RAY HARRYHAUSEN RETROSPECTIVE - PART 4

-RAY HARRYHAUSEN RETROSPECTIVE-

PART 4

FLATTERING IMITATION

If you haven't read the previous entries in this retrospective, follow these links: Part 1, Part 2 & Part 3.

MIGHTY JOE YOUNG
December 25, 1998

A giant gorilla named Joe is taken from his home in Africa to a conservatory in Los Angeles to protect him from poachers, but an old enemy ends up finding him anyway.

Disney is no stranger to taking old stories and putting their own spin on them; you could say it's a tale as old as time. But of all the stories you'd expect to be released from the wonderful world of Disney, Mighty Joe Young would probably be your last guess. 
How did this project come about? Unfortunately, unlike today where production of movies is broadcasted in real time online or scribed in detail, there really isn't much about the initial planning for Mighty Joe Young. I searched high and low for any information from articles, wikis and random YouTube videos and still came up short. The most I've been able to find is that Walt Disney Studios chairman, Joe Roth and Walt Disney Pictures president, David Vogel, teamed up with producers Tom Jacobson and Ted Hartley, the latter being the chairman of RKO Pictures (the same company who produced the original film) with Ron Underwood directing.
There's plenty to go off on the special effects, but we'll get to that later. We got our usual cast/story rundown to go through. 

While the basic outline of the story is retained, the characters and circumstances are a lot different. In the original, Jill was the daughter of a farmer in Africa; Here, Jill (Charlize Theron) is the daughter of a primatologist studying gorillas, including an unusually large infant named Joe. Unfortunately, a group of poachers led by a man named Strasser (Rade Šerbedžija) kill both Jill and Joe's mothers, but not before Joe bites off Strasser's thumb and index finger, giving him an Ahab complex. Joe and Jill form an unbreakable bond with one protecting the other. Years later, Joe has grown to be over 15 feet tall, so keeping him a secret isn't going to last for long. That's where our second lead comes in. The 2 male leads of the original have been consolidated into one zoologist, Gregg O'Hara (Bill Paxton.) After a few tense run-ins with Joe, he is eventually able to convince Jill that other poachers may try to hunt Joe down eventually and that he would be safer at the conservatory he works for in Los Angeles. That goes well for a bit, until Strasser finds out about him and begins to scheme for revenge by antagonizing Joe to the point where he creates a ruckus. That's all I'm going to say for now, because I really feel like this film needs to be seen with as little spoilers as possible.
I really like the characters. Charlize Theron is wonderful as Jill; she's definitely stronger and more assertive than the previous version; The late Bill Paxton brings his signature effortless charm as Gregg and Strasser, despite being an utter scumbag you want to see brutalized (being a poacher and all), is at least an entertaining baddie. Aside from the occasionally odd extra, there really isn't a bad performance here. And the underlaying theme of animal conservation never feels too ham-fisted or overly sentimental. 

"She reminds me of someone, but I can't think who it is."
"You when we first met."

During a party scene, we get two very special cameos: Ray Harryhausen himself and the original Jill Young, Terry Moore.

But as has been the case before, the real star of the show is our titular character. Joe is simply amazing; he is full of emotion and I challenge you not to love him from the moment you meet him. A lot of that falls on the techniques used to bring him to life. In an age where newly advancing digital technology was on the rise, this film uses a ton of practical effects and they are done to absolute perfection. It is my belief that Disney's Mighty Joe Young has the BEST practical ape effects put to film, period. But that's the kind of quality you get when you hire the wizard of special effects himself, Rick Baker. Baker created several life-sized animatronics to portray Joe, but the majority of scenes were accomplished using the traditional man in a suit method. Suit performer John Alexander performed on meticulously built miniature sets while wearing a special radio-controlled head designed by Baker and Baby Joe was played by Mini-Me himself, Verne Troyer. There are even some CGI shots of Joe, but you'd probably not even notice them on your first viewing. Every technique, every action is a masterclass in special effects work to the point where you don't see special effects, you'll simply see Joe.

Special praise should be reserved for the wonderful score by James Horner, with the inclusion of African instrumentation and the Swahili lullaby "Windsong."

Growing up, I didn't know about the original Mighty Joe Young. But I grew up loving King Kong and apes in general, so seeing previews for this made me go: "Wanna see big MONKE!" (citation needed...)
As the years went by, I would come to know the original and my love for this version grew even more. I'll always love the original very much, but in terms of characters, story and effects, I think the remake is a better film. Personally, at least.
Mighty Joe Young came out in 1998, but guess what else came out in 1998? I don't have definitive proof that this was released to capitalize on the release of Roland Emmerich's "attempt" at Godzilla, but it wouldn't surprise me. It did delay Universal's plans to develop their King Kong remake though. Unfortunately, Mighty Joe Young barley managed to gross half of it's $90 million budget and seemed to be forgotten. It didn't even get a Blu-ray release until 2018 through Disney's now-defunct Movie Club subscription service. 
But it makes me happy knowing that even if the original isn't talked about as much, more and more people are rediscovering this version and loving it as well. 

I hope you enjoyed me praising something, because it's all downhill from here...

JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS
May 7, 2000

A boy named Jason sets out on a perilous journey to find the legendary golden fleece.

