AllMovie

Clash of the Titans was supposed to be a throwback to the sword and sandal epics of previous decades, but most viewers just wanted to throw it back. The stop-motion animation by Ray Harryhausen is a little jarring for viewers accustomed to state-of-the-art visuals -- in fact, after this last outing as head of special effects, his peculiar genius was no longer considered viable. But its appearance is not what does the movie in, because Harryhausen's creations, especially a snake-haired Medusa, are as imaginative as they are erratic. It's the humans stacked up against these visual curiosities that are lacking, notably a wooden Harry Hamlin as Perseus. They make the gaps between monsters slow and stultifying, seeming to add countless minutes to an already yawn-inducing two hours. At the time this was released in 1981, the audience for fantasy was being siphoned off by the Star Wars saga and just getting involved in Indiana Jones. There was no place for reheated leftovers like Clash of the Titans, which could have been a lot tastier with a better cast and more adventuresome storytelling.