Review : Clash of the Titans

Release the Kraken



Louis Leterrier's remake of Clash of the Titans, the 1981 cult favorite that fused Greek mythology with sci-fi theatrics, is a grand experiment in the ancient art of alchemy, a big-budget attempt to spin fanboy nostalgia for a 30-year-old novelty into contemporary box-office gold. The main ingredients in this ambitious concoction are a potent arsenal of CGI weaponry and the star of the biggest movie ever, Sam Worthington, who inherits Harry Hamlin's role as the heroic Perseus. But it's what's missing from the formula that ultimately dooms this remake.



After an awkward half-hour or so as it struggles toward a visual style to represent the world of Greek mythology, "Clash of the Titans" kicks into action with a battle between human warriors and a giant scorpion. Then it's off to the races as our hero, Perseus ("Avatar's" Sam Worthington), must vanquish increasingly lethal monsters in a quest to rid humankind of the cruel and mettlesome gods who would rule man for all eternity.

Solid teamwork by a host of digital animators, special effects personnel, art directors, hair, makeup and prosthetic designers and game and athletic actors make "Clash" a popcorn movie that reaches back to the fantasy epics of old and forward into the digital future, where the word "unimaginable" no longer exists.



Warner Bros. should reap a worldwide whirlwind of boxoffice lucre with this fanciful adventure. The major drawback, especially now, when 3D is all the rage, is its feeble effort in that department. Added as an afterthought in postproduction, the 3D barely registers. Few moviegoers will think it's worth the extra bucks.



Clash of the Titans redux mimics the original film's epic ethos and preference for spectacle over all else, but its storyline differs dramatically. Perseus is still the half-breed product of a one-night stand between the god Zeus and a human hottie, and he still must to defeat the monstrous Kraken in order to save the lovely Princess Andromeda. Almost everything in between, however, has been altered - and not necessarily for the better.











It's a pity the idea didn't occur in preproduction, as the opportunities for real 3D excitement exist in virtually every frame. The film's mythological world has rugged scenery -- shot in Tenerife (a resort island off the coast of Africa), Wales and Ethiopia -- and otherworldly battles between men and beasts that fill the screen with a mosaic of unbridled action.



Perseus' dilemma, unknown to him until the action begins, is that he is the mortal son of Zeus (Liam Neeson), king of the gods. Raised by humans, he insists he belongs with them, but he will need godlike powers to rescue humanity in a dual clash between gods and men and between Zeus and his vengeful brother, Hades (Ralph Fiennes), god of the underworld.



The story sends Perseus on a quest to save Argos, the cradle of civilization, and Princess Andromeda (Alexa Davalos), whose sacrifice might quell the wrath of the gods, angered by the independence the humans, which they created, exhibit toward their masters.



Escorted by a small fighting force lead by Draco (Mads Mikkelsen), Perseus must travel and confront a king-turned-hideous slayer (Jason Flemyng), the rampaging scorpion, the half-human, half-snake Medusa and finally the most feared monster of all, the Kraken.



It's certainly not easy being a demi-god. At least by his side he has a spiritual guide and guardian angel, Io (Gemma Arterton), who looks like she'd make a hot date if things ever settled down.



The film is least successful translating Mount Olympus and the council of the gods to the screen. It looks more like something one might encounter in Las Vegas with its fake Greek pillars and campy atmosphere. Indeed, Neeson's Zeus is outfitted in gleaming armor that shines worse than one of Liberace's jackets.



When Zeus -- or for that matter any character, man or god -- lands on earth, things are more photorealistic, so the camp factor diminishes. The digital creations are marvels, and French-born director Louis Leterrier ("The Incredible Hulk") pulls all the visual elements together in creating a dark though credible mythological world.



The original "Clash of the Titans" (1981) was a last hurrah for Ray Harryhausen, the stop-motion king of such 1950s, '60s and '70s movie extravaganzas as "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad," "Jason and the Argonauts" and "One Million Years B.C." Sadly, his preeminence in stop-motion animation and creation of wondrous monsters was by then eclipsed by filmmakers who had fallen under his thrall as youngsters, most notably George Lucas, whose "Star Wars" films made Harryhausen's special effects and grainy matte plates look outdated.



Although he paid a kind of homage in "Clash" to the new visual masters by inserting a mechanical owl that replicated the role of R2-D2, Harryhausen never made another feature. All this is briefly referenced in the new "Clash" with a winking line that occurs when the warriors are packing for their journey. A soldier pulls out a mechanical owl and asks what to do with it. "Leave it behind," he is told. Indeed, the Harryhausen world of movie magic has been left behind long ago by today's remarkable digital artists.

Opens: Friday, April 2 (Warner Bros.)

Production: Warner Bros. Pictures presents in association with Legendary Pictures a Thunder Road Film/Zanuck Co. production

Cast: Sam Worthington, Gemma Arterton, Mads Mikkelsen, Alexa Davalos, Jason Flemyng, Ralph Fiennes, Liam Neeson

Director: Louis Leterrier

Screenwriter: Travis Beacham, Phil Hay, Matt Manfredi

Producers: Basil Iwanyk, Kevin De La Noy

Executive producers: Richard D. Zanuck, Thomas Tull, Jon Jashni, William Fay

Director of photography: Peter Menzies Jr.

Production designer: Martin Laing

Music: Ramin Djawadi

Costume designer: Lindy Hemming

Special effects supervisor: Nick Davis

Special effects/animatronics supervisor: Neil Corbould

Editors: Martin Walsh, Vincent Tabaillon

Rated PG-13, 106 minutes

Reference: http://comingsoon-boxoffice.blogspot.com/2010/04/this-film-is-relaese-in-2010.html

CLASH OF THE TITANS

A Review of James F. Simon's What Kind of Nation: Thomas Jefferson, John Marshall And The Epic Struggle to Create a United States (2006)



Thomas Jefferson and John Marshall were two of the most important men in our nation's history. They both served in the American Revolution, Jefferson more famously as the author of the Declaration of Independence and as diplomat, and Marshall as a junior officer in George Washington's army. Their careers, however, would intersect when they both reached their pinnacle. Thomas Jefferson as President of the United States and John Marshall as the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. The battles between the Jefferson Administration and the Marshall Court were critical in shaping the government that we know today. In his work, What Kind of Nation, Simon describes these battles and recreates the world from which they had been fought.



Since Jefferson in this stage of his life, his political career from the 1770s onward, is better known even amongst us plain general knowledge historians, I found some of his descriptions on Marshall's career far more interesting. George Washington's recruitment of him as a congressional candidate, during a visit to Mount Vernon, with the former president's nephew Bushrod, is one such adventure.

"Over the next four days, Washington flattered, cajoled, and entreated both men to agree to become candidates for Congress. Bushrod could not, and did not, refuse his esteemed uncle. Bust Marshall balked, even when Washington arrange another festive banquet in his honor in nearby Alexandria. He must make good on his debt, Marshall told Washington, and a seat in Congress would not allow him to do so. Finally, on the fourth day, Marshall decided to leave before sunrise to avoid another confrontation with his mentor. But Washington, anticipating his guest's early departure, greeted him on the piazza-in full military uniform-and made a last plea to Marshall." p.68

Marshall would not serve in Congress long. President Adams makes him the country's new Secretary of State, after getting rid of his previous Hamilton-dominated Cabinet officers. After Adams stunning defeat to his own vice president, Thomas Jefferson, in the election of 1800, Adams begins to stuff the court with Federalist judges, appointing his own Secretary of State, Mr. Marshall, to the top job.



