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Post by Prime etc. on Jan 28, 2020 18:08:29 GMT
8/10. Compared to the remake it is 10/10 but at any rate I think of all the Harryhausen color films excluding Gwangi, this was the most dramatically well-made. The performance side of things is given more attention than previous films (excluding Gwangi). I think where it has aged best is the things that it was criticized for back in 81. It was said to be too old-fashioned and not adopting a self-aware humor tone like Star Wars or Raiders did-but this has made it age better-since the fantasy story is treated seriously. Misplaced comedy (I am ignoring some Bubo antics) would have dated it badly or made it less accessible to kids (excluding the nudity I mean).
I read Burgess Meredith was a replacement for Peter Ustinov-(Olivier replaced Orson Welles)-as much as I would have liked to see his version, Meredith played it entirely straight and serious which, coming off the Rocky films where he is sort of in the same role as trainer-adviser, that was a smart decision.
My favorite character is Thallo, who gets a number of expository dialogue.
"Accursed, hell-sent swarms of blood-gutted marsh flies."
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