Clash of the Titans was directed by Desmond Davis. The movie is a retelling of the Greek myth of Perseus, the demigod son of Zeus, who must embark on a journey to save the city of Argos from the wrath of the gods. Wrath brought about by the people’s refusal to pay homage. The film stars Laurence Olivier, Maggie Smith, Burgess Meredith, and Harry Hamlin in the lead roles.

The film’s special effects are the highlight of Clash of the Titans. Producer Ray Harryhausen, known for his innovative work in stop-motion animation, creates some truly stunning creatures, including the Kraken, Medusa, and the iconic owl Bubo. The creatures are brought to life with incredible attention to detail and movement, and the way they are integrated into the live-action scenes is seamless. The production design and cinematography are also noteworthy, making Clash of the Titans a visual feast for the eyes.

The storyline of Clash of the Titans is solid, but a bit predictable. Our hero Perseus, played by Harry Hamlin in his first leading role, is given a few special gifts to help him fight against the Titans. He does well as Perseus, bringing a sense of heroism and determination to the character. Perseus must use his wit and bravery to overcome the gods champions. The film’s climax, in which Perseus takes on the Kraken, is especially thrilling, with Harryhausen’s special effects work taking center stage, a true testament to his mastery of the craft.

Other performers in Clash of the Titans are good, if not great. Laurence Olivier gives a strong performance as Zeus, bringing a regal presence to the role. Maggie Smith is also good as Thetis, the goddess of the sea. But my favorite supporting actor was Burgess Meredith as endearing as the blind seer Ammon.

The impressive production design of Clash of the Titans brings the ancient world to life in vivid detail. The film’s cinematography feels epic, with the use of sweeping camera shots and panoramic views of the landscapes. Youngsters feel like they are riding atop the winged Pegasus. The film’s dramatic and sweeping score, composed by Laurence Rosenthal, perfectly captures the tone of the film.

Watch The Neverending Story

Overall, Clash of the Titans is a must-watch for fans of adventure films and special effects work. Its thrilling retelling of the Greek myth of Perseus is entertaining, and the film’s innovative special effects and production design make it a true classic of the genre. If you’re a fan of Greek mythology or just looking for a thrilling adventure movie, Clash of the Titans is definitely worth checking out. Especially as a movie to watch with children.

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After the Hobbit came Lord of the Rings, and in 1978 Bakshi Productions gave us their animated rendition of the J R R Tolkien saga. The task was daunting for Bakshi, who had wanted to do this since he first read the book. Tolkien’s classic was just too well loved and well known to screw up, and some people thought the task impossible. It took a visit to the Tolkien estate and many rewrites to get the story acceptably condensed for an animated presentation, but it was supposed to include two films. Bakshi had even been the one to suggest to Distributor United Artists that Tolkien’s The Hobbit be made as a prequel.

Vintage Treasures on Ebay

Using his pioneered rotoscoping technique to overlay animation on real actors footage, the Lord of the Rings took two years in production. It was supposed to have a sequel to tell the whole story. Something readers of Tolkien’s trilogy would completely understand and accept. But Bakshi lost his battle to label the production “part one”, because producers were worried that nobody would pay twice to see the full movie, (evidently they never read the 3 part novel). Ultimately that decision angered viewers who expected the whole Lord of the Rings saga. To make matters worse, while Bakshi was in production of the sequel, Rankin-Bass (who did the cartoon prequel the Hobbit) were given the go ahead to produce the end of the Lord of the Rings saga, Return of the King. Not much later funding was pulled from Bakshi’s project and the second part of The Lord of the Rings was never made.

Middle Earth Fantasy Role-Playing

Ultimately though Bakshi’s contribution inspired the live action trilogy of recent times. And he was happy that he kept his promise to Tolkien’s daughter to keep true to Tolkien’s vision. And I think he can take solace how these inspirations have led countless new readers to pick up Tolkien’s treasured Lord of the Rings and read it for themselves.

