The original Clash of the Titans, released in 1981, is one of those films that remains a cult classic despite a series of shortcomings.
Featuring stop-motion animation that was dated even at the time, it told the story of Perseus' quest to free the princess Andromeda from becoming a sacrifice to an underwater beast known as the kraken.
Aside from the ropy visual effects, which included that staple of Greek mythology, a mechanical owl, the film was also notable for featuring acting heavyweights such as Sir Laurence Olivier and Dame Maggie Smith hamming it up.
While it was not a defining moment for cinema in the 1980s, the film remains a favourite with many who grew up in the era.
Now, ditching the quaint stop motion in favour of giant computer-generated monsters and 3D, Hollywood has decided the time is right for a big-budget remake.
Sam Worthington, last seen in Avatar, takes the lead role of Perseus, who is enraged to discover he is the son of Zeus, played by a shiny Liam Neeson.
After a scheming Hades, played by a pantomime Ralph Fiennes, murders Perseus' adopted family in a blur of computer-generated imagery, Perseus (in Worthington's native Antipodean accent) vows revenge.
Joined by a ragtag bunch of soldiers, Perseus sets off on his quest to take the head of Medusa, which can be used to kill the massive kraken - thereby saving the princess and the city of Argos and defying Zeus and Hades.
If that sounds like a straightforward plot, it is. However, somewhere among the special effects, the director Louis Leterrier forgets to clearly explain this to the audience, who are just carried along in a series of set pieces.
3D films are never going to explore the human condition - by their nature they favour thrills over drama. But, unlike Avatar, the special effects on offer here actually detract from the whole experience.
The film was originally shot in 2D, and Warner Brothers has been roundly criticised elsewhere for the decision to convert it into 3D. The end result is that fast moving objects become blurred, depth of field seems wrong in parts and a companion I watched it with complained of nausea.
Of course, this could all be a cunning ruse to distract the audience from what is happening on screen between action scenes.
The charm of the original has been dumped in favour of a more serious approach. Someone in the production process actually thought the story of a man on a flying horse using the decapitated head of a cursed woman to kill a giant sea monster needed to be treated with gravitas.
The original may have been a childhood favourite, but young viewers may be uncomfortable watching this version due to a heightened level of violence.
There is some fun to be had in the film. The ensemble cast members, although bad, throw themselves into the action wholeheartedly and the po-faced tale is told at a breakneck pace.
However, it would be much more enjoyable if the audience could clearly make out what was happening.
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Isle of Dogs
Director: Wes Anderson
Starring: Bryan Cranston, Liev Schreiber, Ed Norton, Greta Gerwig, Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, Scarlett Johansson
Three stars
Bharatanatyam
A ancient classical dance from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Intricate footwork and expressions are used to denote spiritual stories and ideas.
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Company%20profile
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RESULT
Chelsea 2
Willian 13'
Ross Barkley 64'
Liverpool 0
The major Hashd factions linked to Iran:
Badr Organisation: Seen as the most militarily capable faction in the Hashd. Iraqi Shiite exiles opposed to Saddam Hussein set up the group in Tehran in the early 1980s as the Badr Corps under the supervision of the Iran Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). The militia exalts Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei but intermittently cooperated with the US military.
Saraya Al Salam (Peace Brigade): Comprised of former members of the officially defunct Mahdi Army, a militia that was commanded by Iraqi cleric Moqtada Al Sadr and fought US and Iraqi government and other forces between 2004 and 2008. As part of a political overhaul aimed as casting Mr Al Sadr as a more nationalist and less sectarian figure, the cleric formed Saraya Al Salam in 2014. The group’s relations with Iran has been volatile.
Kataeb Hezbollah: The group, which is fighting on behalf of the Bashar Al Assad government in Syria, traces its origins to attacks on US forces in Iraq in 2004 and adopts a tough stance against Washington, calling the United States “the enemy of humanity”.
Asaeb Ahl Al Haq: An offshoot of the Mahdi Army active in Syria. Asaeb Ahl Al Haq’s leader Qais al Khazali was a student of Mr Al Moqtada’s late father Mohammed Sadeq Al Sadr, a prominent Shiite cleric who was killed during Saddam Hussein’s rule.
Harakat Hezbollah Al Nujaba: Formed in 2013 to fight alongside Mr Al Assad’s loyalists in Syria before joining the Hashd. The group is seen as among the most ideological and sectarian-driven Hashd militias in Syria and is the major recruiter of foreign fighters to Syria.
Saraya Al Khorasani: The ICRG formed Saraya Al Khorasani in the mid-1990s and the group is seen as the most ideologically attached to Iran among Tehran’s satellites in Iraq.
(Source: The Wilson Centre, the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation)
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
RESULTS
Cagliari 5-2 Fiorentina
Udinese 0-0 SPAL
Sampdoria 0-0 Atalanta
Lazio 4-2 Lecce
Parma 2-0 Roma
Juventus 1-0 AC Milan
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
Greatest Royal Rumble results
John Cena pinned Triple H in a singles match
Cedric Alexander retained the WWE Cruiserweight title against Kalisto
Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt win the Raw Tag Team titles against Cesaro and Sheamus
Jeff Hardy retained the United States title against Jinder Mahal
Bludgeon Brothers retain the SmackDown Tag Team titles against the Usos
Seth Rollins retains the Intercontinental title against The Miz, Finn Balor and Samoa Joe
AJ Styles remains WWE World Heavyweight champion after he and Shinsuke Nakamura are both counted out
The Undertaker beats Rusev in a casket match
Brock Lesnar retains the WWE Universal title against Roman Reigns in a steel cage match
Braun Strowman won the 50-man Royal Rumble by eliminating Big Cass last
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
SRI LANKA SQUAD
Upul Tharanga (captain), Dinesh Chandimal, Niroshan Dickwella
Lahiru Thirimanne, Kusal Mendis, Milinda Siriwardana
Chamara Kapugedara, Thisara Perera, Seekuge Prasanna
Nuwan Pradeep, Suranga Lakmal, Dushmantha Chameera
Vishwa Fernando, Akila Dananjaya, Jeffrey Vandersay
A Long Way Home by Peter Carey
Faber & Faber
Match info:
Portugal 1
Ronaldo (4')
Morocco 0
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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