Clash of the Titans 4K (1981)

“Excellent Presentation of the Last Great Ray Harryhausen Fantasy Film”

Arrow Films are releasing in 4K, in limited edition two disc sets of either one UHD and one Blu-ray or two Blu-rays, the final feature film from the winning team of producer Charles H Schneer and ‘Creator of Special Visual Effects’ par excellence, Ray Harryhausen. As well as the discs, the sets also come with a reversible sleeve, a doubled-sided poster, and a perfect-bound booklet featuring new writing as well as archival material.

Zeus (Laurence Oliver) has been shagging around yet again, and this time the union has produced a son, Perseus. Understandably upset about this, Donald Houston’s Acrisius condemns his daughter and her newborn to the sea, only for Zeus to get so angry he gets Jack Gwillim’s Poseidon to unleash the kraken and level Acrisius’ city. Perseus grows up to be Harry Hamlin and soon the gods have him on a quest, aided by a magical helmet, sword and shield, to solve the riddle set by the evil Calibos (Neil McCarthy in an excellent makeup job) so that he can wed Andromeda (Judi Bowker). But Calibos’ mother, the goddess Thetis, (Maggie Smith, wife of screenwriter Beverley Cross) isn’t happy and plans for Andromeda to die by the kraken’s hands. However she does give Perseus thirty days to find a way to defeat it.

While it’s not quite as good as JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS (which remains the benchmark for this sort of thing), time has been kind to CLASH OF THE TITANS. Some of the glass and forced perspective shots look a little hokey, especially in 4K, but the appearance of some of the glorious locations used in this more than make up for that. And then there are the monsters, with Perseus’ showdown with Medusa one of the highlights of all of Harryhausen’s oeuvre. The directors of these movies don’t often get enough credit and Desmond Davis deserves some of that for ensuring that the build ups to the ‘monster reveals’ are shot with plenty of suspense and atmosphere. And then there’s the terrific score by Laurence Rosenthal, the kind of thing one just expected to get in a movie of this period but which is sadly all too rare these days. 

Disc One of Arrow’s set give you the film in 4K along with two special features, both of which are audio-only and so play like commentary tracks. The first is Ray Harryhausen at the BFI, recorded in 1981 after a screening of CLASH. It runs 83 minutes and covers the great man’s career as well as him fielding questions at the end. The second track is older and features both Harryhausen and Schneer at the BFI in 1970. This runs 93 minutes and covers their working career together up to the time of recording.

Disc two boasts a brand new 108 minute feature documentary from Fiona Watson and David Cairns. Courage & Imagination: Ray Harryhausen’s Mythic Adventure is an excellent and affectionate tribute to the man and his work, with lengthy contributions from Joe Dante, John Landis, Randall William Cook and others. You also get archival material including a Harryhausen interview (12 minutes) and tiny snippets about each of the monsters. Final there’s a trailer and four sets of image galleries: Costume Design, Posters, Pressbook and Behind the Scenes.

Ray Harryhausen’s CLASH OF THE TITANS is out in 4K from Arrow in limited edition two disc sets (either UHD and Blu-ray or two Blu-rays) on Monday 16th November 2026