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Erik the Viking is a silly viking themed comedy brought to us by Terry Jones of Monty Python. While not quite as side splitting as some of Monty python’s other films, it is nonetheless enjoyable. Erik played by Tim Robbins is a viking who has tired of the pointless pillaging. He falls in love during one of his villages’ raids on another, and accidentally kills the woman, trying to save her from being raped. This traumatic incident causes him to question everything. Freya, (a wise woman hermit), played by Eartha Kitt (aka. Cat Woman) suggests to him a way to change the never-ending cycle of killing by bringing the sun back to his lands.

Gathering up the men of his village, Erik the Viking ventures out into the unknown. The hodge-podge band of warriors includes father and son berserkers, a fearless viking, who lives to die by his sword, a Christian missionary, the blacksmith and their leader Erik, who is haunted by the woman he accidentally killed. Together they must face a rival band of vikings, a “sea-dragon” and falling off the edge of the world on a mission to enter Valhalla alive.

Set yourself up with vintage vinyl

The theme seems to be that what someone believes can change his destiny and much of the comedy is built around the concept of blind faith. About halfway through the movie, Erik the Viking gets a new girlfriend. Her father, played by Terry Jones (who also directed the film), barges in on them and she gives Erik a cloak of invisibility. It is really only a scarf and yet her father is blind to seeing anyone wearing it. Erik the Viking, falsely believes that the cloak really renders him invisible, so he takes it into battle. Only the preacher on his ship is similarly fooled by the clock and Eric fails to notice that the rest of his crew can still see him. Fearlessly, he bounds into the heavily armed opposing ship, dancing around like a fool. He knocks about the enemy soldiers, who wearing fearsome disguises, have up until now had their foes flee in terror and aren’t sure how to respond to his lunatic antics.

It’s just a funny movie

It’s a silly movie that’s almost as crazy as Dolomite. The violence is glossed over, and the sexual themes are PG rather than racy; it is after-all a comedy.

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Wizards is the work of the great animator and story teller Ralph Bakshi. (He did the animated version of the Lord of the Rings). Like his other cartoons, the intended audience for Wizards is not children. Just take one look at the voluptuous fairy folk or consider the violent themes and you will understand why. Set in a post-apocalyptic world this is the story of good versus evil; magic, love and devotion versus technology , greed and servitude. It’s a dark story, with fantasy characters, but it’s purpose is to show humanity’s pitfalls and how despite repeating the same mistakes over and over, their is always hope.

A combination of Mad Max and Lord of the Rings

Wizards is focused on twin brothers, as opposite in nature as night and day, both capable of great feats of magic. The dark wizard is cruel and alone in his psychotic existence, he uses old tech to attract an army of warriors, who are less than loyal without the proper motivation. The good Wizard has a community that respects him. But watching it I couldn’t help but see the peace and love hippy guru archetype versus the greedy capitalist, who must own and control everything. Of course not all capitalists want world domination and not all peace lovers are unproductive dreamers…but these archetypes frame Bakshi’s concept of good and evil.

Take a peek at Woo Who Vintage

It is often said that magic is simply what science cannot yet explain. In Wizards, science based technology IS dark magic. But where these forces of light and dark are furthest apart is in their adherent’s loyalty. Loyalty born out of love is undaunted, while allegiance born out of fear or greed is fleeting. The evil Wizard Blackwolf has a constant problem keeping his soldiers motivated, so he uses his technology to make himself robots. Perhaps it’s in seeking the perfection of God like power, that one invite’s his creation to become cogniscient and eventually choose its own path. Either way, one of Blackwolf’s robots renames himself Peace, and joins the forces of the good wizard Avatar to help stop the never ending war-machine.

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Written on the pages is the answer to a neverending story. The song that went with this movie artfully sets the entire theme for a beautiful childhood fantasy. The tale begins with an introverted preteen boy, who, due to the death of his mother, retreats into a fantasy world of his own making. Running from bullies, Bastian, hides in an old book store where he finds the book called, “The Neverending Story.” Intrigued by its promise of escapism, he steals it.

