L'odyssée

My husband and I just read the Odyssey together and this film was such a wonderful visualization! The settings, the sea, the magical gods' voices and appearances were absorbing and believable. I especially enjoyed the costuming; we see frozen images of people in ancient Greek dress but they moved with the wearers, just as our clothes do, and they helped create a very sensual impression of ancient Greek life. Although the interiors were a little bare, they were believable too and I enjoyed the colors and paintings that gave life to otherwise stony buildings. I have visited much of the Mediterranean and love the bleached ruins of the Greeks and Romans, but they had colors when they were new--it was exciting to see them that way. The actors were also believable, esp. Assant as Odysseus, conveying both drama and excitement. Some viewers seem to miss the fact that Odysseus survived the Trojan war and would have gotten home faster if he had not offended Poseidon, the god of the sea, by bragging about his performance. Poseidon makes sure he suffers before he reaches home, enlisting his relatives and friends, while Odysseus persists in his goal of reaching his loving wife and home. Altogether a terrific film. I want a DVD version to watch it again--the library video we saw had some jumpy places!

Okay I first saw this movie when I was in 9th grade.We watched it after reading the book.I thought it was a pretty good movie from the start.The special effects were considerably good.Armand Assante played an Excellent Odysseus....I liked Armand's portrayal more than Sean Bean's (Troy).I love Greek mythology and I love this movie.I plan on buying it on DVD.The scene where the old man shoots the arrow through the loops to reveal Odysseus is amazing.Then he says "your crime is that you tried to steal my world" that part was awesome.I think if you are into Greek mythology you will like this movie.They show it on the sci-fi channel every once in a while so I think you should definitely check it out.Like it says in my summary....for a made for TV film it does pretty well.

This is a fine, beautifully crafted version of Homer's The Odyssey. Armand Assante gives a sterling performance as the King of Ithica, who's journey to return from the siege of Troy leads him on a 20-odd year quest to find his way home to his beloved wife Penelope.

If you have read The Odyssey, you will know what kind of challenge it would have been to adapt it into a coherent film and the filmmakers here did a superb job. In capturing all of the excitement, enticement and rollicking adventure of the epic, they brought to life a superlative story rich in imagination.

Kudos to the fine cast, including Eric Roberts as Eurymachus, Greta Scacchi as Penelope and an arresting cameo by Christopher Lee as the blind prophet Tiresias. Eduard Artemyev melodious score only adds to the epic feel.

Not without flaws (Troy is skimmed by a little too fast, and some of the visual effects are a little clunky), but the human element of the story is well dramatized. A supremely entertaining epic.

I am a big fan of fantasy movies and more if it concerns mythologic episodes. Next to Jason and the Argonauts we also have the Odyssey which is according to me a wonderful movie. Homerus classical epos about Odysseus and the movements after the fall of Troy have been filmed in a magnificent way in the Odyssey. The gods make Odysseus and his men to puppets in a game. They push them to make long trips which delay their trip with years and bring them in conflict with Circe, the cyclope and Poseidon. Finally Odysseus even enters the underworld. In the meanwhile the wife of Odysseus, Penelope must get the men away from her, who want to have the properties of Odysseus. They think that he is dead, but with the help Athens he continues searching his way home. This movie receives from me a 8 out of 10 because it is an enjoyable movie which also gives you some history lessons, so 2 flies in 1 hit, a good movie and education. Well done !!!!!!!!!!!

Having been forced to read The Odyssey several times throughout school in clunky and stale translations, it was very refreshing to see the story brought to life like an action movie. I don't want to sound shallow by emphasizing that aspect of the epic because I do understand and appreciate the subtler nuances and motifs of Homer's poem. However, to take it out of the classroom and turn it into a popcorn movie does not do it injustice. In fact, it gave me a better appreciation of the story and a shot in the arm to give the print version another try. Which I did. And I really enjoyed it this time. Probably the fact that I didn't have an essay assignment breathing down my neck on my last reading helped immeasurably.

Anywho, I think Armand Assante was an inspired choice for Ulysses and the supporting cast was very well-chosen too, especially Greta Scacchi and Nicholas Clay. The Scylla/Charibdis and Hydra segments were the most thrilling. Perhaps the FX weren't always top-notch, but this is TV, folks. It definitely had a storybook feel to it with the bright colors and understandable dialogue. Now, if they will only make a TV miniseries of The Iliad......