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GODSANDMONSTERS
HOW CLASH OF THE TITANS, THE CLASSIC ALL-ACTION GREEK MYTH, WAS RE-BOOTED FOR TODAY’S 3D FILM-HUNGRY AUDIENCE
t is nearly 30 years since we first Imarvelled at Ray Harryhausen’s handcrafted, stop motion anima-
tion work for Clash Of The Titans. But that 1981 epic, telling the
story of brave Perseus who has to battle all kinds of demons and beasts such as the serpent headed Medusa and the much dreaded subterranean giant Kraken under the watchful eye from on high of rival Greek gods, effectively marked the end of a visual effects era.
After more than a year of production on location in the Canary Islands and Wales as well as at Shepperton, Pinewood and Longcross Studios – the former tank factory at Chertsey – a brand new, high-tech Clash Of The Titans is now set for release in April.
Re-uniting with French director Louis Leterrier with whom he previously made 2008’s The Incredible Hulk, Australian cinematographer Peter Menzies Jr ACS says: “The number one thing Louis and I really wanted was to have the whole audience as a proper participant in this story, not as just an observer like the first time round”.
In fact, cinemagoers really are likely to be even more involved this time as the decision was made quite belatedly to turn this Clash Of The Titans into a 3D release.
Says Menzies: “There is this amazing company that did a lot of work on Avatar although I have to say that some of the shots we made during filming seemed almost 3D anyway. This is going to be exciting.”
Led by Sam Worthington as Perseus, the cast also includes Gemma Arterton, Alexa Davalos, Liam Neeson, Jason Flemying, Mads Mikkelsen, Danny Huston and Ralph Fiennes, as the vengeful god, Hades.
Apparently, the idea to remake Titans came about when, producer Basil Iwanyk told Screen International, he was thinking of the films he loved as an avid cinema- going teen and wondering whether any of them would be suitable for a contemporary makeover.
Happily, Warner’s owned the underlying rights to Titans and, with and , had recently delved successfully into the sword and sandal genre. With recent enormous advances in the special effects
Photo main: Sam Worthington in action and inset above, on the march in Clash Of The Titans FUJIFILM MOTION PICTURE • THE MAGAZINE • EXPOSURE • 21
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