Last time, we discussed Ray Harryhausen, legendary stop motion/special effects director. He had the market on fantastic adventures featuring stop motion monsters. However, by the late 70's, that market was dwindling, in the wake of higher quality special effects films like Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Harryhausen made what would be his final film in 1981, returning to the old well of Greek mythology, this time adaptating the legend of Perseus and Medusa. He teamed up with producer Charles Scheer and screenwriter Beverly Cross (two people I forgot to mention in Jason). Cross got the idea for a film about Perseus and Medusa during a vacation near the island of Seriphos, where the legend took place. The story was expanded to include other monsters for Harryhausen to animate. Cross' then-wife Maggie Smith came aboard, and convinced her friend Laurence Olivier to join the cast. This being the period when Olivier did many roles for money, the most notable being as Douglas MacArthur in the Unification Church produced film Inchon. Another relationship on set was between stars Harry Hamlin and Ursula Andress (who played Aphrodite. I mention that, because she has no bearing the plot). There were a number of disagreements between star Hamlim and the producers, particularly over the scene where Medusa was beheaded (getting beheaded by a thrown shield Captain America-style, over the original method in the original myth. The movie uses the latter, because Hamlin refused to leave his trailer until it was changed). As mentioned, this was Harryhausen's last film. To capitalize on the success of Star Wars, a mechanical owl was added as comic relief. After some modifications, the British film classification board placed an A rating (not recommended for those under 14) There was a sequel planned called "Force of the Trojans" (presumably adapting the Iliad), but that never came into fruition. However, some of you might be aware of the 2010 remake, and its sequel. I'll probably never cover or watch those, but we're talking about the original, so let's go.
The film follows the story of Perseus (Harry Hamlin), a son of the king of gods Zeus (Laurence Olivier) and Danaë (Vida Taylor), who is the daughter of King Acrisius of Argos (Donald Houston) . For reasons I'm sure are explained at some point, but I didn't catch, Arcisius puts his daughter and grandson in a wooden coffin, and casts them out to sea. In vengeance, Zeus has the Kraken (a creature from Norwegian maritime myth, but we'll ignore that), destroys Acrisius and Argos, and ensures that Danae and Perseus are safely on the island of Seriphos, where Perseus grows up. The gods decide that Perseus was destined to achieve a certain mission, he is placed in an abadoned stadium with an elderly poet named Ammon (Burgess Meredith). Perseus learns that his mission is to free Princess Andromeda (Judi Bowker), daughter of Queen Cassiopeia (Siân Phillips) ruler of the city of Joppa, from a curse by her ex-fiance Calibos (Neil McCarthy), who was mutated by Zeus to a horrific Satyr creature, by solving a riddle. After the gods grift him with several mystical weapons, and gaining Pegasus (who was formed by the blood of Medusa in the myth, but whatever), Perseus follows the apparition of Andromeda to Calibos' realm. He battles Calibos, and figures out the riddle pertains to the ring on Calibos' hand. He cuts off the hand, but keep Calibos alive. He presents the hand, breaking Andromeda's curse, and making Perseus the main suitor for Andromeda. However, Thetis (Maggie Smith) is enraged by this, and Cassiopeia's statement that Andromeda was comparable to her beauty. In statue form, she demands that Andromeda be sacrificed to the Kraken, or the Kraken will destroy Joppa. Perseus seeks the guidance of the gods. Zeus commands Athena (Susan Fleetwood) to give her owl Bubo, but instead sends a replacement produced by Hephaestus (Pat Roach). Bubo guides Perseus and his small entourage assembled to assist him to the the Stygian Witches (Flora Robson, Anna Manahan, and Freda Jackson). He takes their eye hostage in exchange for information on how to defeat the Kraken. He learns he must cut the head off of Medusa, which could turn the Kraken into stone. Now, Perseus must get Medusa's head, and get to Joppa, before Andromeda can be sacrificed.
Once, the special effects are the main stars of this film. Medusa and the Kraken are particular standouts, with unique designs, and much more fluid motion than in Jason and the Argonauts. And the integration between the actors and the effects looks even better. Especially with Pegasus and Calibos, both of whom are portrayed in both stop-motion and physical forms (horse and actor, respectively). While obvious where the stop motion ends and the live action begins, it still is seamless enough that it isn't very bothersome. The acting is mostly fine. I kept hearing how Olivier was "over-the-top" and "clearly not caring". Honestly, that's not the impression I got. He did fine in the film. He seemed a bit tired, but given he was sick on set, it is understandable. Once again, since this is a classic of Greek mythology, I find it hard to criticize the story. Sure, it deviates from the original, but these stories have been changed all the time over the centuries. The pacing is better in this film, possibly because the film is longer, allowing equal time for both the story and the action scenes
Once again, it was hard at time to figure out what was going on. I understood generally what happening in the story, but specific details confused me. I had to look up later that Arisius was jealous of Dinae's beauty, and that's why she was cast out. Perhaps it was explained in dialogue, but the dialogue is pretty grading, so I zoned out of parts of it. Perhaps it's my fault for not paying attention, but it got confusing. The characterization isn't very nuanced, but mythological films are more about archetypes than characters, so that gets a soft pass.
