Clash of the Titans (1981) Monster Madness X movie review #22
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- čas přidán 21. 10. 2016
- Clash of the Titans (1981) Monster Madness X movie review #22
Twitter Mike ► / mike_matei
Twitter James ► / cinemassacre
Visit our website ► cinemassacre.com/ #retro #retrogaming #nes #snes #jamesrolfe #mikematei #atari #playthrough #gameplay #gamereview - Hry
Harry Hamlin later played Perseus again 25 years later in God of War II, which was a cool voice casting choice.
But then he was brutally killed by Kratos,so much for a happy ending:)
Yeah, well, everyone was brutally killed by Kratos. At least Perseus' death was way more honorable than the average. Trust me, I know what I'm talking about...
No way! Didn't know that.
Kevin Sorbo from hercules was killed as well.
Alpha Lambda I didn't know that but it's clear to see how much God of War was inspired by this movie so it's a fitting tribute
This, Jason and the Argonauts and the Sinbad films from the 70's where my favourite childhood movies growing up!
Panthers Hockey- the skeleton baddies is the best part.
Except in Mythology Hercules climbed up a mountain and held up the sky whatever that means guess they thought a giant dome was over the earth. Hercules power was diminished in Jason and the Argonaut movie.
panthers hockey - yes the characters name was Hilis and the actor also appeared in Cleopatra 1963 with Liz Taylor and Richard Burton - he was her advisor i think...
Did you ever watch Jack the Giant Killer?
@@hydrolito i believe where he climbed up is allegedly the hot gates at thermopolyae
Gotta love the stop-motion from this.
"Release the Kraken!"
Also Jason and the Argonauts
Such an absolute classic.
Ray Harryhausen is da man. not this Micheal Bay shit
+Woof Bane I'm still angry about the unfinished ending though. >:(
Saw this in 82. Nothing like a PG title with boobs and violence.
Jason and the Argonauts?
those boobs were as epic as anything else in the movie, goddamn.
Jason is G, Clash is PG.
@@oldfrend and they really held the shot for enough time to enjoy them.
Lets not forget how hyped the Kraken battle was in the remake and how shit it ended up being lol.
Legend has it, the 2011 version was so bad it had him Kraken up.
I remember we had to watch this movie in my mythology class back in high school and the teacher apparently forgot there were boobs in it.
And bare ass.
Boobs and bare ass are life
He also apparently forgot that it was a terrible way to show mythology to a mythology class... As much as I like the movie, it's just the typical example of hollywood mixing different historical/mythological sources with modern (at the time) trends and gimmicks, and vomiting it all over the place to an uneducated public just to grab money. It's part of the charm of this movie, no doubt there, but it shouldn't be seen outside of a purely entertaining context.
Captain Viggo That was part of the assignment though. A lot of assignments in that class had us watching Hollywood dramatizations of Greek mythology and then writing about the differences. We had to do the same with Disney's Hercules, writing about all of the differences between that movie and the actual Hercules/Heracles myth.
same thing with me hahaha
Actually, the two headed dog is Orthrus, who us also from Greek mythology.
and sibling of Cerberus
Beau Leidig yeah it sounds like a nightmare, not surprised it was lumped into "never again"
Apparently Orthrus guarded the cattle of one of Medusa's descendants, hence its role on the movie. I can understand why changing its name to Cerberus because the name Orthrus kind of rolls your tongue quite easily.
Agsma, Just Agsma Actually, they didn't change its name to Cerberus. In the special features of the DVD, he is referred to as Orthrus.
nah, pretty sure it's just a two headed woof.
"The Gods give him some powerups along the away." LOL
There was a two headed dog called Orthrus
Also I'm pretty sure Pegasus was used by Bellerophon
he was. The only connection Between Perseus and Pegasus was Pegasus was born out of Medusa's blood after Perseus killed her.
Adrian Duran I was thinking there was a two-headed dog in Greek mythology. I'm going to go read up on it. Thanks for the name.
+LaughingOwlKiller I do believe Perseus rode Pegasus, however. There's at least one version that says he rode Pegasus to get out of the Underworld and the winged sandals Hermes gave him were used to evade Medusa's attacks, not for actual travel.
