1981’s Desmond Davis-Ray Harryhausen classic was a hard act to follow and sadly Louis LeTerrier tries to topple that bar opting for a remake that’s pretty much all style with none of the awe or amazement of the original film. Louis LeTerrier’s remake is dripping with early aughts ephemera with dark and grimy set pieces, a self serious script, and a part of the movie that would become the internet meme of the year. That snippet of dialogue would be “Release the Kraken!”
Perseus (Sam Worthington), the son of Zeus (Liam Neeson), is caught in a war between gods and is helpless to save his family from Hades (Ralph Fiennes), the god of the underworld. With nothing left to lose, Perseus leads a band of warriors on a dangerous quest to prevent Hades from overthrowing the king of the gods and laying waste to Earth. “Clash of the Titans” really isn’t very good and feels a lot like it’s going through the motions than actually trying to create some kind of epic scale cinematic event.
And Sam Worthington also looks lethargic most of the time, it’s another baffling addition considering Hollywood spent a good number of years trying to advertise him as the next big thing in Action cinema. 2012’s “Wrath of the Titans” is a shockingly better movie. It’s less serious, a little more adventurous and as Jonathan Liebesman who at least knows how to deliver camp in small doses. Worthington and co go for a more “God of War” approach this time, turning Perseus in to something of a warrior and single dad who is called back in to combat to save Zeus once and for all.
“Wrath” is a very good follow up that works hard to extend the narrative of the remake. It’s sad that they never allowed a third final film, as I wouldn’t have said no to a third final outing with Perseus.
The set from Arrow Video includes an Illustrated collector’s book containing new writing by author and critic Guy Adams and film scholar Josh Nelson, Double-sided fold-out posters for each film featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Joe Wilson, Six postcard sized art cards and finally reversible sleeves featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Joe Wilson. With the exception of Maximum Movie Mode, Arrow has ported over the bells and whistles from the older 1080 release from Warner Brothers, as well as offering one new supplement. For “Clash” we’re given Scaling Mount Olympus, a twenty minutes first part of a newly produced interview with producer Basil Iwanyk.
Harnessing the Gods is a thirty five minutes set of archival behind the scenes featurettes. Sam Worthington: An Action Hero for the Ages is an eight minutes EPK of the lead actor who, at this point in his career, had starred in the highest grossing movie ever made. Ahem—“Avatar.” Included is an alternate ending for the remake, eighteen minutes of deleted scenes, the original theatrical trailer, and finally an HD gallery of various promotional stills and behind the scenes stills. As is the same with “Clash,” the “Wrath” disc includes bells and whistles that have been ported over the supplements from the older 1080 release from Warner Brothers; it offers one new supplement.
Unleashing the Beasts is the thirteen minutes second part of a newly produced interview with producer Basil Iwanyk. Path of the Gods is a thirteen minute series of archival behind the scenes featurettes. Path of Men is a twenty one minutes of archival behind the scenes featurettes. Finally, there are ten minutes of Deleted Scenes, the original theatrical trailer, and an HD Image Gallery.