The Titans
This was one of those things that I had been waiting for, a great event for me. Clash of the Titans.
I watched the original version of the story in 1981. I was 10 years old. It was the most amazing movie I had ever seen at that point. I had a major crush on the actor playing Perseus (Harry Hamlin). I wasn't really interested in the Kraken, much less Medusa.
A few weeks ago I watched the remake of it, with a stellar cast reaching up to the heavens. I thought that Liam Neeson made the perfect Zeus, with his thundering voice and all. But after I left the cinema, I was nagged by a strange void inside. It was like I didn't actually see anything worth seeing in that movie. There was something lacking amidst the gigantic scorpions, wild-haired Medusa and the horrendous Kraken.
The original version was quieter, less extravagant and more philosophical I think. Laurence Olivier's Zeus was a more Platoic God, more intellectual and philosophical in his dealings with Man. He was witty and although might have appeared fickle at times but he made the Olympians look like a bunch of really clever and mature deities fit to rule Man. He embodied the Ancient Greek ideology and philosophy of a great thinker.
Frankly speaking, I left the cinema feeling like I've just watched a sequel of Avatar, minus the blue people and the weird language.
The only thing that filled me with wonder was Ralph Fiennes' Hades, the God of the Underworld. Although I was often reminded of Voldermort (plus hair and a nose), he carried with him the pain of being Hades, the contempt, the bitterness of being the one having to live in a horrible place while your siblings lived in splendour and glory on Mount Olympus.
Release the Kraken? I doubt it...
I watched the original version of the story in 1981. I was 10 years old. It was the most amazing movie I had ever seen at that point. I had a major crush on the actor playing Perseus (Harry Hamlin). I wasn't really interested in the Kraken, much less Medusa.
A few weeks ago I watched the remake of it, with a stellar cast reaching up to the heavens. I thought that Liam Neeson made the perfect Zeus, with his thundering voice and all. But after I left the cinema, I was nagged by a strange void inside. It was like I didn't actually see anything worth seeing in that movie. There was something lacking amidst the gigantic scorpions, wild-haired Medusa and the horrendous Kraken.
The original version was quieter, less extravagant and more philosophical I think. Laurence Olivier's Zeus was a more Platoic God, more intellectual and philosophical in his dealings with Man. He was witty and although might have appeared fickle at times but he made the Olympians look like a bunch of really clever and mature deities fit to rule Man. He embodied the Ancient Greek ideology and philosophy of a great thinker.
Frankly speaking, I left the cinema feeling like I've just watched a sequel of Avatar, minus the blue people and the weird language.
The only thing that filled me with wonder was Ralph Fiennes' Hades, the God of the Underworld. Although I was often reminded of Voldermort (plus hair and a nose), he carried with him the pain of being Hades, the contempt, the bitterness of being the one having to live in a horrible place while your siblings lived in splendour and glory on Mount Olympus.
Release the Kraken? I doubt it...
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