Honestly, I debated whether or not I should even be talking about this one. The intent of this retrospective was to only go over films that were theatrically released, ones that you had to go to an actual theater to experience, not a two-part miniseries. 
But if I had to be cursed with knowledge of this thing's existence, so do you...

I mentioned how there wasn't much recorded production history for Disney's Mighty Joe Young, but I was still able to give you a basic Cliff's notes version of it. Well there is NOTHING to go off of here. Not even a paragraph on Wikipedia or a bit of IMDb trivia. There is a very basic behind-the-scenes featurette on the DVD, but nothing about whose idea it was to tell the epic story of Jason.

What I can tell you is that this is a Hallmark Entertainment movie. Aside from being infamous for their endlessly, cranked-out library of Christmas movies, they are known for their low budgets, bad acting from people you might recognize from things and being unintentionally laughable if not forgettable. 
I mean, do you even remember that they did their own version of The Poseidon Adventure? Yeah, to capitalize on the upcoming 2006 remake "Poseidon", they thought they could make their own version where instead of a massive rogue wave capsizing a ship, it was a terrorist plot where a single bomb is somehow able to instantly capsize an entire modern cruise ship.
The only other way you might know about it is that you wanted to order a copy of the classic 1972 film from your local video store and when you go to pick it up, you get the Hallmark movie instead. That happened to me, though not with The Poseidon Adventure...

It was at about the one-hour twenty-five-minute mark when Zeus grabbed a handful of ocean water and gargled it that I started to really question what I was doing with my life.

The majority of the acting in this miniseries is quite the mixed bag. I will say the writing and dialogue ranges from pretty decent to 'good, actually', it's just that the acting doesn't do it any favors. Jason himself (Jason London) is nowhere near the larger than life character we know him as, and London is probably the weakest actor in this whole thing. I simply don't buy him as this character. I'm not even sure I can describe what Dennis Hopper is doing here as Pelias; he can be appropriately dramatic and then act like he has no idea where he is at the moment (still better than his "acting" in 'The Crow: Wicked Prayer') and Zeus (Angus Macfadyen) whispers half his lines. 
The only characters I can say were acted well, or at least memorable are Olivia Williams as Hera and Brian Thompson as Hercules. Williams is appropriately dramatic as a Greek goddess and Thompson gives a larger-than-life persona to the mighty Hercules, and he even gets to stick around longer than the original.

The special effects are not so special here. The sets are ok, but sometimes the actions around them don't feel as lively or cinematic, especially in the opening siege of Iolcus. The superimposing of Olympians to make them appear big or small isn't too bad considering the budget.
It's the creature effects that leave a lot to be desired. And I don't mean in a "Grr, CGI means automatically bad!" kind of way, I mean they did not have the budget to properly pull of what they wanted to do and so the CGI is not up to par. But even with the bad CGI, the designs of the creatures on this are a mixed bag. The fire-breathing mechanical bull and the dragon that guards the golden fleece look fine, but the harpies are truly ghoulish (I know that's probably the point, but I still don't like it). Instead of a group of skeletons that come out of the ground, Jason instead fights a bunch of weird vine-like knights, and by fights, I mean he tricks them into killing each other. 
The only creature effect that looks pretty decent is the centaur, Chiron that guides Jason to fulfill his destiny and then is never seen again. 

Oddly enough, this version actually follows the original myth of Jason closer than Harryhausen's film, even the Chiron the centaur which I assumed was just a random inclusion was part of it. We even get the conclusion to the story I wanted, where after acquiring the Golden Fleece, Jason comes back to defeat Pelias and reclaim his throne, that I wanted from the original film. This just makes it all the more frustrating because I simply can't get into this miniseries. I find it hard to get over the less-than-stellar acting and poorly rendered special effects, and not even the few bright spots I could find upon my recent rewatch are enough to make me want to willingly watch it again.

CLASH OF THE TITANS
April 2, 2010

Perseus, seeking revenge on the god Hades for killing his family, sets out to save Princess Andromeda from being sacrificed to the Kraken. 

Alrighty, we're back in the realm of theatrical films. It was the late 2000s, and films were entering something of a edgy phase. Everyone wanted to be darker and realistic just like the 2005 breakout hit: 'Batman Begins,' with some if not most doing it without realizing why it works specifically for Batman.
Enter, Travis Beacham, the writer of the greatest movie of all time. He wanted to make a "darker/realistic" version of the original, a few draft rewrites and a hiring of Louis Leterrier later, and the project was underway.

I still remember seeing the trailers for this movie and thinking it looked pretty cool. I saw brief glimpses of the creatures I was familiar with, the dramatic tone, the rock music that went so hard, and, of course, the now iconic moment of Liam freakin' Neeson as Zeus saying: "Release the Kraken!"
And it was in 3D, neat. I was actually excited to watch this movie. 
And then I saw the movie...

Getting this out of the way first, the movie was converted to 3D at the last moment and the effort showed. I remembered the presentation making the film blurry and the actual "3D" moments were fine, I guess, but it felt largely unnecessary. It was certainly no Doctor Strange or Avatar. 