This sets the stage for the great battles that take place between the two American icons. The most famous of these is without a doubt, Marbury vs. Madison. The circumstances for this are very odd, and Simon points out in his book there were many reasons that the Chief Justice could have abstained from the case. Marshall was the Secretary of State whose commissions his predecessor refused to deliver. However, he carefully danced around those issues and gave the most important decision ever. He did not rule against the Jefferson Administration, in fact, they received what they originally asked for. He also ruled a part of the law, the part that gave the Supreme Court more power no less, unconstitutional.

"But although Marshall had satisfied the Republicans' short-term interests by rejecting Marbury's claim, he had purchased an enormous piece of constitutional real estate for the Court. Marbury v. Madison established the Court's authority to declare an act of Congress unconstitutional, a power that would prove to be of historic significance in securing the institution's parity with Congress. Marshall's opinion also served notice that the Court, not the president, would be the ultimate judge of claims or executive privilege, an authority of seismic proportions." p.187

Political battles raged the removal of justices sought through the method of impeachment, once successfully with John Pickering, once unsuccessfully with Samuel Chase. Ironically, the presiding officer of the impeachment trials was outgoing Vice President Aaron Burr who Thomas Jefferson and the Democratic-Republican Party had dumped in favor of George Clinton. The vice president had just been just been acquitted in a murder trial over the death of Alexander Hamilton*. Simon describes a Vice President Burr who is eager to have on grandee final on the stage of American politics, and give Thomas Jefferson more fits**.



A few years after his tenure as vice president, Burr is on trial himself for alleged treason to the country, the judge in his trial was none other than Chief Justice John Marshall who was riding circuit as Supreme Court justices did in Marshall's time***. Simon tells this story in stunning detail and great analysis.

"The Burr prosecution produced an ironic reversal of roles for Jefferson and Marshall. The president, author of the Declaration of Independence and a supporter of many of the individual rights contained in the Bill of Rights, pursued Burr and his associates with a vengeance that ignored basic civil liberties. The chief justice, whose major libertarian concern was the protection of private property, became the vigilant defender of criminal suspects' constitutional rights." p.258

In his battles with Alexander Hamilton, one can conclude that Thomas Jefferson won in life and fame but Alexander Hamilton ended up with the nation that he, not Jefferson, wanted. With John Marshall, Jefferson is still more famous nationally and internationally, but Marshall's career as chief justice surpassed Jefferson's presidency by twenty-six years and his life by nine; in addition, it was Marshall's view on the Constitution that prevailed, not Jefferson's. With a brilliant narrative, James Simon brings these epic legal battles from the past back to life.



*Burr had killed Hamilton in a now famous duel, but the jury ruled it was a 'fair fight' and he was not guilty of murder.



**As if almost stealing the election of 1800 was not enough.



***This process ended in the early twentieth century.





{Video taken from PBS documentary The Supreme Court}

Reference: http://jeremyshistoryreviews.blogspot.com/2010/04/clash-of-titans.html

Clash of the Titans (2010)

Normally I'm all about 3D summer movies. I get sucked in by the trailers, set my expectations low, and walk out feeling satisfied after munching on a few pounds of popcorn. Well, I'd heard from every party that Clash of the Titans was absolutely the pits. But my good friend was celebrating a very important birthday and wanted to watch it because the original Clash was his favorite movie as a kid. I didn't mind because I'll watch anything with Greek mythology.



I'll save you the time and say that yes, the new Clash of the Titans is pretty terrible. Is it the worst movie I've seen so far this year? Probably not. Compared to Percy Jackson, to which I assigned the grade of "D," Clash is probably about comparable. There was no suspense or good action. If anything, there was anti-suspense. I found myself chuckling most of the way through and cheering only for Pegasus sightings. I like flying horses, don't you? Compared to the original the only aspect that was improved upon in this version was the visuals. The plot is weak, the acting is pathetic, and some of the lines are just terrible.



Yes, that is Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes, not just Liam Neeson playing both Zeus and Hades. The receding hairline on poor Ralph is horrific by the way. I had a hard time taking the Lord of the Underworld seriously with that hair. I doubt you will be able to either.

Reference: http://jonyangorg.blogspot.com/2010/04/clash-of-titans-2010.html

Clash of the Titans

Sucks.



Wow, that was one of the worst movies I've seen in a long time. The only reason I didn't leave and got anything out of it at all was due to the fact it was time alone (out, in public) with the wife sans baby, it was her birthday present to me, I liked the original as a child, and it was my first time seeing a movie in 3D.



The script was terrible, as was the plot - but that was true of the first film, too. The wife chortled half way through that the movie was an adolescent boy's (metaphorical, hyperbolic) wet dream - giant scorpions, sword fights, boats, kings, monsters, myth, etc. This is true, and I had a rather too extended period of infatuation with D&D, et al, so... Like D&D, they also threw in total non sequitors like jinn. Huh? "Hey, it's old and magically mysterious and cool, let's throw that in there, too. Any way to fit in the pyramids or the Celts, too? That stuff always sells."



If a movie is going to be that bad with production costs (and aspirations) that high, they should have really great special effects (Medusa was terrible, so, too, were the jinn and the gods' silvery outfits) and spring for some really, supremely, almost embarrassingly beautiful women - which they didn't. (If they had had one or two really hot European or Latin chicks I think they could have just squeaked it by as tolerable eye candy, but alas, all they had were the pretty girls from some West End production of something or other).



It also felt like the director had spent too much time in the theatre - a lot of the scenes may have worked on stage, but on film they were an odd combination of too little action and over the top, all at once. Whoever he was, he ain't no Peter Brook; this adaptation blew chunks. As for the actors, they really needed a few slightly unbalanced Grotowski and Lecoq devotees, heck, even a student of Michael Chekhov.



It was also sort of embarrassing to see Ralph Fiennes, Liam Neeson and Pete Postelthwaite in such dreck, but hey, Sir Laurence Olivier was in the first one along with Claire Bloom and Dame Maggie Smith. (Incidentally, I once did a master class with Claire Bloom on the performance of Shakespeare's sonnets; I received no corrections). I told the wife I thought the original Clash of the Titans might have been the last film Olivier made before he died; she said it probably killed him.



It may be a good renter, a good rainy Saturday afternoon on TV movie to drowse in and out to, and maybe (?!) a good movie to see in the theatre if you're looking for a completely brainless thing to do.



But, wow, what a crappy, crap-house, super crap-o-la movie. I'm a little embarrassed I saw it , in public, and paid Manhattan prices to do so. Ouch.

Reference: http://orrologion.blogspot.com/2010/04/clash-of-titans.html

Clash of the Titans *1/2

Director: Louis Leterrier

Cast: Sam Worthington, Gemma Arterton, Mads Mikkelsen

Jason Flemyng, Polly Walker, Hans Matheson, Luke Evans

Alexa Davalos, Nicolas Hoult, Danny Huston

Ralph Fiennes, Liam Neeson



Imagine for one second that you're living in ancient Greece, with no television, internet or movies and all you have to entertain yourself are stories.

These stories of course won't tell you about mundane events but about things so fantastical that not only do they make your jaw drop to the floor but also serve as explanations of what's going on in the world around you.

Now before getting too deep into the concept of myth, imagine that centuries later you get these stories, but they are being told by someone who has great editing software, satisfying CGI but not an ounce of imagination.

This would sum up the experience of Clash of the Titans, a remake of the 1981 camp classic which tells of the struggles between men and deities in ancient times.

