Clash of The Titans (1981)

Though special effects techniques today have been dramatically transformed by CGI, the highly-imaginative and incredibly detailed work by Ray Harryhausen in his legendary films continues to hold audiences spellbound today. Now, even more so on Blu-ray. A disciple of stop-motion pioneer Willis O’Brien (King Kong), Harryhausen adapted the techniques O’Brien developed and created his own genre of film from the 1950s to the 1980s utilizing his own stop-motion animation process eventually identified as “Dynamation,” which makes small, well-articulated models come to life by photographing them one frame at a time and then moving them slightly between exposures. Besides Clash of the Titans, some of his memorable special/visual effects films include The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953), It Came from Beneath the Sea (1955), The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958), Jason and the Argonauts (1963), One Million Years, B.C. (1966), The Valley of Gwangi (1969), and The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1974).

The machinations of the gods above and the fates of man and monsters on earth play out in a Clash of the Titans. Harry Hamlin stars as the brave Perseus, mortal son of Zeus (Laurence Olivier), who sets out to fulfill his destiny by rescuing his beloved Andromeda from the wrath of the goddess Thetis (Maggie Smith). Perils await Perseus time and again, as he faces snake-haired Medusa, fearsome Kraken, winged Pegasus, two-headed dog Dioskilos, giant scorpions and more.