Clash of the Titans

Synopsis: Perseus is the favored son of the god Zeus, but he has unwittingly ticked off the sea goddess Thetis. Just to make things worse, Perseus falls in love with the lovely Princess Andromeda, who used to be engaged to Thetis's son. Soon Perseus is off on one quest after another, with Zeus helping, Thetis hindering, and lots of innocent bystanders getting stabbed, drowned, and squished.
Director(s): Desmond Davis
Production: Warner Bros. Pictures
  2 wins & 6 nominations.
 
IMDB:
6.9
Metacritic:
59
Rotten Tomatoes:
68%
PG
Year:
1981
118 min
3,653 Views


Bear witness, Zeus...

...and all you gods of 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!

- Now!

- Ah!

It is done.

As we feared, King Acrisius of Argos has

abandoned his daughter and her child...

...to the sea.

Then he will be punished.

Cruel and ruthless crime! Blasphemy!

How dare the tyrant pray to me

to forgive his savage jealousy...

...and cowardly revenge!

Acrisius has always shown devotion

to the gods of Olympus!

He has built many temples

and dedicated them to you...

...great Zeus, father of the gods.

A hundred good deeds cannot atone

for one murder.

A thousand 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 to Aphrodite, goddess of love.

Nothing can wipe out or forgive...

...this one contemptible act of blood!

Does it matter?

The death of a girl and her child?

Girl? His daughter!

- After a lifetime's respect and devotion--

- Enough! I've decided.

Acrisius must be punished...

...and his people with him.

My lord, Poseidon...

...I command you to raise

the wind and the sea.

Destroy Argos!

And to make certain no stone stands,

that no creature crawls...

...I command you to let loose

the last of the Titans.

Let loose the Kraken!

The kingdom of Acrisius

must be destroyed!

As you command.

Yet, be certain...

...no harm befalls

young Danae or her son.

Bring them safe to some remote

and peaceful shore. Go now, swiftly.

No pity, no mercy. Why?

Zeus, your husband, loved the girl.

- Danae?

- She is very beautiful.

So beautiful that Acrisius grew

jealous and guarded her from men...

...locked behind iron doors.

But Zeus transformed himself

into a shower of gold and visited her...

...visited her and loved her.

Then why should I show compassion?

- Let her drown! With her child!

- The child, Perseus, is Zeus' son.

That is why he is to be saved...

...and why Argos is doomed.

Danae and her child have been brought

safely to the island of Seriphos.

Seriphos.

There let Danae and her child live,

safe...

...and happy.

Perseus, grown to a young man.

He's had a happy childhood. With

a strong body and a handsome face...

...what more could any mortal

desire or deserve?

And what of my son Calibos?

His crimes are unforgivable.

- Be merciful to him. Show pity.

- Impossible!

Calibos...

...had every advantage!

You, as patron goddess

of the city of Joppa, have spoiled...

...and indulged him since birth.

You gave him the Wells of the Moon to rule,

and what has he done?

Hunted and destroyed

every living creature!

He's trapped and killed

my sacred herd of flying horses...

...and now only the stallion,

Pegasus, remains.

- Your son must therefore be punished.

- No, I beg you. Be merciful.

He will become abhorrent

to human sight.

He'll be shunned and forced to live as an

outcast in the swamps and marshes.

He'll be transformed

to a mortal mockery.

The shameful mark of his vile cruelty.

This is my final judgement.

No, I implore you.

He is to marry Princess Andromeda.

He would rule all Joppa and Phoenicia.

Let the princess look upon him now!

Be comforted. He may change his mind.

Had it been his own child Perseus,

he would have forgiven him.

But for my son Calibos,

there is to be no mercy, no hope.

- And no marriage with Andromeda.

- How can there be now?

Yet if my son...

...is not to marry her...

...then no man will.

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.

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.

Who are you?

Who are you?

Show yourself!

Who are you?

- First tell me where I am!

- "Where"?

Where am I?

What, you don't know where you are?

I don't know.

Now let's be patient for a moment.

