Clash Of The Titans Redux

(Some of the old promotional posters for Clash Of The Titans 1981. Note, people, the presence of a much younger Dame Maggie Smith as Thetis, way before she became known to many as Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter films).

Hey, it seems that Hollywood's at it again. They did the Perseus myth once before in Clash Of The Titans 1981; now, they're remaking it for 2010. Among other tales, I grew up on the Greek myths (specifically, Edith Hamilton's and D'Aulaire's books), so when Clash Of The Titans 1981 came out it was pretty exciting for me and my bookworm friends (it just occurred to me: If someone from Greece is anything like me, is he a Greek geek? Hehehe). After watching both trailers, I think one can see the differences in marketing/advertising and movie-making between 1981 and 2010.

Here's something worth pondering: We've seen many film and TV adaptations of the Greek myths (Jason and the Argonauts, Heracles, Achilles, Odysseus, the aforementioned Perseus). Merlin, Arthur, and The Knights of the Round Table also have had their share (there's Hallmark Channel's Merlin series, and just like Clash Of The Titans, the movie Excalibur came out in 1981, too; even as a young boy I already wondered about that sex scene between a woman and a knight in full armor). The stories of Sinbad the Sailor have also been set to screen.

So--even if I'm not 100% sure, seeing as I could've missed them--why have there been no definitive films based on Norse Myths? I don't count the Marvel comics versions since they're a re-adaptation to suit the Marvel universe; the closest films I could find with some connection are stories with Vikings or brief references to the Germanic deities, as in The 13th Warrior and Beowulf (another myth in itself). As far as I can tell, there are no movie versions of the stories set in Valhalla, Asgard, and Midgard. There are no films on the death of Baldur, on the adventures of Thor, Odin, and Loki before they became estranged, on Freyja, Surtur, Fenris, and the others. Funny, considering that a film adaptation of Ragnarok (no, not the online game, folks) would be sure-fire, kick-ass action.

Oh, wait. It seems that Ragnarok has inspired an opera by Richard Wagner (The Ring Of The Nibelung), and there is one movie, Ring Of The Nibelungs, that came out in 2004 and which I haven't seen yet. The movie's tagline is "The Nordic legend that inspired J.R.R. Tolkien to write The Lord of the Rings trilogy." But other than that, the film adaptations for Norse myths seems sparse in comparison to the others.

In any case, it was fun seeing the trailer of Clash Of The Titans 2010, and just as enjoyable to view the 1981 trailer. Those old stop-animation effects of Ray Harryhausen fired up the imaginations of generations of youngsters in the same way that today's computer-generated special effects have moviegoers going, "Whoah!" In fact, Ray Harryhausen worked on many films of the Greek myths and of Sinbad the Sailor, and for that, as well as other contributions, he deservedly received an honorary Oscar award (though it's worth noting that none of his films was ever nominated).