Product Details

• Actors: Laurence Olivier, Claire Bloom, Maggie Smith, Ursula Andress, Jack Gwillim
• Directors: Desmond Davis
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
• VHS Release Date: August 6, 1996
• Run Time: 108 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (186 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6304111231
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #19,447 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

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  Video > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Mythological

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

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. --Ali Davis

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

155 of 160 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Great film, lousy DVD, May 15, 2003

By	josh bellin (Pittsburgh, PA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Clash of the Titans (Snap Case) (DVD)

I love "Clash of the Titans," but I'm terribly disappointed by the quality of this DVD. The "all-new digital transfer" that the manufacturer promises is quite possibly the worst transfer I've ever seen, enhancing the film's visual flaws while disguising its merits. In composite shots, live-action elements are so washed-out as to appear almost black-and-white at times, while stop-motion elements are garishly bright and crisp, looking more like cartoons than dimensional objects. This is particularly pronounced in shots of the flying Pegasus; the digital transfer so exaggerates the matte lines around the figure that it appears to be a paper cut-out plastered against the sky. Even the glorious Medusa segment suffers from these defects: what was, in the original (and on VHS), an atmospheric balance of rich darks and flickering red lights, becomes a clash of nearly impenetrable spots of shadow against grainy, pale-brown relief. I'm no authority on digital transfers, but my guess is that this one was done as quickly and cheaply as possible, the manufacturer's reasoning being (probably) that fans of Harryhausen will be so thrilled to have his films on DVD that they could care less what the films look like. Well, I was thrilled to have "Clash of the Titans" on DVD--but when the abysmal quality of the transfer interferes with the very effects that make the film great, my enthusiasm wanes considerably. I'd advise fans of Harryhausen to buy the video version, and to write angry letters to the manufacturer protesting their callous desecration of one of the master's greatest films.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars GREAT HARRYHAUSEN MOVIE DESERVES BETTER TRANSFER :-(, March 7, 2007

By	! MR. KNOW IT ALL ;-b "DR SHOCK" (TRI STATE AREA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Clash of the Titans (Snap Case) (DVD)

What a shame, this is Ray's last feature film and they give the man a kick in his pants with this transfer. This has some of Ray's best creations and it's ruined with a washed out grainy print. I could not bring myself to give it a lower rating. The film deserves 5 stars for Harryhausen's incredible work, but the DVD transfer keeps me from giving a full thumbs up. The movie is still very watchable and at a bargain price it should not be passed by, but it should have been much better! Thankfully they are starting to work on releasing his films on Blue Ray....I'll keep my fingers crossed that they do this gifted genius justice!

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic Mythologic Saga!, October 11, 2000

By	"vintage_girl" (Cambridge, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Clash of the Titans (Clam) [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This movie includes most of the major greek mythological characters and stories, and uses fabulous old-school special effects to bring them all to life. I used to love to watch old movies like the adventures of Sinbad the Sailor, and old Japanese faves like Godzilla, and this flick uses the same somewhat-cheesy but super fun style to bring Pegasus, Medusa, and other beasties of Greek mythology to life.

The cast is great, too. My faves are the young, hunky Harry Hamlin, and a much younger Maggie Smith.

This movie's been a favorite member of my collection for a long while, and if you like mythology, epic adventure, and/or classic creature movies, you'll enjoy this one for sure!