The Odyssey

[SimonDoom]

Fixed it.

Can't argue with that.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

Emily Wilson, on whose translation of The Odyssey Nolan ostensibly relied, has written a critical review of the film: https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v48/n14/emily-wilson/an-uncomplicated-man.

Thanks for linking this. The critique is too activist at certain points, but I am amazed at how much it echoes my own review of the movie, albeit in far more detail. Yes, yes, Voboy, I know...

 

[MillieDynamite]

Okay, I'm all caught up on my four-and-a-half-day absence. Oh, hell, let's call it five, shall we? Argue on, point-counterpoint away.

 

[sirhugs]

Okay, I'm all caught up on my four-and-a-half-day absence. Oh, hell, let's call it five, shall we? Argue on, point-counterpoint away.

those enough points and counterpoints for you?

 

[ElectricBlue]

Singularly underwhelmed. I half expected Charlton Heston being solid and biblical, and Ray Harryhausen stop motion animation. The whole thing had a 1960s feel to it, like an overlong Saturday matinee with a double feature and a few cartoons.

I don't know about woke, it was more keep awake, for me. Everyone seemed to be phoning it in, to be honest.

Still, the short for Dune 3 promised Florence Pugh, so that's got to be better than Odyssey...

 

[TheOneUpright]

Singularly underwhelmed. I half expected Charlton Heston being solid and biblical, and Ray Harryhausen stop motion animation. The whole thing had a 1960s feel to it, like an overlong Saturday matinee with a double feature and a few cartoons.

I don't know about woke, it was more keep awake, for me. Everyone seemed to be phoning it in, to be honest.

Still, the short for Dune 3 promised Florence Pugh, so that's got to be better than Odyssey...

Phew, what a relief. For a moment there, I thought something was wrong with me, missing some hidden cinematic brilliance everyone else could see but me. Good to know there are others who don't get turned on just by nice visuals. Glad to report that on my table of morons, gullible suckers, and "not entirely hopeless," the last column officially has its first representative.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

Singularly underwhelmed. I half expected Charlton Heston being solid and biblical, and Ray Harryhausen stop motion animation. The whole thing had a 1960s feel to it, like an overlong Saturday matinee with a double feature and a few cartoons.

I don't know about woke, it was more keep awake, for me. Everyone seemed to be phoning it in, to be honest.

Still, the short for Dune 3 promised Florence Pugh, so that's got to be better than Odyssey...

That's a bit too general. Any specific impressions you want to share? What was well done, what sucked? The acting, the story, the message, etc.

 

[anthrodisiac]

Singularly underwhelmed. I half expected Charlton Heston being solid and biblical, and Ray Harryhausen stop motion animation. The whole thing had a 1960s feel to it, like an overlong Saturday matinee with a double feature and a few cartoons.

I don't know about woke, it was more keep awake, for me. Everyone seemed to be phoning it in, to be honest.

Still, the short for Dune 3 promised Florence Pugh, so that's got to be better than Odyssey...

Yeah, I did find it strange that for such a foundational story with such big names, nobody really did that good of a job acting. No big "wow" moments from the actors, underwhelming performances from people who ought to have knocked it out of the park, dialogue was just fine, not amazing. It was like everyone was aiming for "decent enough" and the second they hit "serviceable" didn't bother to strive for any higher. It was decent, but it was really missing that spark (plus, strange pacing). For such a big budget, big names, all the hype, it really was just a forgettable summer blockbuster.

 

[SimonDoom]

I'm still a ways off from seeing it. My son bought tickets but I'm still about 10 days away.

It's doing incredibly well for a movie of its type. Its domestic box office already is over $320,000, which is almost double the entire domestic box office of Gladiator 2, the last big film of its type. Worldwide, it almost certainly will surpass one billion dollars.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

I'm still a ways off from seeing it. My son bought tickets but I'm still about 10 days away.

It's doing incredibly well for a movie of its type. Its domestic box office already is over $320,000, which is almost double the entire domestic box office of Gladiator 2, the last big film of its type. Worldwide, it almost certainly will surpass one billion dollars.

Indeed, yet the three Avatar movies, the absolute crap that they are except for the visuals, have grossed over 6 billion worldwide. Popularity is a poor benchmark of quality.

 

[SimonDoom]

Indeed, yet the three Avatar movies, the absolute crap that they are except for the visuals, have grossed over 6 billion worldwide. Popularity is a poor benchmark of quality.

You get no argument from me on that. I didn't see the last one but I was bored by both Avatar and Avatar 2. And I have no patience with most of the Avengers movies. They're the film equivalent of junk food.

 

[SimonDoom]

Here's a question for those that have seen it (I don't think this will be a spoiler): what did you think about the use of CGI for the visuals?

