Great video, as always. However, I consider myself an expert on all things Harryhausen and would like to clarify a few things: -"Clash of the Titans" is actually the only Harryhausen film in which he did NOT do all the special effects by himself. Due to the busy schedule, he had a lot of help, especially from Jim Danforth, who created the amazing creatures from "When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth." -Most of the movie was shot in Spain, like the "Sinbad" movies and "Valley of Gwangi". -Harry Hamlin was very difficult to work with and constantly changed his lines or even reworked entire scenes. However, the team had to admit that their ideas were better than what was in the script. For example, the original concept was for Perseus to throw his shield like Captain America and decapitate Medusa. The film's astonishing beheading scene is truer to the legends because Hamlin insisted on it. -Ray Harryhausen was a co-producer of all his films from the 60s onwards and most of those projects were born from his own original ideas. He only acted as a "hired gunman" in "One Million Years BC." He didn't like sex and violence in movies, so there are some conflicting accounts about why the original "Clash of the Titans" script was for a R-rated flick. -"The Force of the Trojans" screenplay wouldn't have been a direct sequel, but rather another story from Greek mythology. It would have been an adaptation of Virgil's Aeneid and the founding of Rome, with more emphasis on the fantastical elements and adding many monsters from Homer's Odyssey. Right now, british filmmaker John Walsh is trying to make a proper movie out of it. -The word "Dynamation" was created by Coumbia's PR team to promote the "7th Voyage". Ray liked it and continued using it for many years, but the truth is that the term means very little. -Most of the "Clash of the Titans" models survive to this day. They are being handled by the "Ray & Diana Harryhausen foundation", with home base in London. They were displayed in the "National Galleries of Scotland" just two years ago. -About Arnold being in a Dynamation movie: For many years there were rumors of a proper Ray Harryhausen movie based on the original Conan books by Robert E. Howard. Nothing came of it, but how COOL is that!?
I met Ray Harryhausen at a book signing in Glasgow, Scotland, just before he died. I brought a bunch of soundtracks scored by Bernard Herrmann and Laurence Rosenthal, from movies he was involved in and he signed every one for me. He said he was very good friends with the composers and he just loved their scores for these movies. He also loved my albums, as they were in mint condition and my interest in film scores. He had one of the original skeletons from Jason and the Argonauts sitting beside him and he let me handle it. He was so nice and he keep talking to me and would probably talked longer, if it wasn't for the giant queue behind me. What a great man and what a great memory I have of him.
Boy, do I have a story about this one. After working on a Bela Lugosi documentary at the "Ackermansion", I started hanging with the "Horrorwood Brat Pack" (Ackerman, Harryhausen, Bradbury). After the two "Rays" spoke at our film school, I asked my first celebrity question to Harryhausen. "At the end of "Jason and the Argonauts" you clearly set up a sequel. Are we going to see it?" Harryhausen paused for the first time to contemplate. A few years later I get an invitation at our school from Ray Bradbury to attend a screening at the Acadamy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and it is for THIS film, where Bradbury formally introduced Fay Wray to Ray Harryhausen and I saw him for the fan boy he always was. I miss those gentlemen. Bonus... I worked on a lot of documentaries around the Black Sea. When we went to Spain, I actually recognized locations used in this movie, Jason and the Argonauts, 7th Voyage of Sinbad and One Million Years B.C. What a thrill.
Your life is more interesting than mine... I'm sure you've even had sex with women, but I... I'm 32 years old and nothing... I am nothing... The closest thing to sex is when I go to the health centre to have my arm wounds healed by nice young nurses - it may even be better than sex - it's healthier and more humane. Anyway...
Here's a cool Harryhausen fact. I was looking in the underbelly of a NE theater when I found a strip of old film. I smiled w/ glee as I saw a few skeletons w/ swords drawn fighting a guy in a toga. Forgotten for years, I had discovered a few frames of (most likely) Jason & the Argonauts!
When you mentioned the waning days of stop motion monsters, I wondered if there would be future MM&M episodes about Caveman (1981) and Dragonslayer (1981 go-motion). Dragonslayer is the movie which essentially caused Harryhausen to step away! He visited the production stage, saw all the computer gear hooked up to the dragon, said "I ain't learning all that new stuff", and shut down the in-preproduction SINBAD ON MARS movie. He then retired - at age 60. (Dragonslayer's Phil Tippett is still going strong at age 72, however, turning out masterpieces such as 2021's stop-motion MAD GOD - hey, maybe you could do a MAD GOD episode)
Speaking of the Stygian Witches, one of them was played by famed British actress *Flora Robson* know for playing Queen Elizabeth I in 1937's _Fire Over England_ opposite Olivier and 1940's _The Sea Hawk_ opposite Errol Flynn. In 1945 she was nominated for an Academy Award for the American western _Saratoga Trunk_ opposite Gary Cooper. . She later appeared on British and American TV. Clash was her last movie appearance. Sometimes you never know who you'll find under the makeup.
Fun fact. In order to save money, Ray Harryhausen sacrificed his Trog puppet from Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger. In order to reuse its skeleton frame to create Calibos.
