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I'm just back from the cinema.

I'm feeling a bit confused by Clash of the Titans.

I enjoyed it, but felt oddly detached from the whole thing.

The storyline is very similar to the Harryhausen original, but the original had more to it - accomplished in simpler terms.

The remake's effects are no more 'realistic' than Harryhausen's. But where Harryhausen's work looks like a painstanking labour of love, the new version looks like a computer game. Both 'unreal' in their own ways. CGI gives the makers more freedom of camera movement and editing, but Harryhausen's monsters were altogether more creepy - and the limitations that he had to work with for his entire career led to some amazing innovations, both technical and artistic.

But the overall similarities between both versions left me wondering why they bothered with a remake in the first place. It's every bit as theatrical as its predecessor, and they've done nothing significantly new with the story - in fact, many lines of dialogue were lifted directly from the original. Sure, I appreciate respect for the source material, but remakes are supposed to take new directions and twist things around somewhat. It's like recording a cover version of a song. If you've ever heard Snuff's cover of I Will Survive you'll know exactly what I'm rabbiting on about.

All that said, it's a good rollocking ride, it's got some nice action sequences, and - without giving too much away - there's a lovely moment when one of our intrepid adventurers comes face-to-face with Medusa.

Worth the price of admission. Harryhausen fans may experience a greater sense of deja-vu than they originally expected. Others will balk at the fact that the monsters aren't quite 'photo real' enough for their tastes. But to expect realism in a movie like this is to miss the point entirely.

Pete

I just got back. I only noticed one line from the original.

It's an okay film. The tagged on 3D was obvious, but as much as I love the Harryhausen films, the monsters in the newer film do look better, which is more a testament to the current technology than film making.

I felt a little uneasy when the original Bubo made an appearance - although it was a knowing wink to the original, there would have been better items that could have made an entrance. I would have loved to see Harry Hamlyn in a crowd scene somewhere.

Ian

i dread to think what they've done with Calibos

IAIN wrote:i dread to think what they've done with Calibos

Calibos isn't bad, but they don't give him much to do.

The Gods are quite hammy, but that's all for the good. I'd hate to see them portrayed with 'more realism'.

Did he look like he did in the original and was he was the Unanswerable riddle like in the original? Or was just some minor appearance.

He looks a lot like the original. But has nowt much to do but try to kill Perseus.