I have a beef with the use of CGI. It's often overdone and IMO it can ruin a film. I felt when I watched Avatar that I was watching a cartoon the whole time. I felt the same way about The Hobbit series, in contrast to the LOTR series, which made more of an effort to place the action in real settings and to use practical effects.

Nolan, IMO, has been pretty good about trying to use practical effects and to ground his films in settings that seem real. I wonder how this new film stacks up on that score.

 

[Voboy]

Scylla is CGI. Scylla is also onscreen for about half a second.

Most everything else, as is typical in Nolanland, is practical. He feels the same way about CGI that you do.

 

[ColtonWrites]

I've got tickets to see it later today. I'm intrigued!

Also curious to find out if I can stay awake for a whole 3 hour movie.

Accessibility question - how audible is the dialogue? How much of the time are the characters talking without their faces being visible on the screen? I sometimes struggle with separating speech from background noise, and I can ask for a captioning tool if I know it's likely to be a problem.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

I'm still a ways off from seeing it. My son bought tickets but I'm still about 10 days away.

It's doing incredibly well for a movie of its type. Its domestic box office already is over $320,000, which is almost double the entire domestic box office of Gladiator 2, the last big film of its type. Worldwide, it almost certainly will surpass one billion dollars.

As a film to get people back into cinemas (and IMAX in particular) I think it's done pretty well. It looks impressive. Very much in the style of overblown 60s epics, and I enjoyed it as such, but a lot of actors just going through the motions (Samantha Morton's Circe and Himesh Patel's underused Eurycholus being exceptions, plus possibly Charlize Theron, though not much was required of her beyond looking gorgeous and like she's enjoyed shagging Matt Damon for a few years).

IMAX owners will be blessing Nolan for ages. People are filling up showings at 8.30am for goodness' sake! I'm not convinced it would be much different on IMAX vs any huge screen - I was miffed that the only subtitled IMAX screening was at 10am two hours away, but that's what loads of other people have also had to do. It wasn't bad on a small cinema screen, way more impressive than it would be on telly, but small cinema screens are just annoyingly mediocre.

I'm told Avatar looks beautiful and on the big screen is what drugs were made for. But no-one over 18 went for the plot. I'm amazed the sequel did so well. I'm currently working my way through the backlog of superhero films on streaming, and they're fun enough but many don't look like they'd hit much different on a big screen.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

I've got tickets to see it later today. I'm intrigued!

Also curious to find out if I can stay awake for a whole 3 hour movie.

Accessibility question - how audible is the dialogue? How much of the time are the characters talking without their faces being visible on the screen? I sometimes struggle with separating speech from background noise, and I can ask for a captioning tool if I know it's likely to be a problem.

I'd go for the captions. The dialogue is functional rather than interesting, but you may well miss bits in the caves or in storms or when they're all running. I was pleasantly surprised how quickly the time passed, though.

 

[ColtonWrites]

As a film to get people back into cinemas (and IMAX in particular) I think it's done pretty well. It looks impressive. Very much in the style of overblown 60s epics, and I enjoyed it as such, but a lot of actors just going through the motions (Samantha Morton's Circe and Himesh Patel's underused Eurycholus being exceptions, plus possibly Charlize Theron, though not much was required of her beyond looking gorgeous and like she's enjoyed shagging Matt Damon for a few years).

IMAX owners will be blessing Nolan for ages. People are filling up showings at 8.30am for goodness' sake! I'm not convinced it would be much different on IMAX vs any huge screen - I was miffed that the only subtitled IMAX screening was at 10am two hours away, but that's what loads of other people have also had to do. It wasn't bad on a small cinema screen, way more impressive than it would be on telly, but small cinema screens are just annoyingly mediocre.

I'm told Avatar looks beautiful and on the big screen is what drugs were made for. But no-one over 18 went for the plot. I'm amazed the sequel did so well. I'm currently working my way through the backlog of superhero films on streaming, and they're fun enough but many don't look like they'd hit much different on a big screen.

I couldn't get into Avatar.

Not to get political, but I watched the whole thing with my mouth open going "I'm not the only one seeing this, right? Guys?" at the White Savior Complex that was the entire fucking plot.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

Scylla is CGI. Scylla is also onscreen for about half a second.

Most everything else, as is typical in Nolanland, is practical. He feels the same way about CGI that you do.

I had assumed the amazing pig scene was CGI, but apparently it was models, camera angles and clay. Ditto Polyphemus. And the giants were tall actors with stunt small stand-ins for the crew.

Scylla is a brief moment that doesn't really matter whether it's CGI or not. The cliffs are more scary, and the whirlpool.

 

[SimonDoom]

I couldn't get into Avatar.

Not to get political, but I watched the whole thing with my mouth open going "I'm not the only one seeing this, right? Guys?" at the White Savior Complex that was the entire fucking plot.