@@MoviesMusicMonsters I think in time when we collectively gather even more awesome facts you should redo your excellent vids with updated info. Plus as said by others we would love some merch!! 😀😉😉
Only other movie I remember seeing as much on HBO from 81 was the James Coburn, Susan Dey, Albert Finney movie. 'Looker'. With today's obsession with Social Media, still surprised 'Looker' hasn't gotten a remake or sequel.
I grew up watching this movie on TV in the early 90s. I loved it for the cheesy special effects and the story too. When I was in 7th grade our history and literature classes had overlapping lessons on ancient Greece and mythology. At the end of that week the literature teacher that it was a great idea to rent the VHS of the movie and show it to the class. Unfortunately she had only seen it on TV too, where the nudity was removed. I will never forget the look of shock she had as she ran to block the TV.
Hamlin was in a relationship with Ursula Andress. The pair had a child together. They were together from 1979 to 1983. Harry Hamlin's young co-star was married to someone else.
Wonderful video, Dan. Would love to see a Ray Harryhausen-Charles H. Schneer retrospective on the four films they produced from 1958-1963, singling out the legendary composer Bernard Herrmann. (“7th Voyage of Sinbad”, “The 3 Worlds of Gulliver”, “Mysterious Island” and “Jason and the Argonauts”).
My Favorite movie of all-time. My father took me to see it when I was 8 years old. It blew my mind and I loved it. I became a huge Ray Harryhausen fan and lover of Greek mythology and fantasy in-general. I had the chance to meet Harry Hamlin (Perseus) at a book signing event for his biography book in 2014, and talked to him a bit about Clash of the Titans. He said he loved working on the movie and it was a great experience and then he signed my book. I walked away and opened the cover of my book to see how he signed it and he wrote: "Brian... Release the Kraken -Harry" So cool 😎
I loved this movie as well. So did a girlfriend I had later in life. I took an old plastic horse and a model kit of an eagle and made her a Pegasus of her very own. She was SO excited when I gave it to her. Oddly enough, we never watched the film together…
Thanks Dan, love this film... so much better than the terrible remakes. A couple of years ago I went to an exhibition, in Edinburgh, showing off most of Ray Harryhausen’s original stop-motion models. The Kraken, Medusa and plenty of other COTT were on show. It was so cool!
I am going get knocked for this, and though I enjoy Star Wars, I actually loved this film so much more.This and Thor comics were my gateway to Greek, Norse, and Celtic mythology.
If I recall correctly, when "Jurassic Park" was being made they explored using Dynamation to animate the dinosaurs. But, that was just as CGI came into it's own and Dynamation just couldn't compete. ILM, who was doing the CGI for Jurassic park, brought on some of the animators who worked on the Dynamation test footage because they were really talented at knowing how to make the movements of the dinosaurs look realistic. The animators themselves were so impressed by what CGI could accomplish, they happily joined up, so it sort of worked out for everyone.
Yeah, the dinosaurs were originally going to be done using stop motion with Phil Tippet's studio with Stun Winston's studio providing animatronics. But even with the CG Tippet's puppeteers were used as the animators for the 3D models. They went as far as to create special armatures for them so that they could animate in a way that they were more accustomed to as opposed to using a mouse and keyboard.
Been a fan of Ray Harryhausen's work since the early 60s, and raised my kids on the DVDs of "7th Voyage of Sinbad," "Golden Voyage of Sinbad," "Valley of Gwangi,," and, of course, "Clash of the Titans," among the other Harryhausen films. Had to wait until they were a little older to show them "One Million Years B.C." because we didn't want to jump start their puberty!
I once worked with the late Steven Archer, who animated Bubo in this film. A really lovely, quiet and intelligent guy. He's the guy with the beard at 10:39
I did like that Bill Nighy was cast in The Wrath of the Titans film as the somewhat mad Hephestus who kept getting into one-sided arguments with Boobo. When the queen first happens upon the bickering duo she asks "Alright, which one of you is in charge?" My fave scene from the original is the Stygian Witches. Those ladies play it out like a Shakespeare scene. Top notch stuff!
Dan I've been singing your praises about the awesome videos you've been documenting for the past 4.5 months to anyone who will listen. Some have subscribe to the channel. Sorry to point an error to this episode, but you said that the two lead actors were dating & had a child together. It was not Harry Hamlin & Judi Bowker but Harry Hamlin & Ursula Andress that had their son. Keep up the GREAT work as you've have brought back A LOT of my childhood memories!
Harry Hamlin wasn’t involved with Judy Bowker, Hamlin was, in fact, involved with Ursula Andress, and it’s Andress who is the mother of Hamlin’s son Dmitri.
Dan, I truly appreciate your channel! I stumbled across it by accident and have NOT been disappointed! I appreciate all of the work that you put into your research and work into your videos! They are a time capsule into MUCH better times! Keep the awesome!
The drive in in town was showing Clash of the Titans. My brother climbed the marquee. Took out the a and n, slid the s over to the left. Nobody noticed for about three days before they fixed it.
I love this movie! In some ways, I liked it better than Star Wars. i always loved Greek Mythology, so I was partial to this movie, also loved the classic stop motion animation that brought all those mythical creatures to life, the Kraken, Medusa, the scorpians, the two headed dog Cerebus and of course the cast of Gods playede by Lawrence Oliver, maggie smith, ursuala andreas and the awesome music! its too bad they didnt do more back then. i didnt care at all for the 2010 remake at all.
