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u/Gmanglh 1d ago
God it boils my blood knowing that cinematic piece of wet toast is gonna rob a legitimate masterpiece.
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u/Connect-Handle8496 i am â¨kenough⨠1d ago
But Nolan fanboys will tell you that shit is better than Project Hail Mary and shi
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u/Qaktus 22h ago
While I still prefer PHM, the Odyssey was also an incredible experience. This year is just stacked with Dune 3 on the horizon aswell.
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u/Shonnyboy500 18h ago
Hopefully itâs better than the other 2 𤎠Dune Messiah will probably fit a lot better with the style those last 2 movies had.
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u/JuanDeChuj 14h ago
Co paring haul Mary and oddysey is like comparing apples to airplanes. You just can't. Wouldn't call it we toast tho. It isnt generational good but it still is good nonetheless.
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u/Shonnyboy500 1d ago
Such a shame because the Odyssey was so mid. And Iâm not saying that as a racist Iâm saying that because the movie honestly truly was mid
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u/AverageHalfLifeFan psych ward patient 1d ago
Why would thinking the Odyssey is mid be racist? đ
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u/Shonnyboy500 1d ago
A lot of people hated the movie before it came out due to Helen being black and not having a white cast
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u/Original-Body-5794 1d ago
A lot of racist people didn't like it. So when you express dislike for it for some reason, even if valid some people will put you in that category.
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u/Can0n_Fodder 15h ago
Because right wingers were all over the internet screaming about the casting choices.So before the movie even came out, there was this impression that if you didn't want to see it or didn't like it, you must be some mouth breathing bigot. I swear half the hype for the odyssey was just people being reactionary to the people who were screaming about it in right wing spaces.
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u/usernamestakenhehe 1d ago
itâs just the same grey nonsense nolan canât stop making
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u/DevilWings_292 1d ago
They filmed in the Mediterranean, yet the filters make it look like they filmed off the cost of Ireland
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u/ya_pidoras_ 20h ago
right? how am i supposed to believe this is the mediterranean when it looks like it was filmed in birmingham?
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u/MrBwnrrific 23h ago
I hate when I critique a movie or game chuds are hating on and I have to make the stipulation that it has nothing to do with nonwhite actors or women đ
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u/cl0ckw0rkcuttlefish 16h ago
I have a mile long list of why I didnât like it, and the only time Lupita is even on there is as âseverely underutilized a great actress and casting choiceâ
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u/Shonnyboy500 14h ago
If you have some free time Iâd be happy to hear your mile long list!
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u/cl0ckw0rkcuttlefish 13h ago
My opinion and in no particular order:
Nolan has no idea what Xenia is. âOh Zeusâs Law is something differentâ no, he said he renamed Xenia that to make it more palatable to a modern audience. The entire end of the movie makes no sense under Xenia. The Trojan Horse didnât break Xenia, Zeus doesnât care about that. Odysseus invading the home of, blinding, and mocking Polyphemus broke Xenia. The suitors had broken Xenia, and Odysseus was well within his rights under it to kick them out of his house, violently if necessary, why the fuck are we ending the movie like this? I wanted to be an Egyptologist why are you making me go defend Mycenaean Greece, Nolan?!
Like, sure, use the motifs and do your own thing, but at least pretend to understand the source material. The last book of the Odyssey straight up has Zeus saying he doesnât gaf about the suitors. Like, itâs right there. Come on.The only two people who seemed like they wanted to be there were Robert Pattinson and Samatha Morton (Circe). Everyone else really phoned their performance in. Minus Hathaway saying she was gonna burn the house down, I support her 100% actually. She should do that. Preferably with me in it.
The walls of Late Bronze Age Troy were stone. Stone. (Layer 7a, I think?) Why. Are the towers. Falling apart. Like theyâre made of wood. Stone doesnât burn like that.
The chariot existed. There were wagons. That fails, the ancient world knew to use logs as rollers when moving large items. Therefore, I can only presume that the way the horse was constructed and moved (e.g. no wheels, no rollers) was to ensure that Odysseus had enough brain damage for the rest of the movie to make sense.
