MamaGravity good back-story, and good acting

Nessieldwi Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

Teddie Blake The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Delight Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

nrsadoff After reading the Odysessy, I decided to watch this painfully 90's two episode series out of curiosity. Some parts of the film are partway decent, with a few talented actors and interesting scenes here and there. Unfortunately, the majority of the acting was sub-par and many scenes were written so poorly it was utterly laughable. I guess if you must watch a film adaptation of the odessey for a class or whatever it'll do, but I wouldn't watch it otherwise.

Chris_Docker Assante's Odyssey is a minor triumph in more ways than one. As a cracking good adventure it will already have been reviewed many times. What is perhaps worth adding is its possible interest to those approaching Homer's Odyssey or even the Iliad (preferably in that order) for the first time. It is not, of course, a blow-by-blow film of the very lengthy Homeric poem, but as dramatisation go, it is a worthwhile introduction to the characters at a basic level. It doesn't 'Westernise' the Greek mythology to fit tastes dictated by the likes of Disney, or make the ancient Greek Gods silly and ridiculous. We see Odysseus inspired to intelligent courage by the Goddess Athena (wonderfully played by Isabella Rossellini), and this will contrast for the student with the great but unthinking bravery of Hector (in the Iliad). Rossellini combines the qualities of blue-eyed beauty without a hint of soppiness. Hermes edifies with technical insights in a perfectly detached way. Thus the Gods are both external realities and that which inspires and strengthens specific internal values. The devotion of Odysseus to his beautiful wife Penelope is both subjected to his strong sense of duty (in the bigger picture, from oaths made to his fellow men) and, if that seems uncaring, shown in the strength by which he chooses to return to her even after he is offered the choice of that or immortality.As far as a mainstream film goes, it at least attempts to tell the story within the ethos of ancient Greek values. But there is another benefit to seeing it. That is, Homer is so long, so dense, and with so many characters, that although one can gain an intellectual appreciation by reading it, a dramatisation helps the reader to identify and understand the characters emotionally, dynamically, wand this brings out the force of the relationships. Assante has tried, and to some extent succeeded, in bringing out the taste of ancient Greece in a way not dissimilar to what Christian Jacq, in his novels, did for ancient Egypt's New Kingdom period. Well worth a watch!

iami-4 A 10! I mean, why not? How grateful I am (we should all be) for Classical lit to get its due in media of the current world -- film with fine attention to acting and telling and special effects. To be literate in film language is essential. That includes TV probably moreso than the movie screen because TV is pervasive. We have it in many rooms of our homes and in waiting rooms and lobbies anywhere. Odyssey (1997) was made in two parts for TV but done as though for movie theaters. A joy to experience. A credit to excellent use of special effects, that much-abused art which gets wasted when used as just so much filler and fodder. Previous to the art of digital effects (shall I call it that?), Greek and Roman mythology was unsatisfactory on film. Imagination is a great human asset, and in reading it's everything. But when the supernatural stories are attempted on screen, and audience participants expect to see something equivalent to what they've visualized while reading, the mechanics of mid-twentieth century film language was often just laughable. And, believe me, people did laugh inappropriately. Which of course gets me to the the point of a super-great story teller Odysseus/Ulysses who, essentially, lies (exaggerates to a high end) about where he has been, what he has done on the way home from war, and what happened to his band of men. This classic story is exactly that -- one of the very definitions of the term. Odyssey has it all in the way Greeks tried and succeeded in explaining the world of humankind with every bit of its individual and universal frailties and strengths. To go too far in a review would be to deny the reader and the viewer an opportunity for discovery. Just think how many have experienced this story, and all others of those times, told and read over the centuries! The total is, of course, more than the combined total of all modern best-sellers and all persons who have passed through the box offices of all theaters of every kind since "shows" were invented. The Classics are the stuff of a liberal arts education, and we have been lacking in that regard for awhile. Therefore, such films as this are another opportunity for our world to gain the insights and wisdoms of our human past. With a hope that our future will benefit as well. Add to this the excellent filmed version of Illiad, titled Troy (2004), and our opportunities are expanded. Now let's have Aenied, the Roman adventures of Aeneas. And more classic stories. About the acting in Odyssey, to say it's just fine would be inappropriately weak. The director did not accept anything but excellence, and the actors are capable of that, for sure. Armand Assante and Greta Scacchi lead an excellent cast which includes an array of experienced stars and great extras. Assante, listed at about 5-feet-9, seems smallish for the part of a great heroic age hero. But of course the real Odysseus (whoever he must have been, whether an individual or a combination of real persons) wasn't physically big. Assante fits the sizing just fine. Let me explain that four of us saw Oh Brother, Where Art Thou! in a theater, and we wanted to review this filmed Odyssey to refresh our reading memories and try to solve the subtle Coen Brothers. We four (an older couple with our son and daughter-in-law) rented Odyssey, went home and watched the first part. Next morning we did the second part. Such fun! We intended to rent the 1954 Kirk Douglas movie Ulysses, but it wasn't in the store. It is Italian-made and actually quite good but with obvious reservations by comparison. Yet, comparison is good to do with such a many-faceted tale with such themes of humankind.

funkyfry I was surprised the first time I saw this how much fun it was as an adventure film, and just picked it up again after about a decade's rest. It won't do any good to pretend this is anything other than Homer's "Odyssey" as condensed to emphasize action and romance. It also would be rather pointless to act like these are some of the great performances in film, or even in fantasy film. Still, the whole thing does work mostly because of the excellent location photography and Armand Assante's charismatic performance.Quite a few of the other performances suffer for whatever reason, sometimes due to bad casting. Bernadette Peters is a good actress I guess, but just totally wrong for the part of Circe. She came off like the trailer park version of Circe. Isabella Rosselini, she was just horrible in this movie. Never was her awkward way of speaking English more obtrusive, and the odd sense of humor that she seems to want to bring to Athena is out of place. However Christopher Lee has a fun scene as the blind prophet Tiresias, who Odysseus must go to the land of the dead to meet. And Michael J. Pollard, always a fine actor and very amusing, is good as the god of wind. Some of the blame is surely with the director, since Peters for example is not as good as Vanessa Williams in a similar role, and I'm pretty sure in general she's a much better actress.This is a good film to introduce kids to the story of the Odyssey. It doesn't go into some of the ideas of the book, which is sort of an exploration of the ethics of hospitality and the moral value of truth (as well as of course the moral value of lies). Special effects are well done, and the conflict with Troy is covered in a suitable way. Assante carries the whole film with his performance. He's good at conveying the pride and then the pain of Odysseus.