Blu-ray Movie Reviews

In "Clash of the Titans", the ultimate struggle for power pits men against kings and kings against gods. But the war between the gods themselves could destroy the world. Born of a god but raised as a man, Perseus is helpless to save his family from Hades, vengeful god of the underworld. With nothing to lose, Perseus volunteers to lead a dangerous mission to defeat Hades before he can seize power from Zeus and unleash hell on earth. Battling unholy demons and fearsome beasts, Perseus and his warriors will only survive if Perseus accepts his power as a god, defies fate and creates his own destiny.

I grew up with the original Clash of the Titans and though visiting that classic does bring a chuckle now, I still have very fond memories. This new adaptation is generally the same but with updated special effects. The story is still a bit on the silly side and the lines can be downright cringe inducing. The original is a show piece for stop motion special effects but this new version tries to up the ante with its CGI. Unfortunately it doesn’t. While I’m sure this got quite the production budget most of the CG looks pretty bad and calls attention to itself more than most big Hollywood productions. The action sequences are fun enough, but the rest of this film leaves little to be desired.

Warner does a great job with the Blu-ray presentation. The video presentation is solid with great fine object detail in close ups and plenty of dimensionality. The special effects can intrude though with some obvious softening on occasion. Contrast and colors impress though and overall I don’t think this one could look much better given the source material. The DTS-HD Master Audio mix is quite impressive with great dynamic range and plenty of surround presence. There are a couple of sequences here that I’m sure will be used for demonstrations and this Blu-ray sounded considerably better than the theatrical release I attended of the film.

Warner includes both a digital copy and DVD copy of the film in this release. You also get their maximum movie mode with in depth insight into the film’s production from footage and interviews while you watch the film. You also get some production features that include a look at filming and an alternate ending and deleted scenes.

This one will have to stay on my rental recommendation list at best. While Warner serves up a great presentation, the film is ultimately a big letdown. The cast is tremendous but the material is awful and while the action sequences are pretty good, they can’t make up for the rest of the production.