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I can still remember being blown away by the special effects in this film every time it showed on TV in the 80s.
Created by the master of illusion Ray Harryhausen, these effects were achieved using stop motion animation, which was what one did in the days before the computer generated image. They were amazing for their day, but looking at them now in our clever computer generated visual effects-filled world, they do appear a little primitive.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBtAO4dYL98&fs=1
But, I say so what? Do these now dated visuals taint the enjoyment of the film? If I was easily pulled into the excitment of these adventures all those years ago, why not today? I'm sure that once I've made a few obligatory remarks on how rough-round-the-edges the effects now appear, I'll forget all about them and just enjoy a great movie, because after all, that ancient Greek legend of Perseus is a great story.
Yes, that Perseus myth is so great in fact that it promises to grace our screens again soon with a Clash of the Titans remake currently scheduled for 2010. That will undoubtedly be special effects-a-go-go, but I bet I'll still prefer today's 1981 version.
That probably makes me weird. But hey, I don't care.
I love the ancient Greek myths. Because they're loaded with symbolism and have a depth greater than the Aegean, I could spend hours reading about them. That probably makes me weird too, eh?
But never mind. I really don't care. I'm happy because today Clash of the Titans is not the only movie depiction of those wonderful ancient Greek tales in the TV schedule. Homer's Odyssey is also hitting our small screens today with the 1997 three-hour film starring Armand Assante.
This film originally began as a mini-series, but that's not going to put me off. When you're a Greek myth fanatic who gets thrills from mythical creatures like the one below, you don't really care about a film's not so special anymore effects or uncinematic origins.
The Odyssey is showing this afternoon at 2.50pm on Five
Clash of the Titans shows at 5.45pm on Five