Speaking of Avatar, Sam Worthington is our Perseus and he's perfectly fine. He's a lot more gruff and serious than the original, which he has his reasons for. The only other things that throw me off are his buzzcut and I don't know how I feel about the inclusion of the line: "don't look this bitch in the eye."
In it's attempt to be serious and edgy, the cast acts appropriately so. The film makes it a point to show humanity actively declaring war against the Gods of Olympus, including King Acrisius (Jason Flemyng), who after seeing his wife impregnated by Zeus, proceeds to crash out and attempt to drown both his wife and child (Perseus) just like in the original, then Zeus gives him a big ol' lighting bolt to the head, deforming him into a monstrous creature. That's right, Perseus' not-dad in this version is now Calibos. Calibos feels underused here and we don't even get Thetis, instead our main antagonist is Hades. If the original didn't quite follow the original myth, this one does so even less. A new character in the remake is a djinn, a very much not a Greek mythology thing. 
As for the gods, Liam Neeson makes a good Zeus. Ralph Fiennes is also good as Hades, even though his line delivery ranges from sounding like he smoked 2 whole packs of cigarettes in one sitting to actually normal. The rest of the gods don't factor into the film that much, why even cast Danny Huston as Poseidon and barley give him any lines!? Luke Evans makes his big screen acting debut as Apollo. That's pretty cool, too bad most of his scenes got cut...

I'll give the remake this, it does simplify the story to an extent, more or less starting with the plot of Andromeda's parent's comparing her beauty to Aphrodite, then Hades comes in and says "We angy. Sacrifice your daughter to the Kraken or your city gets wiped off the map." Perseus and Andromeda (Alexa Davalos) don't form any real connection and Andromeda herself, despite being a vital part of the original's story, doesn't factor much at all in the remake. She tries to appeal to her people and even helps a few children in their time of suffering, but doesn't stand up for herself that much. The only big decision she makes is allowing herself to be sacrificed to the Kraken.
During one of Hades' retaliations against the people of Argos, Perseus' family is killed in the crossfire, so Perseus isn't even going on the quest to find a way to kill the Kraken for Andromeda, he does it for revenge. Because apparently killing the Kraken will weaken Hades somehow? 
Instead of Andromeda, the woman Perseus forms a connection with is Io (Gemma Arterton,) who is basically the exposition machine of the film. 
The rest of the characters are serviceable enough, at least we get some decent actors like Mads Mikkleson and Nicolas Hault.

There's a lot that can be said for the number a remakes being made today. "Why are there so many?" "Why don't they just remake bad movies?" "Why's the remake of Footloose actually kind of better than the original?" (OK, that last one might just be me...) But sometimes remakes, regardless of their quality, can serve as a showcase for some good filmmaking and more so for the evolution of special effects techniques, take King Kong for instance. We went from stop motion by Willis O'Brien, then to a guy in a suit made by Rick Baker, and lastly, state-of-the-art motion capture CGI by Andy Serkis and WETA Digital.

While Calibos and the Stygian Witches were realized with makeup, most of the creature effects were created by MPC (Moving Picture Company) with another company called Cinesite handling the Scorpion sequences. 
The effects are quite good in my opinion, and the designs of the creatures are pretty well done too, even the new edgy, black Pegasus. I definitely think Medusa looks scarier in the original, but the remake version is still pretty terrifying in her own right with the way she zips around like a snake. 
While we don't get a full view of the Kraken, I could still get a general idea of what it looked like, a beastly humanoid creature with an absurd amount of tentacles.  

If you're excepting to see Bubo in this version, get ready for disappointment.

Director Louis Leterrier also apparently sought out Ray Harryhausen for his involvement in the film, to what extent I'm not entirely sure as the links to those articles are now dead, but it's pretty clear that Harryhausen declined.

Some other things I like about this remake include: Ramin Djawadi's score, the sets, and the cinematography is pretty incredible with some nice aerial shots.
Unlike Disney's Mighty Joe Young (which I've watched many times before,) I haven't watched 2010's Clash of the Titans since it's theatrical release. Upon rewatching it for this retrospective, I must admit: I don't hate this movie.
I will also admit, I prefer the characters, creatures, and just the overall feel of the original by a mile, but I still think the remake does an admirable job of trying to be it's own thing, even if not everything hits the mark like it should.

In the end, I just prefer my fantasy films to have more vibrant colors, larger-than-life personalities, and an overall sense of wonder and adventure. That's why I still hold on to franchises like the MCU and Star Wars, why I choose Lord of the Rings and ignore Game of Thrones without question, why I outright reject most "deconstructions" of the genres I hold dear. It's a bit cliche to say, but Harryhausen films really are an escape for me, a reminder of a simpler time, a time that I would like to see reflected more in this cynical hellscape we currently live in...

So anyway, the remake got a sequel. It's called "Wrath of the Titans." I didn't go see it in theaters, I watched it for the first time after renting it from Blockbuster and fell asleep at about a quarter of the way in. I watched it recently and while it has its moments, it's mostly forgettable to be honest. You can watch it if you want, I'm curious if you'll last longer than I did. 

I'm not gonna add the remakes to my official ranking, but if I did: Mighty Joe Young is awesome, Clash of the Titans could be better and Jason and the Argonauts is a "No."
Let's finish this off, shall we? 

Conclusion

With Harryhausen's retirement after 'Clash of the Titans,' Charles Schneer would also retire from producing films. Schneer really was the unsung hero of Harryhausen's story. Without him, it's quite possible the stories as we know them may not exist, so I felt it necessary to highlight his contributions as much as I could. Schneer would remain in London, where he lived since 1960 before relocating to Florida in 2005. Charles Schneer would pass away on January 21, 2009. He was 88.