Sam Worthington (the go to guy for ordinary men-with killer calves-turned unexpected hero) plays Perseus, a demigod, son of Zeus (Neeson) and a mortal woman, who is chosen by the people of Argos to save them from the wrath of the Kraken.

The beast will be released by, god of the underworld, Hades (Fiennes) to teach humans not to defy the rulers of the Olympus.

Of course Hades has secret plans of his own (how could he not when played with such delicious wickedness by Fiennes?) and while Perseus has his adventures down below, the gods go through their own drama.

It should suffice to sum up the film's quality to say that you often might want more of the Olympian drama (probably owed to the quality of the actors playing them) than the struggles of Perseus who seems to fulfill cliché more often than prophecy.

Worthington lacks qualities to make his character interesting; when someone tells him that he has the "best of both worlds" they must be referring to sculpture and athleticism, because he lacks any inkling of humanity and doesn't have the grandiosity to be godlike. The other human characters fare equally, with princess Andromeda (Davalos) being little more than an ornament (while straying greatly from the myth and the original film) and the people Perseus encounters being nothing more than an assortment of great actors (Mikkelsen, Walker and Postlethwaite come to mind particularly) in tepid roles.

Perhaps the film's biggest flaw is in fact its constant ability to underwhelm. With or without added visual dimensions the film never transports you to another place. Visuals for this kind of movie should feel mythical, the ones here are yet another version of what was done in The Lord of the Rings trilogy and 300 to greater effect.

Action sequences are done in the recurrent style of making as many cuts as you can, which never gives us time to grasp the unique aspects of the creatures Perseus fights and every moment that promises excitement is minimized by the director's tendency to make everything seem rushed and easy.

How can a story of its kind be passed on to others when there is no sense of heroism or any special qualities to it?

In the end Clash of the Titans sadly never seems able to comprehend what epic means.

Reference: http://movieskickassblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/clash-of-titans-12.html

OG Clash of the Titans desktop icons

Clash of the Titans desktop icons, including Bubo, designed by Anthony Piraino.



*Find more desktop icons here.



*Buy Clash of the Titans posters at eBay.

Reference: http://superpunch.blogspot.com/2010/04/og-clash-of-titans-desktop-icons.html

Watch Clash of the Titans Movie

Watch Clash of the Titans Movie


Starring:

Sam Worthington

Gemma Arterton

Alexa Davalos

Liam Neeson

Ralph Fiennes



Clash of the Titans Synopsis:

In "Clash of the Titans," the ultimate struggle for power pits men against kings and kings against gods. But the war between the gods themselves could destroy the world. Born of a god but raised as a man, Perseus (Sam Worthington) is helpless to save his family from Hades (Ralph Fiennes), vengeful god of the underworld. With nothing left to lose, Perseus volunteers to lead a dangerous mission to defeat Hades before he can seize power from Zeus (Liam Neeson) and unleash hell on earth. Leading a daring band of warriors, Perseus sets off on a perilous journey deep into forbidden worlds. Battling unholy demons and fearsome beasts, he will only survive if he can accept his power as a god, defy his fate and create his own destiny. Watch Clash of the Titans Movie Online.

Reference: http://linkmoko.blogspot.com/2010/04/watch-clash-of-titans-movie.html

Clash of the Titans

Oh yeah! Oh double-yeah!! Oh MTF-YEAH!!!



If you haven't seen this movie It's your loss, because this movie rocks! I know most people will disagree with me but I must say I enjoyed this movie more than AVATAR, really!



I didn't have a lot of expectations going to this movie. The whole 3D thing is really getting to me and I thought this was going to be one more boring use of the technology just to make us pay more� Boy was I wrong! Louis Leterrier (the director behind the Incredible Hulk and Transporter) did something that I think most directors could not do. With only 70 million dollar (and I say only because most blockbuster movies now cost 100 million) he provided us with a solid, interesting and fun ride!



I must declare this was the week-end of Greek mythology for me. I just ended God of War on the PSP and I was amazed how much the concept design was really close, and with a tad of Dantes Inferno as well. People tend to not like when video-games come close to the movies but the way I see it they are becoming more and more alike� and I don't think that's a bad thing. When you see LOR (that's Lord of the Rings for all you non fans) nobody criticizes how much is close to the book.



If you can make a movie close to a book, close to a comic, or close to a video game, you only honor the material. Feeding of the creative vibe you know?



Anyways� The movie is a good remake of the hold version of the 80's and I (for once) was really and utterly surprised. Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson and Ralph Fieenes never saw this one coming!



I give it a 5 out of 5!

Reference: http://ironwill-nelson.blogspot.com/2010/04/clash-of-titans.html

Movie Review: Clash of the Titans

Ah, Hollywood, how they love to butcher history and mythology. If you haven't been bothering to keep up, Hollywood decided to pillage their own vaults for ideas again and came up with a remake of Clash of the Titans, a movie produced in 1981 that tells the story of the ancient Greek hero Perseus� badly. Well, for a simple action-fantasy movie it wasn't all that bad, but it certainly didn't strain too hard to follow the mythological story accurately, and the modern remake doesn't try any harder. In fact, the modern remake makes exactly the same mythological errors as the original, and then adds some more. The movie also has a rather muddled message, so it's really not all that impressive for anything but its special effects, and even those aren't exactly ground-breaking.



The spoilers are about to start flowing, so now would be the time turn away if that matters to you.



The original Clash of the Titans, if you don't already know, involves the goddess Thetis taking offense when Queen Cassiopeia brags that her daughter, Princess Andromeda, is even more lovely than the goddess. As the Greek gods were wont to do, Thetis takes offense and informs the people of Argos that she's sending the Kraken - the hit-beast of the gods - to destroy Argos, a fate they can avoid by chaining Andromeda out on the beach as a sacrifice to it.



The remake takes divine petulance a step further by having the gods behave so irresponsibly that all of humanity is rebelling against them and destroying their temples - which is a problem, since the gods derive much of their power from human worship. The exception is Hades - the god of the underworld - who has learned to thrive on human fear instead. Seeing the human rebellion as an opportunity to overthrow Zeus, he manipulates the situation for his own benefit. When the insolent people of Argos proclaim the beauty of Andromeda, he announces - in Zeus's name - that she must be sacrificed to the Kraken or the city will be destroyed. In so doing, he expects the human lack of respect to turn into full-blown hatred (which will deprive Zeus of power) and outright terror (which will increase his own power).



With the plot thus set, the sequence of events of the two movies begins to converge. Perseus goes on a quest to behead the gorgon Medusa so he can use her petrifying gaze to defeat the Kraken. Motives and details vary (and I won't go into them at length), but the gist is much the same. The main difference is in the muddled message of the remake.



The original didn't really have a message; it was just a wacky adventure to slay a monster. The sequel tries to introduce a theme revolving around human independence and immortal responsibility, which is potentially interesting if you're following the religion-versus-secularism conflict in modern culture, but the movie can't seem to make up its mind whether to follow through on that plot and have Perseus succeed purely on his mortal merits or go through a "character arc" in which Perseus learns to accept his godly heritage. In the end, he doesn't really do either, which makes me wonder why the writers introduced this personal conflict in the first place.



As for the butchering of mythology, the actual myth of Perseus goes something like this:

• Danae, the mother of Perseus, was the daughter of King Acrisius', not his wife. Acrisius had them sent out to sea to die in an effort to avoid a prophecy that his grandson would eventually kill him (that never works, by the way). Both Perseus and Danae survived the sea journey to end up in Seriphus.