I've been a huge mythology buff since childhood. While CotT was not very faithful to the myths, it was a wonderfully fun pastiche and I loved it as a kid. I really hope you will do a Ray Harryhausen video.
Hey Dan, enjoyed the video. This was the second (and obviously last) Harryhausen film I saw in the cinema. I remember seeing the poster in a cinema lobby as an upcoming attraction and knowing I would have to be in line for it. Even then, post Star Wars, I felt the promised stop motion creatures likely a little 'old-fashioned'. Frankly, as a movie it was no Star Wars but still great fun and like you, I have a soft spot for it. I believe the behind the scenes romance Hamlin had was actually with Ursula Andress, rather than Bowker as your photo implies. He was a lucky dog either way.
“Dan…find…and fulfill…your destiny!” Also, ironically, Arnold Schwarzenegger actually made one of his first films playing Hercules (though his voice was dubbed). Need to make an animated gif of you going, ‘How Cool Is THAT?’ 😅
I’m pretty sure Harry Hamlin was romantically involved with Ursula Andress not Judi Bowker. They had a son together; however, never married. Great movie! I saw it as a double feature. The companion film was Dragonslayer.
Hi Dan, love your show. In fact, Harry Hamlin had an affair on this film with Ursula Andress, not the Andromeda. actress. She is the mother of his son sown from the seeds of this film.
This is where Harry Hamlin met Ursula Andress who played Aphrodite. They would have a long time affair and a son. NOT his lead co-star who played Andromeda.
I was at a fan convention years ago and only knew Ray Harryhausen by his work. I had never seen a picture of him. I literally turned around in a crowd people and ran right into this man. It knew this man had to be Ray Harryhausen. He looked just I expected. He was a great down to earth guy. I got to meet him again a few years later. Great memories.
The best drive in double bill in history - Final Countdown and Clash of the Titans. The movie played, the sun went down behind the screen, and warm breeze blowing. All done, no more.
I was lucky enough to meet Ray Harryhausen and my friend has a replica Bubo, which he uses to raise funds for Brain Tumour research after his partner passed from an undiagnosed tumour. Oh, and Harry Hamlin was having a relationship with Ursula Andress, not Judi Bowker.
Sir, I LOVE your channel! EVERY thing that you talk about is nostalgic stuff I'm also interested in. We're very close in age (I'm slightly older that thee), so we experienced a lot of the same cool movies & TV when we were kids in the 70s, including watching the old classics on TV. And, like you, I've kept and treasured many of those cool toys that I was lucky enough to have as a child. I'm always excited when you post a new video. Keep up the great work!
Dan, love your videos. A couple of errors in this one though. One poster already said that Hamlin was involved with Ursula Andress. The other error was you referring to 20 million miles to Earth as 20 million YEARS to Earth. 😮😊. I’ve watched many of your videos and never caught any other errors, so your average is still pretty good! 😊
In the late 1960s there was a plan to make a Lord of the Rings film starring the Beatles and with Ray Harryhausen doing the special effects. Seeing a Ray Harryhausen interpretation of the Balrog would have been a sight to behold.
Thanks Dan. Another great retrospective. BTW, I love how you cock your head to the mic when you say “music”. Ok, so Dynamation was Ray Harryhausen’s trademark stop-motion process where the backgrounds were filmed separately, and projected by front projection behind the models, which each frame held during the frame of each stop-motion animation move. This gave a better look as no mattes and was virtually just one pass. Oh, and one of his triumphs was “The First Men in the Moon” - but that my friend is the story for another day….
It still holds up. I will take Harreyhausen's stop motion over CGI all day long. Sadly, the process is too time-consuming and expensive compared to ehat we can do with software.
As for Ray harryhausens creatures..I always loved the bronze statue. That one moving (with the creaking sound effect) was the one that stood out for me. Even more than the skeletons from Jason and the Argonauts.
I’m a big Harryhausen fan, love all his films, but CLASH has a special place in my memories. It was on all the time during the early days of HBO and for a kid I just got lost in the effects, the story and the music. It was an amazing, fun ride! Later I picked up the novelization which had even more dialogue and story, especially between Perseus and his fellow warriors on the Isle of the Dead. Thank you for this my friend!
I was 9 in 1981 my elder brother and a few other kids from my street went to watch it in the lee cinema in cork city unfortunately the cinema closed down the greatest stop motion film ever
Another classic movie that if I didn’t own I would have to buy!! Like music it’s the feeling you get when you remember where you were and who you loved back in those special days! This movie is top of my list! Great movie! 🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿
It was such a wonderful film with a great cast! Of all the Harryhausen films, this is my favorite of his stop motion animation works, but The Golden Voyage of Sinbad is my favorite of the movies he has worked on!
Speaking of merchandise, Star Ace has been producing an incredible line of Ray Harryhausen creations in the past few years. I have Medusa, Pegasus, The Kraken, Bubo and the skeleton warriors from Jason and The Argonauts. They are almost identical to the original puppets.