Holy shit, I've just read your username.
Perseus did not ride pegasus in greek mythology, that is from the Renaissance.
Perseus instead wore winged sandals although there was a winged horse in Greek mythology called Pegasus I think it sprung from the body of Medusa or some such thing.
I was 13 in 1982. They used to show this movie every day on Cinemax and you know what? I watched it EVERY F*CKING DAY.
I was 11 and same! *fist bump*
I was 5, but in 87 onward I used to love cinemax for the quality late night programming
I loved this film as a kid. absolutely blew my mind seeing all these coll monsters.
In my world history class we had just finished our Greek unit and we were going to watch the 2011 version but I convinced my teacher to let us watch the original. We got all the way up to the medusa fight and we're going to continue it the next day. The next day the class voted to watch the 2011 version....
What a bunch of plebs.
Optimus Primal I once managed that we all would watch Monthy Python and the Holy Grail in history class and all hated me afterwards...
Who hates the Holy Grail??? What are they, a bunch of witches?
z beeblebrox probably
Reminds me when I was a seventh grader oh so long ago and we had a vote of what movie to watch in class. Monster's Inc, Finding Nemo or The princess Bride. I voted to watch the princess bride, seeing as how it's amazing but the kids in class didn't want to watch it, because they thought it would be all about princesses... *sigh
I still love watching this movie. My parents introduced me to this movie in the 80's and now I will introduce my daughter to this excellent classic.
From what i looked up Bubu was gonna have a bigger role in the remake like in the original but then suddenly Sam Worthington being a paranoid douchebag threatned to destroy Bubu (the actual robotic puppet model used for it) because he thinks it would ruin his career and Bubu doesn't deserve to be in the movie....what an asshole.
It's like "I don't care if this thing was popular and it was in the original. I'll fucking destroy it!"
Tendo10do he doesn't seem to be in a whole lot lately .
Uh... Who's Sam Worthington?
Well, aside from the original puppet destroying thing, I can understand. I liked Bubu when I was a kid, but in the end it's just one of the lowest points of the movie, a typical Disney-esque "cute little sidekick out of nowhere" which adds absolutely nothing to the movie and keeps dragging it in kiddy grounds.
...........The leading actor?
pikminguy55 Wow, really? He agreed to star in *that* movie, but he thought it was a robotic puppet that would ruin his carreer?
Funfact: the Kraken isn't Greek at all. It's Norse. I have no idea why they used it in this film, but yeah, totally different mythology, like saying Jesus had to fight Baron Samedi in hand to hand combat.
( Late reply but whatever) The NAME Kraken is Norse, but the Mediterranean had stories of sea monsters long before there was any connection between the north and south of Europe. Scylla and Charybdis were among the most feared, and have basus in reality (the giant whirlpool in the Strait of Messina is where thousands of ships sank beneath the waves.)
I remember when I was in high school my teacher put this movie on but the class complained that "the effects sucked" so we didn't finish it.
I was pissed
And the Odessey with Armand Assante. Not sure if its a movie or a a mini series but it very good.
It was a TV Movie. I really liked it as well. I own it on DVD.
ElectricRazer I'm sorry but I have to respectfully disagree, I felt the Odyssey mini-series was bafflingly bad.
that did make a game of it its called god of war
God of War 2 specifically. Tons of inspiration from this movie directly
They even had the Perseus actor from Clash of the Titans to voice his own character in the game. Being fan of the movie since I was a kid, you know that was my favorite part of God of War II.
NukeA6 that was my favorite bit as well i lke the bit at the end of the fight where kratos holds the shield
The Encyclopedia of Pop Culture go back to call of duty kid
There's the game of the CoT movie remake, too; it's not great, but i kinda dig it.
I bet i've watch this movie over a 100 times, still my favorite movie of all time, I remember Medusa scared the living shit out of me!
A very good and difficult Greek mythology game on the NES is Battle of Olympus.
What about Odysseus with Armand Asante? Thats one of my fav movies.
I thought that was good too :)
That was a TV movie; but I agree it was great and it does an admirable job of sticking to the original poem (the Odyssey is an epic poem, its hundreds of pages long; but it all rhymes....well in Greek it does).
