This is topic Clash of the Titans (2010) in forum Film Handlers' Movie Reviews at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.


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Posted by Kurt Zupin (Member # 2751) on 04-01-2010, 05:24 AM:
 
So to get ready for this, a buddy and myself watched the 1981 version last night to get ready. While that movie is not good at all and really does not hold up at all. It at least had some heart, and story. This had nothing, just set piece after set piece. I refused to screen our 3D print. I watched one of the 2D prints we had and at times it looked horrible. The only redeeming thing in this movie for me was Mount Olympus. The floor of the great hall was incredible. Great detail, I also like the fact that Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes look like each other enough that you can believe that they are brothers.

2/5
 

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Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 04-01-2010, 07:14 PM:
 
That rating is pretty consistent with the current Tomatometer reading at Rotten Tomatoes: 33% (88 reviews, 57 rotten).
 

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Posted by Jake Spell (Member # 5294) on 04-02-2010, 01:34 AM:
 
Having just got back from seeing this pile of ill have to agree. Basically, No plot, No Acting, bad special effects, Worst 3-D I have EVER seen, as in, there wasn't any.

2 out of 10
 

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Posted by Sally Ann Burgess (Member # 4746) on 04-02-2010, 02:34 AM:
 
Absolutely bloody awful. Clash of the Mullets more like. I watched the original again today for the first time since I was about 12, and it was way more entertaining.
The new one? Pah. Didn't care for any of the characters, and wasn't Perseus supposed to end up with Andromeda?
Honestly, I can't think of anything good to say about it.
 

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Posted by Dennis Benjamin (Member # 1137) on 04-02-2010, 08:29 AM:
 
Why does Hollywood insist on ruining all the films and/or television shows that I enjoyed as a child?


 

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Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 04-02-2010, 01:33 PM:
 

quote: Dennis Benjamin

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Hollywood insist on ruining all the films and/or television shows that I enjoyed as a child?

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quote:

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3-D [was] added after the movie was filmed (translation: There isn't a single good "Wow!" of a 3-D shot in the entire picture.)

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Is there a list somewhere telling which of the upcoming 3-D films are "converted" and which are native 3-D?
 

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Posted by Stu Jamieson (Member # 4626) on 04-03-2010, 07:46 PM:
 
Loosely based on the 1981 film by Desmond Davis which was in turn loosely based on the Greek myth of Perseus, this incarnation of Clash Of The Titans bears little semblance to the original legend bar the perfunctory plot points of Perseus slaying Medusa to kill the Kraken to save Andromeda (though even that synopsis departs from legend). That Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief sticks closer to the original tale is an indictment of just how far this story has strayed from authenticity. In this new film the source material is given a vacuous treatment, sacrificing logical narrative cohesion and historical accuracy in order to get to the next monster fight in as few turns as possible. The result of all this narrative jiggery pokery is the apparentness that the modern Hollywood script doctor has nothing on their Ancient Greece counterpart.

The film represents much of what we find reprehensible about modern American cinema - a gratuitous reliance on CGI cobbled to a vapid script. While the 1981 film had its faults, there was a charm, simplicity and innocence in that film which, despite Harry "The Ham" Hamlin's timbered performance, is completely lacking here. Davis' film also showcased the pinnacle of Ray Harryhausen's stop motion technique, in what would be the last film to feature the work of the great animator (though the 90 year old isn't dead yet.......)

I saw the 2D incarnation of this movie but have also seen sections of the 3D version and can advise that the latter is a mere cash-in best avoided. The film is not shot in a manner which exploits the third dimension and the 3D effects look awfully planar. The latter is a direct result of the film being shot in 2D with faux depth applied in post production - the same problem which plagued Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland, only worse! The result being that characters look like cardboard cut-outs or they're strangely attached to inanimate background objects in a most disconcerting fashion, often both. It is projects like this that will give digital 3D a bad name and kill the technology's present run of success.

Performances are strictly of the "phone-in" variety even from such thespian stalwarts as Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes. Sam Worthington will need to tread very carefully with his future career lest he become the Jason Statham of fantasy sci-fi.

Clash Of The Titans is a titanic disappointment which deserves to hit an iceberg and sink without a trace like its sea-faring namesake. Sadly it just may drag that magnificent 3D technology with it.

5 out of 10.
 

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Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 04-04-2010, 11:10 AM:
 
So Stu, after that scathing review, how the heck did you arrive at a "It's neither great nor horrible" numerical rating of 5 out of 10?
 

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Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 04-04-2010, 05:22 PM:
 
Warners bought him lunch.
 

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Posted by Stu Jamieson (Member # 4626) on 04-04-2010, 06:17 PM:
 
Half marks is not a good score for me. I reserve sub 5 scores for movies which are offensively bad (like House Of 1000 Corpses, for instance); those which insult my intelligence or disgust me in some way - the ones that make feel like walking out. I give credit to the fact that making a film at all which can hold your attention to the end is a reasonable achievement so it gets half marks for that. In short >5 illicits a positive emotional response, <5 a negative one, and 5 ellicits no emotional response at all.
 

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Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 04-16-2010, 08:51 PM:
 
Today at Regal 15 in Eugene, #9, RealD-XL 3D, NEC 2K DLP. A very recent digital conversion. Plenty of brightness (~50-foot common height screen); nice uniform illumination except the far right edge of the screen drops off noticeably.

Katzenberg is right. This 2D to 3D conversion is mostly not very good and gives 3D a bad name. This is more like 2.5D. There are a few scenes that look ok but far more that are just lousy. Can RealD refuse to allow any more of these conversion abominations to be played on their system? "Clash 2.5D" leaves the impression that RealD is real sucky.

I only watched about 45 minutes, movies about Greek mythology do not interest me and once I realIzed how sucky the 2.5D is there was no point in staying. Sue me.
 

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Posted by Jonathan Goeldner (Member # 4854) on 04-19-2010, 08:28 PM:
 
Cinemark Egyptian 'XD' screen #12 (Barco 2K DLP) 3D presentation:

As other's have pointed out, the 3D scenes vary from pathetic to very good. The color palette though really doesn't have a 'pop' that CGI animated films have, which is a given, but with scenes that are almost completely gray or yellow - the overall presentation is visually muddy.

The sound though is quite amazing, with bass kicking in when the Kraken is about to rise from the ocean. The scene where an offscreen Medusa is laughing, taunting Perseus as she slithers around her lair, is a great effect as sound begins in the left rear speaker, is directly behind the viewer and off to the right rear is an impressive sound cue.

Sam Worthington is so monotonous and unemotional he feels like he's channeling Harrison Ford's performance from 'Blade Runner'. Neeson looking like King Arthur in Boorman's 'Excalibur' - just comes off as unoriginal. I liked the special effects notably the Kraken attack scene, but I really really didn't care for the uninspiring music score, the original film had a stellar score, here though it came off as annoying and bland
 

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