You were not the only one to see that. It was like getting hit in the head with a two by four.

I like many of Cameron's films, but he is not subtle.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

I couldn't get into Avatar.

Not to get political, but I watched the whole thing with my mouth open going "I'm not the only one seeing this, right? Guys?" at the White Savior Complex that was the entire fucking plot.

Once you realize that the Na'vi are the bad guys it all makes more sense.

 

[Writer61]

Here's a question for those that have seen it (I don't think this will be a spoiler): what did you think about the use of CGI for the visuals?

Scylla certainly is; it would have been impossible to do otherwise. But it grated a little because it stood out for that reason.

The whirlpool, Charybdis, probably is too. Didn't mind it so much.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Scylla is CGI. Scylla is also onscreen for about half a second.

The movie could have easily lost a bunch of token "set pieces" with nothing going missing from the overall story line. Scylla and Charybdis could have gone, screen time, what, three minutes and it's all far away and in fog? I wouldn't have been lured into the water, that's for sure. The whirlpool? A kitchen sink plug hole would be as exciting.

The giant silver warriors, screen time, five minutes. Give me Cybermen, please. At least they're on a mission!

Most everything else, as is typical in Nolanland, is practical. He feels the same way about CGI that you do.

Agree with you. Nolan is more like Peter Jackson than later James Cameron - at least he tries to get something onto the negative through a lense, but is also better at making it murky to hide the obvious CGI when he's got no choice but to use it. The 70mm IMAX negative is huge, so there's plenty of room for good optical effects, which Nolan is good at.

That's a bit too general. Any specific impressions you want to share? What was well done, what sucked? The acting, the story, the message, etc.

What sucked most for me was dumb stuff (let's build a wooden horse on a beach, and hope the Trojans are dumb enough to drag it a mile or two into the city. Oh, and put fucking midgets inside, because it's no way big enough for sixty-man sized occupants); and the lack of continuity regarding the size of the crew at any point in time. Have we got twenty or a hundred piling into the boats when running away from bad stuff? Annoying continuity goofs like that.

The Americanisation of the dialogue wasn't as bad as made out - except for the occasional "Dad", which made the kid sound like he'd popped out of Porkies for the gig.

Character wise, forgettable. Matt Damon is always a good solid "everyman", but too much like Chuckton Heston in this one. Anne Hathaway looked fine in her purple dress, but has been far more engaging and luminous elsewhere. Charlize Theron was kind of beachie hippy, but very bland. I think Nolan must have thought, I can't find a reason for Florence Pugh type tits in this one, so went utterly sexless for everyone.

After Oppenheimer, most disappointing. I don't know who the audience is, but obviously it's got one. Just not me.

 

[TheLobster]

It's doing incredibly well for a movie of its type.

Is it? It was only third in terms of domestic opening weekends this year (by income, not by seats, which is further skewed by the fact everyone wants to see it in IMAX). It's also the second-worst grossing Nolan movie.

Considering it probably needs that billion just to break even (counting the obviously enormous marketing budget and the fact that studio only gets a small percentage of profits), I wouldn't call it doing "incredibly well" by any stretch.

 

[Writer61]

The giant silver warriors, screen time, five minutes. Give me Cybermen, please. At least they're on a mission!

The Cybermen were exactly what they reminded me of. I thought that section was the worst in the film.

the lack of continuity regarding the size of the crew at any point in time

I noticed that.

 

[GuiltyCowboy]

Is it? It was only third in terms of domestic opening weekends this year (by income, not by seats, which is further skewed by the fact everyone wants to see it in IMAX). It's also the second-worst grossing Nolan movie.

Considering it probably needs that billion just to break even (counting the obviously enormous marketing budget and the fact that studio only gets a small percentage of profits), I wouldn't call it doing "incredibly well" by any stretch.

https://variety.com/2026/film/box-o...ion-globally-fourth-biggest-movie-1236823343/

“The Odyssey” has surpassed $700 million at the global box office, becoming the fourth highest-grossing movie of the year after just 12 days in theaters...

...In the coming week, “The Odyssey” will join those films in the billion-dollar club, a remarkable feat that underscores Nolan’s ability to transform his movies into cultural events...

...“The Odyssey” cost $250 million, marking Nolan’s most expensive film to date. It’ll soon be his most commercially successful, too. It’s primed to overtake “The Dark Knight” ($1.008 billion) and 2012’s “The Dark Knight Rises” ($1.08 billion) as the director’s highest-grossing film of all time...

...These ticket sales are all the more impressive considering that “The Odyssey” has yet to open in China, the world’s second-biggest moviegoing market. The country is rolling out the red-carpet treatment for the film, which is expected to land on nearly 800 Imax screens — and across thousands of standard auditoriums on Aug. 14.