Product Details

• Actors: Kirk Douglas, Silvana Mangano, Anthony Quinn, Rossana Podestà, Jacques Dumesnil
• Directors: Mario Bava, Mario Camerini
• Writers: Ben Hecht, Ennio De Concini, Franco Brusati, Homer, Hugh Gray
• Format: Color, Original recording reissued, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Fox Lorber
• VHS Release Date: April 27, 1999
• Run Time: 94 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 1572524421
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #146,662 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

This vintage Italian production of Ulysses is best enjoyed as Homeric adventure for kids. While The Odyssey is handled with admirable fidelity, you may suppress a chuckle when Kirk Douglas, as the titular Greek hero, speaks English and Italian, dubbing himself in English! Looking like a Spartacus wannabe, Douglas brings appropriate gravity to his classically mythic exploits. Having sacked Troy, Ulysses and his stalwart crew set sail for Ithaca, only to be delayed for a decade by such epic distractions as a giant Cyclops (a memorable highlight), the madness-inducing Sirens, and the deceptive Circe, who turns men into swine. Meanwhile, Ulysses's loyal wife Penelope (Silvana Mangano) is being wooed by suitors (including Anthony Quinn, fresh from Fellini's La Strada), making Ulysses's homecoming an urgent necessity. Resembling a Ray Harryhausen fantasy without "dynamation," this ambitious film boasts impressive special effects (for its time), and the kind of lavish sets and costumes that were once an Italian specialty. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ulysse's personnality and character., July 9, 1999

By 

D. Desaulniers (Sillery, Québec, Canada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ulysses [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I fully agree with Mr Forsythe from London (Ontario). If like Mr Maitlin, you judge this movie with the special effects of the 1999, the movie is hokey. But the character, dedication and courage of Ulysse has never been so well portrayed as by Kirk Douglas. Sylvana Mangano doesn't do much, but she portrayed only too well why a man will fight 20 years to return to her and their son. Anthony Quinn gives a fine performance as the suitor. The recent version with Armand Assante, while proficient in special effects, doesn't exploit the richness of characters showned in the multi-european film. I have seen this movie in the 1960 and again this year. It is the same emotion and commitment. This is Homer's Odyssey. If you have not seen this movie, get your hand on the vidéo. This is a film I would gladly buy in VideoLaser disc or the new DVD. It is worth the money.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Quality Campy Epic., April 1, 2006

By 

Jonathan Wilkin (Sunny Florida) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ulysses (Import / NTSC All Region) (DVD)

I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of this classic foreign film. Although the dialogue was dubbed in in English after filming; Kirk Douglas and Anthony Quinn's voices are used for their own parts, so you almost forget this fact while enjoying the action. Both men act up a storm and the woman who plays Penelope is sympathetic and sexy in her duel part as the witch Circe. The special effects are primitive but believable in a campy "Batman" style. The voice of the Cyclops is wonderful and his eye even moves in its socket! The cimamatic tension as Odysseus and his men stomp the grapes in the giant's cave is truly infectious. The color and picture quality of this Korean print is excellent and the sound is good. It's well worth the low price to relive the memories of this classic film which was often shown on television by local UHF stations back in the '70's.

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Kirk Has a Hard Time Getting Home..., October 15, 2001

By 

Linda McDonnell "TutorGal" (Brooklyn, U.S.A) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ulysses [VHS] (VHS Tape)

...and that's putting it mildly! Here Kirk is playing the Greek general Ulysses who spends twenty years away from the bosom of his family, ten at the Trojan War and ten on an ill-fated voyage back to Ithaca.

Now, when I first came across my brothers watching this video, I couldn't believe my eyes that Kirk Douglas and Anthony Quinn were in such a cheap-looking movie! Nobody else is an actor or actress of any standing, and the production values are not up to Hollywood standards. Most distressing of all, everyone's dubbed in, including Kirk!

Once I had gotten over all these obstacles, though, I was able to enjoy the movie. Ulysses' adventures are recounted as a flashback as he recuperates from amnesia in a strange kingdom. We see him outwit the Cyclops, go mad from the siren's song, and lose all track of time while being enchanted by Circe. Intersperced with Ulysses' strivings are scenes back at Ithaca, where Penelope has all she can do to hold onto her absent husband's throne from would-be usurpers vying for her hand. A new suitor emerges from the pack, played by Anthony Quinn, and he, like Kirk, plays his role straight despite the film's other limitations. The VERY end, AFTER all the bloodshed in the banquet hall, seems to end abruptly with Kirk and Penelope talking very fast off screen about how they have to make up for lost time. That looks a little, "We have to give the cameras back, so let's end it now."

Still in all, "Ulysses" will entertain you if you let it; it did wonders for me, my brothers, and a two-year-old who wandered into the room and found the Cyclops really exciting.