Customer Reviews

The Odyssey

5 star:		(93)
4 star:		(72)
3 star:		(25)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(37)

 

 

As a part of teaching 7th graders ancient Greek history every spring, I have the privilege of introducing to them Homer's "Iliad" and "Odyssey". They think they know what real adventure is till they learn about Odysseus' grand voyage home from the Trojan War. And then--when we watch this movie, the students have a much greater appreciation not only for real adventure, but real literature!

Filmed on location around the Mediterranean, the film captures the perilous journey of Odysseus back to Ithica and his beloved Penelope. The glaring weakness of the script is attempting to condense the Trojan War into a half-hour. Nevertheless, Achilles' slaughter of Hector is awesome, and after all--the film isn't titled 'The Iliad'.

While the 7th graders enjoy the mysterious Aeolus (and his bag of winds), and less so Vanessa Williams' seductive Calypso (which gets a bit 'steamy'), there is simply nothing to compare to two scenes. First, the Scylla and Charybdis, which evoke all the surprise, blood, and special effects which today's teenager expects (without overdoing any of the three), and second, the concluding sequence where Odysseus is revealed to the wicked suitors who have "...stolen (his) world", and violated the most sacred of ancient Greek customs--hospitality. The bloodletting here is intense, but Homer would certainly have applauded the interpretation presented.

Not all of Odysseus' ten adventures are included in the film. For example, we do not see the lotus-eaters, the slaughter of the cattle of Helius, the rescue by the sea nymph Ino, etc. But what we do see is wonderful! One will never forget the belching and monstrous cyclops who (again) pictures for us the unavoidable punishment Greeks felt was certain to befall the inhospitable! Also missing is the death of Odysseus' faithful dog Argos upon beholding his master's return.

Finally, also missing is what would have been a great visual scene--Odysseus bound to the mast of his ship as he experienced the wonder of the deadly sirens' call--and lived to tell about it! I also found it just a bit disconcerting that although we see King Menelaus of Sparta, we see nothing of his wife Helen whose beautiful 'face launched a thousand ships' and started the whole darn Trojan War in the first place. And where is Paris...? (Oh yes, I forgot again--this is "The Odyssey"!)

For me, the highlight is Odysseus' trip to the underworld to seek the blind prophet's direction on how to get back home. Though combining two of four rivers of the underworld into one (the Styx, and the Phlegethon--river of fire), the sequence loses none of the magical mystery of the Greek conception of the afterlife. Even included is the haunting meeting of Odysseus and his mother who committed suicide, in believing her son would never come home.

Bernadette Peters' Circe sequence is as humerous as it is clever, and watching Odysseus' men turn back into men from animals is memorable. Nevertheless, character development is often sacrificed at the expense of trying to cover the many adventures, but I guess one can't have it both ways!

The special effects are great--especially the face of Poseidon in the waves as he strives to punish Odysseus for blinding his son (the cyclops), and (as one of my students pointed out)in reality, ends up making our hero a better man, by crushing his hubris, and teaching him the ultimate Greek lesson: "...man is nothing without the gods!"

Great movie! Whether they know the classic tale or not, the film will entertain teenagers (and most everyone else). But as a supplement to teaching the great literature pieces of Homer...ah, it doesn't get any better than this! Now, if the same director would only make "The Iliad"....

After watching this movie, I realized how tedious it would have been if the director had filmed feast after feast or all the details of the original story. He focused more on the adventures. Listening to 11 compact discs to hear the entire story is quite an odyssey itself, so if you don't have a lot of time, the movie will save you a few hours.

The recording is about 12.5 hours in comparison with 165 minutes for the movie. There are many differences between the movie and the recorded book version. For one, Odysseus' son leaves to look for his father early in the original story and in the movie, he seems to leave much later. The movie focuses more on the suitors and sailors.

The adventures of Odysseus are dramatic, exciting and interesting even to a contemporary audience. It is a story of a great warrior who is cursed by the gods and must wander the seas for years after the Trojan War.

It is also a story of how a man wishes to return home to his faithful wife all while he is "forced" to enjoy the pleasures of the islands. Although goddesses of great beauty take care of him in the islands, he does not seem to really enjoy being away from home.

Odysseus seems to have a girlfriend on every island and yet we forgive him and admire his wife. While he is enjoying the pleasures of the islands, his wife sits at home defending her very existence from a group of suitors bent on pursuing her to the end of time.