As always, a fine overview Dan. Couple a' comments: you mentioned that Ray began as a young mentor of Willis O'Brien on Mighty Joe Young. Surely you meant apprentice. :) Also, Clash was the first film where Ray employed assistants to aid in the animation. Jim Danforth handled the Pegasus sequence and Steve Archer (pictured @ 10:44) animated Bubo. Yes, some of the models still exist. The RH Foundation keeps track of them all. You didn't mention the giant scorpion sequence, which was well animated but suffered from very milky, grainy background plates. Ray told me that the day they were scheduled to be shot was rainy, but the director insisted trhey be shot anyway despite Ray's protestations that they would create more headaches for him in post and not match well with the other Dynamation sequences. As producer As the co-producer Ray should've overruled the director and rescheduled the shoot, but it is what it is, as they say. Say, why don't you stop by the Facebook page Stop Motion Monsterland and say hello? Lots of the members are working professionals in the visual effects field.
It's hilarious to me that Olivier and Maggie Smith were brought in to increase the box office. All I needed to see was a few seconds of the stop-action monsters and I was sold.
An American Warewolf in London, Excalibur, Wolfen and of course Dragonslayer, the movie that has Vermathrax Perjorative, the greatest movie dragon of all time, are other 1981 classics. With all due respect to Ray Harryhausen and his work with Stop Motion effects the effect known as Go Motion that was developed for Dragonslayer is far more realistic looking, it solved the age old problem of the miniatures movement having a "jerky" look to it instead of the more natural fluid looking movements that Vermathrax has in Dragonslayer, both came out in 81 and Dragonslayer's Go Motion effect actually looks 50 years more advanced than the 50 year old Stop Motion technique used in Clash Of The Titans.
Love to see this. I ‘ll never forget seeing this film in a drive-in theater. I was 7. A major influence on my path as an artist and character designer. I watch it every year.
Loved it! I saw it when it opened, even before I saw Raiders. I saw it with my wife overseas. COTT, to me, was the last great stop-motion and I believe it was Ray H.'s last film. I love watching his movies, most of the ones you listed I own. Can't wait for those Deep Dives.
Thank you for featuring this film. Regrettably, I never appreciated it when it came out, but this video has inspired me to give it another look...some forty years later!
Another great video. I can't say this was a childhood favorite since I was 20 when it came out, but still a favorite. Love Harryhausen's work in many films. As always thanks for the great memories
![Stromae, Pomme - “Ma Meilleure Ennemie” (from Arcane Season 2) [Official Visualizer]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/1F3OGIFnW1k/mqdefault.jpg)
Great video, as always. However, I consider myself an expert on all things Harryhausen and would like to clarify a few things:
-"Clash of the Titans" is actually the only Harryhausen film in which he did NOT do all the special effects by himself. Due to the busy schedule, he had a lot of help, especially from Jim Danforth, who created the amazing creatures from "When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth."
-Most of the movie was shot in Spain, like the "Sinbad" movies and "Valley of Gwangi".
-Harry Hamlin was very difficult to work with and constantly changed his lines or even reworked entire scenes. However, the team had to admit that their ideas were better than what was in the script. For example, the original concept was for Perseus to throw his shield like Captain America and decapitate Medusa. The film's astonishing beheading scene is truer to the legends because Hamlin insisted on it.
-Ray Harryhausen was a co-producer of all his films from the 60s onwards and most of those projects were born from his own original ideas. He only acted as a "hired gunman" in "One Million Years BC." He didn't like sex and violence in movies, so there are some conflicting accounts about why the original "Clash of the Titans" script was for a R-rated flick.
-"The Force of the Trojans" screenplay wouldn't have been a direct sequel, but rather another story from Greek mythology. It would have been an adaptation of Virgil's Aeneid and the founding of Rome, with more emphasis on the fantastical elements and adding many monsters from Homer's Odyssey. Right now, british filmmaker John Walsh is trying to make a proper movie out of it.
-The word "Dynamation" was created by Coumbia's PR team to promote the "7th Voyage". Ray liked it and continued using it for many years, but the truth is that the term means very little.
-Most of the "Clash of the Titans" models survive to this day. They are being handled by the "Ray & Diana Harryhausen foundation", with home base in London. They were displayed in the "National Galleries of Scotland" just two years ago.
-About Arnold being in a Dynamation movie: For many years there were rumors of a proper Ray Harryhausen movie based on the original Conan books by Robert E. Howard. Nothing came of it, but how COOL is that!?
Ray Harryhausen was a genius. I rekon the skeleton fight in Jason and the Argonauts was the most amazing thing he ever did.
I met Ray Harryhausen at a book signing in Glasgow, Scotland, just before he died. I brought a bunch of soundtracks scored by Bernard Herrmann and Laurence Rosenthal, from movies he was involved in and he signed every one for me. He said he was very good friends with the composers and he just loved their scores for these movies. He also loved my albums, as they were in mint condition and my interest in film scores. He had one of the original skeletons from Jason and the Argonauts sitting beside him and he let me handle it. He was so nice and he keep talking to me and would probably talked longer, if it wasn't for the giant queue behind me. What a great man and what a great memory I have of him.
The Medusa scene is still the best version of Medusa ever put on film.
I love your presentation style. Informative and just easy on the ear without any of the usual histrionics.
