Clash of the Titans (1981 film)
1981 fantasy film featuring Ray Harryhausen's final stop-motion work.
Clash of the Titans is a 1981 epic fantasy adventure film. Desmond Davis directed it, and Beverley Cross wrote the screenplay. The story loosely adapts the Greek myth of Perseus. The cast includes Harry Hamlin, Judi Bowker, Burgess Meredith, Maggie Smith, and Laurence Olivier. The movie features the last stop-motion visual effects work by Ray Harryhausen, who also co-produced with Charles H. Schneer. It was a joint production between the United States and the United Kingdom. Released in theaters on June 12, 1981, it earned $41 million in North America, ranking as the tenth highest-grossing film that year. A novelization by Alan Dean Foster came out in 1981. A 3D remake with the same title was released by Warner Bros. on April 2, 2010.
**Plot**
King Acrisius of Argos locks away his daughter Danaë out of jealousy over her beauty. After Zeus impregnates her, Acrisius sets Danaë and her newborn son Perseus adrift in a wooden chest. In revenge, Zeus commands Poseidon to release the Kraken, a giant Titan sea monster, to destroy Argos. The Kraken kills Acrisius in the destruction. Danaë and Perseus wash ashore on Seriphos, where Perseus grows up.
Calibos, the cruel son of the sea goddess Thetis, is engaged to Princess Andromeda, daughter of Queen Cassiopeia of Joppa. For his crimes—including destroying Zeus’s sacred flying horses, except for Pegasus—Calibos is transformed into a deformed monster. To get back at the gods, Thetis transports the adult Perseus to an abandoned amphitheater in Joppa. There, he befriends a soldier named Thallo and an elderly poet, Ammon. Perseus learns that Andromeda is cursed: any suitor must correctly answer a riddle devised by Calibos. Zeus gives Perseus a helmet from Athena that makes him invisible, a magical sword from Aphrodite, and a shield from Hera. After taming Pegasus, Perseus follows Calibos’s giant vulture, which carries off Andromeda’s spirit during her sleep, to learn the next riddle. Calibos discovers him and attacks. In the fight, Calibos loses his left hand, and Perseus loses the helmet.
The next morning, Perseus appears as a suitor and correctly answers the riddle—the answer is the ring on Calibos’s amputated hand—winning Andromeda’s hand. Since Thetis cannot directly harm Perseus, Calibos demands she unleash the Kraken on Joppa instead. At the wedding in Thetis’s temple, Cassiopeia boasts that Andromeda’s beauty su
- Release date
- June 12, 1981
- Director
- Desmond Davis
- Writer
- Beverley Cross
- Starring
- Harry Hamlin, Judi Bowker, Burgess Meredith, Maggie Smith, Laurence Olivier
- Special effects
- Ray Harryhausen (stop-motion)
- Box office (North America)
- $41 million (10th highest-grossing of 1981)
- Countries
- United States, United Kingdom
Quick Facts
- Director
- Desmond Davis
- Writer
- Beverley Cross
- Based On
- Perseus
- Producer
- Charles H. Schneer / Ray Harryhausen
- Starring
- Harry Hamlin / Laurence Olivier / Judi Bowker / Maggie Smith / Burgess Meredith / Ursula Andress
- Cinematography
- Ted Moore
- Editing
- Timothy Gee
- Music
- Laurence Rosenthal
- Studio
- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer / Charles H. Schneer Productions
- Distributor
- United Artists / (United States and Canada) / Cinema International Corporation (International)
- Released
- 1981 · 6 · 12 · United States · 1981 · 7 · 2 · United Kingdom
- Runtime
- 118 minutes
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The film was the idea of writer Beverley Cross. In 1978, Andor Films submitted a copy of the script to the British Board of Film Classification, seeking advice on how to secure either a 'U' or an 'A' certificate. The draft script included scenes that the BBFC considered would be unacceptable under those certificates, including the Kraken tearing Pegasus to pieces and Andromeda appearing naked during the climax. Changes to the script and some cuts to Perseus's final battle with Calibos were made, and the film secured the 'A' certificate: 'Adults only' (children admitted only if accompanied by an adult).
Columbia Pictures were initially set to distribute the film but dropped the project during pre-production due to concerns about the script and lack of a major star, not solely because of cost. MGM agreed to distribute and co-finance, but the film was primarily produced by Charles H. Schneer and Ray Harryhausen's company, not solely financed by MGM.
Reader's Guide
Clash of the Titans is significant as the final film featuring the stop-motion animation of Ray Harryhausen, who also co-produced. Harryhausen's creatures—including Calibos, Pegasus, Bubo, Dioskilos, Medusa, scorpions, and the Kraken—represent a culmination of his career. Roger Ebert called the film Harryhausen's 'masterwork'. The film's Medusa, with the lower body of a snake rather than legs, was noted by Stephen R. Wilk as differing from any previous representations. Despite Bubo's similarities to R2-D2 from Star Wars, Harryhausen claimed Bubo was created before Star Wars was released. The BBFC noted that Harryhausen's effects might appear a little 'old hat' to those familiar with Star Wars and Superman. The stop-motion troglodyte figurine used in Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977) was cannibalized to make Calibos. A novelization by Alan Dean Foster was published in 1981, and a 3D remake was released by Warner Bros. on April 2, 2010.
Did You Know?
- The characters of Calibos and Bubo the mechanical owl were original creations not derived from Greek mythology.
- The stop-motion troglodyte figurine used in Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977) was cannibalized to make Calibos.
- Harry Hamlin threatened to leave the production when producers wanted to rewrite the scene where Perseus cuts off Medusa's head.
- The film's Medusa has the lower body of a snake, differing from any previous representations.
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