When considering a critical analysis of this movie, I had to look at the "acting" and "special effects." There is beautiful scenery in Turkey and of course you have ships at sea and goddesses and gods causing havoc with the humans. Some of the more complex scenes were filmed in Malta. This was where they had a huge tank set up for the sea adventures. What they did with the special effects is pretty impressive.

The acting gets better as the story progresses. What you will notice is some "overacting" when the characters emphasis their emotions so strongly that the effect only causes you to laugh. Imagine a bunch of wrestlers hugging and crying. Yes, that funny. You should not be laughing when characters are crying, however, that is the effect because the overplaying of emotions becomes almost comical.

Andrei Konchalovsky's obviously had a vision for how he wanted the emotions to be played out onscreen although I think he dipped too far into extravagance and the viewer might consider it more insincere than tragic. However, if you consider how the individuals really might have acted, this is perhaps more true to ancient life. It is true that in the original Odyssey, men cry pitifully (passionate sobbing) and show their feminine side freely.

I especially loved seeing all the gods and goddesses in the movie. I loved Isabella Rossellini as the "clear eyed" goddess Athena. She was definitely a highlight in this movie. It seems she is rather fond of Odysseus, the king of Ithaca (Armand Assante) and with a twinkle in her eye, she sends him off to be brave. Her eyes are just amazingly beautiful in this movie. Some of the goddesses in this movie had dark hair and in the original they were "fair-haired" goddesses.

There is a creative use of waves to display the anger of Poseidon when Odysseus doesn't give the gods credit for his successes. He is cursed and must wander on the ocean until the end of time.

Another highlight is the horse and ships. The Trojan Horse makes its appearance and is very well made, as are all the ships which were built in England. You will also be amazed by the special effects in Hades. As Odysseus descends into "hell/Hades" he is almost overwhelmed with the heat.

Some of the most bloody scenes I've ever seen occur in this movie, although they are not quite "horror." Imagine bodies being gobbled up by hungry sea creature and blood splattering on a wooden deck or a Cyclops tearing a body apart to devour it. Because it happens during the daytime, the effect is not as intense.

The scenes in Troy are also fairly violent. There is also a fairly long scene at the end where men are locked up in a room and systematically slaughtered. This is for revenge so seems to have a point.

What I kept waiting for was a scene where Odysseus is bound to the ship's mast as the sirens call to him and his men. This is a very short section in the original story, so they must have felt it was not as significant. However, it would have been spectacular on film.

Recommended to those who love Greek Mythology or who want to have a visual reference in your mind when ready or listening to the translation of The Odyssey by Homer.

If you are trying to decide if you like the Odyssey or the Iliad: The ending of the Odyssey is much more romantic and there is far more romance and beauty in the Odyssey. The Iliad ending will appeal more to men and the story seems to contain more "war" violence and has a much more definite focus on war.

Main message of this movie seems to be: "Man is nothing without the gods" or "never give up on your dream no matter if the gods try to stop you, you are captain of your fate in the end."

The movie is more entertaining than listening to 12.5 hours of an Audio Book, yet if you watch the movie and then listen to the Audio Book, it takes on a new meaning. You then have a visual reference for all the adventure sections. I can recommend the movie for that aspect alone.

~The Rebecca Review

Being a fan of Homer, the Trojan War, et al, I had to watch the flick; however, I was somewhat disappointed with the overall treatment of the story; although the props, for the most part, seemed historically correct, the writers had to make changes that deviated from the Homeric epic. For instance, the battle scene with Ahkilleus and the death of Hektor was far-removed from the actual lines (kind of like how they reinvented "Helen of Troy." From recollection (since I've yet to find the video or see a rerun in over 20 yrs) "Ulysses" with Kirk Douglas, is by far, the best rendition of the Odyssey.

As a freshman English teacher, I am very greatful for this movie. I am also a huge fan of Homer's epics, and this movie is very well done! The transitions between what goes on at home and Ithaca and Odysseus' travels are excellent.

My and my students' only complaint is some of the potentially interesting and tense stops on the journey are cut; my kids complain that the Sirens are cut from this version. Also, I am a little dissappointed that his adventures are not in the same order as he encounters them, so I end up having to wait until after my students read the story to show the movie.

It's a very good story!