Great film and cast too
Hey, thank you Simon :-) really appreciate it
Boy, do I have a story about this one. After working on a Bela Lugosi documentary at the "Ackermansion", I started hanging with the "Horrorwood Brat Pack" (Ackerman, Harryhausen, Bradbury). After the two "Rays" spoke at our film school, I asked my first celebrity question to Harryhausen. "At the end of "Jason and the Argonauts" you clearly set up a sequel. Are we going to see it?" Harryhausen paused for the first time to contemplate. A few years later I get an invitation at our school from Ray Bradbury to attend a screening at the Acadamy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and it is for THIS film, where Bradbury formally introduced Fay Wray to Ray Harryhausen and I saw him for the fan boy he always was. I miss those gentlemen. Bonus... I worked on a lot of documentaries around the Black Sea. When we went to Spain, I actually recognized locations used in this movie, Jason and the Argonauts, 7th Voyage of Sinbad and One Million Years B.C. What a thrill.
Your life is more interesting than mine... I'm sure you've even had sex with women, but I... I'm 32 years old and nothing... I am nothing... The closest thing to sex is when I go to the health centre to have my arm wounds healed by nice young nurses - it may even be better than sex - it's healthier and more humane. Anyway...
I think we'll see "How Cool Is That?" T-Shirts appearing pretty soon.
Here's a cool Harryhausen fact. I was looking in the underbelly of a NE theater when I found a strip of old film. I smiled w/ glee as I saw a few skeletons w/ swords drawn fighting a guy in a toga. Forgotten for years, I had discovered a few frames of (most likely) Jason & the Argonauts!
When you mentioned the waning days of stop motion monsters, I wondered if there would be future MM&M episodes about Caveman (1981) and Dragonslayer (1981 go-motion). Dragonslayer is the movie which essentially caused Harryhausen to step away! He visited the production stage, saw all the computer gear hooked up to the dragon, said "I ain't learning all that new stuff", and shut down the in-preproduction SINBAD ON MARS movie. He then retired - at age 60. (Dragonslayer's Phil Tippett is still going strong at age 72, however, turning out masterpieces such as 2021's stop-motion MAD GOD - hey, maybe you could do a MAD GOD episode)
Speaking of the Stygian Witches, one of them was played by famed British actress *Flora Robson* know for playing Queen Elizabeth I in 1937's _Fire Over England_ opposite Olivier and 1940's _The Sea Hawk_ opposite Errol Flynn. In 1945 she was nominated for an Academy Award for the American western _Saratoga Trunk_ opposite Gary Cooper. . She later appeared on British and American TV. Clash was her last movie appearance. Sometimes you never know who you'll find under the makeup.
Need "How Cool Is That?" merch, mister Dan, stat!
Would you believe I already have it? Check out the store link on my channel LOL
@@MoviesMusicMonsters My next stop! Thank you for being awesome!
Fun fact. In order to save money, Ray Harryhausen sacrificed his Trog puppet from Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger. In order to reuse its skeleton frame to create Calibos.
Oh man, I didn't know that. That is an awesome fact. Thank you :-)
@@MoviesMusicMonsters I think in time when we collectively gather even more awesome facts you should redo your excellent vids with updated info. Plus as said by others we would love some merch!! 😀😉😉
I remember wanting so badly wanting to learn stop-motion❤
Harryhousen was already retired when Clash came out. He was talked into coming back to do this one last movie and thank God he did.
Only other movie I remember seeing as much on HBO from 81 was the James Coburn, Susan Dey, Albert Finney movie. 'Looker'.
With today's obsession with Social Media, still surprised 'Looker' hasn't gotten a remake or sequel.
Looker was excellent...and even more relevant today. Completely ripe for an update.
@@mattscott4286 I know right. That's why I'm torn about a sequel and remake
It ‘s fun to see the subscribers grow everyday.
Hard to believe that I was 19 years old when this movie premiered in theaters. Bought the DVD as soon as it became available.
You forgot The Scorpions!
How can you forget the horrible Giant Scorpions?!?!
Harryhausen was a master at his craft !!
I grew up watching this movie on TV in the early 90s. I loved it for the cheesy special effects and the story too. When I was in 7th grade our history and literature classes had overlapping lessons on ancient Greece and mythology. At the end of that week the literature teacher that it was a great idea to rent the VHS of the movie and show it to the class. Unfortunately she had only seen it on TV too, where the nudity was removed. I will never forget the look of shock she had as she ran to block the TV.
Oh wow, that is an awesome memory :-)
One of my favorites too. Up there with Jason and the Argonauts.
Hamlin was in a relationship with Ursula Andress. The pair had a child together. They were together from 1979 to 1983. Harry Hamlin's young co-star was married to someone else.
Wonderful video, Dan. Would love to see a Ray Harryhausen-Charles H. Schneer retrospective on the four films they produced from 1958-1963, singling out the legendary composer Bernard Herrmann. (“7th Voyage of Sinbad”, “The 3 Worlds of Gulliver”, “Mysterious Island” and “Jason and the Argonauts”).
I remember going to the theater in 1981 with my friends and our moms. I remember being a little scared of Medusa. I had a few of the toys.
