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 (187 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6304111231
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #22,176 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

159 of 166 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.

23 of 25 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!

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Movie, but Warner Bros..Get Rid of Cheesy Snap Cases!!, July 24, 2002

By A Customer

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

Clash of the Titans is a great movie, and I'm so glad that it is coming out FINALLY on DVD. I remember seeing this for the first time when I was a kid and just really enjoying the film. All the monsters look great, and Madusa especially should look like she had a makeover on the DVD. Also, there seems to be some nice extras which I'm looking forward to checking out. However I was disappointed that it was Warner Bros responsible for Clash of the Titans because I knew then that this great movie was coming in a cheesy looking Snap Case. C'mon Warner Bros get with the program. I, along with many people that I know, hate those things, they are akward looking and just look plain cheap. They definitely don't look half as nice as Keep Cases. A petition should be made to make them change this.