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Clash of the Titans | 
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| Director: Louis Leterrier
Actors: Sam Worthington, Gemma Arterton, Mads Mikkelsen, Alexa Davalos, Ralph Fiennes
Studio: Warner Home Video
List Price: $28.98
Buy Used: $6.41
You Save: $22.57 (78%)
New (50) Used (39) from $6.41
Rating:  207 reviews
Format: Ac-3, Color, Dolby, Dvd, Widescreen, Subtitled, Ntsc
Languages: English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), English (Original Language), Spanish (Original Language), French (Original Language)
Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Region: 1
Discs: 1
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Running Time: 106 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: 883929106523
UPC: 883929106523
EAN: 0883929106523
Theatrical Release Date: March 26, 2010
Release Date: July 27, 2010
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Perseus, the mortal son of Zeus, battles magic, monsters and ancient gods to rescue beautiful Andromeda from a primeval sea monster.
Amazon.com
"Release the Kraken!" Ah, it could only be Clash of the Titans, the 2010 remake that retains the instruction to unleash the great beastie from the sea. The 1981 original boasted Ray Harryhausen's legendary stop-motion technique of animating various mythological creatures--it was his final feature project--and given the cornball approach of the movie in general, that was the main draw. The remake supplies new state-of-the-art special effects (released in 3-D) and a nicely muscular sense of momentum. Sam Worthington (the Avatar guy) plays Perseus, a demigod who doesn't know that Zeus (Liam Neeson) is his father. Perseus is selected to lead an expedition to find and slay the Medusa, lest Zeus's evil brother Hades (Ralph Fiennes, in fine slinking mode) rain down misery upon a seaport--and you just know that means the Kraken is coming. Ye gods, it's a mess, and we haven't even mentioned the witches and the harpies and the giant scorpions. But if we did, it would be clear that Clash of the Titans is a perfectly dandy popcorn epic, unpretentious and punchy. Director Louis Leterrier (Transporter 2) gets a fine rhythm going during Perseus's trek, and you can even forgive the hokey shafts-of-light-through-clouds look of Olympus. Leterrier also had the good sense to import the marvelous Danish star Mads Mikkelsen to provide mentoring duties to Perseus; Gemma Arterton and Alexa Davalos fulfill the eye-candy roles. It's up to individual viewers to choose which they prefer--Harryhausen's magically hand-wrought creations (his Medusa sequence is an absolute killer) or the 21st century's slick computer-generated variations. But nostalgia aside, it would be hard to deny that this is one case where the remake tops the original. --Robert Horton
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| Customer Reviews: Read 202 more reviews...
A Better Version / Less Loveable September 10, 2010
JEFF F. HAINES (Arcata, CA United States)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Remakes are funny things. People get excited during the previews but, on opening night, they often leave theaters disappointed.
Reviews of remakes are also funny things. It's possible for me to love the original movie but think it's a poor film (as with Clash of the Titans 1981), and it's possible for me to feel minimal emotion for the remake but think it's far superior to the original (as with Clash of the Titans 2010).
There's my review.
That's it, in a nutshell.
You can stop reading now.
But I can see you're still reading, so allow me to expound:
The new Clash of the Titans is a better movie. I don't remember enough of my Greek mythology to say how accurate the writers were to literature, but I do remember enough of my schooling to know that the 1981 film took liberties. That's okay. I don't mind.
The original film was quite cheesy. The acting was bad. The plot and pacing, slow. The fight scenes, sluggish.
But I loved the original. It was--forget whoever the actual director was--a Ray Harryhausen film. You just can't find that kind of visual effects anymore. The man was a god. A god who loved his work. Ray Harryhausen put his heart into everything he made.
Which is oddly what the Clash of the Titans remake was about: a god who loved his work. Zeus loved his creation, Mankind, although Man turned against him. The remake was also about love versus fear, about Man versus Olympian God, about demi-gods caught in-between.
I kind of liked the 2010 Clash of the Titans. It had a better story; more interesting action scenes; thankfully, no melodramatic love story; and even more thankfully, very little use of Bubo the owl.