My Favorite movie of all-time. My father took me to see it when I was 8 years old. It blew my mind and I loved it. I became a huge Ray Harryhausen fan and lover of Greek mythology and fantasy in-general. I had the chance to meet Harry Hamlin (Perseus) at a book signing event for his biography book in 2014, and talked to him a bit about Clash of the Titans. He said he loved working on the movie and it was a great experience and then he signed my book. I walked away and opened the cover of my book to see how he signed it and he wrote:
"Brian... Release the Kraken -Harry"
So cool 😎
Harry Hamlin voiced Perseus in the video game God of War II I was so psyched to hear him
I loved this movie as well. So did a girlfriend I had later in life. I took an old plastic horse and a model kit of an eagle and made her a Pegasus of her very own. She was SO excited when I gave it to her. Oddly enough, we never watched the film together…
Thanks Dan, love this film... so much better than the terrible remakes. A couple of years ago I went to an exhibition, in Edinburgh, showing off most of Ray Harryhausen’s original stop-motion models. The Kraken, Medusa and plenty of other COTT were on show. It was so cool!
I am going get knocked for this, and though I enjoy Star Wars, I actually loved this film so much more.This and Thor comics were my gateway to Greek, Norse, and Celtic mythology.
That and Beastmaster used to come on tv at least several times a year.
It showed on Show time and HBO
Hamilin had affair with Ursalla, and that is where Dimitri came from
You mean a day...
My older brother would make fun of me for liking this movie when I was a kid so I'm glad to see other people really enjoyed it too.
If I recall correctly, when "Jurassic Park" was being made they explored using Dynamation to animate the dinosaurs. But, that was just as CGI came into it's own and Dynamation just couldn't compete. ILM, who was doing the CGI for Jurassic park, brought on some of the animators who worked on the Dynamation test footage because they were really talented at knowing how to make the movements of the dinosaurs look realistic. The animators themselves were so impressed by what CGI could accomplish, they happily joined up, so it sort of worked out for everyone.
Yeah, the dinosaurs were originally going to be done using stop motion with Phil Tippet's studio with Stun Winston's studio providing animatronics. But even with the CG Tippet's puppeteers were used as the animators for the 3D models. They went as far as to create special armatures for them so that they could animate in a way that they were more accustomed to as opposed to using a mouse and keyboard.
Been a fan of Ray Harryhausen's work since the early 60s, and raised my kids on the DVDs of "7th Voyage of Sinbad," "Golden Voyage of Sinbad," "Valley of Gwangi,," and, of course, "Clash of the Titans," among the other Harryhausen films. Had to wait until they were a little older to show them "One Million Years B.C." because we didn't want to jump start their puberty!
It was one great film, during one great time. A time i miss very much.
I own it on DVD. Loved it and it was way better then the remake.
I once worked with the late Steven Archer, who animated Bubo in this film. A really lovely, quiet and intelligent guy. He's the guy with the beard at 10:39
I did like that Bill Nighy was cast in The Wrath of the Titans film as the somewhat mad Hephestus who kept getting into one-sided arguments with Boobo. When the queen first happens upon the bickering duo she asks "Alright, which one of you is in charge?"
My fave scene from the original is the Stygian Witches. Those ladies play it out like a Shakespeare scene. Top notch stuff!
Been waiting for this one!! One of my all time favorite movies. Thank you!
Dan I've been singing your praises about the awesome videos you've been documenting for the past 4.5 months to anyone who will listen. Some have subscribe to the channel. Sorry to point an error to this episode, but you said that the two lead actors were dating & had a child together. It was not Harry Hamlin & Judi Bowker but Harry Hamlin & Ursula Andress that had their son. Keep up the GREAT work as you've have brought back A LOT of my childhood memories!
Harry Hamlin wasn’t involved with Judy Bowker, Hamlin was, in fact, involved with Ursula Andress, and it’s Andress who is the mother of Hamlin’s son Dmitri.
I know. I thought I misheard him because I met Harry at a party in San Antonio years ago and knew he had a son with Ursula because he talked about it.
You beat me to it! ✌️
@@rmas32 same!
I would have taken either!
@@MasterMalrubiusyou and me both my friend!
Dan, greatly appreciate your content. Brings back many good memories.
Thanks Paul :-) truly appreciated.
"Find and fulfill your destiny"... Pegasis dies No! Andromeda nude YES!
Dan, I truly appreciate your channel! I stumbled across it by accident and have NOT been disappointed! I appreciate all of the work that you put into your research and work into your videos! They are a time capsule into MUCH better times! Keep the awesome!
Thank you sir :-) I truly appreciate the support. Cheers, Dan
@@MoviesMusicMonsters you're very welcome! I will be 51, God-willing, in July...I've been a bit nostalgic lately. I miss the old days!
The drive in in town was showing Clash of the Titans. My brother climbed the marquee. Took out the a and n, slid the s over to the left. Nobody noticed for about three days before they fixed it.
Awesome video, Dan. A crazy childhood memory: Because of this movie, I attached wings to a toy horse. Lol
Haha that's awesome :-)
I love this movie! In some ways, I liked it better than Star Wars. i always loved Greek Mythology, so I was partial to this movie, also loved the classic stop motion animation that brought all those mythical creatures to life, the Kraken, Medusa, the scorpians, the two headed dog Cerebus and of course the cast of Gods playede by Lawrence Oliver, maggie smith, ursuala andreas and the awesome music! its too bad they didnt do more back then. i didnt care at all for the 2010 remake at all.