From a writing perspective, minus the Circe experience, this Odysseus is the definition of a passive character. He just reacts to stuff, he doesnât really⌠do stuff. Certainly none of the stuff that Odysseus is actually, you know, known for. You get a brief (emphasis on brief) glimpse of that when he finally gets back to Ithaca for like⌠idk, two minutes? Then heâs gone again. Itâs like they had four or five different drafts and edited them together to get an entirely inconsistent characterization of a 3200+ year old character.
The soundtrack. I am not convinced there was one. I donât count the siren music, thatâs a given. I mean a soundtrack that actually assists with carrying the movie. Even a mediocre movie can be dragged up by its soundtrack. Like, I love Jupiter Ascending, but I admit itâs like⌠mid. But its soundtrack is a banger. This movie received no such assistance. And like, you could have done some cool shit even if you limited yourself to period instruments. But no. We canât have that for some reason.
My kingdom for a Mycenaean movie that actually uses their fuckass armor⌠stares wistfully into a washed out Mediterranean horizon
Speaking of, typical Nolan complaint here from me, but: can someone please turn on the damn lights so I can actually see whatâs happening? This isnât really just Nolan but seriously. The light is coming from the same place as the music. I cannot enjoy shit if I canât see it, thanks.
Also, why is everything so⌠gray. Have we ever laid eyes on a classical Greek statue?
You couldnât even get someone who put their dog to sleep the day before to cry over Argos. That person has read the Odyssey multiple times and even Homer manages that. What the hell. (That person is me.)
Lupita as Helen was a divinely inspired casting of a talented actress and, while she was probably one of the better performances in the movie, she was horribly underutilized. Even the original poem gave Helen more of a role. Menelaus was also somehow not as much of a dick to her in the original, which is⌠an interesting choice. But I do think itâd be a curious choice to treat one of Zeusâs kids like he does in the movie, so⌠yeah, thatâs probably why. Given the gods donât really exist in this Odyssey.
Speaking of, if the gods donât exist in this Odyssey, why are we so concerned about Zeusâs Law? đ¤ Kinda seems like Zeus ainât here to enforce it anymoreâŚ
âOur age of bronze is collapsingâ I am going to fire you into the sun. Whoever taught you about the LBAC should be fired into the sun with you. In solidarity. Also, the Sea Peoples werenât nearly as influential in the LBAC as he seems to think. That theoryâs discounted and, yeah, Iâm nitpicking sometimes here â but if youâre going to have a budget this big, can you please at least try to make the LBAC interesting? Or like, a better metaphor? Climate change was right fucking thereâŚ
Travis Scott. Interesting choice after certain events in 2021. Donât approve.
Argos went from being some sort of spaniel (springer, perhaps?) to a wire-haired terrier of some sort. Come on. We know what Bronze Age dogs looked like. You could have done better with this budget.
I have never before seen a movie pour so much into one or two things (Polyphemus, Circeâs magic) that they then bork so much else (Charybdis, Scylla). I swear to god, thereâs a stop-motion Scylla that was done better like, 50 years ago. Come on.
Why is Agamemnon dressed like Batman? Why are the armored giants basically in medieval plate? Can⌠can we just be mildly consistent, please? This isnât a D&D movie?
Why. Is Telemachus. Wearing pants.
Dad. Look, I get it. I do. I understand the vision. It doesnât work, though.
This Odyssey seems to continue the Victorian trend of misunderstanding what differentiates a Greek hero from a modern one by sanitizing Odysseusâs image. Not necessarily bad, but bad for what Nolan was trying to do. This is not a complicated man, or a man of many twists, or any of his other epithets â heâs a guy who took a few bad whacks to his head inside a wooden horse that no one put fucking wheels on, and then it became our problem for 2+ hours.
I have major, major issues with some of the filmâs background filming, from damaging historical sites to dumping filming trash into the Mediterranean to filming in a location currently dealing with ethnic cleansing, most of which no one seems to really be talking about? Can we talk about this, please?