As for Harryhausen, while his work in film was over, said works would continue to be celebrated and his contributions were honored many times over. He even managed to make the oddest of cameos in several films including a bar patron in 'Beverly Hills Cop 3' and he would lend his voice to a stop motion Polar Bear cub in 'Elf.'

Vanessa Harryhausen currently acts as a trustee for the foundation, ensuring her father's legacy is in good hands.

On April 10, 1986, the "Ray and Diana Harryhausen Foundation" was established to not only protect his name and work, but also to preserve and archive the many pieces accumulated by Harryhausen.
Some of those pieces are occasionally even put on special displays in various museums. Most of them are based in the UK, but there have been some cases where they have come to the US. In fact, at the time of this writing, there is currently an exhibition going on at the Mini Time Museum, a museum dedicated to miniature displays in Tucson, AZ. It's called "Ray Harryhausen: Miniature Models of the Silver Screen." It's supposed to be on display until May 3, 2026 and if given the opportunity, I'd love to go see that in person.

On May 7, 2013, Ray Harryhausen would pass away at 92.
While he is no longer with us, his impact on filmmakers and audiences will continue and live on forever.

Charles H. Schneer
1920-2009

Ray Harryhausen
1920-2013

Till next time, I have been your host Gryphon 
and thank you for joining me here in my lair. 
So long...

Special thanks to my friend, Rhiannon, for helping me with editing. I greatly appreciate your help!

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RAY HARRYHAUSEN RETROSPECTIVE - PART 3

-RAY HARRYHAUSEN RETROSPECTIVE-
PART 3
THE LEGEND RIDES AWAY

If you haven't read the previous entries in this retrospective, follow these links: Part 1 & Part 2.

ONE MILLION YEARS B.C.
December 30, 1966

A caveman banished from his tribe must survive a harsh landscape inhabited by Dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures, accompanied by a beautiful companion.

After First Men in the Moon, Harryhausen would temporarily part ways with Schneer and Columbia Pictures for a bit, being hired to work on a film being cooked up by Hammer Films Productions. 
Hammer Films are probably best known for their Frankenstein and Dracula movies, usually starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, as well as a slew of other horror films that spawned its own sub genre known as "Hammer Horror."
But among their other less talked about genres, Michael Carreras, son of Hammer's founder, James Carreras, suggested doing a remake of 1940's "One Million B.C." Wanting the dinosaurs to look the best they could, Hammer reached out to Harryhausen to offer his talents and the rest, as they say, is history.
Or should I say prehistory?

One Million Years B.C. is an interesting case. There are characters and a story, but you really have to pay attention while watching to understand what's happening. Because all of the cast are playing primitive cavemen, they don't exactly have the best grasp on language, so a lot of physical acting and exaggerated facial expressions are employed.

Our main character we follow is Tumak (John Richardson) from the so called Rock Tribe. The Rock Tribe are your typical hunter gatherer people and are quite brutal as a fight over some meat causes Tumak to be banished. During his travels through the harsh prehistoric landscape (portrayed here by the Canary Islands) he comes across Loana (Raquel Welch) and another group called the Shell Tribe, who are a bit more peaceful in their ways. The two form a connection and Loana joins Tumak on his little heroes journey to rejoin his tribe. 
Not exactly a deep story, but an entertaining one nonetheless. Most of the characters aren't named, but their performances are good for what they're trying to convey. 

And of course, the star attraction of the movie is, without a doubt, Raquel Welch. She is strikingly beautiful and instantly recognizable in that famous fur bikini, you've probably seen a poster of her wearing it somewhere(most likely in 'The Shawshank Redemption.') It's so iconic, it even has it's own Wikipedia article, no joke! Even though Welch herself would mostly write off this role as "That silly dinosaur movie," there's no denying her role in making One Million Years B.C. into something of a household name and I rather like her as Loana, she's compassionate, but fierce when she needs to be and despite her appearance, the film never degrades her into a sexual object. 

Now let's talk about the dinosaurs!
Harryhausen has stated: "I don't like re-takes, but I felt we could do better than the original where they use lizards with fins glued on their backs and they had a Tyrannosaurus with a man in a rubber suit that looked so phony..."
Yup, before CGI, the best way some filmmakers thought to bring dinosaurs to life on the silver screen without stop-motion was taking real lizards, attaching fins to their back with spirit glue to make them look more monstrous and super imposing them on the screen. There are too many examples I could name that always make me go: "Did anyone actually buy this at the time?" To me, they are unconvincing and most certainly, a miserable experience for the many reptiles the filmmakers had to wrangle for them. There is one real Iguana featured in the film as an homage to the original. Harryhausen felt that by adding a variety of real animals into the film, it would help add to the believability of the stop-motion creatures which there are plenty of, including a "Brontosaurus", Allosaurus, Pteranodon, Triceratops and even some lesser utilized species like Ceratosaurus and Rhamphorhynchus (RAM-foh-RINK-us.)

He said he could do better, and boy did he. Before Jurassic Park, Harryhausen made the best looking live-action dinosaurs. And no, we're not debating historical accuracy here, they look good based on what we knew at the time.

One Million Years B.C. is an overall fun time. Honestly half the fun of watching it comes from the prospect of watching it with a group of friends and dubbing your own dialogue into it and letting hilarity ensue. 
That being said, the movie itself is a good comfort watch, with a simple story and awesome dinosaur sequences, what more could you ask for?