Hey Dan! Great job with these fascinating looks back at the fiction that meant a lot to us!
Thank you so much :-) much appreciated
i love this movie and appreciate your knowlegde of movies
I've been a huge mythology buff since childhood. While CotT was not very faithful to the myths, it was a wonderfully fun pastiche and I loved it as a kid.
I really hope you will do a Ray Harryhausen video.
Hey Dan, enjoyed the video. This was the second (and obviously last) Harryhausen film I saw in the cinema. I remember seeing the poster in a cinema lobby as an upcoming attraction and knowing I would have to be in line for it. Even then, post Star Wars, I felt the promised stop motion creatures likely a little 'old-fashioned'. Frankly, as a movie it was no Star Wars but still great fun and like you, I have a soft spot for it. I believe the behind the scenes romance Hamlin had was actually with Ursula Andress, rather than Bowker as your photo implies. He was a lucky dog either way.
I've been building "Owls of Athena" based on Bubo for years: And very recently i built Bluetooth receivers into my owlets. So they talk.
That child of Hamlin’s was with Ursula Andress.
“Dan…find…and fulfill…your destiny!”
Also, ironically, Arnold Schwarzenegger actually made one of his first films playing Hercules (though his voice was dubbed).
Need to make an animated gif of you going, ‘How Cool Is THAT?’ 😅
Arnold Stang (Top Cat) was in that movie also. But Arnold Stang's voice wasn't dubbed in that movie, well not dubbed in English.
I’m pretty sure Harry Hamlin was romantically involved with Ursula Andress not Judi Bowker. They had a son together; however, never married.
Great movie! I saw it as a double feature. The companion film was Dragonslayer.
One of my all time favorites. I almost turned to stone in the theater the first time seeing the face of Medusa on screen.
LOVE LOVE LOVE this... I work in media and I have to tell you your content gives me a break into a world that I love and miss soooo much. Thank you.
Hi Dan, love your show. In fact, Harry Hamlin had an affair on this film with Ursula Andress, not the Andromeda. actress. She is the mother of his son sown from the seeds of this film.
This is where Harry Hamlin met Ursula Andress who played Aphrodite. They would have a long time affair and a son.
NOT his lead co-star who played Andromeda.
I was at a fan convention years ago and only knew Ray Harryhausen by his work. I had never seen a picture of him. I literally turned around in a crowd people and ran right into this man. It knew this man had to be Ray Harryhausen. He looked just I expected. He was a great down to earth guy. I got to meet him again a few years later. Great memories.
The best drive in double bill in history - Final Countdown and Clash of the Titans. The movie played, the sun went down behind the screen, and warm breeze blowing. All done, no more.
I was lucky enough to meet Ray Harryhausen and my friend has a replica Bubo, which he uses to raise funds for Brain Tumour research after his partner passed from an undiagnosed tumour.
Oh, and Harry Hamlin was having a relationship with Ursula Andress, not Judi Bowker.
Oh my gosh that must have been unbelievable :-)
Absolutely superfabulous job doing these exemplary film reviews and things of historical nature 😂❤
agree i love this channel and his work
Pat Roach was a well known wrestler in the UK during the 1970s. He was a kindly man, always happy to talk to his many fans.
I think he's in a few Raiders of the Lost Ark 1981 scenes. The bald Nazi who fights Indy by the plane 🛩 ...
Sir, I LOVE your channel! EVERY thing that you talk about is nostalgic stuff I'm also interested in. We're very close in age (I'm slightly older that thee), so we experienced a lot of the same cool movies & TV when we were kids in the 70s, including watching the old classics on TV. And, like you, I've kept and treasured many of those cool toys that I was lucky enough to have as a child.
I'm always excited when you post a new video. Keep up the great work!
Medusa scared the crap out of me as a kid, thanks Ray Harryhausen , great job.👍
Dan, love your videos. A couple of errors in this one though. One poster already said that Hamlin was involved with Ursula Andress. The other error was you referring to 20 million miles to Earth as 20 million YEARS to Earth. 😮😊. I’ve watched many of your videos and never caught any other errors, so your average is still pretty good! 😊
In the late 1960s there was a plan to make a Lord of the Rings film starring the Beatles and with Ray Harryhausen doing the special effects. Seeing a Ray Harryhausen interpretation of the Balrog would have been a sight to behold.
My favorite and scariest movie when I was a child. Medusa scare the shit out of me and I loved it!!!
Thanks Dan. Another great retrospective. BTW, I love how you cock your head to the mic when you say “music”. Ok, so Dynamation was Ray Harryhausen’s trademark stop-motion process where the backgrounds were filmed separately, and projected by front projection behind the models, which each frame held during the frame of each stop-motion animation move. This gave a better look as no mattes and was virtually just one pass. Oh, and one of his triumphs was “The First Men in the Moon” - but that my friend is the story for another day….
It still holds up. I will take Harreyhausen's stop motion over CGI all day long. Sadly, the process is too time-consuming and expensive compared to ehat we can do with software.
15:28 you misspoke its God of War 2. Thats a really cool fact I didn't know.