• Seriphus had its own problems, as the king there - Polydectes - had his lecherous eye on Danae. Perseus was a master c*@#-blocker, though, so Polydectes tricked Perseus into promising to kill Medusa, which he figured would be a sure way to get the youth killed.



• Seeing his son in a trap, Zeus took steps to make sure Perseus had the means to accomplish the quest. He arranged for him to have a sword and shield (with a mirror-polished inside surface), a pair of winged sandals, a helmet that turned him invisible (provided by Hades, incidentally - see below), and a bag suitable for toting around a severed monster head.



• Guided by the advice of the Graeae (the oracles with only one eye among the three of them), Perseus found Medusa's lair and ambushed her in her sleep (sorry, no epic battle, folks).



• On his way home he happened to see Andromeda chained to the rocks as a sacrifice to the Kraken. The offense that got her there, incidentally, was being reckoned more beautiful than the Nereids, sea nymphs who complained to Poseidon when the word got round. Perseus - after extracting a promise from Andromeda's father that he could marry her - intervened to save her. That's right: the Kraken was just a target of opportunity, not the object of Perseus's quest.

Other bits of mythological ignorance:

• Hades was somber, not evil, and he actually liked ruling the underworld. As I recall, he chose the underworld as his domain (he, Zeus, and Poseidon drew lots to see who would get first choice).



• Drops of Medusa's blood spilled by Perseus during his post-beheading travels caused poisonous snakes to develop in various parts of the world. Not exactly giant scorpions, but far worse raping of mythology occurs in these movies.



• Pegasus belongs in the story of Bellerophon, not the story of Perseus.



• There is no story from Greek mythology that involves "jinn" in any way whatsoever.

Final verdict: It's fun to watch the pretty pictures, but you might want to turn your brain off when you see the title screen.

Reference: http://runolfr.blogspot.com/2010/04/movie-review-clash-of-titans.html

Clash Of The Titans

Watched this movie a couple of weeks ago but recently I guessed I'd been bitten by the 'lazy bug'!!! As far as this movie concern, I heard a lot of mixed reviews as usual... Some said nice while some others totally hated it... I guessed I'm the one who fall into the 'LIKE' category...



As I mentioned previously in my other blog posting, I really liked movies regarding Greek mythology... Zeus, Poseidon, Athena, Medusa, Hades and etc... So automatically this movie falls into my 'MUST WATCH' list of movies...



Although this movie is available in 3D, I opt for the 2D version instead because a lot of people said that the 3D effect is really minimal... In my opinion, I find this movie quite entertaining and I will recommend this movie to those that like Greek mythology... No great, but at least it's not boring!!!

Reference: http://nothingmuchdave.blogspot.com/2010/04/clash-of-titans.html

Clash Of The Titans

Year: 2010

Director: Louis Leterrier

Cast: Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Gemma Arterton, Mads Mikkelsen, Alexa Davalos, Jason Flemyng, Pete Postlethwaite





The trailer to this movie has to be the most kick ass trailer of the year, featuring non-stop action accompanied by rock music in tune. It's pretty hard to say no to watching the film after witnessing that.



Clash Of The Titans is a remake of the 1981 film that starred Harry Hamlin in the lead role, and featured stop motion animation effects, which was great in its time, but outdated compared to the Avatar level effects we have now. The story is based on Greek mythology, about Perseus, the half human son of Zeus, King of the Gods, who lives a normal life with his human family as a fisherman.



Then one day, his family is killed by Zeus' brother Hades, simply because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Hades was attacking a group of men who destroyed Zeus' statue. Men have grown weary of the gods' actions and now seek retribution. Hades strikes at the kingdom of Argos and threatens to unleash his pet beast, the Kraken on them unless they sacrifice their princess, Andromeda.



The king of Argos learns that Perseus is the son of Zeus, and asks him to lead his men on a journey to find a way to kill the Kraken. Joining them is Io, an immortal who has watched over Perseus since he was born. They embark on a journey to see the Stygian witches, who may know how to kill the Kraken. However, Hades has other plans, which include killing Perseus and overthrowing Zeus.



After seeing this film, I must say that Greek mythology is indeed fascinating to behold. We have gods, demigods, beasts and many otherworldly creatures to look out for here. With Louis Leterrier, the man behind The Transporter and The Incredible Hulk at the helm, Clash Of The Titans is nothing short of exciting action and splendid effects. There isn't a dull moment in this film as we constantly move from one setpiece to another, one battle after the next, so it doesn't overstay its welcome.



Having an all star cast sure helps a lot too. Sam Worthington once again becomes the reluctant hero he has played before in Terminator Salvation and Avatar, which means that he doesn't really have anything new to bring to the table, but what's important is that it works. Liam Neeson succeeds in being the regal Zeus while Ralph Fiennes is effective as the corpse like Hades. Initially I thought Fiennes would channel Voldermort into his role, but thankfully he doesn't, at least not too obviously. I also thought Gemma Arterton would be a disastrous choice for any role in any film, but she isn't too bad as Io here. I still think she needs acting lessons though. Mads Mikkelsen gives a memorable performance as Draco, leader of the army that accompanies Perseus on his journey.



You know, almost every review on this film that I've read has been negative, saying it has no soul, not fun, silly, inaccurate and not as good as the original. I can't say anything about the original, having not seen it, but I do think this version is fun. Sure, it has its flaws, like its anti-climactic final battle, but overall I had a ball watching this. You can say that Clash Of The Titans isn't quite as epic as a film of its genre should be, and thus it's like getting fast food when you ordered five star cuisine. But my first goal in watching a movie is to be entertained, and that's what I got here. That's what really counts.



From the way it ended, there ought to be a sequel. I certainly hope so, then Leterrier and company can try redeeming themselves to those who disliked this film. But go see this, if you can help it. (4/5)

Reference: http://familiarfantasy.blogspot.com/2010/04/clash-of-titans.html

A Cajun Clash of the Titans

In the tradition of taking a story and Cajunifying it (to make it Cajun), here is my Cajun version of Clash of the Titans. If you don't know the story then you should probably stop reading, otherwise this story may contain spoilers. (Although, considering that this is mythology and is thousands of years old, maybe it's time someone told you the story if you don't know it by now.)



Clash of the Petite Tantes



Once upon a time there was a god named Moose (Zeus). He was a good-timing god and liked to play the accordion, go mudding in his truck, get drunk, and make love to mere mortals' wives. One day a boy named Percy (Perseus) was born, and he was the son of Moose - you could tell because of the way he went muddin'. But he wasn't the son of Moose's wife. Instead, he was the son of a mortal's wife, so the mortal's wife's husband took her on to Jerry Springer.



Moose lived in the top story of his parents' duplex. Moose's brother, Teefus, who everybody called "Hey, T!" (Hades), lived in the basement. Teefus didn't like the basement, because it was hot and muggy all year round, except for a couple of weeks in February after the Saints won the Superbowl.



Although Percy was Moose's son, Moose didn't raise him. Percy was raised by a shrimper. One day while in the wetlands south of Lafourche, Percy's ship was attacked by Teefus, because Teefus didn't want Percy to inherit the top floor of the duplex. Percy swore to get revenge by telling everyone that Teefus's hot sauce was made in New York City.



Percy got drunk and left an angry message on Teefus's voice mail indicating that he was going to take him to small claims court. Then he got drunker and went out to go kill Teefus.