The Neverending Story is set in the fantasyland aptly named Fantasia. The land’s Empress is dying. As her lifeforce fades, so does the vast expanse of Fantasia. Known as the “Real”, every object and life-form is consumed by a dark and formless entity. This destructive force is known only as “The Nothing”. It leaves literally “Nothing” behind in the wake of its invasion. Needing a cure for her illness, a quest is proposed to a young boy warrior, Atreyu. He reluctantly agrees and sets off in search of a mystical oracle that can tell him how to save Fantasia. Like many quests, the hero encounters difficulties that he can’t surmount alone, and when all things looked hopeless, a Luck Dragon named Falkor comes to his rescue.

Falkor has the face of a puppy, and is very relatable to children. His appearance in the Neverending Story, lightens a dark theme. The fact that he is a dragon and can fly, increases the wonderment of Fantasia. But of course he is not the only lovable, fantastic character.

Be part of the Story

As Bastian reads the Neverending Story, he is completely drawn into the story. He realizes that the characters, know he is reading about them. This almost causes him to abandon reading the book. First because it is disturbing. But mostly because his father has been worried about his escapism. But it’s at this moment that a villain, a savage wolf, makes his appearance. He reveals himself as a servant of the “The Nothing”. His mission is to destroy hope, because in the real world people without dreams are easy to control. If “The Nothing” can eliminate mankind’s dreamland, then humanity can be dominated by evil forces. The Neverending Story is sort of like a “Choose your own adventure” book, popular when the movie was made. Only instead of choosing different adventures, the reader decides whether to participate in the story or let it be erased completely from existence.

As a children’s movie, the Neverending Story is obviously going to end on a high note. And as the title suggests, the tale continued in two sequels. However, the appeal to the Neverending Story isn’t the conclusion, it’s the adventure and the absolutely wonderful characters. This is a movie that stands the test of time. No one would know that it was released in 1984. This is a definite must see movie for the young and the young at heart.

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Based on the 1950 theater production of the same title. The movie starts on Christmas eve, set in New York, but the Christmas magic here is of an unusual sort, coming from witches.  Kim Novak plays Gillian Holroyd, the beautiful enchantress who takes an interest in her new neighbor, Shep Henderson (Jimmy Stewart) a publisher who is already engaged to someone else. Shep of course (being of James Stewart) is stoic and incorruptible by normal feminine wiles, so Gillian casts a spell on him.  This is Jimmy Stewart’s last true romantic lead because he was twice the age of his costars. Supporting actors include Hermione Gingold, Ernie Kovacs, Elsa Lanchester (Bride of Frankenstein) Jack Lemmon (Odd Couple), and Janice Rule.

This Jimmy Stewart movie was the inspiration for the TV show Bewitched, was taken in part from Bell Book and Candle. But where the TV series always saw Samantha being denied the use of her witchcraft, the film tells us that falling in love will erase a witch’s magic completely. This adds a level to the boy meets girl story, because while Gillain has an interest in Shep, at first she sees him as a play thing, a diversion, not someone she has any true romantic interest in. He, in response to discovering that she is a witch who has cast a spell on him, does what any sane man would do. He separates himself from the attractive vixen, seeking higher help to break the enchantment.  He sees her abuse of power as a callousness towards mere mortals and can ignore any lingering feelings because of this.  She on the other hand ends up falling for this man of integrity and loses her powers, changing her personality as she is no longer able to manipulate people.

Trivia and/or nostalgia

A bell, book and candle are key ingredients for an exorcism. Ring a bell, open a book and light a candle….then reverse the process when all is done. This makes me wonder if Jimmy Stewart would return to life if we played the movie backwards? Regardless, if you’re an old movie buff you might want to check out the Blondie and Dagwood movies.

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