When Titans Ruled the Earth 4K Limited Edition | Clash of the Titans & Wrath of the Titans

When Titans Ruled the Earth from Arrow brings together the 2010 and 2012 big action films Clash of the Titans and its sequel Wrath of the Titans starring Sam Worthington as the demigod Perseus.

Forget all about the 1981 Ray Harryhausen original when you sit down to watch this version of Clash of the Titans. In fact, director Louis Leterrier admits to not wanting to do a remake and only watching the original film through once before setting out to make this version of Clash of the Titans. Boy does it show.

This updated version may have the edge in innovative technology and special effects, but the quaint, lighthearted silliness that made the original stop-motion classic bearable to watch is all gone. This version of the Titans takes itself far too seriously, and becomes in the end, no more than a below average special effects spectacle that is run-of-the-mill. Nothing makes this film special. The producers tried to make it standout by doing a rush job conversion to 3D a few months before its theatrical release and, even though the 3D version did well in theatres, it was visually a disappointment, so it didn’t standout on that front either.

In this 2010 update, the humans are at war with the gods, and Sam Worthington plays the demigod Perseus, half-human son of Zeus, played rigidly by Liam Neeson. Perseus must help save the island of Argos from the wrath of the gods, namely Hades (Ralph Fiennes) and the beast from beneath the sea he is set to unleash upon them, the Kraken, unless they sacrifice their princess, Andromeda.

With the help of an ageless woman cursed with immortality who has been watching over him since birth, Io (Gemma Aterton), soldiers from Argos, the gift of a powerful sword from Zeus and the winged horse Pegasus, Perseus sets out on a journey to find a way to kill the Kraken, save Argos and the princess, and free mankind from the grip of the gods.

It is a story that could make for an epic film, and perhaps that is where the filmmakers went astray. They attempted to make something epic but fell far short. Let’s face it, the original Clash of the Titans was hardly great filmmaking, but the Ray Harryhausen stop-motion visual effects gave it character and the light, almost silly story made it fun and even funny at times. This version of Clash of the Titans is lifeless, dark, and, in the end, adds nothing over the original other than updated special effects that we can see in every other fantasy movie these days.

Wrath of the Titans, directed by Jonathan Liebesman, picks up a decade after the events of Clash of the Titans. The gods have lost control over the Titans and Perseus is called upon to rescue his imprisoned father Zeus to restore order to the world. This film ups the ante over Clash by bringing more action sequences, more creatures like the cyclops and chimera.

This sequel raked in over $300 million at the box office despite dismal reviews from critics, which in itself is amazing, but perhaps no one was really clamoring for more of this mindless spectacle because this was the last of these updates to the mythology adjacent-films.

Purchase When Titans Ruled The Earth: Clash of the Titans & Wrath of the Titans (2-Movie Limited Edition Box Set) [4K Ultra HD] on Amazon.com

The Video

Both Clash of the Titans and Wrath of the Titans were shot on various 35mm film stock, with Wrath using the Super 35 format and also shooting on the Red Epic in 5K dual-strip 3D for some scenes. All of Clash was originally converted from 2D for its 3D release. Both films were originally released in both 2D and 3D in theaters and released on Blu-ray 3D. Neither film ever looked great in 3D being mostly conversions and showing some anomalies and flatness due to that. Arrow does not list these as “4K restorations from the original camera negatives” and they seem like they very well could be taken from the 2K digital intermediates. That being said, they look very good, but they could have looked better if they were rescanned, but perhaps the visual effects may have needed to be redone as well. I did not see any aliasing or stair stepping around edges, and the detail is fairly crisp. Wrath has a grittier look than Clash, which is totally in keeping with it being shot on Super 35. The Dolby Vision grading for both films shows only a MaxLL of 1000 nits and MaxFALL of 400 nits, so pretty standard, and neither film has a stunning amount of added brightness or pop in the highlights, but it is there. There is some vividness in the visual effects of lightning and fire, but not to the point where, say, flames look almost three-dimensional or show lots of color variance, they still come across more like brighter blobs of flame. Shadows are nicely extended, which is great in these films that have many scenes in the dark and in moody set pieces.

The Audio

Whether you are watching Clash of the Titans or Wrath of the Titans you are getting big, bombastic lossless English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mixes that are aggressively handled with booming low end extension that will make your subs sweat from the workout. The surrounds carry lots of solid effects like rain and thunder, and dialogue is clear. The sound for Clash has definitely been remastered a bit and improved over the original Blu-ray that was just a little weak in the midrange to my ears.

The Supplements

As usual with Arrow and their limited edition releases, When Titans Ruled the Earth comes packed with tchotchkes and on-disc bonus features. There are two new interviews with producer Basil Iwanyk and deleted scenes for both films in addition to other archival featurettes.

Limited Edition Contents:

• Illustrated collector’s book containing new writing by author and critic Guy Adams and film scholar Josh Nelson
• Double-sided fold-out posters for each film featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Joe Wilson
• Six postcard sized artcards
• Reversible sleeves featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Joe Wilson

Clash of the Titans

Bonus Features:

• Scaling Mount Olympus (1080p; 00:20:45) – A Brand new interview with producer Basil Iwanyk. Filmed exclusively for Arrow video in 2024.
• Harnessing the Gods (1080p; 00:35:05) – An archival  extra that takes a closer look at the behind the scenes journey that brought the story to life.
• Sam Worthington: An Action Hero for the Ages featurette (1080p; 00:07:58)
• Alternate Ending (1080p; 00:05:23)
• Deleted Scenes (1080p; 00:18:12)
• Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 00:01:10)
• Image Gallery (4K)

Wrath of the Titans

Bonus Features:

• Unleashing the Beasts (1080p; 00:13:36) – A Brand new interview with producer Basil Iwanyk. Filmed exclusively for Arrow video in 2024.
• Path of the Gods (1080p; 00:12:50) – An archival extra that takes a closer look behind the scenes.
• Path of Men (1080p; 00:21:46) – An archival extra that takes a closer look behind the scenes.
• Deleted Scenes (1080p; 00:10:50)
• Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 00:02:07)
• Image Gallery (4K)

The Final Assessment

Amazing home theater fodder with solid picture quality and bombastic 5.1 lossless audio, these two popcorn fantasy features are perfectly handled by Arrow in this When Titans Ruled the Earth release.

When Titans Ruled the Earth (Limited Edition) is out on 4K Ultra HD August 13, 2024 from Arrow Video

Purchase When Titans Ruled The Earth: Clash of the Titans & Wrath of the Titans (2-Movie Limited Edition Box Set) [4K Ultra HD] on Amazon.com

• Rating Certificate: PG-13 (for fantasy action violence, some frightening images and brief sensuality) | PG-13 (for intense sequences of fantasy violence and action)
• Studios & Distributors: Warner Bros. | Legendary Entertainment | Thunder Road Pictures | The Zanuck Company | Moving Picture Company | Arrow Video
• Directors: Louis Leterrier (Clash of the Titans) | Jonathan Liebesman (Wrath of the Titans)
• Run Time: 205 Mins.
• Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 (Clash of the Titans) | 1.85:1 (Wrath of the Titans)
• Video Format: HEVC 2160p (4K UHD)
• HDR Format: Dolby Vision (HDR10 Compatible)
• HDR Metadata:
  • MaxLL:  1000 nits
  • MaxFALL: 400 nits
  • Max. Luminance: 1000 nits
  • Min. Luminance: 0.0001 nits
• Primary Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1
• Subtitles: English SDH