Clash of the Titans (1981)

By CinemaSerf

I remember going to see this at a cinema in Glasgow aged 13 and loving every minute of it. The combination of some great Greek myth and some superb Ray Harryhausen stop motion animation was enthralling. 40-odd years later, it's still a great action adventure film that kicks off with a rousing orchestral score from Laurence Rosenthal then introduces us to poor "Perseus" (Harry Hamlin) who is living peaceably with his mother on a quiet island, unaware that he has a great destiny. Helped along the way by the rather mischievous "Thetis" (Maggie Smith) he arrives in the city of Joppa where he solves a riddle that enables him to free the city - and his beloved princess "Andromeda" (Judi Bowker) from a terrible curse. Snag is, her mother goes a wee bit over the top with the thank you speech and "Thetis" literally loses her head. Another task, even more perilous than the first looms pitting "Perseus" and his merry band against the Stygian witches, the three headed "Cerebrus" and then the dreaded "Medusa" herself. Sure, Sir Laurence Olivier hams it up a bit ("Zeus") but there are engaging efforts from Burgess Meredith as his sagacious mentor "Ammon"; Siân Phillips as the the Queen "Cassiopeia"; Dame Flora Robson is one third of the all seeing witches with a voice you instantly recognise and there is even a glimpse of Ursula Andress too. The animations are the stars, though - "Bubo" the mechanical owl; Pegasus the flying horse and "Kalibos", the cursed half man half lizard all make for a great series of friends and foes for our intrepid hunters who must rush if they are to save his love from the giant "Kraken". Certainly, time has maybe not been so kind to some of then cinematography and neither Hamlin nor Bowker are much good - but it's still a cracker of a fantasy that I heartily recommend.