THE VALLEY OF GWANGI
June 11, 1969

Wild west showman stumble into a valley where prehistoric creatures still walk the earth, including a fearsome, meat-eating Allosaurus.

Despite a mixed reception, One Million Years B.C. was a big financial hit. For a time, it seemed like dinosaurs in film was a sure thing, and Harryhausen decided to strike while the iron was hot. Finally reunited with Schneer, the duo's search for a dinosaur story led them back to the man that started Harryhausen's career, Willis O'Brien. 
O'Brien's list of projects that never got made is tragically long. (Seriously, look up his concept for a film called "War Eagles" we were robbed.) His idea was simple and intriguing: cowboys and dinosaurs. If that doesn't convince you to watch this, what will?

But thanks to our ever present villain of this story, the budget, it never got made. Harryhausen and Schneer, both enthusiastic about the project began fast tracking it, but Columbia Pictures, who had been their homebase for the majority of their collaborations showed no interest in it. Thankfully, the co-producer of One Million Years B.C., Kenneth Hyman, became the head of production of Warner Bros.-Seven Arts and a deal was made for a co-production with Schneer's Morningside Productions. The Valley of Gwangi would finally escape the dust bin of obscurity. 

So, confession time. I'm not really into western movies. They mostly just bore me, but you add an interesting twist to your western to make it stand out from the same ol' song and dance and you might grab my attention. I guess you could say I'm more into unconventional westerns like Back to the Future Part III or Shanghai Noon, even Cowboys and Aliens, which certainly is a movie that exists. But you give me a cowboy movie with something I really love, like dinosaurs, and that just tickles my tism like nothing else. 
Seriously, The Valley of Gwangi sounds like the kind of movie the most autistic boy would make if you gave them an absurd amount of money, the manpower and time. (It's me...I'm the autistic boy.)

A big part of why I mostly don't like westerns is the cast, most of the time the actors just sort of blend into each other after a while and it becomes hard to keep track of who's who. Luckily Gwangi handles its cast pretty well.
Our main hero, Tuck (James Franciscus) is on a mission to try and buy out the failing wild west rodeo show hosted by his former flame T.J. (Gila Golan) These two have a tense relationship and are constantly put through the will they/wont they ringer, even though they totally still like each other. Think Indy/Marion from 'Raiders of the Lost Ark.'
Tuck meets up with a young boy named Lope (Curtis Arden) and Paleontologist, Professor Bromley (Laurence Naismith.) While Lope does fall into the over bearing child archetype that constantly gets himself into situations that should get him killed, but his presence in the film is never for too long and I was never as annoyed by him like I was with the children in the original Gamera movies. And you gotta have your scientist characters when it comes to dinosaur flicks. The rest of the cast have their own unique quirks that make them easy to identify which is nice. 
We even get a few Romani characters. Now, I can't say for sure whether or not they are depicted as too stereotypical or offensive, (feel free to educate me) but the film does use the outdated "G" word to refer to them, so just be ready for that.

Unlike most of Harryhausen's films when it comes to the creatures, Gwangi does take a while to get to our titular star. 
Most of the plot centers around the discovery of a miniature horse called an Eohippus. T.J. thinks she can use it for her show to save it from being cancelled, but the Romani constantly warn that unless the Eohippus, named "El Diablo", is returned to the forbidden valley, it'll only bring doom. They eventually do free the horse which leads our characters to said forbidden valley and that's when the action really picks up at the 40 minute mark as we get to see some dinosaurs including an Ornithomimus, Styracosaurus and of course Gwangi, who is often referred to as an Allosaurus, but very closely resembles Charles R. Knight's famous painting of a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Harryhausen claims they took elements from both creatures. 

The stop motion sequences are spectacular, the best of which is the scene where our cowboys try to lasso Gwangi, it's so fun and inventive to see and the seamless blending of live action and stop motion effects is something to marvel at!
Other notable scenes include Gwangi's fight with the Styracosaurus and later Gwangi gets into a fight with an elephant when he's brought back to the wild west show, a la King Kong, which goes very badly. (Seriously Ray, what is your deal with elephants?!)
There are life-size models featured for the actors to interact with, such as in the Pteranodon sequence, but when it's not a wide shot blending a real actor with the stop motion Pteranodon, it can't help but look like a guy moving a big dummy around.

It's interesting to watch The Valley of Gwangi and see the moments that the Jurassic Park series paid loving homage to. The scene where the cowboys chase the Ornithomimus only to have Gwangi jump out and bite it, just like the T-Rex coming out of the trees and picking off a Gallimimus from the stampede. Even a little moment from 'The Lost World: Jurassic Park' during the T-Rex's rampage through San Diego, when it scratches it's neck while on a leisurely walk, just like Gwangi did. And what about 'Jurassic World: Dominion' where Owen Grady and the DFW guys lasso a Parasaurolophus? Imitation really is the most sincere form of flattery. (foreshadowing...)

And this has nothing to do with the movie itself, but it's an amusing anecdote that I have to share because I love it so much! Harryhausen's daughter Vanessa took a liking to many of her father's models when she was little, and he proudly tells the story of how one mother would ask to see what kind of dolls she had in her little buggy. But there were no dolls, only Gwangi. Harryhausen is best dad!

