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Post by hman on Feb 18, 2005 15:12:19 GMT -8
Clash of the Titans was cool enough. For some reason, however, the movie seemed really dark. Not necessarily in tone, but the whole appearance of the film. The Sinbad films and Jason and the Argonauts were all very colorful, vibrant films whereas Clash didn't seem that way. It must've the era and the tone of the era.
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Post by WaverBoy on Mar 23, 2005 22:49:33 GMT -8
I can't believe that, when discussing the merits and/or faults of CLASH, nobody has mentioned the excellent performance of Burgess Meredith as Ammon. Flawless character work, and easily the best performance in the picture. Except for maybe Miss Medusa's tour-de-force...
My only real beef with CLASH is the non-performance of Harry Hamlin. Without someone who at least has SOME sort of charisma in the lead, the picture is a bit crippled. Harry has nothing. No acting, no sword skills, no nothing. It seems like the only contribution he made was his insistence that Perseus use the sword to decapitate Medusa. Good job there.
Another of Ray's films with a horrible performance in the lead role is SINBAD AND THE EYE OF THE TIGER, which I consider to be the least of Harryhausen's films. Patrick Wayne is worse than Harry Hamlin. Yet, it's still intermittently watchable because of Ray's work, especially the wonderfully done baboon.
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Post by stareater on Mar 24, 2005 6:24:47 GMT -8
I thought the cast did a good job, for the most part. Meredith goes without saying, as he's usually on target in most of his performances. I agree about Hamlin (and the dreadful miscasting of Patrick Wayne in Eye of the Tiger), both cases of horrible actors getting parts they don't fit. Hamlin was obviously cast for his look more than any actual talent, as I believe he was a hot commodity at the time based solely on his looks. I found Judi Bowker rather bland as well, although she certainly had the beauty to play Andromeda.
It's funny, but this film seems to get ripped wherever the name turns up. I have a humorous bathroom book (one of the[i/ Uncle John's Bathroom Reader[/i] series) that has a list of famous sellouts, and includes Laurence Olivier, claiming he was taking any work he could in his later years and trashing Titans as one of the worst films ever.
I think one point that may explain the lack of respect for this film is that it has a made-for-TV movie feel (it always did for me, anyway). Ray's work is top-notch, but for whatever reason it still has that Movie of the Week aura about it, when compared to a film like Dragonslayer. It may be Hamlin's presence, as he's pretty much been a cheesy TV actor, and it may be that the cinematography leaves something to be desired.
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Post by Xenorama ™ on Mar 24, 2005 10:05:46 GMT -8
well, Harry DID tell Ray not to have the shield cut Medusa's head off, and to use the sword instead. so he gets credit for that from me, because having Perseus decapitate her by throwing his shield is a dumb idea (you can see it in the dreadful comic book adaption).
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Post by Shonokin on Mar 24, 2005 11:08:51 GMT -8
Along with Eye of the Tiger, Clash is the first (and last of course) Harryhausen movie I got to follow the progress of all the way through in various magazines, etc. So I was really happy to see it and thought it was great. It bolstered an interest in Greek Mythology and continued my fascination with SMA.
I think it holds up very well but I try to understand people who find it hokey.
You know, I've found that people under 25 tend to like the new Star Wars movies better than the "classics". Which to me is mind-boggling. BUT... People grow up with a certain aesthetic and I guess they find anything outside of that to be inferior to what they are initially raised with.
That being said, there are some not so great moments in Clash and it's pretty obvious that Hamlin had a hard time acting with invisible opposites. But it rolls along pretty well and is entertaining.
I do think that it is one movie that is very hard to do justice to on the small screen, as it is very impressive in a theater.
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Post by Gwangi on Mar 24, 2005 13:36:07 GMT -8
Yeah, I thought perhaps Harry wasn't as good as he could've been, but as David stated, he does deserve credit for getting the producers to change their minds about killing Medusa using his sword rather than the shield. Plus, it was cool to see him at the Harryhausen Film Festival at the Egyptian in 2003, where "Clash" was being shown, among others.
Burgess Meredith can do no wrong, IMO and many people, including Ray himself, thought it was Maggie Smith who actually stole the scenes in the Mt. Olympus segments, even from the great Olivier.
As for "Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger", yes, Pat Wayne was probably the least of the three actors to play Sinbad in Ray's films, but to me, he also came out quite likeable (perhaps a little too much!) that I could tolerate it. Hey, it's better than having Sinbad sound like Brad Pitt (when that animated feature came out a couple of years ago) and voiced him as a surfer-dude type!
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Post by Xenorama ™ on Mar 24, 2005 15:02:02 GMT -8
he was also better than the dork they had in the shortlived tv series in the mid 90s. Pat, i mean.
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Post by stareater on Mar 25, 2005 5:05:31 GMT -8
As long as we never see comedian Sinbad or Kevin Pollak playing the role of Sinbad, I guess we're in good shape.  "No, I mean the 'disorderly'. Hah! That's a little doctor joke we like to make around here. We also like Kevin Pollak." - Doctor from an episode of Family Guy |
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Post by stareater on Mar 25, 2005 5:21:30 GMT -8
Oh, by the way, John Phillip Law was my favorite incarnation of Sinbad. How could you not love a guy who starred in at least two MST3K episodes (Danger: Diabolik & Space Mutiny)? ;D
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Post by Xenorama ™ on Mar 25, 2005 10:07:31 GMT -8
me, i prefer Guy Williams.
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Post by Gwangi on Mar 28, 2005 13:02:15 GMT -8
Yes, he was pretty good as Sinbad and Zorro as well! Oh, by the way, John Phillip Law was my favorite incarnation of Sinbad. How could you not love a guy who starred in at least two MST3K episodes ( Danger: Diabolik & Space Mutiny)? ;D Speaking of John Phillip Law, I saw him last summer at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood, where they had a 30th anniversary screening for “The Golden Voyage of Sinbad”. He, along with Caroline Munroe (it was really her film festival) and director Gordon Hessler were all there. You really can’t tell from the movie, but I wouldn’t have realized how tall J.P. Law REALLY was! Easily 6”5’ or 6”6. The man was towering! Or is it that he's just normal size and I’m the one who’s too short!  He mentioned that he didn't start out in movies to be a cult actor, (which he eventually he did become), but is please that many enjoy his films. |
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Post by stareater on Mar 30, 2005 10:45:00 GMT -8
Watching Clash again for the first time in a while on Easter Sunday, Hamlin wasn't that bad, all told. He may not have come off as incredibly charming, but it wasn't the worst performance I've seen. He really wasn't as bad as I recalled. Judi Bowker, as Andromeda, was certainly the stiffest performer in the film.
It still has one of my favorite scenes in fantasy films (it had quite a few memorable scenes, at that): the scene near the end where Zeus relents and tells Poseidon to release the Kraken, and then reaches back into the model of the coliseum and stands the prone figure of Perseus upright. Cool stuff.
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Post by Xenorama ™ on Mar 30, 2005 11:08:09 GMT -8
that was a nice touch. in his book Ray talks about wanting to use a similar tool like the chessboard in JASON, so that's what they came up with.
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