Clash of the Titans – Blu-ray Review

The Film:

If I was to say Clash of the Titans was a mythology-light, action-oriented, campy, visual effects extravaganza, would I be talking about the 1981 film or the 3D 2010 film? Cut from the same cloth, both Clash of the Titans are mimicking each other, so much so, that it’s hard to fault this remake for the flaws the 1981 film had. Hopefully, the Gods won’t smite me for saying this, but as much as I love the work and films of Ray Harryhausen, Clash of the Titans was certainly weaker in a lot of areas than his other fantasy films like Jason and the Argonauts or The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad, so remaking it wasn’t an issue to me. Instead of clearing away some of the 1981 film’s flaws, they decided to go with the visual effects update, and that’s really all there is to the 2010 film.

There’s nothing really wrong with that, mind you. Have we gotten away from the fun of the spectacle? We can debate Harryhausen’s films all day on their merits and quality, but the man had one thing in his corner, from film to film, he wowed. Even though, I personally feel that the 1981 version of Clash is flawed, but decent fun, Harryhausen’s work in stop-motion effects were unrivaled, and that’s all the plot served. The visual effects was the film’s star and Harryhausen delivered. In the 2010 version, CG is now the tool and while some scenes are better than others visually, 2010’s Clash is a effects driven film, and when you look at it that way, it’s a flawed, but decent time.

You’ll be amazed by how similar the two versions are, yet there is one key difference: Ray Harryhausen’s creatures, and films even, had magic. His creatures were show-stoppers. Not just because he was the King of Stop-Motion, but his creatures had that little bit extra in their mannerisms, that made them alive and aided that magic. I’m not knocking Louis Leterrier (Incredible Hulk) at all, but these creatures are straight-up cookie cutter CG monsters. We can debate the differences all day long, but the 2010 version is hampered by extremely hamfisted dialogue and a ton of exposition. The exposition is filler, clinging the scenes of spectacle together. Here, Perseus’s (Sam Worthington) journey seems really easy. Whenever in a bind, just listen to Athena as her exposition will clear it all up. I can’t be too down, as all actors involved in both film version had cheesy dialogue to work with, let alone a script that gave them little to do.

You can see it at times, the underlining subtext of the film, where Man is here to control his own destiny, damn the gods. One wishes, if anything this new version added, was a bit more to this idea. Is asking for just a little intellectual stimulation against the visual eye candy, too much to ask sometimes? And the pre-release controversy of WB’s decision to add a post 3D gimmick to the film, does feels tacked on, yet it isn’t that bad. There’s some fun to be had with the 3D, you sticklers, but when it all comes back down to is, 2010’s Clash of the Titans is much like the 1981’s Clash. Big, loud, effects driven film that is nothing more than quickie entertainment, and by Zeus, flaws and all, that’s what Leterrier brought.

The Blu-ray:

Audio/Video: Warner offers up a great HD presentation. The DTS audio just destroys. Loud, active, bass heavy, as if the Gods themselves ordered the eruption from your speakers. The better home theater audio system you have, the better this will be, as it sounds as good as any new film released in HD. The picture is equally as good, almost too clean as some have noted that dreaded DNR had made an appearance. If anything, close up details aren’t as superb as in mid-range, but overall, it’s really good.

All extras in HD.

Maximum Movie Mode: A typical Picture-in-Picture extra WB introduced to many of their high-end titles, but Louis Letterier isn’t present. Instead, we get everyone else as they talk about the making-of. It isn’t the most thorough PiP around, but it’s solid. If you rather just get the goodies separately just watch the Focal Points. They offer some new material, but combined offer a better overview of the film, especially since there’s no commentary.

Sam Worthington: An Action Hero for the Ages: An 8-minute promo for the budding action star, with interviews.

Deleted Scenes: For most of these, we get some deleted Olympian Council. Passable, but watch the deleted ending, it’s really interesting and dark.

BD-Live rounds out the extras.

Conclusion: Light fun on a really good Blu-ray, that probably needed more extras.

The Film: Rating:

The Blu-ray: Rating: