The Odyssey (1997)

Good concept, poorly executed.

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

This is a fine retelling concerning about Odysseus' journey told in Homer's Iliad and Odyssey . After fighting in the Trojan War , Odysseus spends years trying to return home to Itaka . In the ancient Greek city of Ithaca , many impatiently await the return of their king Ulysses and his warriors from the Trojan War . Among these , Odysseus (Armand Assante)'s devoted wife Penélope (Greta Scacchi) and his grown son Telemachus . But Ulysses' return is not eagerly awaited by everyone , especially by his enemies . They openly court Penelope and ask her to give her husband up for dead and re-marry one of the rowdy suitors who have taken up residence in her home since her husband's departure . However, Penelope clings to her belief that Ulysses will soon return. To appease the aggressive suitors (Eric Roberts), Penelope promises that she would re-marry as soon as she finishes weaving a large tapestry depicting Ulysses' deeds of bravery . In secret , she's unraveling the day's weaving, thus delaying the tapestry's completion . Penelope knows that her trick won't work forever. The sorrowful face of Penelope still gazes longingly across the open sea . In Troy, Ulysses and his warriors use the Trojan Horse ruse to conquer the city . In his fervor, Ulysses destroys the Trojans' temple to Neptune , god of the sea , incurring the ire of Neptune who curses him to suffer the wrath of the winds . As Neptune , protector God of the conquered people , pursued him with his anger and kept him murdering for ten years . The cave of Pholiphemus still reverberates with the with the bellowing roars of the son of Neptuno . And on a distant shore Circe still casts her spill . For the immortality that Ulysses refused of a goddess was later given to him by a poet . And the epic poem that Homer sang of the hero's wanderings and of his yearning for home will live for all time . On the return home to Ithaca , Ulysses' boat shipwrecks and he's found unconscious on a Phaeacian island beach by beautiful princess , Calypso (Vanessa Williams) . His long , arduous , treacherous and perilous odyssey goes on . The dust of centuries has not dimmed the glories of Ulysses' heroic deeds . This is the story of a man who left his home , his wife and his son to go away to war , as Ulysses destroyed the city of his enemies and started back home . It is the story of Ulysses , his dangerous travel , and his home , where his wife Penelope was waiting and waiting . Good rendition deals with Ulysses on his Odyssey home to Penelope and Telemaco after the Trojan War . The classic version ever of Homer's epic produced by the greatest TV producer : Robert Halmi . Based on Homer's Odyssey adapted by Chris Solomine and director Andre Konchalovski himself . As a tale , the Odyssey is an unparalleled metaphor of the struggles of a man's life . The cast is brilliant and international , with American as well as European actors . Armand Assante gives a fine acting as as the brave and valiant Ulysses who challenged the Gods and continued his journey to Ithaca . Assante is really good looking , impulsive and totally convincing , it seems the role was really written for him . Greta Scacchi gives us a typical Greek tragedy style performance as Penelope . Great support cast as Isabella Rossellini as Athena , Bernadette Peters as Circe , Eric Roberts as Eurymachus , Irene Papas as Anticleia , Jeroen Krabbé as King Alcinous , Christopher Lee as Tiresias , Nicholas Clay as Menelaus and Geraldine Chaplin as Eurycleia . Partially shot in natural locations in the Mediterranean including islands from Turkey and Malta . The exteriors of this luxurious motion picture were filmed on the Mediterranean coast and islands described in Homer's Odyssey . The sea and the sky are strikingly blue , the islands green and wild . Colorful and spectacular cinematography by Sergei Kozlov . Evocative and impressive original score by Eduard Artemev and being well conducted . The picture was professionally directed by Andrey Konchalovskiy . Rating : Better than average take on that will appeal to Greek world lovers .Other excellent adaptations result to be the followings : the classic ¨Ulysses¨ by Mario Camerini with Kirk Douglas , Anthony Quinn , Silvana Mangano , Rossana Podesta , and ¨L'Odissea¨ (1968) TV series directed by Franco Rossi and by Mario Bava with Bekim Fehmiu as Ulysses and Irene Papas as Penelope.

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.

The Odyssey is written by a great, poem writer "Homer", he had also written the "Iliad". The movie (or use to be on TV) is educational and enjoyable in some cases, had thoughts that this was made in 1997, and should have better special effects and better fight scenes.The Odyssey is mainly about Odysseus and his great adventures.Odysseus is the King of Ithica, and was the first mortal man to control his passion. He sailed to Troy, where the war was being fought, he had Achilies and many other great fighters by his side. The war took 10 years to finish, but he finished with the Idea of the Trojen Horse. Then when the war was done for good, Odysseus was set sail, to go back to Ithica, to meet his wife Penelope and 10 year old son, Telemachus.During his Journey Home, Penelope lost hope, but waited more years. But the suitors, asked her to marry one of them, they brought gifts, but Penelope said they had to wait. In this case the Suitors were eating Odysseus's food and wine with no respect. Telemachus was outraged of this, so he asked for a meeting, to fight the Suitors out of Ithica. But he didn't succeed, and demanded to get a ship and find Odyssues himself. On the way Athena helped. She said to goto Sparta.Odysseus had trouble coming home, he had blinded Posiden's son Cyclopes, and was trapped with Calypso for 9 years. This was on TV, but it was more like a movie. If your interested in Greek Mythology, then make sure to watch this. --A. Haynes--

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.