When Christopher Nolan’s new The Odyssey film was announced, many people were understandably excited. Although composed nearly three millennia ago, the epic was tailor-made for today’s big screen, featuring exotic locations, tons of spectacle, strong men and beautiful women, and dealing with the enduring themes of home, heroism, and survival.
And yet, for all this, the only relatively recent, large-scale adaptation for the screen was a made-for-TV film in 1997 with cheap production (just a small step above a typical episode of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys with Kevin Sorbo). Despite its shortcomings, the movie at least stayed faithful to the source material and maintained a brisk pace as well as a spirit of fun.