If I haven't made it clear, I love The Valley of Gwangi! It has genre blending action, cool dinosaur sequences and a story that held my attention more than most westerns. Move over, Magnificent Seven, this town's only big enough for Gwangi!
Unfortunately, Gwangi was not well received by the public upon release. While considered a cult classic today, audiences seemed to dismiss it as an old fashioned film not up to par with the current standards of cinema and even Warner Bros., who changed leadership at the time, criminally underpromoted it. (Some things never change...)
Thankfully, it remains a well known, regarded cult classic even today. 

THE GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD
December 20, 1973

After coming across a golden amulet that is but a piece of the key to finding riches and power, Sinbad sails to find the lost land of Lemuria to keep it from the hands of an evil magician. 

The failure of Gwangi wouldn't deter Harryhausen and Schneer for long, as they decided if a return to dinosaur pictures didn't work, they would return to another one of their big successes: Our old pal, Sinbad.
Thankfully, Columbia Pictures was eager to have them come back as well. The story unfolded and was refined based on a series of sketches Harryhausen made based on his various ideas. 

I mentioned in my introduction to this retrospective that I had been introduced to Ray Harryhausen through a dinosaur documentary/trailer compilation and how one of the first segments showed him working on his "new film" even though this tape was first released in 1990 and I wouldn't see it until many years later. That new film just so happened to be The Golden Voyage of Sinbad. It showed off many scenes from the film as well as the creatures and it fascinated me greatly.
It would stick with me for many years as I tried to find a copy, but that didn't happen until I was in my teenage years and just happened to find a DVD copy of it at my local library. Finally getting to see the film that I'd only had pieces of living rent free in my head was nothing short of a magical experience. 

Harryhausen's Sinbad movies exist as stand alone features, you don't need to see one to understand the other. As such, we have a new actor taking up the mantle as our legendary sailor and if you'll allow me give a lukewarm take: As much as I like Kerwin Matthews as Sinbad in 7th Voyage, it still feels like anyone could have played Sinbad and you would have the same results.
For my money, John Phillip Law is the definitive version of the character. He has the look, the demeanor and swagger of a sailor/swashbuckler. I find myself thinking that he literally transformed into Sinbad himself.
Accompanying Sinbad is the freed slave girl Margiana (Caroline Munro) and the Grand Vizier of Marabia (Douglas Wilmer.) What Margiana lacks in character development, she more than makes up for with her exotic beauty. Despite having his face covered by a golden mask, the Vizier still gives a commanding presence. 

On the opposing side is Koura (Tom Baker) an evil magician. I'm sure it was unintentional, but I just find it weird how in 7th Voyage, our villain was a magician named Sokurah and our villain in Golden Voyage is also a magician with a similar sounding name. Although, I personally find Koura to be a more intimidating and sinister man. But his magic comes with a price, as his continued use of it (mostly to bring inanimate objects to life) drains his life force and ages him considerably. I've also got to make mention of Achmed (Takis Emmanuel), Koura's aid. He may be a bad guy, but he shows genuine concern for Koura's well being, even trying to advise him against using too much magic. You've gotta admire that to a degree.

The score is done by Miklós Rózsa, who delivers fantastic music befitting of a world of mystery, magic, danger and romance.

Golden Voyage employs a good deal of special effects techniques, here referred to as "Dynarama." We have make-up to show the aging of Koura, the burned face of the Vizier, the full body painted Green Men who inhabit the island of Lemuria and the Oracle of All Knowledge, played by an uncredited Robert Shaw covered in layers of make up. Matte paintings and miniatures help give the impression that the coasts and landscapes of Madrid and Mallorca are indeed the locations stated in the film. Originally, filming was supposed to take place in India, which may explain certain elements featured later.
Of the creatures featured throughout Harryhausen's films, Golden Voyage certainly has the most unique variety. 
From the tiny Homunculus that Koura uses as his eyes and ears to spy on Sinbad and crew to the figurehead of Sinbad's own ship brought to life to steal the map to Lemuria, where the legendary Fountain of Destiny rests.

Probably the most notable sequence in the film features the statue of Kali, a six armed goddess of death also brought to life by Koura. Kali is animated wonderfully, with all 6 arms moving perfectly fluidly with each other and the sound design is excellent with all the clanking and creaking a bronze statue would make if brought to life. Not only does Kali do a little dance, it also engages in a sword fight with Sinbad and crew. The usual methods for choreographing a sword fight with Harryhausen's effects are employed, this time using 2 stunt performers literally tied together to act as Kali's arms for the actors to work with. I can't help but feel like this scene might have inspired the fight between Obi-Wan Kenobi and General Grevious. 

Another unique sequence is the fight between a one-eyed centaur AND probably the best creature Harryhausen has ever made, a Griffin. And no, I'm not saying this out of bias, I swear...
I will say, the fight is unfortunately rather short.

Aside from that short fight and any other nits I could pick with the plot, this is still peak Sinbad to me. It has the best depiction of the character I've seen thus far, the world the characters inhabit feels the most authentic, the special effects are dazzling, and the story is engaging and exciting. Personally, I would call this my favorite Harryhausen film, I always have a good time watching this one.
Golden Voyage's budget was just under $1 million (about $982,351) and it grossed 11 times that at the box office, needless to say it was a hit, the kind of hit Harryhausen and Schneer needed to justify an immediate follow-up.