The new endeavor sprung masterfully from the 1981 film, hitting most of the original beats. In the new version, we still get Calibos (more formidable than before), his severed hand, Argos, Andromeda, the one-eye witches, the gorgon, the Kraken, a few of the gifts from Zeus--and scorpions, and flying horses, and sword fights, and more! But the screenwriter(s) mixes it up, incorporating everything in a more logical order, in my opinion.
We get nice reversals, too. In one scene, the a soldier found a mechanical owl--Bubo from the original film--and asked, "What's this?" I answered him, shouting at my TV screen, "Gods, no! Not that freaking owl!" But simultaneously, another character in the film answered, "Nothing. Just leave it." And the first soldier then discarded the stupid owl.
Whew!
The directors of the film had reached into my heart, felt my hatred for that stupid plot device, and gave me what I wanted -- no Bubo.
At this point, I was loving the new film.
But it wasn't perfect. There soon came the obligatory action scenes that defy even mythic possibilities. I found myself bumped out of the story. I was thinking, "How could anyone survive that?" and "That would never happen, even in Greek mythology."
I must admit, though, while watching Perseus defy the claws of a giant scorpion, I couldn't take my eyes off the screen. As much as the B.S. action scenes will keep me from buying the movie on DVD, I WAS made to feel anxious the first time.
I did take my eyes off the screen during the climax of the film. (I poured myself a glass of wine.) I wasn't at all engaged. I knew the ending, and even when they changed the ending a bit, it didn't excite me.
Perseus accomplished his deed far too easily.
Note, whenever you reach the goal of the hero's journey, the hero shouldn't be able to simply throw a sword (so to speak) and end the conflict. The Star Wars prequels made this mistake. Star Wars IV, V, and VI will always prevail, because those light saber duels were battles of willpower, whereas the I and II battles were mere swordplay.
What did excite me about the 2010 version of Clash of the Titans is the new throughline. It's not a story about Perseus, a goody-goody demi-god who must save his love, Andromeda, from the Kraken. It's a film about Perseus, a god-hating demi-god who must save Argos incidentally, because his REAL goal is to get revenge on Zeus's brother Hades.
I love movies where the hero is after revenge (Kill Bill, for example), and even the mentor of the film doesn't tell him revenge is a sin. In fact, Io the demi-goddess said to Perseus, YOU REPRESENT THE BEST OF MAN AND GOD. She condoned his hateful quest!
Gotta love it.
The new throughline is a nice twist on a stale old tale.
I was giving this film 4.5/5.0 stars for the first sixty minutes. But the longer you watch this movie, the more you realize the filmmakers are ignoring all sorts of possibilities for real human drama.
I didn't quite understand why Zeus went from "Perseus doesn't love me, so let him die with the Argosians" to sending Perseus magical gifts. Had they played up the Darth Vader/Luke Skywalker aspects of this story, they might have engaged me longer. That's where the real drama should have been. This should have been a story about how a son defies his father, and it should have been about how the father deals with it. What they gave us was an easy ending. It may as well have been an afterschool special.
Although the payoff failed, I loved the setup. The new Clash of the Titans went where the original movie never bothered. Perseus was a demi-god, caught between two worlds, but he chose to be mortal Man -- "To Hades with the gods," he'd say! I liked this attempt at writing a GOOD STORY. It was a really good start at a decent screenplay.
In this screenplay, Perseus doesn't accept divine help (until later). He rejects it. He wants to prove that a human being is enough (a concept that made the movie Mortal Kombat succeed).
I would have liked it better had Perseus truly prevailed without ever using his gifts of Olympus (sent by Zeus). I'd have preferred it if Perseus had shown that Man does not need the gods, which was where the story was heading (at least originally). Had I written this new Clash of the Titans, I'd have made Perseus be tempted with Zeus's offerings, time and time again, but each time he'd deny the gifts and succeed anyway.
Ah hell. Let's be honest. I'd have written it just as badly as the professionals did. But in retrospect, I think the screenwriters made some poor choices. Only in retrospect would I have written the screenplay differently.