As for Ray harryhausens creatures..I always loved the bronze statue. That one moving (with the creaking sound effect) was the one that stood out for me. Even more than the skeletons from Jason and the Argonauts.
Such great movies. I have a video on Jason and the Argonauts coming up in a couple weeks :-)
I’m a big Harryhausen fan, love all his films, but CLASH has a special place in my memories. It was on all the time during the early days of HBO and for a kid I just got lost in the effects, the story and the music. It was an amazing, fun ride! Later I picked up the novelization which had even more dialogue and story, especially between Perseus and his fellow warriors on the Isle of the Dead.
Thank you for this my friend!
It's so freaking cool to have a new favorite show to look forward to. Thank you so much for creating this channel.
Laurence Rosenthal's complete score is available on a 2CD set from the Intrada soundtrack label.
Own it plus the double LP!!!
I was 9 in 1981 my elder brother and a few other kids from my street went to watch it in the lee cinema in cork city unfortunately the cinema closed down the greatest stop motion film ever
Another classic movie that if I didn’t own I would have to buy!! Like music it’s the feeling you get when you remember where you were and who you loved back in those special days! This movie is top of my list! Great movie! 🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿
It was such a wonderful film with a great cast! Of all the Harryhausen films, this is my favorite of his stop motion animation works, but The Golden Voyage of Sinbad is my favorite of the movies he has worked on!
Saw this in the theater when I was 4..Still one of the best films I’ve ever seen ❤❤
Your template for each show is beyond professional.
Speaking of merchandise, Star Ace has been producing an incredible line of Ray Harryhausen creations in the past few years. I have Medusa, Pegasus, The Kraken, Bubo and the skeleton warriors from Jason and The Argonauts. They are almost identical to the original puppets.
What a great channel! It's got to be my favorite on youtube.
Mine, too!
You can buy a life size Bubo. About $360 last time I looked
As always, a fine overview Dan. Couple a' comments: you mentioned that Ray began as a young mentor of Willis O'Brien on Mighty Joe Young. Surely you meant apprentice. :)
Also, Clash was the first film where Ray employed assistants to aid in the animation. Jim Danforth handled the Pegasus sequence and Steve Archer (pictured @ 10:44) animated Bubo. Yes, some of the models still exist. The RH Foundation keeps track of them all. You didn't mention the giant scorpion sequence, which was well animated but suffered from very milky, grainy background plates. Ray told me that the day they were scheduled to be shot was rainy, but the director insisted trhey be shot anyway despite Ray's protestations that they would create more headaches for him in post and not match well with the other Dynamation sequences. As producer As the co-producer Ray should've overruled the director and rescheduled the shoot, but it is what it is, as they say. Say, why don't you stop by the Facebook page Stop Motion Monsterland and say hello? Lots of the members are working professionals in the visual effects field.
It's hilarious to me that Olivier and Maggie Smith were brought in to increase the box office. All I needed to see was a few seconds of the stop-action monsters and I was sold.
1981 was one of my favourite years as a kid. With Raiders of the lost ark AND clash of the titans, it was a rich environment for fantasy classics.
An American Warewolf in London, Excalibur, Wolfen and of course Dragonslayer, the movie that has Vermathrax Perjorative, the greatest movie dragon of all time, are other 1981 classics.
With all due respect to Ray Harryhausen and his work with Stop Motion effects the effect known as Go Motion that was developed for Dragonslayer is far more realistic looking, it solved the age old problem of the miniatures movement having a "jerky" look to it instead of the more natural fluid looking movements that Vermathrax has in Dragonslayer, both came out in 81 and Dragonslayer's Go Motion effect actually looks 50 years more advanced than the 50 year old Stop Motion technique used in Clash Of The Titans.
Love to see this. I ‘ll never forget seeing this film in a drive-in theater. I was 7. A major influence on my path as an artist and character designer. I watch it every year.
Loved it! I saw it when it opened, even before I saw Raiders. I saw it with my wife overseas. COTT, to me, was the last great stop-motion and I believe it was Ray H.'s last film. I love watching his movies, most of the ones you listed I own. Can't wait for those Deep Dives.
All the creatures still do exist and were recently in Edinburgh Scotland on display, along with all of Mr Harryhausens other monsters.
Harry Hamlin had a recurring role in the later seasons of Mad Men. His character was pretty amusing and funny at times. Good acting and writing.
One of my favorite 80s Sci Fi movies growing up/childhood.
Also worth noting; Jack Gwillam, who played Poseidon, earlier worked with Harryhausen in Jason and the Argonauts as King Aetes.
Clash of the Titans is one of my favorite movies growing up along with Dragonslayer and Excalibur. Thanks for your review. Brings back memories!
Thank you for featuring this film. Regrettably, I never appreciated it when it came out, but this video has inspired me to give it another look...some forty years later!
One of my favorites, thank you Dan another great show
God of War, but close enough! Great video kind sir!
Thanks for the video. My wife and I love Clash of The Titans so much, we named our son Perseus.
I appreciate you doing this.
The youth of today aren't generally aware of these treasures.
Another great video. I can't say this was a childhood favorite since I was 20 when it came out, but still a favorite. Love Harryhausen's work in many films. As always thanks for the great memories
One again, hit it out of the ballpark, Dan! Keep up the good work.