Encyclopedia of Fantasy (1997)
Clash of the Titans

Tagged: Film.

UK movie (1981). MGM. Produced by Charles H Schneer, Ray Harryhausen. Directed by Desmond Davis. Special effects: Brian Smithies. Visual effects: Steven Archer, Jim Danforth, Harryhausen. Screenplay by Beverley Cross. Novelization: Clash of the Titans * (1981) by Alan Dean Foster. Starring: Ursula Andress (Aphrodite), Claire Bloom (Hera), Judy Bowker (Andromeda), Susan Fleetwood (Athena), Jack Gwillim (Poseidon), Harry Hamlin (Perseus), Donald Houston (Acrisius), Freda Jackson (Stygian witch), Neil McCarthy (Calibos), Anna Manahan (Stygian witch), Burgess Meredith (Ammon), Laurence Olivier (Zeus), Tim Pigott-Smith (Thallo), Siân Phillips (Cassiopeia), Pat Roach (Hephaestus), Flora Robson (Stygian witch), Maggie Smith (Thetis), Vida Taylor (Danaë). 118 mins. Colour.

The Legend of Perseus (see Heroes) retold as a coupon fantasy (see Plot Coupons). The most astonishing thing about this movie is its release date: 1981. Aside from a rebarbative mechanical owl – a virtual clone of C3PO from Star Wars (1977) – this movie reads as if it had been made 20 years earlier, from jerky monsters to creaking plot, from poor pacing to dingy lighting. Clash of the Titans was the end of the line for Harryhausen's brand of special effects; his career might be better remembered had he desisted from making this final movie. [JG]

see also: Jason and the Argonauts (1963).