Despite my complaints, this movie was better than the original. But I won't buy it on DVD. Note, I HAVE purchased the 1981 Clash of the Titans. I've rewatched it, multiple times. Although I think the new film is better than the original, I must say I love the old film more than I do the new.
Maybe I'm just a Ray Harryhausen junkie. I admit it. It's true. Updated effects don't always make the remake. Sometimes a bad film triumphs because it has more heart.
CLASH OF THE TITANS 2010 September 10, 2010
JOYCE LEGRAND (USA)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
IT WAS AN OKAY MOVIE, NOT MUCH OF A STORY LINE. BETTER SPECIAL AFFECTS THAN THE OLD FILM WITH HARRY HAMLIN. BUT AS I SAID THE STORY LINE WAS POOR.
 Clash of the Titans (2010) (Blu-ray) September 8, 2010
Tony Khamvongsouk (Frisco, TX)
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
Movie - 4.0
While Clash '81 may be Ray Harryhausen's final legacy to a brilliant career and the center of reminiscence for many a child growing up or being born in that decade, I'm going to be honest and say I thought Clash '81 was a good, but not great movie. The reason being because I recently saw Jason and the Argonauts, a film that clearly surpasses Clash '81 in almost every conceivable category be it storytelling, special effects, overall production, and even BD presentation. 18 years after the fact and Clash '81 barely feels like an upgrade over Jason in terms of.. well, anything. The stop animation is barely on par, while the pacing and narrative are even a tad weaker, and yet it's still treasured just for the sake of nostalgia. When I heard a new version of Clash was being directed by Louis Letterier, I was pretty excited. Being familiar with his previous works I knew he came from an action background as a prot g under Luc Besson and that he'd easily find ways to improve the shortcomings of the original to make a more fulfilling fantasy epic. Aside from character and location names, that's about all both movies have in common. And in creating his version from scratch, I feel Letterier has managed to make a very good and entertaining action flick that's not so much a remake, but rather an adaptation for today's audiences. It's a darker, grittier, and more violent film with all sorts of new characters, themes, and special effects that make for better and faster-paced storytelling. Instead of the playful nature of the original where the gods were just bickering over superiority and toying around with their chessboard, or the way Perseus just slowly made his way from point to point with little to no difficulty, I actually felt a deeper sense of drive and purpose from this new version. For starters, the gods actually show emotion: desperation for the love/fear of the people and the power it gives them, jealousy, spite, and vengeance through deception (between Zeus and Hades), and even a little bit of humility (in what Zeus learns about man from Perseus). Meanwhile, the new Perseus actually has some character depth as well: his demi-god blood puts him at odds with the people he's trying to help, while his pride in being raised as a man makes him stubborn in accepting his god-given gifts and heritage, yet he still chooses to fight the oppressive rule of the gods and show them the virtues of being a man. These themes obviously don't get as much exposure as they should, what with a mere 95 minutes of screen time. But having set this foundation of ideals, hopefully the sequels will expand upon them. Much like Letterier's The Incredible Hulk, watch it for the action, but expect hints of story and character.
Video - 4.5
While the photography of Clash '10 does, indeed, have a kind of a processed look, it's actually not that bad. I would personally attribute it to something along the lines of visual effects and/or tweaks made during post-production that, at times, gives certain scenes either a kind of shiny or hazy look (like Mount Olympus and the gods' Saint Seiya armor or the ferry trip across the River Styx). But despite the near-grainless appearance, picture quality looks excellent. Colors from the costuming, set design, beautifully-shot backgrounds, and various creatures still possess a degree of vibrancy from the palace props and soldiers' gear, to the lush greens of the forest and fiery reds of Medusa's lair, to the murky brown scales and tentacles of the Kraken. Black levels are nice and inky, though not too deep, but with great shadow delineation, as seen in the black Pegasus or Stygian Mountain when the witches are introduced. Contrast provides for accurate brightness when need be, though the film itself tries to be a little too dark at times and, thus, loses some detail in people and objects leading to bits and pieces of softness. On the bright side, there don't appear to be any signs of Edge Enhancement or DNR, and the picture is completely free of artifacts and debris. CG integration is especially smooth, with highlights being the various appearances of Hades and, of course, the aforementioned Kraken. It should also be noted that 90% of the backgrounds are not even green screen, which amazes me that places like that even exist, so be sure to take those images in as you see them.
