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What did you think of the Odyssey?

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Front-Ranger:
I finally had the chance to see this new movie and would like to know what fellow Brokies thought of it.

serious crayons:
I liked it. It held my interest. The criticism by Emily Wilson saying the movie lacks emotional nuances and the like may be true -- I've never read The Odyssey so I can't tell. It's far from my favorite Christopher Nolan movie (that would be between Memento and The Prestige, two of my all-time favorites, and Insomnia is also pretty good). But it was a good tale.

I've heard of people walking out because they thought it was too violent. My neighbor said friends of hers left midway because it was too gruesome. It was violent in the sense of a lot of people dying, but with the possible exception of a giant chomping down people like they were pieces of salami from a charcuterie tray, it wasn't much more gruesome than an episode of Star Trek.

I've seen some people complain about casting Matt Damon in that role. I guess I would have preferred Christian Bale, who would have done a good job, but Damon did OK. And of course I have no objections to the casting of Lupita Nyong'o or Elliot Page.

Front-Ranger:
I agree that there wasn't a boring moment which is saying a lot. (Except possibly the long drawn out slaying of the suitors.) But I had some misgivings and think I should have seen it on the smaller screen. I was pumped up for vistas and sweeping panoramas but it was 40 minutes in before they hit the water.

I knew I was in a bit of trouble at the very beginning when the Trojan horse appeared (there is no Trojan horse in the Odyssey). And then when the sack of Troy appeared (twice at least) and the horse was the last image in the movie, I knew that Nolan was reaching for the most dramatic images he could, never mind what was actually in the poem. The soundtrack also made me feel kind of sick. Too much pounding, screaming and anticipation! I guess I'm just too sensitive.

serious crayons:

--- Quote from: Front-Ranger on August 06, 2026, 08:42:36 pm ---(Except possibly the long drawn out slaying of the suitors.)
--- End quote ---

I agree; that scene went on way too long. The whole movie is arguably too long, so that would have been a good place to trim. The Calypso stretch was also a little longer than it needed to be, if you ask me. Some of anti-film critics have complained about the scarcity of sex in the movie compared to the poem, so maybe they could have spiced up that part a bit.

Having not read The Odyssey, I assumed the Trojan horse was in it. But I haven't seen any of the online Odyssey haters complain about that, so I googled it. According to Google, it is only briefly mentioned "through stories sung by bards or remembered by characters in flashbacks."

Jeff Wrangler:

--- Quote from: serious crayons on August 07, 2026, 02:07:08 pm ---Having not read The Odyssey, I assumed the Trojan horse was in it. But I haven't seen any of the online Odyssey haters complain about that, so I googled it. According to Google, it is only briefly mentioned "through stories sung by bards or remembered by characters in flashbacks."

--- End quote ---

Here's information on the origin of the story of the Trojan Horse,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trojan_Horse#HeroSection

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