Clash of the Titans (1981 film)

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Clash of the Titans is a 1981 British-American heroic fantasy adventure film involving the Greek hero Perseus, and features the final work of stop motion visual effects artist, Ray Harryhausen.

Acrisius[edit]

  • Bear witness, Zeus, and all you gods on high Olympus! I condemn my daughter Danae, and her son Perseus to the sea! Her guilt and sin have brought shame to Argos! I, Acrisius the King, now purge her crime and restore my honor! Their blood is not on my hands!

Ammon[edit]

  • [After Perseus leaves without his sword] Oh, impetuous. Foolish. Ah, dear, the young. Why do they never listen? When will they ever learn?

Thetis[edit]

  • The child, Perseus, is the son of Zeus. That is why he is to be saved... and why Argos is doomed.
  • My priests of Joppa are loyal. I will speak to them in dreams and omens. As my Calibos suffers, so will Andromeda. I promise you. The son of Zeus is to be left to the whim of chance, while mine is punished with deformity. [picking up the clay figure of Perseus] It is time for chance to intervene. Time you saw something of the world, Perseus. Time you came face to face with fear. Time to know the terrors of the dark and look on death. Time your eyes were opened to grim reality. Far to the east, across the sea, in Joppa, in the kingdom of Phoenicia. [she sets down the clay figure, transporting Perseus to Joppa]

Dialogue[edit]

Poseidon: It is done. As we feared, King Acrisius of Argos has abandoned his daughter and her child to the sea.
Zeus: And he will be punished. Cruel and ruthless crime! Blasphemy! How dare the tyrant pray to me to forgive his savage jealousy...and cowardly revenge!!
Hera: Acrisius has always shown devotion to the gods of Olympus in the past. He has built magnificent temples and dedicated them to you, great Zeus, father of the gods.
Zeus: Hundreds of good deeds cannot atone for one murder. Thousands of temples, or statues, or sanctuaries, whether dedicated to me, or to you, Hera, my wife, or to Thetis, lovely goddess of the sea, or to you, Athena, ever wise and full of care, or Aphrodite, the goddess of love, nothing can wipe out or forgive this...one contemptible act of blood!
Hera: Does it matter? The death of a girl or her child?
Zeus: Girl?! His daughter!!
Hera: After a lifetime's respect and devotion...
Zeus: Enough! I've decided. Acrisius must be punished...and his people with him. [to Poseidon] My lord Poseidon, I command you to raise the wind and the sea. DESTROY ARGOS!! And to make certain that not one temple stands, not one creature crawls, I command you to let loose the last of the titans. LET LOOSE THE KRAKEN!! The kingdom of Acrisius must be destroyed!
Poseidon: As you command.
Zeus: But...be certain no harm befalls Danae or her son. Bring them safe to some remote and peaceful shore. Go now, swiftly.
[Zeus is upset at Thetis for transporting Perseus to Joppa]
Zeus: You set him down half-naked in a strange, despairing city?
Thetis: Chance?
Zeus: Nothing to do with chance, and you know it. A deliberate and malicious act unworthy of a goddess.
Thetis: You accuse me?
Zeus: Well, one thing is certain: my son needs more than an actor's cloak and a wooden sword! Provide him with suitable weapons. Weapons of divine temper. [to Athena] A helmet! [to Aphrodite] A sword! [to Hera] A shield! [to all] And he must have them with all speed!
[Hera and Thetis discuss Zeus's womanizing]
Thetis: So many women. He invents so many disguises to seduce them. Sometimes a swan or a bull. Sometimes a shower of gold. Why, he once tried to ravish me as a cuttlefish.
Hera: Did he succeed?
Thetis: Certainly not!
Athena: What did you do?
Thetis: Beat him at his own game. I simply turned myself into a shark!
[They laugh]
Calibos: Thetis, divine goddess of the sea: hear the prayer of your son Calibos. Show me the way to justice. Show me how to punish Perseus for this blasphemy! Look on this! [raises his severed arm] In wounding me, he has insulted you! Then surely he must be punished. Show me. Help me.
Thetis: Perseus is protected by Zeus himself. There is nothing I can do.
Calibos: Then punish those that Perseus loves! The queen, Andromeda, the people of Joppa! Persuade your devoted Lord Poseidon to let loose the Kraken on the city! Let the Kraken destroy Joppa as it destroyed Argos! I DEMAND JUSTICE!
Thetis: Justice? Or revenge?
Cassiopeia: As I bind their hands with this silken thread, bear witness that as she is my heiress, so Perseus becomes my heir. As she is my daughter, so Perseus becomes my son. I give her to the man who has saved us from despair. I give Andromeda, the most beautiful of all prizes, more beautiful than anything on Earth or in Heaven. Even more lovely than the goddess Thetis herself ...
[The temple shakes, and the head of the Thetis's statue breaks off and rolls to the ground.]
Thetis: Hear me, vain and foolish mortal woman. You dare compare your daughter's beauty to mine in my own sanctuary? You will repent your boast and the cruel injury you have inflicted on my son Calibos.
Cassiopeia: Forgive. Forgive.
Thetis: In thirty days, on the eve of the longest day of the year, Andromeda must be taken to the sacrificial rock by the sea. There bound and chained to the stone. She must be unknown to man, a virgin, a sacrifice suitable for the Kraken. She must be delivered to the Kraken at sunset, or else the Kraken will destroy Joppa and everyone within the city. For the insult to me and the injury inflicted on my son, I demand the life of Andromeda. In thirty days.
[Zeus is observing Perseus collapsing in the Joppa amphitheater due to exhaustion]
Thetis: Great Zeus, below on Earth, it is now the eve of the longest day.
Zeus: Very well. RELEASE THE KRAKEN.
[Thetis and Poseidon leave. Zeus then discretely reaches behind his back to set the Perseus clay figure upright, effectively restoring his son's strength]

Quotes about Clash of the Titans[edit]

  • Clash was destined to be my last hero picture, and looking back, the decision to end my career at that point was absolutely right. With all the problems involved in production, and the knowledge that I was losing precious control of solo animation, I was forced to concede that it was time to stand aside for others and their new technology to take over.

External links[edit]

Wikipedia
Wikipedia
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