerous precedent. What if there more heroes like him? What if courage and imagination became everyday mortal qualities? What will become of us?
Zeus: We would no longer be needed. But, for the moment, there is sufficient cowardice, sloth and mendacity down there on Earth to last forever.

Zeus: Perseus and Andromeda will be happy together. Have fine sons... rule wisely... And to perpetuate the story of his courage, I command that from henceforth, he will be set among the stars and constellations. He, Perseus, the lovely Andromeda, the noble Pegasus, and even the vain Cassiopeia. Let the stars be named after then forever. As long as man shall walk the Earth and search the night sky in wonder, they will remember the courage of Perseus forever. Even if we, the gods, are abandoned or forgotten, the stars will never fade. Never. They will burn till the end of the time.
RainArgifel: Call no man happy who is not dead!