'Clash of the Titans': Ancient Myth, New Look
by Matt McDaniel · November 10, 2009
The ancient Greek myth of Perseus, the son of Zeus who defeated Medusa, has been passed down for over two thousand years. But for movie fans, the tale was most memorably retold in the 1981 feature, "
Clash of the Titans."
Now, after the success of sword-and-sandal epics like "
Gladiator" and "
300," the legend of Perseus is getting another big-screen adaptation. And this new "
Clash of the Titans" looks like it will keep some of the qualities that made the original fun, but with an entirely updated look. Watch the brand-new teaser trailer to get a preview of the action, and keep reading to find out how this new version compares to the first movie.
THE MYTHOLOGY:
While some recent movies based on ancient Greek myths have toned down or even eliminated the characters of the gods -- 2004's "
Troy" being the prime example -- this "Clash of the Titans" puts them front and center again.
The original movie took many liberties with the ancient myths, of course. In the story, the hero Perseus saves the maiden Andromeda from a sea creature called the "Cetus." For the film, the monster is called the "Kraken," which is actually a term from Scandinavian mythology. Also, the mythological Perseus gets around via flying sandals, and not by riding the winged horse Pegasus.
The new movie reportedly departs some from the story of the first film. It puts Perseus in the middle of a war between Zeus and Hades, the god of the underworld. Rather than only trying to save Andromeda, Perseus is tasked with preventing Hades from overrunning the Earth. One thing the new "Clash of the Titans" does share with the old one: it doesn't look like there are any of the mythological Titans -- the elder deities that were overthrown by Zeus -- actually in the movie.
See the clip...
http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/movi...he-titans.html