I saw this movie in my social studies class. I thought it was going to be boring, I mean, we were in school, but it was great! It was an excellent movie, great for learning and amusement. The scenes from the war were very gory, but seemed VERY realistic, I thought it was cool. If you didnÕt know, the Odyssey is based on the epic poem by Homer. It begins with a reference to the Iliad at the Trojan War, a ten year mythical war between Troy and Ithica, to give you background into the story. It's mainly about OdysseusÕ long journey home back to Ithaca to see his wife and son. Little does he know, that insulting the great god,Poseidon, will make his journey even longer and harder. The Odyssey also references many Greek gods. Gods played an important and unique role in everyday Greek life. OdysseusÕ personal god was Athena. She helps him and his son with OdysseusÕ journey home. The clothes in the movie were awesomely realistic. Original clothing of the Greeks were made out of linen. Ordinary people usually wore white clothes, but the wealthy would wear elaborate colorful robes. The movie also showed OdysseusÕ crops and herds of sheep. They both played a vital role in their life. Sheep gave milk, food, and clothing. Olives, the main crop of Ithaca, made olive oil. You can see Penelope(OdysseusÕ wife,played by Greta Scacchi) pressing them to make oil in the movie. These were the main sources of food for the people of Ithica, and they were very important in their lives. I thought that the director did a good job making everything in the movie look realistic. Mythology comes alive when you hear the roar of PosiedonÕs voice, the wail of the Cyclops(Reid Asaita) as he is blinded by ÒNobodyÓ, and the flicker of the bright-gloomy flames of the under world. I thought the movie was excellent! Enjoy it,youÕll love it!

As a 9th grade English teacher who covers substantial portions of The Odyssey every semester in my classes, I always show this movie to my students. Even though some of the monsters are clearly the stuff of lower-budget Hollywood, the acting is noteworthy, and the coverage of the epic as a whole is well-executed. (Covering a story of this magnitude in two hours is no small feat.) Students who struggle with the language of the epic enjoy this visual representation, and it also makes for a good comparison/contrast to the epic, as many scenes are presented differently than they are in the text. For example, the movie moves chronologically, whereas much of the epic is told as flashback. Certain scenes--such as the death of Odysseus's men on Helios's island and Penelope's test of the bed at the end--are omitted, while others--such as the Lotus Eaters and the witch-goddess Circe--are combined. Additionally, the movie portrays Odysseus much more positively and much less flawed than the epic. But all of this makes for excellent discussion with my students, and that's what matters to me. Beyond educational purposes, the movie is fast-paced and enjoyable. Highly recommended.

In my Classical Mythology class my students have an opportunity to write a paper comparing the recent theatrical film "Troy" to not only Homer's "Iliad", but all of the other classical sources regarding the story of the Trojan War. Students find plenty of differences between the ancient stories and the film and the same would be true if they were to look at the recent mini-series version of "Helen of Troy" or any of the old movies that dealt with the Trojan War. Students then have to evaluate the differences and similarities to render a judgment as to whether "Troy" is an appropriate adaptation of Homer and the others. You would think that a similar paper could be written regarding this television mini-series version of Homer's epic poem "The Odyssey," but it would not be worthwhile because this is the most faithful adaptation of Homer to date. Yes, to anyone familiar with the original text there are differences. For example, when Odysseus comes home his faithful dog does not drop dead and Penelope does not test him regarding the bed with the headboard made from a tree, but I always thought that last one was a bit much given everything he had just done to prove he was Odysseus come home at last.

When it comes to Homer I maintain there are "Odysseus" people and there are "Iliad" people, and I am firmly ensconced in the latter camp. This is not only because I found the character of Achilles and his wrath to be more interesting, but also because what I thought was the best part of "The Odyssey," the ten years of adventures that kept Odysseus lost, were the shortest part of the epic. But the teleplay by Christopher Solimine and director Andrei Konchalovsky ("Tango and Cash") takes care of that concern as the visits by Odysseus (Armand Assante) to the islands of the Cyclops (Reid Asato), Circe (Bernadette Peters), Calypso (Vanessa Williams), and the rest assume a greater part of the narrative. Meanwhile, back at home Odysseus's queen Penelop (Greta Sacchi) has to put up with all of the suitors who want to marry here and take the throne of Ithaca since they believe Odysseus to be dead, and their son Telemachus (Alan Stenson) goes off on a journey to prove his father is still alive.

