Remake of Epic 'Clash of the Titans' will be in 3D
In 'Clash of the Titans,' the ultimate struggle for power pits men against kings and kings against gods. But the war between the gods themselves could destroy the world. The end of the world as the Ancient Greeks knew it? Well, at least, Anno 2010 that happens in 3D.
This remake of 1981 motion picture 'Clash of the Titans' by Desmond Davis (not to be confused with 'Remember the Titans') has one big benefit over other 'ancient world' movies; narrating a myth, rather than actual facts, one does not need to worry that much about "is this historically correct?" No need to look into old-Norse, so the entire research budget could be shifted over to the CGI department. At least, that's what I am hoping.
Warner Bros is definitely off to a good start with this: just have a glimpse at the trailer. They've also decided to give an extra dimension to 'Clash of the Titans' - it gets a shiny new 3D look.
The drawback is that the film's release might be pushed back from March 26th to April 2nd.
Why am I expecting so much from Louis Leterrier's remake of 'Clash of the Titans'? Every good myth contains lots of violence, bravery, fabulous creatures and even a bit of romance. And Perseus' story is no different. It contains all elements for it to become a major success.
Born of a god but raised as a man, Perseus - the handsome Sam Worthington (Jake Sully in blockbuster Avatar) - is helpless to save his family from Hades, vengeful god of the underworld.
With nothing left to lose, Perseus volunteers to lead a dangerous mission to defeat Hades before he can seize power from his father Zeus and unleash hell on earth.
Trailer: Clash of the Titans
Leading a daring band of warriors, Perseus sets off on a perilous journey deep into forbidden worlds. Battling unholy demons and fearsome beasts (yeey! return of the Kraken!), our brave - and did we mention seriously handsome? - hero will only survive if he can accept his power as a god, tame a flying horse, defy his fate and create his own destiny.
Lacking all god-like powers - such as fast-forward to April 2nd - I'm planning to spend the two remaining months preparing. First catch up on Desmond's Davis original and then plan ahead which 'Clash of the Titans' merchandise I'll purchase. At the moment I would love a Kraken bad-toy, a Medusa snake-wig, an Andromeda-outfit and a cute little radio-controlled Pegasus to fly around in the office.
You may say that plastic, battery powered, winged-horse-gadgets are 'cheap history', but if they boost interest in Greek mythology and ancient Greek culture, is there any reason not to encourage them? We'd love to know your opinion about 'edutainment', in all its forms!
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No not a remake. Arrrrr.
Nothing beats the fantastic Ray Harryhausen original, but I don't think this story will be damaged by a reboot; provided the art prevails that is. The original Clash of the Titans bought previously unfilmable myths to the screen, and introduced classic Greek mythology to a new generation of kids.
Before Harryhausen's wonderful stop-motion titans and gorgons, greek mythology had paled to dry old classical stuff studied in schools - and seemed as irrelevant to modern day kids as anything else over 2000 years old. We'd all seen Star Wars after all - and that was a lot more exciting and intelligable to a kid than reading Medea in Lit.
Despite it's faults, and artistic but jerky claymation, Titans bought the classical greek mythology of Homer into the modern day. Some experiments with using the visual language of CGI fail less gracefully than Harryhausen's stop motion monsters; Beowulf comes to mind - which though artful, fell disturbingly into uncanny-valley territory. Comic derived mythical treatments however, like the movie 300, show that we are developing a visual language for capturing the essence of mythical stories on film - even when CGI is the major compositing medium.
I hold high hopes for this movie. I feel we have moved beyond the technical barriers in CGI to allow the art to show through in the final frame. This is technology Ray Harryhausen could only dream of. My hope is that it reboots Greek myth for a new generation... and they're big boots to fill; With Laurence Olivier as Zeus in the original... i'm just saying, they're some big shoes! :)
(PS. when I was a kid i was fascinated by the robot owl.)
Hey! I did know about classical greek mythology without ever having watched Titans - for which, of course, I am very ashamed. My fascination was mainly because of a few graphic novels/comic book series focussing on ancient Egypt, Rome - and in a lesser extent - Greece. (But once you like the whole Roman lot of gods, it is difficult not to learn about the Greek ones as well.)
And there was that splendid series featuring 'Jay'... 'The Odyssey'. I never saw the end of that one though. Clueless if he ever gets out of coma. :/
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