Audio - 5.0
Besides the cinematography and special effects, one of my favorite improvements with this new Clash is its sound. Granted the original, like many a Harryhausen feature, was a bit on the low-budget side of production, but it's nice to see and hear the differences in advancement. Dialogue is clear and undistorted through the center and does a great job staying audible amongst the action, while the growls of Zeus and the haunting whispers of Hades give the script a much-appreciated Thespian quality. Directionality has an excellent sense of depth with sounds and action filling their respective speakers when needed, most notably in the battle against Medusa as she rattles and slithers about her temple. Separation is also spot-on with effects and music dispersing equally through the fronts and rears to accompany the situation. While it's a shame Craig Armstrong was dropped as composer (love his work for The Incredible Hulk), Ramin Djawadi's stuff isn't so bad. I actually like his score for Iron Man, and it was nice to hear him try something with more orchestral instrumentation. If you like brass, expect to hear a lot of it. And finally, LFEs aren't as frequent as I expected, but they really pack a punch when they occur. The thundering of Zeus's bolts in the sky, the Scorpinochs battle, and the rising of the Kraken will give your subwoofer a thoroughly progressive workout as each scene unfolds and builds upon the narrative. The overall track may or may not be reference to some, probably depending on your standards for LFEs, but given that there really aren't a whole lot of instances for LFEs to shine in the first place, this might be enough for others.
Extras - 4.0
This is my second time ever for a Maximum Movie Mode (the first being Sherlock Holmes). And while it's a tad disappointing Letterier couldn't do the entire thing in person, I actually still liked the commentary, regardless. Instead of the 2-screen, 1-director approach, we get a 2-3-screen presentation where the movie plays bigger and the commentary/interviews play in a smaller screen and takes turns switching priority. In-between these segments, icons for Focus Features will pop up and allow the user to watch a branched-off making-of sequence that lasts about 2-4 minutes per Feature for about 35 minutes total. These Focus Features do not constitute the entire MMM, by the way, and can be viewed separately from the MMM itself if you want. In addition to the Focus Features, the MMM actually takes up a good majority of the film providing lots of cool factoids and opinions from the cast and crew about the filming, design, production, writing, stunt work, and just about everything else. Objectively, all the information probably would've made a fine behind-the-scenes featurette on its own. But to watch it in real-time during the movie is what I think really raises my appreciation the most. The MMM literally explains and expands on every little bit of the movie piece by piece, and I applaud everyone involved for their hard work and perseverance. To top it all off, there's also an 8-minute feature on Sam Worthington that talks about the fact that he did most of his own stunts (a little generic, but I applaud his toughness), deleted scenes that would've completely changed the context of the story, and an alternate ending that wasn't as good as I'd hoped. It's not a lot of extras in terms of quantity, but the quality of it for the MMM alone is worth a look.
Overall - 4.5
Nostalgia will probably be the deal-breaker for most people wanting to see this movie. If you prefer the original version for its light-heartedness and more campy demeanor, chances are you won't like this new version because of its inclination toward a darker, grittier atmosphere. If you're like me and one of the few fans of Letterier that can appreciate his forte for action while also realizing this is just the beginning of a trilogy, then maybe you'll like this version enough and forgive a lot of its newer elements in writing and character portrayal. With excellent video, reference audio, and a commentary feature that continues to amaze me, Clash of the Titans (2010) comes highly recommended.
Clash of the Titans Blue Ray September 7, 2010
Karen L. Phalen
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Received DVD promptly. Watched the movie, great special fx. It did freeze for a couple of seconds part way through.
 Clash of the Titans September 6, 2010
Vicki E. Newport (The Colony, Texas USA)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
My son, Josh is right about this "Clash of the Titans" movie is really good movie. It's not bad movie. I like it.
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