I liked it, too. Armand never gets enough credit. :)
Flamel Fantastic movie and VERY based on Greek Mythology. Shame on James for forgetting it.
Flamel Wasn't that a tv movie ?
There were three siblings, Cerberus with three heads is the most famous one, then Orthrus is special for having two heads but the one always neglected was the one headed Lakis o Skylakis
The name they used for the 2 headed dog in this movie was "Dioskilos".
I saw this movie as a very young child, and it just blew my mind. Jealous gods, slaying monsters, and saving the princess. It doesn't get much better for an epic fantasy.
James and Mike need to play God of War on a Monday !
AHeroAlmost Kratos!!!
It'll take them a while to get to, but the second game has the same Perseus as the one in the film (same actor too) and a Kraken of similar design to this one. :D
They'd probably make it to the end of the boat section in 1, claiming the game is too hard, and has nothing to do with Gods, before giving up.
the kraken from god of war is not similar to this one.
4:20 - This is one thing I like about James' reviews. He doesn't just blindly trash remakes. He'll say if there is something good about them.
There was a two headed hound creature in Greek Myth, Orthrus.
I had two giant sized burritos a couple of hours ago. I guess it's time to *release the Kraken!*
Squinky Threepwood
Damn right! :D
LaVey Charkus Veros lol fucking nasty dude
Don't you mean the Crapen?
so glad you mention Jason and the Argonauts, I grew up with both of them and have always loved them!
Just been to the Harryhausen exhibition in Edinburgh. To see the Kraken and the Medusa up close pushed the nostalgia limit through the roof! Actually, it was a great privilege and rather humbling... It’s amazing how well travelled yet how well preserved these treasures are.
My Dad got me into these films when I was a kid, and I have to say the skeletons from Jason and the Argonauts is my favourite part, but Medusa definitely scared me back then.
Wait wait wait, this was released in 1981? Just by the look of it I thought it was late 60s/early 70s XD
YeCrustModifier Good reason for that. It was the last film of the legend, Ray Harryhausen, who did the stop-motion effects for Jason & The Argonauts and all the Sinbad movies from the 60's & 70's.
I also thought it was still from the 70s when I saw it :O
Harryhausen helped guy that originally created King Kong to do Mighty Joe young in 1947, did effects on Beast from 20,000 fathoms 1953, it came from beneath the sea 1955, Earth vs. The flying saucers 1956, 20 million miles to earth 1957, The 7th voyage of Sinbad 1958 so a bunch of movies before 1960.
Back in '81, this film was the shyzznat.
I can't agree with James that consolidating the story is good...I love how the whole story is a huge cataclysmic set up, into adventure with Calabos and Pegasus, into adventure with Medusa and Kraken...makes it seem all the more epic to me...its not just an adventure but a whole bunch wrapped into 1
Wow, so this is that movie. I remember sneaking upstairs and peeking through the door when my parents said they were going to watch a really scary movie. Boy did I regret that back then. I came in on the Medusa part and holy fuck. I obviously never forgot it!
one of my fav movies of all time, i love the voyages of sinbad too, just any of those movies. im just pissed that if they're made these days (which they never are anymore) it would be in CGI and not stop motion, which is the best part.
i always get sad when he loses his helmet in the swamp, im like "YOU COULDNT HAVE LOST THE SHIELD IN THERE INSTEAD??"
I love how the Kraken is in no way from greek mythology.
Something I'd like to point out: James mentioned Empire Strikes Back being out as an indication that stop motion dying, but Empire actually has a lot of stop motion in it (the tauntauns and the AT-ATs) and stop motion was really popular throughout the 80s and early 90s, actually much more so than it had been in the previous decades.
Clash of the Titans 81 is an awesome but very underappreciated film, seen it in the cinema with my Dad back in the day and never forgot it.
One thing I really liked from the remake was the Kraken itself, or at least how it was presented. Maybe it's only because I haven't watched it out of theatres, but the thing actually genuinely seemed gigantic. I don't think there's a shot of it where you could see all of it on screen. That might annoy some people, but to me it worked very nicely.
