In an era where the only computers you had were glorified
giant calculators, Ray Harryhausen was a special effects wizard of the highest
order. He didn’t have cgi, so he used his hands instead. Back in those days,
you could have the dinosaur, skeleton, or what-have-you actually on set with
the actors. There’s something to be said about that kind of tactile input. You know,
where the action in a scene isn’t just a video game created by some guy tapping
away on a keyboard. Ray Harryhausen made things… and he made magic. To honor
Ray’s recent passing, here are reviews of my three favorite films utilizing his
signature “Dynamation.”
3. First Men in the Moon (1964)
Honestly, the first half hour of First Men in the Moon
is very slow-going… in fact, you might say glacially so. It’s just a crazy
scientist and his assistant bumbling around in the laboratory for a prolonged
period of time. Yet once they finally go to the moon that’s where the fun begins.
You’ll see giant space slugs and intelligent, insectoid aliens, all rendered
with the loving care of stop-motion. Also, I like how the aliens walk; they remind me
of the skeletons from Jason and the Argonauts. The film is pretty
lighthearted, and the ending has a comical twist.
2. One Million Years B.C. (1966)
One Million Years B.C. is on here instead of the Valley of
Gwangi for one very important and beautiful reason: Raquel Welch. The Amazonian
darling of the 60’s; people had the movie poster just because she was on it.
Raquel Welch in a fur bikini aside, did I mention that fur bikini? Um, like I
was saying, the other main attractions here are the wonderful dinosaurs. I’ve
always felt that dinosaurs above all else deserve to be stop-motion. Maybe
that’s because I saw too many animatronic triceratops as a kid. Anyway, the
scene that stands out most to me would have to be the allosaurus attack on
the blonde-haired tribe. Here, you get to see a pretty awesome fight scene, as
cave-men spear the dinosaur (yeah, it’s not a science documentary). My only
complaint with the movie is that I wish somebody would say something and not
just grunt.
1. Clash of the Titans (1981)
“Release the Kraken!” Ah, Clash of the Titans. Ray
Harryhausen’s masterwork. This film is a swan song to the great monster films
started all the way back to King Kong. By the 80’s though, people were getting
tired of the traditional effects that Ray used. Star Wars was in, creature
features were out. Yet after one watches Clash of the Titans, it’s hard to have
any real criticism of it. There are giant scorpions, a two-headed dog, a winged
Pegasus, Medusa, and, of course, the Kraken. All of them are gloriously hand
crafted in loving frame by frame camerawork. The Medusa fight in particular is
astonishing. You really feel that the monster is real, right on stage. How she
slithers on the ground, her snakes writhing, as she arches her bow at the hero.
Oh, and there’s a mechanical owl named Bubo… he’s pretty annoying though.
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