Clash Of The Titans (1981) | Fantasy I Sci-Fi I Books I Films I World Building (2024)

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Clash of the Titans is a classic 1981 fantasy film that tells the story of Perseus, a mortal man who is thrust into a quest to save the city of Argos from the wrath of the god Zeus.

Clash of the Titans is a classic 1981 fantasy film that tells the story of Perseus, a mortal man who is thrust into a quest to save the city of Argos from the wrath of the god Zeus.

The film is based on Greek mythology, and it features a host of iconic characters, including Zeus, Athena, Hades, and the infamous Medusa. The special effects are impressive for the time, with stop-motion animation used to bring the mythical creatures to life.

One of the standout aspects of Clash of the Titans is its cast. Laurence Olivier gives a commanding performance as Zeus, bringing a sense of gravitas and authority to the role. Harry Hamlin is also strong as Perseus, bringing a sense of heroic determination to the character.

The plot of Clash of the Titans is fairly straightforward, with Perseus embarking on a series of trials and challenges in order to defeat the monsters and gods that stand in his way. The film does a good job of introducing the various characters and mythological elements, and it builds to a satisfying conclusion.

Overall, Clash of the Titans is a classic fantasy film that is still worth watching today. Its special effects may not hold up as well as some more modern films, but its strong cast and iconic characters make it a timeless tale of good versus evil.

There are numerous departures from the original Greek myth, of which some notable examples are:

• The sea monster sent to kill Andromeda is called the Kraken, a Scandinavian name. The Greeks called it a Ketea.
• Perseus tames and rides the winged horse Pegasus, a feat that was accomplished in Greek mythology by Bellerophon. In the original myth, pegasus is born of Medusa’s blood when Perseus decapitates her with his sword, and he does not ride pegasus at all. Nevertheless, portrayals of Perseus riding pegasus long predate the film.
• The movie shows Perseus throwing Medusa’s head into the sea in the end. In the Greek story on returning to Seriphos and discovering his mother had had to take refuge from the violent advances of Polydectes, Perseus killed him with Medusa’s head, and made Dictys king., then presents it to Athena, who placed it on her shield.
• Bubo, a mechanical owl that flies heavily and tweets and beeps around is not in the original myth
• No mention is made of Medusa’s two sister Gorgons, Stheno and Euryale. Also, the home of Medusa is an island in the Underworld, beyond the river Styx, as opposed to the original story, which places her in Libya.
• Dioskilos, the guardian of Medusa’s shrine, a ferocious dog with two heads is possibly based on Orthrus or Cerberus. Harryhausen had intended originally to make the creature Cerberus, but found that a three-headed minature was too cumbersome to animate.
• On the cover of the DVD, Perseus is wearing a helmet when facing the Kraken. However, in the film, the helmet was lost in a swamp never to be found again. Also, the helmet had the power to make its wearer invisible. Therefore, the cover art should not depict Perseus as wearing the helmet, because to do so would, as per the mythology delineated in the enclosed movie, render Perseus invisible and therefore absent from the cover art. Apparently, the artist and film studio did not take this into account when designing the DVD cover art.
• Both Medusa and the Kraken were referred to as Titans (hence the title of the movie), but actually neither Medusa nor the Kraken were Titans in the Greek myths.
• Cassiopeia boasts that her daughter is more beautiful than Thetis (Thetis was a Nereid, but also the future mother of Achilles) as opposed in the myth it was the Nereids as a group, and it was herself not her daughter she compared.

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