More Harryhausen

 

 (themoviedb)

THE CLASH OF THE TITANS-1981-Baby Perseus and his mom are sacrificed to the sea by evil king, Acrisius (Donald Houston). But Perseus is actually the Son of Zeus who had a dalliance with mom Danae. Zeus orders Poseidon (Jack Gwillin) to release the Kraken and destroy the king's city. He also makes sure mom & son are safe on an island. Later when Perseus (Harry Hamlin) has grown, the goddess Thetis (Maggie Smith), mad that Zeus (Sir Lawrence Olivier) has condemned her son Calibos (Neil McCarthy), transports Perseus to the cursed city Joppa where he meets playwright Ammon (Burgess Meredith). The gods send him a sword, shield and helmet that makes him invisible. In the city, he uses the helmet to gain access to visit the princess, Andromeda (Judi Bowker), former fiancé to Calibos. He watches while her soul is carried off in a cage by a huge vulture. He captures the winged horse Pegasus so he can follow the vulture. Trailing the giant bird leads him to the swamp of Calibos, who has laid the curse on Joppa, because of his love for the princess. When A's mother, the queen (Sian Phillips) offers up her daughter, Perseus wins her and makes Calibos break the curse. Later Thetis demands Andromeda be sacrificed to the Kraken or Joppa will be destroyed. Ammon figures 3 witches (Freda Jackson, Anna Mahanan & Flora Robeson) will know how to stop the Kraken so Perseus, Andromeda and Ammon go to find them after Pegasus is kidnapped by Calibos. Perseus loses his helmet but that's replaced by Bubo, a mechanical owl! The witches tell him to go to the isle of the dead and slay the Medusa. Her head will turn the Kraken to stone. They encounter a skeleton ferry man, a two headed dog and bow and arrow wielding serpents. Then giant scorpions created by Medusa’s blood (thanks to Colicos). After Perseus and Colicos have a showdown, with Bubo's help, Perseus gets Pegasus back and saves the day and Andromeda. Also with Claire Bloom as Hera, Ursula Andress and pro-wrestler Pat Roach. 

This of course features wonderful stop action sfx by the legendary Ray Harryhausen which is the highlight of this ok all-star production. Directed by Desmond Daves and written by Beverley Cross who earlier had penned JASON AND THE ARGONAUNTS (1963) and SINBAD AND THE EYE OF THE TIGER (1977).

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