Percy consulted three old hags (the Graeae) out in the swamp. They said that Teefus had a monster, named the Cracklin' (the Kraken), that was made of fried fat, and the only way to kill the Cracklin' was to either eat it or make it look into Deuce's eyes. Deuce, whose name got the same reaction everywhere - "Mais, Deuce! Ehhh!" (Medusa) - was an old hag who lived with snakes and never showered. It was said that just looking at her could make a man "get hard," so many men went to see her, only to die by turning into stone.



Teefus was going to have Crackin' kill a pretty girl named Andrepont (Andromeda), because Andrepont refused his offer of marrige - she didn't want to get married to anyone who lived in a basement because it's too hot down in South Louisiana for that, sha! Plus, Andrepont's mother, Cassie (Cassiopeia), had already offended Teefus by saying Andrepont was too good for him.



But Teefus needed Moose's permission to let Cracklin' out, because Cracklin' always damaged a lot of property and Moose had to bail him out of jail. But Moose let him go, saying, "Release the Cracklin'!"



But just then, Percy killed Deuce and took her head to the beach, where Cracklin' was bathing. Cracklin' looked at Deuce's severed head and got hard, then turned to stone and died. Andrepont thanked Percy by giving him a coupon for a year's supply of Tony Chachere's.



Everyone lived happily ever after... except for Cracklin', who died; Teefus, who went back to his basement; and Cassie, who died of heat exhaustion after Moose and her got it on in the back of his pickup truck after a fun day of muddin'.



The End

Reference: http://tanoryland.blogspot.com/2010/04/cajun-clash-of-titans.html

Clash of the Titans (Louis Leterrier, 2010)

Harryhausen's big guy, meeting his blind date for the first time

Crap of the Titans

You'd think they'd get one thing right; you'd think they could take a so-so movie, Ray Harryhausen's 1981 valedictory opus Clash of the Titans (Desmond Davies is the director on record, but let's not kid ourselves--this is Harryhausen's baby all the way) and make a halfway decent picture out of it. Walking out of Louis Leterrier's 2010 remake, though, all I could think of was: "I miss Harryhausen."

By no stretch of imagination was the original good, much less great--Harry Hamlin looked ridiculous in sandals and miniskirt, and the chemistry between him and starlet Judi Bowker was so underwhelming you kept looking sideways for the Marx Brothers to leap in and save the show. I remember Ursula Andress and Claire Bloom (beautiful actresses, both) being stiff as Greek statues; I remember thinking the mechanical owl was so blatant a rip-off of Artoo Deetoo the filmmakers ought to be sued (and later, when Artoo started taking to the air in ridiculously tiny rockets, wondering if maybe it was the other party that ought to be sued).

But, strange to say, the years have been kind to this Titans. Laurence Olivier's Zeus--who was so salty you could fry him in a pan, add coffee and come up with red-eye gravy--goosed the picture to life whenever he was onscreen. Olivier has his 'thespic' moments--even in a production where he's obviously there for the paycheck he never simply phones in the performance--he's constantly on and ebullient and chewing with much gusto on the badly designed scenery.

Then there are the creatures. Bubo has, finally, become charming (while Artoo through the years has become mean-spirited and annoying); the monstrous Calibo (Neil McCarthy) achieves a sort of tragic stature; Medusa slithers with gravid grace, and has a suitably evil glare; the Kraken, unmistakably modeled after the alien Ymir in Harryhausen's 1957 20 Million Miles to Earth, possesses a grandeur that gets grander every time I see him again (he looks as if he had swallowed an umbrella that snapped open at a moment of high emotion).

And that, for all the stillborn drama and cheesiness of the overall production, is what I remember about the movie--its considerable flaws now forgivable, its virtues considerable. I suppose what John Huston as Noah Cross once said still applies: "Politicians, ugly buildings, and whores all get respectable if they last long enough." Harryhausen's Titans is an ugly old building whose time has apparently come.

Keith Phipps of the Onion A.V. Club wrote of the Leterrier remake: "If Clash were a meal, it would come in a paper bag and have some grease stains near the bottom." I disagree; I don't think Mr. Phipps appreciates the virtues of a greasy burger, the fulsome flavor of properly charred meat on toasted buns, the juices (red from a medium-rare patty) oozing thickly out the sides and staining one corner of the bag. Harryhausen's Titans is a bar burger, a diner's special, a one-of-a-kind creation that's too fatty to be good for you, but makes for a satisfying snack; what Mr. Phipps must be thinking of is a McDonald's Happy Meal, which to my recollection has never stained the corner of anything--it's too dense and flavorless and dried out.

Yes, Leterrier uses the latest in CGI techniques, and yes both Medusa and Kraken move smoother than before--the Medusa skittering over rocks like a frightened gecko, the Kraken lifting his head (and for a while there you think he's nothing but head) out of the ocean, then baring an impressive set of ginzu knives. But Harryhausen's creatures for all their clunkiness had personality--the Medusa dragged her serpentine body painfully across the rocks, and her face held this look of aggrieved fury partly because, you think, she'd been thusly accursed (she almost didn't need that green glow of power emanating from her eyes, the expression was arresting enough). Leterrier's Medusa is a babe with snake hair, and the way she would slither here and there you wonder--why does she kill? If I had that much mobility I'd take a month off and backpack through the Amazon jungle, maybe visit Machu Picchu.

Then there's the Kraken (which, by the way, is Scandinavian, not Greek at all; I can understand the creature vacationing at the Greek Isles to get a tan, but why this sideline involving virgins?)--the Leterrier Kraken is an animal (a rather tasty-looking one at that; give me a lemon wedge and some tartar sauce and I'd be all over that creature), and presumably looks at Andromeda (Alexa Davalos, who to her credit actually manages to look more interested in her eventual fate than Bowker) strictly as food. Harryhausen's Kraken has the whiskers of an old man, the leer of a lecher, and tentacles to match; when he climbs out of the sea, you don't know exactly what will happen--dinner, or the most hideous date rape in recorded history?

And that's pretty much it except I might add that Liam Neeson, who plays Zeus, says the line "Release the Kraken!" as if he was hoping the command would slip by without anyone bothering to obey; fact of the matter is, he looks like he'd rather let the entire movie slip by without anyone bothering to notice he was there, that he'd rather be somewhere else altogether. Now why bother showing up to collect a paycheck if you can't get some kind of satisfaction out of said paycheck? Olivier knew better; if the picture was going to stink (his was like day-old fish; the remake was more like week-old fish--okay, I'm being unfair to week-old fish) then he was going to, if not save it, at least derive some kind of pleasure from it. He was going to have fun, Zeus damn it, and he'll give his equivalent line of dialogue a snap and roll and punch that Neeson would have been wise to emulate ("LET LOOSE THE KRRAKKEN!!"). Not exactly great acting, but definitely great hamming.

First published in Businessworld 4.8.10

Reference: http://criticafterdark.blogspot.com/2010/04/clash-of-titans-louis-leterrier-2010.html

Clash Of The Titans

Just now went to watch a movie-Clash Of The Titans

Overall I like it,especially those fighting scene,killing scorpions,Medusa,and the what so called Kraken (did I spell it wrongly?!whatever la...)

and FYI,this Clash Of The Titans is way better and worth watch than the Percy Jackson And The Lightning Thief!!!Really,althought the story line is almost the same,but no matter in which aspects,Clash Of The Titans is really better than that stupid Percy Jackson!haha,sorry for those Percy Jackson's fans XD lolz

(before I watched this movie,I had totally no idea of what the hell is he holding in this poster...but now I knew it alreadY! wanna know what is it,just go and watch!)

The guy who act as the Perseus is Sam Worthington!!!

He is so handsome!!handsome until I also fall in love with him already....arhhh,I just hope that I got half of his lengzai-ness @.@

and the most attractive point of this movie which attracted me so much is the 'costum' they wear!especially those soldiers!haha...so funny and cute!all the clothes and pant they wore just short short!just like skirt or balet dress...lolz...wondering why those ppl in the old time will choose that kind of style?!is it because of it will make us easy to walk or fight?!lolz...whatever,it is not the matter now...



For those who not yet watch it,I suggest you to go to watch it ASAP!

Reference: http://cutegayacacia230390.blogspot.com/2010/04/clash-of-titans.html

Clash Of The Titans

I was going to write a review of this, the 2010 version of a classic tale of Greek mythology, with it's preposterously large serpentine monsters and grumpy Gods. I still might, but before I do there is something I should probably share with you about Clash Of The Titans.



My Dad took me to the old Savoy cinema in town to see the 1981 version. Now the most under-used club since Tiger Woods' 4-iron, the Savoy was once the only option if you wanted that cinematic experience. Sadly, it only had three screens. None of them were wheelchair accessible, but that's another story. We've had all that with the trains. Anyway, it's 1981. What do you want? Equality? Fuck off. We need at least 2010 years for society to get anywhere near that. And even then...........Ok, I'll stop now...........



The point is, anyway, that I was terrified as a five-year old. One look at a ludicrously large winged horse and that was me, screaming the place down. Best we not even get started on Medusa, save to say that I have had a phobia of snakes for as long as I can remember and it might just be down to her hairdresser.



I was hoping to be rather less hysterical upon visiting the infintely more accessible Cineworld in 2010. I managed it, though that is not to say that there isn't enough in Clash Of The Titans to inspire a slight tantrum should one be so inclined.



For the most part it is all good fun. If you can get past Sam Worthington's Perseus being played out as a faithful tribute to Russell Crowe's Maximus in Gladiator. If you don't mind the appearance of a random Bond girl (Gemma Arterton) pushing Andromeda out of the role of love interest and into the relative walk-on part of Kraken-fodder. If you can avoid spending the entirety of the film wondering if Draco (do you think that is where J.K.Rowley got the idea from?) is played by The Rock. He's not, he's played by Mads Mikkelsen, last seen in the same God Awful Bond Movie as Arterton.



If you can get past this, and Worthington's muddled accent (Australian? Scottish? South African? Gungan? Turns out Worthington was born in Surrey but is a graduate of the Australian National Institute of Dramatic Art), then there is much to enjoy also. What's not to like about a plot which sends Perseus on a quest to discover how to fell the aforementioned Kraken, thus sparing the life of Andromeda? To do so he must behead Medusa, who is now apparently so repugnant to men that one look into her eyes turns them to stone. So why do I still fancy her then? Could it be because she is actually played by Natalia Vodianova, a Russian actress and model who may sound like a tennis star, but is actually most notable for being the face of Calvin Klein and for once hosting a semi-final of Eurovision? Probably.



Andromeda is placed in mortal danger by Ralph Fiennes' creepy Hades, a performance that has unfairly sparked comparisons to Rowley's Lord Voldemoort. After all, Hades is much older than any two-bit Wizard-waster, and thus has first dibs if there is any croakily-voiced slithering (Slytherin?) to be done. Hades thinks that mortals are most ungrateful, and has decreed that he will release the terrifying Kraken unless the people of Argos agree to sacrifice Andromeda within 10 days. Does anything get delivered from Argos within 10 days? Do they even deliver? If not, that joke doesn't work and I can only apologise. I'm an idiot.



Less convincing is Liam Neeson as Zeus, who it is revealed is not only the biological father of our hero (Star Wars, anyone?), but also a rapist. Turns out he sneaked into Perseus' mum's room late one night and enjoyed the most wicked of ways. You're a fecking God! Just ask. Yet to say that this indiscretion is out of character for Zeus would be unfair, as character is something that this particular incarnation lacks almost completely. Neeson spends much of his time wearily arguing with brother Hades, and wanting to be anywhere else but here.



Yet through all of this, through all of the overly long battles with giant scorpion creatures, you can't help but will Perseus on as he flies in on the back of the mighty winged (and oddly black) Pegesus for his final confrontation with the Kraken. And I don't think I'm spoiling it (this story is roughly 2500 years old after all) when I tell you that our favourite Demi-God does not disappoint. Though personally I felt that the Kraken was a somewhat one-dimensional fighter, relying far too heavily on his sheer enormity and ugliness than any great combat skills.



Clash Of The Titans will not change your life, but it may very well make your five-year old cry so do the decent thing and book yourself a babysitter.

Reference: http://steorford.blogspot.com/2010/04/clash-of-titans.html

Clash Of Titans 2010 350MB TS Xvid

Clash Of Titans 2010 350MB TS Xvid

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This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 720x272.

This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 720x272.

This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 720x272.

This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 720x272.

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http://hotfile.com/dl/37761339/0cc5156/ClsTtns.2010.350MB.TS.XVID.mkv.001.html
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http://hotfile.com/dl/37761488/4879ccb/ClsTtns.2010.350MB.TS.XVID.mkv.004.html

Reference: http://2theyouth.blogspot.com/2010/04/clash-of-titans-2010-350mb-ts-xvid.html

Clash of the Titans (2010) - 4 Stars

These 3D movies are growing on me and had to make sure I saw this one opening Easter weekend. The original Clash of the Titans is one of my very favorite all time movies so I was interested in seeing what could become of it today. The movie has great entertainment, action with my biggest complaint of why show Bobu, the mechanical owl, if you're not going to take it on their quest. I didn't care for the witches makeup, as I feel it could have been done a whole lot creepier. For me, the battle with the scorpions was filmed too close up. I suppose that was for the 3d surround effects but made it hard to stay focused on the battle. I loved Medusa but where was the two headed creature that protected her entrance. I feel the suspense of that scene wasn't there and way more intense in the original. While I feel the director should have stayed closer to the original story, it's still definitely an enjoyable and entertaining remake. I think seeing it in 2D is the way to go.



Perseus (Sam Worthington), the son of Zeus (Liam Neeson), survives the banishment of he and his mother from the Heavens. Cast away to earth, and raised by man, Perseus is considered the Demigod with the power to defeat the underworld God, Hades (Ralph Fiennes), before he unleashes his wrath of hell on earth.



It seems man has become too independent with little need for prayer thus weakening the God's strength as prayers gives them their power. Hades convinces Zeus to instill the fear back into man by unleashing the Kraken and destroying the City of Argos. Princess Andromeda (Alexa Davalos), will be sacrificed unless Perseus can defeat the Kraken sending Hades back to his hellish underworld. But in order to defeat such a great power, Perseus must survive a maze of challenges and learn to except the gifts of the Gods.



Thunder Road Pictures, Legendary Pictures, Inc., Warner Bros. Pictures

Directors: Steve Norrington, Louis Leterrier

Writers: Travis Beacham, Matt Manfredi, Phil Hay

Producers: Kevin de la Noy, Basil Iwanyk

I viewed 4/10

Reference: http://zolasmoviepics.blogspot.com/2010/04/clash-of-titans-2010-4-stars.html

Clash of the Titans (2010) : Movie Review

Clash of the Titans 2010 Trailer, Movie Review and Story description.

