It’s fair to say Clash Of The Titans is one of those movies that was kicking its heels waiting for the arrival of CGI. While the 1981 classic looks a touch dated now, director Louis Leterrier is in no doubt of the benchmark set by special effects maestro Ray Harryhausen’s stop-motion creatures of Greek mythology.
“The bar was really high. Ray’s movie is amazing and has lasted so many years because of the creatures,” Leterrier says. “I called him twice when prepping the movie because I wanted to kiss the ring, but I also would have loved for him to be involved.”
In the end, Leterrier couldn’t persuade Harryhausen out of retirement, although the veteran effects pro did offer some advice to the director. “I thought he would say that I had to be really careful with the creatures and don’t use CGI – but it was actually all about the story and cast,” Leterrier reveals. “He was really worried we would mess it up by casting B-actors!”
He needn’t have worried, what with Ralph Fiennes, Liam Neeson, Mads Mikkelsen and Gemma Arterton lining up in the big-budget adventure alongside Avatar’s Sam Worthington as hero Perseus, who embarks on a lifethreatening mission to stop God of the Underworld, Hades (Fiennes), from toppling his father Zeus (Neeson).
Forget the obvious daddy-issues and god-complexes, the emphasis in Clash Of The Titans is on swords-and-sandals style hacking and slashing with various computer-generated beasties for Worthington to dispatch along the way.
“It is the source of modern storytelling,” says Leterrier of the original Perseus myth. “A three-act structure, good and evil, fall of the hero, an anti-hero who becomes a hero – all written 3,000 years ago. It’s like Star Wars – a mix between accurate historical movie and Greek mythology. It’s the hero’s journey.”
Leterrier has also revealed he’s keen to release a longer version on disc. “I would love to do an extended cut of the movie, to let it breathe and give more of the universe, but it depends how successful the movie is,” says Leterrier.
“The film is 97 minutes, but it could be as long as two hours. I love DVDs and Blu-rays and think they are great. That’s how I learned my craft, by watching the extras and the directors’ commentaries on Laserdisc at the time.”
Clash Of The Titans is out on DVD and Blu-ray on 26 July.