This is basically as good as Jason and the Argonauts. It has the same good elements and most of the same flaws. It just has higher quality cinematography, and it was a good end to a career like Harryhausen's, especially how the ending describes how the heroes are preserved in the constellations. If you like Greek mythology or stop-motion monsters, or liked Jason and the Argonauts, you'll like this.
I might revisit Harryhausen in one of his monster movies later on, but next we look at an actual horror movie, Halloween III: Season of the Witch.
The film follows the story of Perseus (Harry Hamlin), a son of the king of gods Zeus (Laurence Olivier) and Danaë (Vida Taylor), who is the daughter of King Acrisius of Argos (Donald Houston) . For reasons I'm sure are explained at some point, but I didn't catch, Arcisius puts his daughter and grandson in a wooden coffin, and casts them out to sea. In vengeance, Zeus has the Kraken (a creature from Norwegian maritime myth, but we'll ignore that), destroys Acrisius and Argos, and ensures that Danae and Perseus are safely on the island of Seriphos, where Perseus grows up. The gods decide that Perseus was destined to achieve a certain mission, he is placed in an abadoned stadium with an elderly poet named Ammon (Burgess Meredith). Perseus learns that his mission is to free Princess Andromeda (Judi Bowker), daughter of Queen Cassiopeia (Siân Phillips) ruler of the city of Joppa, from a curse by her ex-fiance Calibos (Neil McCarthy), who was mutated by Zeus to a horrific Satyr creature, by solving a riddle. After the gods grift him with several mystical weapons, and gaining Pegasus (who was formed by the blood of Medusa in the myth, but whatever), Perseus follows the apparition of Andromeda to Calibos' realm. He battles Calibos, and figures out the riddle pertains to the ring on Calibos' hand. He cuts off the hand, but keep Calibos alive. He presents the hand, breaking Andromeda's curse, and making Perseus the main suitor for Andromeda. However, Thetis (Maggie Smith) is enraged by this, and Cassiopeia's statement that Andromeda was comparable to her beauty. In statue form, she demands that Andromeda be sacrificed to the Kraken, or the Kraken will destroy Joppa. Perseus seeks the guidance of the gods. Zeus commands Athena (Susan Fleetwood) to give her owl Bubo, but instead sends a replacement produced by Hephaestus (Pat Roach). Bubo guides Perseus and his small entourage assembled to assist him to the the Stygian Witches (Flora Robson, Anna Manahan, and Freda Jackson). He takes their eye hostage in exchange for information on how to defeat the Kraken. He learns he must cut the head off of Medusa, which could turn the Kraken into stone. Now, Perseus must get Medusa's head, and get to Joppa, before Andromeda can be sacrificed.
Once, the special effects are the main stars of this film. Medusa and the Kraken are particular standouts, with unique designs, and much more fluid motion than in Jason and the Argonauts. And the integration between the actors and the effects looks even better. Especially with Pegasus and Calibos, both of whom are portrayed in both stop-motion and physical forms (horse and actor, respectively). While obvious where the stop motion ends and the live action begins, it still is seamless enough that it isn't very bothersome. The acting is mostly fine. I kept hearing how Olivier was "over-the-top" and "clearly not caring". Honestly, that's not the impression I got. He did fine in the film. He seemed a bit tired, but given he was sick on set, it is understandable. Once again, since this is a classic of Greek mythology, I find it hard to criticize the story. Sure, it deviates from the original, but these stories have been changed all the time over the centuries. The pacing is better in this film, possibly because the film is longer, allowing equal time for both the story and the action scenes
Once again, it was hard at time to figure out what was going on. I understood generally what happening in the story, but specific details confused me. I had to look up later that Arisius was jealous of Dinae's beauty, and that's why she was cast out. Perhaps it was explained in dialogue, but the dialogue is pretty grading, so I zoned out of parts of it. Perhaps it's my fault for not paying attention, but it got confusing. The characterization isn't very nuanced, but mythological films are more about archetypes than characters, so that gets a soft pass.
This is basically as good as Jason and the Argonauts. It has the same good elements and most of the same flaws. It just has higher quality cinematography, and it was a good end to a career like Harryhausen's, especially how the ending describes how the heroes are preserved in the constellations. If you like Greek mythology or stop-motion monsters, or liked Jason and the Argonauts, you'll like this.
I might revisit Harryhausen in one of his monster movies later on, but next we look at an actual horror movie, Halloween III: Season of the Witch.
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