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Clash of the Titans (1981 film)

1981 film by Desmond Davis

Clash of the Titans is a 1981 British-American heroic fantasy adventure film involving the Greek hero Perseus, who must battle Medusa and the Kraken to save the Princess Andromeda. The film features the final work of stop-motion visual effects artist, Ray Harryhausen.

Directed by Desmond Davis. Written by Beverley Cross.
You will feel the power. Live the adventure. Experience the fantastic.

Acrisius

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  • 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

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  • I was partial to tragedy in my youth. That was before experience taught me that life was tragical enough without my having to write about it.
  • [After Perseus leaves without his sword] Oh, impetuous. Foolish. Ah, dear, the young. Why do they never listen? When will they ever learn?

Thetis

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  • 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]

Zeus

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  • Perseus and Andromeda will be happy together. Have fine sons... rule wisely... And to perpetuate the story of his courage, I command that from henceforth, he will be set among the stars and constellations. He, Perseus, the lovely Andromeda, the noble Pegasus, and even the vain Cassiopeia. Let the stars be named after them forever. As long as man shall walk the Earth and search the night sky in wonder, they will remember the courage of Perseus forever. Even if we, the gods, are abandoned or forgotten, the stars will never fade. Never. They will burn till the end of the time.

Dialogue

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Thetis: Hear me, vain and foolish mortal woman. You dare compare your daughter's beauty to mine and in my own sacred sanctuary? You will repent your boast and the cruel injury you have inflicted on my son, Calibos.
Cassiopeia: Forgive. Forgive.
Thetis: In 30 days, on the eve of the longest day of the year, your daughter Andromeda must be taken to the sacrificial rock at the edge of 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 the setting of the sun or else the Kraken will destroy all Joppa and everyone within the city. For the insult you have done to me and the cruel injury inflicted on my son, I demand the life of Andromeda. In 30 days.
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]
Andromeda: [upon recognizing Perseus] You!
Cassiopeia: You know him?
Andromeda: Only... from a dream.
[whispers in the crowd]
Andromeda: I beg you, abandon me.
Perseus: Ask your riddle.
Andromeda: In my mind's eyes I see... three circles joined in priceless, graceful harmony. Two full as the moon. One hollow as a crown. Two from the sea, five fathoms down. One from the earth, deep under the ground. The whole, a mark of high renown. Tell me, what can it be?
Perseus: Have courage, princess. What can it be? Three circles joined. Two moons and a crown.
Andromeda: Tell me!
Perseus: The answer is a ring! Two pearls in a circle of gold! The ring of the Lord of the Marsh. The pearl ring of Calibos. Here, on the claw hand of Calibos himself!
[gasps from the crowd as he pulls from his cloak the severed hand of Calibos, the ring still attached]
Perseus: The ring. A gift from his mother... the goddess Thetis. Is that the answer?
[Andromeda hesitates in disbelief]
Perseus: Is that the answer? Tell me!
Andromeda: [overcome with joy] Yes!
[cheers from the crowd]
Perseus: We fought in the swamp! [the crowd silences] I spared his life on one condition. That he renounce his curse. There will be no more bonfires. No more nightmares. Light has conquered darkness. You're free.
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]
Zeus: Perseus has won. My son has triumphed.
Hera: A fortunate young man.
Zeus: Fortune is ally to the brave.
Thetis: What a dangerous precedent. What if there more heroes like him? What if courage and imagination became everyday mortal qualities? What will become of us?
Zeus: We would no longer be needed. But, for the moment, there is sufficient cowardice, sloth and mendacity down there on Earth to last forever.

Quotes about Clash of the Titans

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  • 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.

Cast

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