Anyone can see by watching Clash that something went wrong somewhere in the edit. Faraci has done some investigating and uncovered some very interesting things. Its a very long article so I'll just post some highlights, but be sure to click on the link below to check out the whole thing.
...Probably the most interesting thing I learned is that there's a significantly different cut of the film in the vault. Louis Leterrier's original version of Clash of the Titans differs from what's playing in theaters in some fairly major ways, and while some of it could be restored for the DVD release, much of it would need extra FX work and would drastically change the plot of the film. Unlike last summer's Terminator Salvation, which got messed around with in the script stage and on set, Clash of the Titans was largely changed after principal photography through editing and some widely reported reshoots - all of which included Leterrier.
It should go without saying that this article will contain spoilers for Clash of the Titans, so if you haven't seen the movie please stop reading now.
The most drastic changes in the film come at the expense of the gods. Many watching the movie wonder why Danny Huston would have been hired to play Poseidon when he has almost absolutely nothing to do in the film; the answer is that nearly two thirds of the business with the gods was edited out of the film, and the very tenor of the god scenes was changed in fundamental ways....
..These changes are, technically, minor - but they add up in a big way. The theatrical cut of the movie repositions Zeus from a more villainous character to a bumbling but sympathetic distant dad. Yeah, maybe he raped Perseus' mom, but he's not that bad a guy, and he's there for his son in the end. By making some judicious cuts and reshooting only a few scenes, the current cut of Clash betrays the spirit of the shooting script...
..All of those changes to theme and to the central concept of the gods necessitated a change in the ending. The final scene of the theatrical cut is, frankly, disastrous - not only is Perseus suddenly best buddies with Zeus, but Io, who had previously called eternal life a curse, is resurrected in what we're supposed to accept as a happy ending. None of this could be farther from the ending of the original script and, presumably, Leterrier's first cut of the film....
So, maybe there is a directors cut of the movie in our future? There was stuff in Clash that I did enjoy so if one day we do get a longer, better cut I'll give it another chance. Until then, the lesson of the day is grow some balls and don't let studios [frick] with your movie! But seriously, its very interesting to me why this was done and why it continues to be done to movies in the edit and even sometimes in the production stage. I mean we all know that studios generally consider everyone who watches movies to be drooling peons with the attention span of 2 year old and will produce and market their movies accordingly given half a chance..but surely SOMEONE somewhere on the inside track of where these ridiculous decisions are made knows better? Anyway, to paraphrase a quote from Clash, one day someone will have to take a stand, one day someone will say enough! Or, y'know, not. The film made a rake of cash so as far as everyone involved with churning it out is concerned it was a success and thats all there is to it.
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