This, Jason and the Argonauts and the 7th voyage of Sinbad are the best heroic flicks of all time ❤️
I can't believe they had us watch this in the 5th grade at my school back in 1993. I distinctively remember my teacher putting up a big poster board over the TV on some of the more "questionable" scenes. It was great.
-Two headed dog was Orthus, Cerberus's sibling.
-Pegasus sprung out of Medusa's beheaded body.
-There was a monster that was attacking Andromeda, called Cetus, tho, which followed a good chunk of the movie.
-Perseus flew to Medusa's lair with Hermes' winged sandals.
I can just remember going to see this on its release. It was a major thing at the time, and everyone wanted to see it. It came out the same week as For Your Eyes Only, and since no one ever missed the latest Bond, everyone went to see both. A fantastic summer that was.
James, long time watcher of your stuff. I would have thought you would have known that there is a classic NES game based on Clash of the Titans (not really but is based on Greek mythology): The Battle of Olympus. It was one of my favorite games to play growing up, and it had many of the same characters as the film: Medusa, Cerberus, and even the three witches. I know you've probably played it, but just thought I'd refresh your memory in case you forgot! Keep up the good work and thank you for everything you do.
this movie defines the word Epic. Saw it as a kid and once again as an adult and it still holds up. Awesome review, James.
thank you for coming to Portland yesterday! when I was younger your videos inspired me to make small films for fun and just because I was curious. they were crap IMO but I don't care I enjoyed it and I learned so much. Those outtakes you showed us yesterday made me DIE from laughter. hope you come next year to Portland retro gaming expo!
-Mark G
2:12 Hey, it's Maggie Smith! Aka Professor McGonagall, among many other roles. Dang, never knew she was in this.
Hey man I just wanted to tell you I recently found your channel and I seriously enjoy all that you guys do. Very very good stuff. I produce for a local PBS station in upstate NY so If you need any help in any way (editing, graphics etc...) let me know.
Keep up the good work. Can't say enough how much I enjoy the channel.
In a way, there is a video game that took large influences from CotT: Titan Quest. In this game you have nearly all the monsters from the movie in a very similar art style. Also I was astouned, that the "Nerd" does not mention, that the Harryhausen Medusa was the role model for nearly all video game Medusas, including the ones in Castlevania.
I think it was Hermes that had the winged sandals. He just lent them to Perseus.
Jason and the Argonauts was one of my favorite movies as a kid. What a wonderful film. I'm glad you mentioned it!
Clash of the Titans was the reason I became aware of Harryhausen. I didn't know it was his last. Definitely one of my all time favorite movies.
Third good Greek mythology movie with monsters. Disney's Hercules. Meg was hot.
I saw this during my college years in the 90s as part of a late-night movie show, and the host said that the reason why Cerberus had two heads, among other things, was because of the budget.
"They should've made a video game of it." You say that, but there's a 95% chance it'd be a LJN NES game.
One of my all-time favorites. My uncle told me that he went to a double feature at his local theater. They showed this movie and then Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. He loved both films, but he knew that stop-motion was a relic of the past as soon as Indiana Jones started.
DrPluton your uncle was right, strangely Indiana Jones sequel was still using stop motion in its cart chase scene
that's in the miniature shots though
That owl has the best name EVER! LOL
Another great one, James!
There actually is a two-headed dog in the Greek mythology, but it's neither guarding Medusa's lair, nor killed by Perseus. It was however guarding a giant's cattle.
By the Gods. This film was my introduction to Ray Harryhausen's magical stop motion effects. It blew my 8 year old mind. I'm 40 now, and it still does. I don't hate CGI when it's used right, but it still had nothing on practical effects.
You are forgetting one of the most awesome and forgotten ones of them all though, Ulysses, with Kirk Douglas. It was originally Italian, but it is so well done, with some really great special effects, especially for the time. It deserves its place with Jason and the Argonauts and Clash, by far, featuring a cyclops, Circe, and an epic tale, which, if you read it, you'll be familiar with. It isn't as well known, and most of the film fanatics I talk to never even heard of it, but I highly, HIGHLY recommend you check it out! Also includes early camera work by Mario Bava, a master of the Giallo, another unsung category of Italian horror, something I also highly recommend you check out, the spaghetti horror movies of the 70's and 80's, truly some terrible stuff, with a few classics, like Fulci's Zombie, and House by the Cemetery!