Direction : Louis Leterrier

Starring : Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Gemma Arterton

Rating : PG-13

Released : April 2, 2010



There are some films from my childhood that were okay and there are some that will always be tops with me. Harryhausen's (it's his as far as I'm concerned) epic adventure Clash of the Titans will always be one of my go-to flicks. Yes, the effects are choppy and dated. Duh. But who cares? Those characters are as familiar to me as any of my friends and even though I felt the visuals were flawed even then, it's fun, fun, fun. So of course I was guardedly optimistic about this recent remake. I wanted to really like it. And I did. But there is a caveat here that requires explanation.



Remember how Perseus did everything out of love for the beautiful Andromeda? How he saw her only while sleeping but was condemned to fall for her even if it meant his own demise? Remember how Thetis (Maggie Smith) was the patron Goddess of Joppa and she got her toga all in a wad because Cassiopeia had the nerve to compare her own daughter's beauty to the Goddess herself? Remember how Burgess Meredith found the confused Perseus and aided him in his quest? Okay, now forget ALL of that because this year's Clash is about none of it.



In an interesting and unexpected twist, this remake keeps most of the characters (with some additions) and many of the elements (Medusa, the witches, the Kraken) and none of the story. Yes, it is completely different. So it's really difficult to compare the two. I'm not sure which is more historically (mythically, whatever) accurate anyway so I can't comment on that. I am going to research it for myself but you can do that on your time if it matters to you.

So on to the film at hand. Like I said, the story is completely different. Instead of love, Perseus is motivated by straight up revenge. His adoptive parents are inadvertently knocked off by Hades and he's had it with the Gods. His entire quest is merely an attempt to take out the Kraken so he can get to Hades himself.



I saw the 2D version because I don't feel like wasting my money on sub-par 3D and according to every review I've read, it's not worth it. Take that for what you will. That being said, the effects are very good. As an action film, this is a fun one. It's a good time even if you do love the original because there are some fun send-ups to the classic. It's wild and woolly and the pace never slows for once. It was over before I realized it. I compare it to The Holy Grail in that it just goes from scene to scene with boring fillers. If I had one gripe about the look it would simply be that Medusa seems more to me like a video game boss. And on the heels of that statement I will add that I can't wait to play the game for this movie.



The major differences in plot even have an explanation, I believe. This film is much darker than its forefather. Back in the eighties happy endings and love were all over the place. That's not so much the case now if you haven't noticed. It's simply a matter of completely different times. They probably thought the old story wouldn't fly with today's jaded audiences. They're likely correct. But I do prefer the original over all. No that's not me being a curmudgeon. I really think that story was more complex and made more sense. This one was a little much to wrap my mind around. And I just don't know if it works since Andromeda really doesn't matter at all in this movie. I'm sure Alexa Davalos was all excited to land the lead female role then she read the script and thought, "waaait that's not what...damn."



The lead, instead, is Io, played beautifully by Gemma Arterton, even if it does leave you scratching your head a bit. As far as cast goes, I have no complaints about the performances. I do think it would have been cool to see more of Postlethwaite. I would have loved to see him reprise the Meredith role and stick around longer. But what are you gonna do?



In the end, this film is a good time if you like action. It's a big old spectacle if you get off on effects

Reference: http://2daynewsupdates.blogspot.com/2010/04/clash-of-titans-2010-movie-review.html

Clash of the Titans (2010)

Liam Neeson said that he took the role of Zeus in Louis Leterrier's remake of Clash of the Titans because his sons love Greek mythology. When they saw the film, or even its predecessor, I wonder if one of them whispered to their father in the first minute, "Dad, the Kraken isn't Greek." No, not only is the Kraken not of Greek origin, it's not even a creature of ancient mythology, a combination of similar, fabled sea monsters of Norse sagas c. 12th century A.D. updated and given its first concrete classification all the way in 1735 by Carolus Linnaeus before being cemented into modern myth 20 years later by Erik Pontoppidan, the bishop of Bergen. According to Clash of the Titans, the Kraken was created by Hades to overthrow the titans, and along with it the thrilling complexities of Greek legend.



Why does Hollywood insist on altering Greek mythology for the purposes of making it "cooler"? After all, considering its appropriation by the Romans, the Greek lore was the mythology so nice, they used it twice. The Disneyfication of lore makes sense for the animated Hercules, precisely because it's too damn wild for children: in the actual mythology, the blackness of Chaos bore the first Titans, most importantly Gaia (Earth), who asexually conceived and gave birth to a son, Ouranos, who took his mother for his wife. Eventually, Gaia grew so outraged with her son-husband's domineering madness that she had one of her sons, Cronus, castrate him. Cronus married his sister and took his father's place, eating all of his offspring out of fear save Zeus, hidden away by his mother. Eventually, Zeus revealed himself and poisoned his father into vomiting up the other gods, who overthrew their parents and imprisoned the Titans in Tartarus. And this is just the tip of the iceberg: the lore is thick with deceit, incest, wrath, jealousy and murder. In other words, it is almost exactly like French history.



I suppose it's inevitable that Clash of the Titans should be so careless with its source material (its fundamental source material, that is), given the fact that at no point during the film does a Titan rear its gigantic head, much less clash with something or someone. When the first round of promotional material for the film slipped onto the Internet, the attached tagline, "Titans Will Clash" was met with well-earned derision, and when it slipped from the next batch of posters and trailers, one might reasonably have assumed that the studio backpedaled from the reception of the previous ads. Maybe they were just afraid of being sued for false advertisement.



To harp on that subject further, though, would be pointless, as the original Clash also lacked Titans. That appears to have slipped the minds of some of the more outraged critics sharpening their xiphos in preparation for battle; perhaps many do not remember the absence of titular clashers in the original because the original is itself so unmemorable, given a niche in film history solely for the effects of Ray Harryhausen. Tellingly, Harryhausen's remarkable stop-motion creatures are the only significant aspect of the first not to make its way into Leterrier's update, which ports over the cheesy dialogue, ludicrous narrative and wooden acting, as if to say that the negatives of cinema are timeless; its the innovation that fades.



So, yes, we still follow Perseus (Sam Worthington), mortal son of Zeus, cast into the sea with his murdered mother by the king she cuckolded. Rescued by a fisherman, Spyros (Pete Postlethwaite), who immediately launches into outraged platitudes toward the cruel gods, Perseus grows up to be a simple fisher, but even his adoptive father knows that the boy is destined for great things. Then the family finds themselves beside a cliff where soldiers from Argos topple a statue of Zeus in defiance of the gods. Hades rises from the depths, kills the soldiers and turns his sights on the innocent family's boat, killing Perseus' father, mother and sister. All of this occurs in the film just a bit faster than it took you to read this paragraph.



The rest of the film bounds along at this breathless pace, introducing a sliver of exposition in time to launch into another action segment, which itself is too brief and frenetic to properly engage the audience -- that damn Kraken appears in full-form for less than a minute -- before settling down into the next half-hearted setup. Perseus teams up with the god-hating Argives to defy Olympus and protect the city from destruction in retribution for their heresy, moving from a forest where he must fight his biological mother's mutilated husband, head out to the desert to meet Djinn (that's from Arabic mythology, right?) and fight off giant scorpions (um), go to the underworld, yadda yadda yadda.