SINBAD AND THE EYE OF THE TIGER
May 25, 1977

The Prince of Charak is cursed by an evil witch on the eve of his coronation, now it's up to his old friend Sinbad to seek out a way to break the curse.

Harryhausen never had a shortage of ideas for Sinbad adventures. In fact, some ideas conceived for the previous films ended up getting passed over to the next, with his story outline and sketches in hand, it was up to Schneer to find the right film makers to flesh it out and of course, Colombia to approve it, which they did. And thus, the final Sinbad adventure was underway. 

As stated before, the 3 Sinbad movies exist in their own continuity with no elements carried over from the previous entry other than: "Sinbad is a character who exists."
Patrick Wayne plays Sinbad this time and while he certainly has a good look and gives an admirable performance, he sure doesn't sound the part. Both Kerwin Matthews and John Phillip Law spoke their lines with gravitas and drama, but Wayne just seems to speak in a regular guy voice, I couldn't help but feel distracted by that in the beginning of the film. 
Sinbad wishes to marry the Princess of Charak, Farah (Jane Seymour,) but cannot unless her bother, Prince Kassim (Damien Thomas) becomes Caliph. This is complicated by the fact that a curse has transformed him into a Baboon and is constantly losing his humanity as time goes on. 
Sinbad must seek out a legendary eccentric Greek alchemist named Melanthius (Patrick Troughton.) Melanthius also has a daughter, Dione (Taryn Power,) who is one of the weak links to the cast in my opinion. Apparently, her addition cut out certain parts of Jane Seymour's role in the film and it does show. I just feel like there's nothing Dione did that Farah couldn't do herself aside from look pretty (and to be fair, Jane Seymour was and still is very pretty.)

But if adding 2 women characters wasn't enough, our villain Zenobia (Margaret Whiting), is a refreshing change of pace. She is conniving and wicked but quite entertaining to watch as Whiting chomps the scenery in every scene she's in. 

Filming was done all around Spain, Malta and Jordan. One particular location that stands out the most is the Al-Khazneh. You may know it better as the entrance to the final resting place of the Holy Grail in "Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade" or the Tomb of the Primes in "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" it's a popular filming location, to say the least. Of course, locations are enhanced by superimposed elements to make them look grander, and while these elements aren't bad, they are a little more noticeable than usual. The stop motion characters in particular don't blend particularly well. 
Speaking of, we have an odd assortment of creatures here. There's 3 ghouls that Zenobia summons to fight Sinbad, that look like the Selenites from First Men in the Moon. A wasp turned big by one of Zenobia's potions (my worst nightmare...) and a giant walrus the gang encounter. 

But there are 4 notable characters to mention.
The first being Kassim in his baboon form. Originally, there were plans to implement a real baboon, but Harryhausen learned that it was difficult if not impossible to train such an animal to do the things he wanted it to do like play chess, so a stop motion version had to be implemented. 
In order to help pursue Sinbad and do her bidding, Zenobia constructs a large automaton called Minoton. Minoton was a combination of stop motion and a suit performance by 7ft actor Peter Mayhew, who you may know best as the man who played Chewbacca. 

And then there's Trog, a primitive Troglodyte who assists our crew to reach the final destination on their quest and fights against a large Smilodon. Harryhausen originally conceived of having a creature like Trog in Golden Voyage before replacing it with the Griffin, a good move in my opinion, though I wouldn't be opposed to seeing a Griffin fight a Smilodon. 
I just want more/better Griffin representation in movies in general, is that too much to ask?

Of the 3 Sinbad movies, Eye of the Tiger is the weakest in my opinion, I don't think the cast is as strong as the previous entries (with the exception of Melanthius and Zenobia), but they do a good enough job to keep me watching and it is refreshing to see stop motion characters actively aiding our characters and not just opposing them. It's a decent adventure movie, just not one I revisit very often.
While Eye of the Tiger did well financially, it was ultimately overshadowed by a little independent film you may have heard of called "Star Wars" and both starred Peter Mayhew. COINCIDENCE?! probably...
It was clear the tides of the movie world were turning. With the age of the blockbuster beginning its zenith, Harryhausen would need to go big in order to stay in the race. 

CLASH OF THE TITANS
June 12, 1981

Perseus, the son of Zeus, must prove himself a hero by not only winning the heart of a princess, but by preventing her being sacrificed to a monster. 

Much like his mentor Willis O'Brien, Harryhausen had a ton of ideas for stories to tell that for one reason or another fell by the wayside. But there were still several that were just delayed for a few years. One such story was based around the myth of Perseus, he was attracted to the grandeur of the tale as well as the creatures he could bring to life with it. But it wouldn't gain any real traction until an outline titled "Perseus and the Gorgon's Head" was presented by Beverly Cross (who also helped write Jason and the Argonauts) during production of The Golden Voyage of Sinbad. Once production on Eye of the Tiger was finished, Cross, Schneer and Harryhausen conspired to flesh out the story, draw some concepts, and most importantly, add more creatures. 