My name is Ammon.

I am a poet and a playwright.

And you?

My name is Perseus.

- I am heir to the kingdom of Argos.

- By the gods!

How did you get here?

I'm not sure I know where "here" is.

Well, this is the amphitheater

of Joppa.

- Where?

- The great city of Joppa.

But how?

I was lying on the seashore,

looking up at the moon.

Oh, the moon!

That might explain things.

You see, the moon...

...affects the brain.

I think we'd be safer inside,

out of the night air.

I must apologize for this dramatic

finery and the theatrical effects.

I put them on to frighten away

the curious.

It makes them think

the amphitheater is haunted.

- Why is everything so neglected?

- It's a sign of the times.

This kingdom is under a curse,

and the city is in despair.

Everyone goes around muttering:

"Call no man happy who is not dead!"

Now then, my young friend.

You say your name is Perseus,

heir to the kingdom of Argos?

Yes.

But up to now I've lived

all my life in Seriphos.

Someday I will return

to reclaim Argos.

- After I was born, my mother and I--

- I know!

- You do?

- Certainly.

The beautiful princess

and the jealous tyrant...

...you and your mother

thrown into the sea...

...and the destruction of Argos.

It's been a popular story here

for the past 20 years.

I, myself, wrote a poem about it.

- Rather moving, as I recall.

- Then...

...can you explain

what happened to me tonight?

The gods of Olympus are mysterious,

and their motives are erratic.

My advice to you:

Return to the calm of Seriphos

as quickly as you can.

But my mother's last wish was

that I would restore her homeland.

Joppa would be a better starting place

than some remote little island.

Well, in that case...

...you ought to get something

more becoming to wear.

I mean, something more fitting...

...something more appropriate

for a prince, so to speak. Get out!

And look at this!

Ah, that looks well.

That will do very well.

Your sword.

Welcome to Joppa, Prince Perseus.

You set him down half-naked

in a strange, despairing city?

- Chance?

- Nothing to do with chance and you know it!

A deliberate and malicious act

unworthy of a goddess!

- You accuse me?

- 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.

A helmet!

A sword!

A shield!

And he must have them with all speed!

- All for love of Danae.

- No!

So many women have attracted him,

he couldn't remember her.

It's his foolish pride

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Beverley Cross

Alan Beverley Cross (13 April 1931 – 20 March 1998) (known as Beverley Cross) was an English playwright, librettist and screenwriter.Born in London into a theatrical family, and educated at the Nautical College Pangbourne, Cross started off by writing children's plays in the 1950s. He achieved instant success with his first play, One More River, which dealt with a mutiny in which a crew puts its first officer on trial for manslaughter. The play premiered in 1958 at the New Shakespeare Theatre Liverpool, starring Robert Shaw, directed by Sam Wanamaker, and in 1959, still with Robert Shaw, directed by Guy Hamilton at the Duke Of York's Theatre in London. Cross' second play, Strip the Willow, was to make a star out of his future wife, Dame Maggie Smith, even though the play was staged only in the provinces, never receiving a London production. In 1962, he translated Marc Camoletti's classic farce Boeing Boeing, which went on to have a lengthy and highly lucrative run in the West End. In 1964, he directed the play in Sydney. Another of his successes was Half a Sixpence, a musical comedy based on the H.G. Wells novel Kipps. This opened in 1963 and, like his first play, ran in London for more than a year. He also wrote opera librettos for Richard Rodney Bennett (The Mines of Sulphur, All the King's Men and Victory) and Nicholas Maw (The Rising of the Moon). Cross later became well known for his screenplays, notably Jason and the Argonauts, The Long Ships, Genghis Khan, and Clash of the Titans. He also adapted Half a Sixpence for the screen. He also worked uncredited on the script for Lawrence of Arabia, although it is doubtful whether any of his material made it to the final edit. He died in London in 1998, three weeks and three days before his 67th birthday. He was the stepfather of Maggie Smith's children from her earlier marriage, actors Toby Stephens and Chris Larkin. more…

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