Titans moves through these sequences as if ticking off items on a checklist, pausing only to let loose the sort of hysterically overbearing dialogue that practically defines these swords-and-sandals romps. Spyros kicks off the proceedings with his impromptu rant at the gods brought on by a fishing dry spell: "One day, somebody's going to have to say 'enough,'" he cries, apparently so green at his life's profession that he doesn't understand that the fish just don't bite sometimes. Had this been set in contemporary times, Spyros might easily have been one of those hyperbolic golfers who attributes every slice and near-miss to the cruel intervention of forces who apparently have nothing better to do than fuck with a peon. Everyone speaks in a tone of voice that suggests he or she is rallying the troops; didn't anyone in the mythological world ever just mosey on over to the town well for a light conversation, a nice chat about the Hydra someone's kid killed or the results of last night's Olympic match? Sam Worthington, who uttered last year's heavyweight champion Worst Line -- "Now I know what death tastes like" -- in Terminator Salvation manages to avoid the worst of the clangers, but he has to spend the entire film shunning the god in him, insisting on carrying out his tasks "as a man" until someone slaps some sense into him.



All of the actors look bored, as if they'd understood the cheesiness of the script and thought it would translate into a more raucous piece of entertainment. But as they traveled to various locations filled with the same sharp, rocky landscapes, so nondescript that one almost wishes they'd simply used CGI sets to cut down on the carbon emissions of all those plane rides, the gears started turning and each of the cast slowly came to the grim realization of how dull this picture really is. Worthington, still locked into his increasingly thin portrayal of a reluctant but determined hero, is as stony as all those statues that litter this ancient world, and if he did succumb to the Medusa when he enters her lair, I don't know that anyone would have been able to tell. Alexa Davalos plays Andromeda, the beautiful princess of Argos, whose sacrifice the gods demand for the forgiveness of the city, and her immediate willingness to die for her people somewhat takes the wind out the sails for the dramatic buildup of the rest of the film. Liam Neeson looks pleased enough to be there, but perhaps only because he shares most of his scenes with Ralph Fiennes, giving him a constant visual reminder that someone had it worse than him. Fiennes hisses more as Hades, lord of the underworld, than he does as the serpentine Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter films. Dressed, amazingly, uproariously, in a fashion that resembles John Travolta's get-up in Battlefield Earth, Fiennes does not inspire terror so much as giggles.* He understandably looks eager to get off the set, though in that outfit maybe it's so he can audition to be in a black metal band that writes songs inspired by Lord of the Rings.



There are a few nice touches, to be fair. If Leterrier insists on casting aside Harryhausen's marvelous animation in favor of big CGI that doesn't look any better and is too haphazardly edited to be identified anyway, he at least did us the service of omitting Bubo, the R2-D2-esque robot owl from the original; Bubo even makes an appearance in an Argos armory, only to be thrown out of the picture when a soldier pressures Perseus to "just leave it." Andromeda spends the film either on her way to be dangled as bait for the gods' appeasement or finally on the rack, but the audience likely won't care either way about her thanks to the far more arresting character of Io. An ageless mortal who watches over Perseus, Io has a wit and a spark that no one else in the film approaches, and Gemma Arterton acts well beyond her 24 years, to the point that even her gorgeous looks have an air of maturity to them. And despite the general laziness of the action scenes, the Medusa sequence is genuinely entertaining. Like the rest of the scenes, it's too short, but at no other point in the film does Leterrier create and maintain a sense of tension and atmosphere.



It's a shame that filmmakers constantly flub Greek mythology, as it's the most interesting of all the major religions, old or new. Modern theologies posit all-powerful deities to be feared and worshipped incessantly, at once benevolent and wrathful. The Greeks, however, made their gods more human, not simply though the act of anthropomorphizing them through art but in simple conception. For them, gods were arrogant and inbred, capable of walking among their creations but never truly seeing them. The gods fear their children: they overthrew their parents, so naturally they fear a similar fate (remember that Zeus attempted to murder his own wife and child until Athena burst full-grown from his head). Clash of the Titans flirts with this astonishing notion, of the way that generations build off the last and better themselves instead of fade as increasingly faulty copies of a perfect original like CDs and swapped music files from a crisp master tape, but it does not follow through. It pays lip service to how "badass" it would be to fight monsters, ignoring that which is truly awe-inspiring: the fact that, if sufficiently motivated, a human can challenge the gods themselves.







*It would be nice, though, if someone would stop making Hades out to always be a villain just to make things easier for a crowd primarily raised on a new mythology by equating Hades to Satan. Hades is far more passive a figure in the legends, dispassionately maintaining balance instead of actively usurping and murdering. Death holds no grudges.

Reference: http://armchairc.blogspot.com/2010/04/clash-of-titans-2010.html

Box Office: 'Date Night' Sneaks By 'Clash Of The Titans' With $27 Million

"Clash of the Titans" proved less mighty in its second week, falling just behind action-comedy "Date Night" by $200,000 (do god-fighting warriors cry?). The Steve Carell-Tina Fey film earned $27.1 million, which is a solid opening for its genre, particularly compared to the $20.7 million first week of "The Bounty Hunter." It looks like it pays off to have leads who are actually funny, even if your script isn't. The Fox film is in good shape to make back its $55 million production budget, particularly with its solid reviews and good word of mouth.



The less well-received "Clash of the Titans" made $26.9 million and dropped 56% in its second week, which isn't too shabby considering its poor reviews and extraneous 3D. Its worldwide total is $155 million, leaving its reported $125 million production budget in the dust. The film is doing solidly with domestic audiences and its international haul of $45 million isn't too bad either, particularly since it hasn't opened up in several major territories where special-effects-driven films tend to do very well.


With "Date Night" as the only true wide opener this week, the real story is the continued success of "How to Train Your Dragon," which declined an impressive 12% in its third week. The year's best-reviewed film (and seriously, who were those jerks in the 2% who weren't swayed by its sweet story and incredible 3D visuals?) made another $25 million, bringing its domestic total to $134 million, while its overseas haul hit $122 million. The next kid-oriented film on the horizon is April 30th's crappy-looking "Furry Vengeance," so we predict the film will continue to do solid business, entertaining adults and kids alike.



The semi-wide opening Christian drama, "Letters to God," slid into the top ten, making $1.1 million for the Lord on 897 screens. Not every religious film can be the box-office draw that "Fireproof" was, but this late addition to the release schedule had a per-screen average of just $1,250. Apparently, you need the box-office clout of an '80s sitcom star to get people to leave their pews for theater seats.



According to Box Office Mojo, the Benjamin Bratt-starring "La Mission" outpaced most of of the limited openers with $49,000 on 15 screens, but the rock doc "When You're Strange" did fairly well too, grossing $65,371 from eight venues, averaging a respectable $8,171 (more on the limited release box-office frames at Indie Wire). Meanwhile, two better-reviewed films did smaller business but earned more per screen: the neo-noir "The Square" took in $16,500 on two screens, but the German relationship drama "Everyone Else" made $11,400 at a single Manhattan location which earned it the highest per screen average of the weekend.



1. Date Night - $27.1 million ($27.1 mil.)

2. Clash of the Titans - $26.9 million ($110 mil.)

3. How to Train Your Dragon - $25.4 million ($134 mil.)

4. Why Did I Get Married Too? - $11 million ($48.5 mil.)

5. The Last Song - $10 million ($42.4 mil.)

6. Alice in Wonderland - $5.6 million ($319 mil.)

7. Hot Tub Time Machine - $5.4 million ($37 mil.)

8. The Bounty Hunter - $4.3 million ($56 mil.)

9. Diary of a Wimpy Kid - $4.1 million ($53.8 mil.)

10. Letters to God - $1.1 million ($1.1. mil.)

Reference: http://theplaylist.blogspot.com/2010/04/box-office-date-night-sneaks-by-clash.html