Columbia Pictures were initially enthusiastic about the project, but when it became evident that the budget would be too much for them, they sadly rejected to move forward. Schneer would not be deterred as he approached other studios, after many no's, it was in the hands of Metro-Goldwin-Mayer, anxious to add such a lavish production to their library of films and even throw extra money at it. With a budget of about $15 Million, it would be the largest production budget both Harryhausen and Schneer had ever worked with. 
It's unclear where the name "Clash of the Titans" originated from. I'm sure many people would be quick to say that no actual Titans are featured in the film, as well as how certain featured elements aren't a part of the original myth of Perseus, or how the Kraken looks nothing like it should, yada-yada-yada...
But we've been on this ride before, just relax and enjoy.

There's quite a bit of story in this film so these next sections may be overly dense with information.
Our hero Perseus (Harry Hamlin,) goes on quite the hero's journey after he winds up Joppa, after being aided by a poet named Ammon (Burgess Meredith) and gifted armaments from the gods of Olympus, he goes on to free Princess Andromeda (Judi Bowker) from a curse laid upon her and wins her hand in marriage. Normally the story would end here, but during the wedding Andromeda's mother, Queen Cassiopeia (Siân Phillips,) declares her daughter to be more beautiful than the goddess, Thetis, causing Thetis herself (Maggie Smith) to appear before her and decree that Andromeda must be sacrificed to the Kraken for her blasphemy, thus setting our main quest into action. 
I quite like the principal actors in Clash of the Titans, I think Harry Hamlin is appropriately stoic as Perseus (a role he would later play again in the 2007 video game "God of War II"), Judi Bowker's beautiful and soft-spoken performance as Andromeda will make anyone fall in love with her and Burgess Meredith is always enjoyable to watch. 

Clash of the Titans also had some major star power on it's side when it came to casting the god's of Olympus, including the aforementioned Maggie Smith as Thetis, Ursula Andress as Aphrodite and Laurence Olivier as Zeus. However, most of the actors playing the gods are merely glorified cameos, with most actors barely getting a line. It's really Smith and Olivier who shine the most. Other notable roles include the Stygian Witches (Flora Robson, Anna Manahan and Freda Jackson) whom Perseus consults on how a mortal man may kill the Kraken, which will ultimately lead to the fearsome Gorgon, Medusa. 

The special effects in Clash of the Titans are wonderful and iconic. Before we get into the creature work, I have to shout out the wonderful miniatures used for the destruction of Argos and the long shots of Olympus, they are wonderful.

Some creatures such as a giant vulture, Dioskilos the two headed dog and some giant scorpions are purely stop motion, a few combine live action elements to bring them to life.
Pegasus, the winged horse combines close up shots of a real horse with a full size puppet version to show it flying while galloping majestically through the air.
Calibos, the son of Thetis, transformed into a hideous beast by Zeus is seen played by Neil McCarthy in full make up, but because Calibos has hooves and a tail, puppet is used to make these elements appear more believable. Shots where the puppet Calibos interacts with the real Harry Hamlin are pulled off very well.

One of the more unusual aspects of Clash of the Titans is a mechanical version of Athena's all-knowing owl named Bubo. Bubo can be seen as stop motion during flight as well as for more dynamic movement, and a full size puppet for the actors to interact with some head and wing movement. Bubo makes so many whistling and ticking noises, you can't help but be reminded of a certain, well-known astromech droid hailing from a galaxy far, far away... 

And then we have our titular Titans who are to "clash" (don't even bother to "um ackthually" me.)

First up is Medusa, who unlike most depictions is seen as a hideous hybrid of woman and snake, as if her magic gaze wasn't enough to turn men to stone. Not only is Medusa wonderfully animated, but her scene is one of the best in the film, full of suspense with the dark room and score lending to the atmosphere. 

And last but not least, the Kraken. Instead of a traditional cephalopd, this creature is more of a mix of a mermaid with the Creature from the Black Lagoon, with an extra set of arms. It even has that famous Harryhausen face I mentioned a while ago. While a large, 15 ft. scale model was used for underwater scenes, it's the stop motion scenes that make this creature the iconic beast we all know and love. 

I first saw Clash of the Titans in my middle school English literature class, making it the first Harryhausen movie I remember watching all the way through. While I'm sure my classmates mostly snickered at the effects and perceived hokeyness of it, I instantly fell in love with it and I still do to this day. While it may seem old fashioned today, every time I watch it, I'm always reminded of what most modern fantasy movies lack nowadays: vivid colors, rousing music, larger than life characters and a real sense of wonder. That's why it remains one of Harryhausen's finest achievements. It would also be the last major film he ever worked on.

While Clash of the Titans was a hit at the box office and did very well critically, there was no denying that a new era of film making with advancing new technology that would push us into the digital age was just over the horizon. 
Although Harryhausen considered making another Sinbad story as well as another project to follow up Clash of the Titans called "Force of the Trojans," at 61 years old, he began to lose his enthusiasm for the miracles he would bring to life, he felt that his time had passed and he would retire from motion pictures, leaving the animation pioneers of today to forge their own path as creators storytellers. 

Ranking:

These contenders really came in swinging with some doing better than others, but receiving high ranks regardless. This may change over time with repeated viewings, but for now, there is my current ranking of the 15 Ray Harryhausen films.
 
But while we've come to the end of Harryhausen's filmography, our journey isn't quite over yet. So, if you haven't gotten sick of reading my thoughts thus far, join me over in Part 4, where I talk about several remakes of Harryhausen's films. Needless to say, things will get rather interesting. 

Till next time, I have been your host Gryphon 
and thank you for joining me here in my lair. 
So long...

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