CLASH OF THE TITANS (2010, Blu-ray released July 27, 2010 – MSRP $35.99)
When I first caught wind of an update to the classic Clash of the Titans film heading to the big screen my first impulse was to decry the effort, feeling that nothing could possibly live up to the original. Then I took a step back, recalled that Harryhausen had just re-purposed Greek myth to best suit the stop-motion animation effects and creatures he wanted to design back in the day, and realized that this new version of the tale would be doing the exact same thing, only to modern standards. Suddenly I was filled with hope, imagining what a fresh coat of paint could bring to an old B-Movie standard. Sadly, I’ve come away from the exercise not with renewed faith for the imaginative powers of Hollywood creatives but only certain that they are in desperate need of a lesson in restraint.
I really, really tried to love this film. I wanted to enjoy every ghastly, CGI driven action scene, as if it was the new schock cinema. But there’s an integral piece of the puzzle missing here. And it’s not what you’d think. You see, as garish and over the top as some of the effects in this update to the classic 80s film are, they are simply the new stop-motion. They are the window dressing. What this film lacks that the original had in spades is heart. All the way from the glimmer in the eye of a fantastical, mythological creatures to the very structure of the story itself. Heart. Allow me to explain.
I hate to judge a film based on the material it’s being adapted from but the obvious missteps here don’t leave me much option. Now I said the film was lacking heart in its special effects. While criminal in some eyes, to me, this is a sin easily forgiven in this day of big-budget film making. Ray Harryhausen lovingly crafted and animated every move of every character in the original 1984 film, with only a few assistants to make the work move a little quicker. This new Clash of the Titans boasts an impressive roster of artisans enlisted to bring ancient Joppa to its best digital life. And for what it is, it’s beautifully designed and executed. It’s just not Harryhausen. It doesn’t feel as “real” or handmade. But I can’t fault the film for that.
What really irks me about the new Clash is the script by the credited writing team of Travis Beacham, Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi (amongst many others who remain uncredited, I’m certain.) That’s right, it took a committee to make a perfectly serviceable story into an unnecessary mess of motivation and mood. They managed to take the simplest, most effective of stories – a hero, half-god, half-man, sets out to find his destiny, win the hand of his great love and save her city from certain doom – and turn it into a jumbled mess of political backstabbing and daddy issues. Sure, those elements have their place in mythic storytelling but never at the expense of classical structure. It’s easier to cheer our hero, Perseus (Sam Worthington) on if the princess in danger (Alexa Davalos) is also the girl he’s keen to hook up with. It’s more difficult when that girl seems an afterthought, as he flirts with his attractive companion (Gemma Arterton) and rages against his God/father, Zeus (Liam Neeson.) Newly introduced into the mix is Hades (Ralph Fiennes), Perseus’ uncle and the architect of all evil in the plot of the film. One wonders how the original managed to get by without him, after witnessing how critical the character is to this new, overwrought version of the tale.
Try as I might, I can’t divorce myself of Harryhausen’s original Clash of the Titans long enough to pick apart this update on its own merits and faults. The bold, well-designed CGI special effects are cold yet entertaining enough, much as the rest of this relatively heartless, messy endeavour.
Clash of the Titans arrives on Blu-ray disc with a transfer that presents a very schizophrenic image. I believe this to be a solid transfer, very accurate to the original film, without evidence of artifacts or banding. It’s essentially noise free. And that includes the “noise” of film grain! Clash is slick in every regard but inconsistent. And I believe that inconsistency can be traced back to the various methods used to process the image so that the footage might integrate well into the CGI and to render the differing looks of the film required by the vision of director Louis Leterrier and DOP Peter Menzies Jr. The end result is visually stunning but all over the map, leaving us with highly detailed scenes with rich colours and deep blacks, alongside low contrast images that exhibit a waxy, muddy appearance.
The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 sound mix, however, will blow the very doors from your house! Bass is very aggressive in the mix, music well presented on a wide soundstage through all channels and ambient sounds active through the rear channels. Clash is an excellent way to break in that new set of speakers you just set up in your home theatre!
Whatever you might think of the film itself, there’s no denying that the Blu-ray disc has an incredibly strong set of extras, highlighted by another of Warner Home Video‘s “Maximum Movie Mode” features! Although, this time around, it’s not quite as “Maximum” as it has been in the past, eschewing the director-walk-on effect for a simple and much less effective Picture-in-Picture chat with the director and the films stars. Despite my disappointment with the lack of true MMM, there’s still a lot of amazing insight into the film to be gained by checking it out. If you want to learn more about the film, there are over half-an-hour of “Focus Points” which can be viewed on their own or as branching supplements to the MMM feature. I enjoyed the 20-minutes of deleted scenes and the Blu-ray exclusive alternate ending, which, taken together, give a really solid look at how this update to Clash was initially fashioned before reshoots and some heavy editing. The package is rounded out with a 5-minute featurette on star, Worthington and a DVD and Digital Copy of the film.
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