While Jim Henson's creature shop creates the mythical monsters for Odysseus and his men to encounter, what is more important is that Assante's character reeks of hubris. Not only does he stand on the shore thumping his chest and proclaiming he is greater than the gods for having brought down Troy through the stratagem of the Trojan Horse, he continues to thumb his nose at Poseidon even as things get worse and worse. The scene where I decided to round up on my ranking for this mini-series is when Odysseus is floating in he sea being buffeted by waves sent by Poseidon and the arrogance that has doomed him and his crew to ten years of wandering and death are beaten out of him. Odysseus was not a hero to the ancient Greeks, who considered him more of a pirate than anything else (remember, the first thing he does on the way home from Troy is to stop and raid a village). His is wily Odysseus from start to finish, but Assante is given a character arc to play and he follows through with it. His love for his wife and his son are core to his character as well, and while I questioned this particular bit of casting when I first heard of it, Assante does make a convincing Odyssues. There are no problems accepting Scacchi as the personification of faithfulness in Penelope and having Irene Papas show up as Anticlea, the mother of Odysseus was a nice casting decision.

For me the most problematic element in the mini-series is the performance of Alan Stenson as Telemachus, although Michael J. Pollard as Aeolus the Bronx god of the winds was a bit much even with the nudge-nudge wink-wink way he is presented. But Telemachus rants and raves too much as the headstrong kid who refuses to believe the father he has grown up without is still alive. I should really not be enjoying it when he gets beaten to a pulp, but notice that before his father tells him the right time has come for him to be agree, this kid is pretty much frothing at the mouth. The recounting of the Trojan War is reductionalistic in the extreme and they gloss over the story of how Agamemnon got the king of Ithaca to go to war when Odysseus was pretending to be insane and plowing a field with salt, but these are legitimate choices given that the focus is on Homer's poem and not the attendant myths.

Granted, the story of "The Odyssey" is told here as pure entertainment, which is seen not only when Calypso turns one of Odysseus's soldiers into a talking pig and during the slaying of the suitors when they go flying through the air when hit by arrows and spears, but in the (predominantly) playful way the gods are presented. Poseidon is the exception since he is really, really ticked off at our hero, but Hermes (Freddy Douglas) is certainly mischievous, and gray-eyed Athena is certainly played with a twinkle in the blue-eyes of Isabella Rossellini (who I thought actually could have been in the story a bit more). I also thought that giving Eurymachus (Eric Roberts) more to do as the spokesperson for the suitors was a good move. All things considered, it is amazing how faithful this telling is to Homer given how much fun they have in telling the tale and with such low expectations going in "The Odyssey" certainly exceeds them.

Armand Asante does an excellent job as Odysseus. As with all movies, there will be some significant differences from the original Homer. After having seen the recent release of Troy, I'd have to say The Odyssey is a better movie. If you prefer to watch a movie that remains faithful to the original classic with good casting/acting, this is for you. If you want cool special effects and big name stars in a story that is loosly based on a classic tale...then see Troy.

Homer would have endorsed this rendering of his tale. Full of wonderful special effects, gorgeous Mediterranean vistas, and gods and goddesses who look their parts, this movie is still driven by personalities. The casting was brilliant: Armand Asante is all that one could wish in an Odysseus -- engaging, passionate, mature, heroic in every dimension. Isabella Rosellini and Greta Saachi are perfect in their roles as Athena and Penelope, respectively. Telemachus is a classical adolescent only child, and Antichea, Odysseus's mother, dominates each of her scenes. While this production is eye-candy from beginning to end, the visual appeal cannot distract from the timeless humanity of its characters. There is a reason that Homer's story still reaches us after 3000 years, and this telling does justice to its ancient material.

This movie name was Odyssey. I thought this was a great movie, and I would recommend this movie for anybody that is interested. One reason why I thought it was interesting was because all of it's historical facts. My favorite character was Cyclops. I liked him the most because they made him look so lifelike. Cyclops was a mythological creature. The Cyclops and Nymphs where the sons of Poseidon god of the sea. This movie was about a man named Odysseus that left his home to to fight a war (Trojan War) the day his son was born. He won the war and started to embark on his journey home. It took him many years but he finally made it home. I liked this movie a lot like I said I would recommend this movie for anyone that is interested in Greeks, or someone who just wants to see a wonderful movie. Some interesting things that I learned from this movie that I didn't know before was that I didn't know that the Greeks ate with their hands I thought they used silverware or something like that. Another intersecting thing about this movie was their clothes. The actors costumes looked really realistic. All of the clothes that I have seen before that the Greeks wore looked almost exactly like the ones in the movie. Most of the transportation that they used in the movie was boats. And that is a fact because most of the transportation back then was boats. The place that they filmed the movie was in the original place that it came from (Ethica). It was so awesome because you where seeing the place where it was supposed to happen.

Jonathan Beigle