Why the Original Clash of the Titans Still Matters

By Brian Salisbury , Hollywood.com Staff | Wednesday, March 31, 2010

This weekend, Titans will clash! That oversaturated tagline will more than likely infest your senses at least two dozen times before this thing hits video. Remakes have been the language of Hollywood for quite some time now and Clash of the Titans is but the latest rehash from my favorite decade: the '80s. The remake stars Sam Worthington as the mythic hero Perseus, son of Zeus, who must battle all manner of evil beings to save the princess Andromeda. I am not fully sold on Worthington as an actor, but he can't be any more dim-witted or beef-headed than Harry Hamlin from the 1981 film. I am however convinced that there is no crime in remaking this film mostly because the original endures as a classic. Is it a perfect film? Far from it! But I think you would find consensus among film buffs that the original Clash of the Titans (1981) retains a certain amount of replay value. But is it just nostalgia that allows the original to stand the test of time? While that is a major component, there are several reasons we still love Clash of the Titans.

First and foremost it would be egregious to not pay homage to the monsters. You can espouse the merits of CG and tacked-on 3D until the Krakens comes home, but I will always be of a mind that practical effects trump computer-enhanced effects every time. There is a craft and artistry to practical effect that CG cannot afford. Beyond that, none other than Ray Harryhausen himself crafted the creatures in the original film! If you are unfamiliar with this genius, indoctrinate yourself immediately by renting 20 Million Miles to Earth, Jason and the Argonauts, and of course Clash of the Titans.

While his contemporaries in the 1950s were using actual animals against a sea of miniatures to dupe audiences into accepting the massive size of the monsters, Harryhausen used stop-motion technology to bring these monsters into fully animate existence. While Clash of the Titans may not represent Harryhausen's most polished work, the sheer scope of the world he created with his bountiful beasts is awe-inspiring. We went nuts for these monsters as kids because...well, they were monsters. We were thrilled by the mere sight of them and how awesome they were. But as adult film fans, we appreciate the technical achievement and the artistry of the effects. In this way, a principle feature of the film grows up right along with us.

A lot of what has allowed Clash of the Titans to weather the years gracefully is its epic story. We loved this film as kids, but Clash is not a film that exclusively plays to a particular age group. It appeals to children with its bevy of monsters and its fantastical adventure, but it never panders to children either. The biggest problem with most contemporary family films is they not only alienate the older members of the viewing family, but also treat the children as if they were idiots. Not only must anything even remotely challenging be edited out, but the juvenile humor usually inherent in these films must be even further lobotomized. Alvin and the Chipmunks is of the more arrant perpetrators of late, but it's a disturbingly growing trend. The one exception in Clash is of course that damn Bubo, the Jar-Jar Binks of his time, but even he is based on an actual pet of Athena’s.

Clash of the Titans makes the wise decision to give even the younger audience members some credit. Yes, there are winged horses and sword fights to satiate the youth market, but the film is also about a dark, if slightly fabricated, Greek myth. There are human sacrifices, decapitations, sexual jealousy, and even bare breasts. One could make the argument that Clash was designed for slightly older children and therein lies its propensity for heavier content. But the story is told with a completely adult approach to Greek mythology; the underlying, universal values of these ancient parables perfectly exemplified. Honestly, if this film were meant for children, would defying your creator be one of the principle themes?

Honestly, the only appeal for kids in the film is the monsters -- and they are only present because they existed in the source material. When the appeal for a child is the byproduct of a story and not the marketing agenda, we have a film that can therefore be appreciate well after that child has entered adulthood.