FilmWorth watching
Clash of the Titans
Directed by Desmond Davis
1981
A charming fantasy version of the Perseus myth, made unforgettable by Ray Harryhausen’s stop-motion monsters.
Read the reviewOliver Stone clearly cared deeply about this project, and it shows in the scale of the production and the research behind it. The battle of Gaugamela is one of the finest ancient battle sequences ever filmed, capturing the chaos and scale of the clash between Alexander’s phalanx and the Persian army.
Elsewhere the film struggles. It jumps awkwardly through time, narrated at length by an elderly Ptolemy, and Colin Farrell never quite convinces as a man who conquered the world. Angelina Jolie’s Olympias is memorable, if eccentric.
Stone has released several cuts since 2004, and the 2014 Ultimate Cut is the most coherent.
Our verdict
Worth seeing for Gaugamela, but read Peter Green for the real Alexander.
Every review reflects the personal perspective of the Hellenic Heritage Club.
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