Burgess Meredith, Claire Bloom, Harry Hamlin

Zeus' son, Perseus journey's to save Princess Andromeda during which he must complete various tasks set out by Zeus, including capturing Pegasus and slaying Medusa.

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72% liked it

47,079 ratings

Critics

70% liked it

30 critics

PG, 108 min.

Directed by: Desmond Davis

Release Date: June 12, 1981

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DVD Release Date: June 1, 2004

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Flixster Reviews (2,212)


  • November 7, 2009
    Clash of the Titans starts with King Acrisius (Donald Houston) of Argos (no not the shop!) sealing his daughter Danae (Vida Taylor) & her young baby son Perseus in a coffin & throwing it into the sea in an act of defiance against the father of the gods Zeus (Laurence Oliver) who ...( read more)happens to be father of Perseus. In anger Zeus commands Poseidon (Jack Gwillim) the god of the sea to release a huge monster known as the Kraken to destroy the city of Argos & also tells him to make sure Danae & Perseus make dry land safely. Years later & Perseus (Harry Hamlin) has grown into a young man, meanwhile Zeus has to punish Calibos (Neil McCarthy) the son of the god Thetis (Maggie Smith) for his crimes & evil ways. Zues turns Calibos into a deformed monster who lives like an outcast in a swamp near the city of Joppur where he used to live & was going to marry the beautiful Princess Andromeda (Judi Bowker). In revenge Thetis transports Perseus to Joppur where he falls in love with Andromeda, once again Thetis isn't happy about this & tells Queen Cassieopeia (Sian Philips) that in 30 days the Kraken will be set free to destroy Joppur unless Andromeda is chained to a stone & offered as a sacrifice. Perseus sets out on a quest to find the knowledge which will let him defeat the Kraken, a journey which takes him to the Stygian witches, the Isle of the Dead & encounters with various monsters, perils & dangers...

    This English production was directed by Desmond Davis & is a terrificly entertaining fantasy adventure, the like of which they just don't make anymore. The script by Beverley Cross doesn't retell any one particular myth but jumbles several up together & even adds some ideas of it's own. While Clash of the Titans moves along at a nice pace & is never boring or dull the film seems somewhat overly complicated with lots of twist's, turns & distractions which seemed unnecessary while some of the narrative was a bit muddled. Having said that at least it tries to have some depth & it works most of the time. The character's are a bit bland & dull but serve their purpose as the real star of the show are the monsters which are great. I'm not sure about the comedy relief clockwork Owl Bubo though, who at the end turns up with a bandaged foot & mini walking stick under his wing!

    Director Desmond does what he can & while the film is competent nothing really stands out except those monsters, of course. The best sequence is when Perseus fights Medusa in her flame lit labyrinth, the lighting is great in this scene & has tension & atmosphere to it. I thought the skeleton ferryman was quite creepy as well. Surprisingly there is a couple of shots with female nudity & a bit of gore as well.

    With a supposed budget of about $15,000,000 Clash of the Titans is a well made film with nice varied locations from dark swamps, ancient temples & cities, Medusa's labyrinth & tropical islands which give it an attractive look throughout. The special effects are stop-motion created by the legendary Ray Harryhausen & Clash of the Titans became his last film project to date as CGI & other more sophisticated forms of effects took over. They are generally excellent as you would expect from a giant Vulture, the Kraken a giant four armed sea monster (actually taken from Scandinavian mythology), a two-headed Dog, the deformed Calibos, Pegasus the flying horse & my favourites the fantastic Snake-haired Medusa & the cool Scorpions. On the down side compared to today's multi million CGI effects they come off as a distant second best with a slight jerkiness & grainy blue-screen imposition although they have a certain personality & charm that compensates somewhat. The acting isn't the best, Ursula Andress gets two lines of dialogue during the whole film despite her almost top billing in the credits.

    Clash of the Titans is a highly entertaining fantasy adventure that I think is well worth a watch, so what are you waiting for?
  • June 20, 2009
    Pure gold and one of the first movies I loved as a kid hehe the classic creatures are brought to life briliantly by Harryhausen and it looks gorgeous still today. The cast is awesome and they work well, its cool and not too cheesey. Its an utter classic, love the Kraken and Medusa.
  • February 3, 2008
    I LOVED this as a kid, but decades later it's a bit dated. Even though Ray Harryhausen's effects kind of expired next to the ILM effects from Star Wars and others from the same era, the shoddy set design and the generally (with a few exceptions of course) lame acting accentuate C...( read more)lash of the Titans' many flaws I still love it. I'd recommend Jason and the Argonauts (which suffers from many of the same flaws that Clash of the Titans does, but with Jason they just don't seem as obvious) over this any day of the week.
  • September 9, 2007
    One of the great family classics, loved this as a kid. So many great creatures to watch them fight it out with!
  • August 9, 2007
    aaahhh another one of those that I saw as a child and still ove now. Great job for the time
  • November 19, 2009
    Superclasico. Efectos chafisimos. Pero la historia esta de poca. Jajajaja
    Ya viene un nuevo refrito en 2010... dicen.
  • November 3, 2009
    Cheeseball "epic" with wooden acting and absolutely terrible special effects.
  • October 30, 2009
    I love this movie. Unicorns, Monsters, Godesses.....
  • October 29, 2009
    Great classic movie on Greek mythology.
  • October 28, 2009
    Some of the special effects are dated and cheesy. Some of the actors give wooden and unintentionally funny performances, most notably Harry Hamlin. Despite all of this I would still recommend this movie because it is entertaining and fun. Some of the special effects are cool and...( read more) there are laughs and some exciting scenes. Watch this one with a few friends and enjoy.

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Clash of the Titans Trivia


  • In this movie, Perseus had to win the head of Medusa in order to defeat The Kraken.  Answer »
  • In Clash of the Titans, what did Perseus need to save Andromeda?  Answer »
  • In Once Upon A Time In Mexico when Sands gives money to Belini in a tin lunchbox what is the theme of the lunchbox?  Answer »
  • Which movie had characters based on Greek Mythology?  Answer »

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