You forgot to mention a few things.
Clabos was played by Spock's dad, Serek, while Thetus was played by a young Professor McGonical.
Nice job with the flame-farting demon at the end of your video, though.
The Two-Headed Dog was the pet of Gurion, the three-headed giant shepherd Hercules battled as one of his 12 labors.
One of my Childhood favorite movies right here James. Love the stop motion effects from Ray Harryhausen (may he rest in peace).
Didn't know there was actualy an original movie before the two new Clash of Titans movies (remakes). Very interesting :) The effects back then look awesome for a stop motion movie. But at the latest when Ghostbusters came out special effects came from the computer and stop motion was history.
If they made a videogame of this movie, I can bet it'll be way better than Crash of the Titans.
Just play God of War mate
i agree with God of war for BEST Greek mythology ... I also recommend Dantes inferno for best CHRISTIAN mythology
They actually did make a video game adaptation of the clash of the titans remake. It's really obscure and it's not really worth the search because it's pretty bad.
There was a greek game back on the NES. It was really fun.
They did make a videogame about it James, it´s called God of War. Monster Madness X is kicking ass.
And the actor who played Perseus in the movie voiced the character in GOW II.
Alpha Lambda holy crap that's pretty cool. I didn't know that.
I saw this and Star Trek 2: The wrath of Khan in theaters with my parents in a double feature. Between The scene where Medusea loses her head and Khan deploys his ear worms my mom got really ill. I loved it.
I don't think I've ever seen this movie in it's entirety, but I vividly remember seeing the Medusa scene as a little kid a couple times and it scared the shit out of me
This, Flash Gordon, and Alien kept the VCR rolling when I was a kid.
Excellent review, James! I've been a fan for years and you summed this up perfectly.
I seem to remember a "Sinbad of the Seven seas" movie that had some pretty decent stop motion animation of a 6 armed statue and something else, maybe a giant if I recall. Cinemassacre
Looking at where this movie physical was in the thumbnail, I would love to see a James Rolfe review of "Legend". I feel like that needs to happen.
Way better than the remake. Loved the medusa scene when I saw this as a kid.
i like both but the 1981 original will always be my fave, but then i grew up on that movie, so it makes me rather biased.
WarOnCOD yeah the remake wasn't too bad, but of course the original is superior
i liked all of them. i wish they made a series based on them.
STRIFE_45 that is something I would have gotten behind
WarOnCOD GoT style and brutal af voilà.
Actually, I preferred the story line of the original, because, it came across as episodic, as most Greek myths, even if it was a mish-mash of different myths (for example, it was Bellerephon who rode Pegasus into battle against a monster; Pegasus' association with the Perseus myth is that he was born from drops of Medusa's blood). BTW, Bubo IS from Greek mythology, just wasn't an automaton. The Bubo from the film is supposed to be an artificial replacement. Also, I'd say there are a couple of other good movies based on Greek mythology that features monsters besides Harryhausen's, most notably the 'Sword 'n Sandals' flicks 'Hercules' starring Steve Reeves, and 'Perseus the Invincible' (a.k.a. 'Medusa Against the Son of Hercules) with Richard Harrison, featuring monsters built by Carlo Rambaldi.
I love this movie, always used to watch this as a kid. Also as a fan of Typemoon's Fate series, I can't help but get a little laugh imagining Rider (F/SN) watching this movie ;)
I always thought Calibos was a riff on Shakespeare's character Caliban from The Tempest.
I find it funny how James was scared of the monsters in this movie, as it was the same thing for me. I walked in on my grandparents watching the ending with the kraken and it being turned to stone, and I was scared to death. It’s funny looking back on stuff like that.
The Nintendo game "Kid Icarus" was inspired by this movie. I'm actually surprised that James didn't review that game yet with it's difficulty level and absurdly long passwords.
We were shown this in school at some point in the late 80s. I was captivated. And I still am.
This movie should be mandatory viewing for growing up. In a way, "The Battle of Olympus" is a (sort of) video game of it in a Greek way.
