Ray Harryhausen was a pivotal part of my childhood. My introduction to the world of Ray Harryhausen was Clash of the Titans at the age of five. The movie itself is mediocre, but it is loaded with memorable moments, courtesy Mr. Harryhausen. The image that always remained with me a kid was when Kraken turns to stone after Perseus shows it the severed head of Medusa. I've never forgotten it and never will. Harryhausen's stop motion effects had the ability to turn a potentially schlocky movie into an extremely enjoyable one. See: The Valley of Gwangi, Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger, and One Million Years B.C. for examples.
His greatest talent was the ability to interject personalities into his creations, to the point that they became genuine characters in the narrative, as opposed to just flashy objects for the audience to "ooohhh'' and "aaahhh" over. Quite often, they were the most interesting characters characters in the entire movie. The Ymir in 20 Million Miles To Earth is far more interesting that any of the human protagonists. It goes from being a curious, innocent animal to a completely vicious monster after the abuse it has suffered at the hand's of mankind. We root for the Ymir, because it is the most relatable character in the entire film. William Hopper, the protagonist, spends much of the film being a complete sour puss, constantly barking at the lovely Joan Taylor that our sympathies naturally go the Ymir.
Thanks for the memories, Ray! Your influence on cinematic landscape is an everlasting one.
The best way to pay tribute to the man is by showing clips from his work. Here are just some of the memorable cinematic moments that Harryhausen helped to create:
The skeleton fight from Jason and the Argonauts. Arguably the greatest special effects sequence in movie history.
The Cyclops from The 7th Voyage of Sinbad.
Medusa from Clash of the Titans. The stuff nightmares are made of.
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