I've always wanted a movie series that did myths in a respectable, reverent way that isn't silly.
This is one of Ray Harryhausen's best movies alongside "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad" and "Jason and the Argonauts"
I wish david hasslehoff would play perseus in the remake! :(
Don't hassle the Hoff.
I adore this film too, one of the many things that got me interested in Greek Mythology. And while I didn't care for the remake, I thought the sequel, Wrath of the Titans was a lot more fun. By far the best bit of that film is when Hephaestus starts talking to an inactive Bubo like a mad man. :D
I hope James makes at last two feature length horror movies. One more Nerd picture would be nice too, but I'd like to see what this guy can do with a genre he knows so much about.
This movie was always my favorite growing up. It's kind of hard to show it to someone because, like you said, the story telling is just all over the place. :p But this is a movie I absolutely love just on the fact that it's greek mythology. Greek mythology tells some on the greatest stories out there. :)
yeah this movie created my overall interest in mythology.
Definitely need more Greek mythology stories....or anybodies mythology really. Norse and Celtic both have tons of amazing stories that have never been adapted to film.
yep this movie got me into Greek Mythology and I remember they would show this on TV all the time.
David Lara
I don't know if it's modern sensibilities or not but I don't find this type of storytelling to be "all over the place", it all made perfect sense to me and flowed rather nicely in my opinion
I mean in reality it fits very nicely into the whole idea behind Greek mythology, even though it wasn't necessarily accurate, do what you can to save yourselves but in the end if you piss off the very fickle gods you're screwed.
Sinbad the sailor had a lot of Greek mythology mixed in with the Arabic myths.
also Jason and the argonauts had the single best stop motion scene ever, in the skeleton fight.
"They should've made a videogame about it"... uhm... would God of War qualify?
I actually remembered watching this movie in middle school in my exploratory history class when we were talking about ancient greece and mythology.
I don't blame the problems of the new version on the effects. It's just bad direction. The Medusa scene illustrates well the problem. It screams 'generic action movie'. No build up, no suspense. It would fit almost seamlessly in a transformers movie.
But I like that you pointed the positives of the remake! Well, positive. Singular. The tendency to look at the bad stuff is always so strong.
To be fair the Medusa scene was really cool, along with the design of Medusa and her lair, but screamed video game cutscene rather than something that should be on film. It does indeed pale to the originals look and tone of the Medusa scene.
i really wish James reviewed Jason and the Argonauts. That's my favorite movie. still it was cool that he acknowledged it anyway.
In term of stop motion, the Robocop movies(1987-1990) had some of the best ever done in a motion picture.
Clash of The Titans and 1997's The Odyssey were my favorite Greek Myth movies growing up, I only saw part of Jason and The Argonauts on tv once during the skeleton battle and wanted to watch the whole thing but the convenience store in my town didn't have it for rent haha 90's problems
I agree, i always wanted a Clash of the Titans game based on this movie. But we did get a cool game based on mythology called Herc's Adventure for the PS1 & Saturn. It is one of my all time favs. I still have my original for the PS1 i bought back in the day.
My mom tells me I saw this movie when I was 4 years old.. and I called the owl the 'boop boop bird'
Clash of the Titans was one of my top 10 childhood movies along with The Wizard of Oz, Watership Down, It, and American Werewolf in London...maybe this is what caused the creepy voices in my head!
Then Robot Chicken came and reminded us the amazement of stop-motion.
Honestly, I really liked the one movie based on Homer's Odyssey from 2007. It had some awkward CGI effects, but I still think it makes for a good epic based on Greek Mythology.
It seemed like this was on Every Saturday on HBO. I know it by heart. Last of its genre.
I had the biggest crush on Perseus. "By the Gods".
LOVE this movie. Always one of my favs as a kid, and the medusa scene scared the living shit out of me.
One of my all time favourites. I think you were generous with the new one and Bobos cameo is a slap in the face of the original. Bobos character had more personality then most of the cast in the remake, including the main character and yet they mock him. Great review though.
Great movie and I love it. But this movie never made me think of Halloween.
The whole Medusa sequence -- including paying Death to charter him to the island -- is one of my favorites in all of film.