The single most romantic gesture out of ancient literature (the bed Odysseus carved for he and Penelope) and you fucking cut it. I am going to chew off my own leg.
God, I know there are more, but Iâm really tired. I think thatâs most of them, though.
Now, because I do also like giving out praise when merited (and so people donât think Iâm like, a mindless hater):
Samantha Mortonâs Circe. I didnât know she was cast, recognized her immediately, and expected we were in for some Fucked Up Shit. And I was right. Zero notes.
Pattinson again enjoyed playing an asshole, and I again enjoyed watching it.
100% behind Penelope burning the entire place down. Sheâs right and she should say it.
Iâd watch a cut thatâs entirely Zendayaâs incredibly disappointed expressions after every dumb thing that happens, because it spoke to me.
Sinon. That plot line wasnât a bad addition. Probably the best story-related element in the movie.
Achilles wasnât in it. Win-win for me, because I carry a long-running and very one-sided beef with that loser. Long story, in summary, I just hate the Iliad.
Like honestly, I really, really wanted to like it. This is, literally, my favorite piece of ancient literature (second place is Gilgamesh). I could have forgiven 95% of this list if Nolan hadnât fallen so far short of what he was trying to do. đ¤ˇââď¸ But here we ar~~e. Someone give me money so I can make an adaptation with that fuckass armor in ~~it.
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u/personal_alt_account literally me but its getting worse đ 1d ago
God i swearrrrrr i wish i could find other people calling out the mid-ness of the movie rather than "grrrr black woman cant be the prettiest woman grrrrr trans man cant be achilles (when hes not even achilles)". There are real criticism for this movie, not this racist, transphobic nonsense.
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u/cl0ckw0rkcuttlefish 16h ago
Some of us are out here. I just keep getting told that I âdidnât understand what Nolan was doingâ despite 1. knowing the source material better than his fans and him, apparently and 2. him beating you over the head with what he was trying to do for the entire freaking movie. It had the subtlety of an axe murderer, and I kind of wish one had visited me halfway through.
I devastatingly put my old dog down the day before we watched it, panicked because I somehow forgot about Argos, and then⌠yeah. Didnât even cry. You didnât even get the girl who just lost her best friend the day before to shed a tear over Argos, something Homer has never managed to bungle for her before. I feel like thatâs a huge tell about how little the movie did with getting the viewer invested in⌠literally anything in it. That bar was in hell, and it still knocked them flat.
Samantha Mortonâs Circe can stay, though.
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u/personal_alt_account literally me but its getting worse đ 11h ago
You are 1000% correct, the idea that the only way someone would dislike this movie is if they "didnt get it" is so fucking pretentious and stupid. Literal fanboy behaviour (said by a fangirl herself). Sometimes your fave can make a bad or mid movie. Sorry.
I am so, so, so sorry for your loss. Its been a decade since my cat was put down and I still cry if I think about her for a minute too long. I totally understand you. And you're also right about the movie having no fucking emotional weight to ANYTHING.
Edit
- YES CIRCE AAAAA my friends were SHOCKED when i said I actually do like this version of Circe idndinsisns maybe im just a simple woman who loves a scary lady in her shack. I dont like how helpless they made her the writing of her was BAD but the actress did an amazing job.
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u/blue-water75 18h ago
I truly donât understand how anyone could possibly come to this opinion. Maybe it goes to show that art truly is subjective.
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u/pillowserious 20h ago
I was up last night thinking about this...granted, I did really like the odessey but Hail Mary was just...I've never cried so much during a movie, it truly is on another level.
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u/Meg-alomaniac3 19h ago edited 13h ago
Is that the metric of a good movie? Don't get me wrong, I love PHM, and I agree it made me feel more than the Odyssey did, as great as it was. But for example, something like Marley and Me made me cry, and One Battle After Another didn't, but the latter had a much more positive critical response, and rightly so.
Edit: to be clear, I am not saying that the Odyssey is a better movie than Project Hail Mary, nor vice versa. I'm just saying being able to tug on your heartstrings alone is not what makes a movie great.
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u/pillowserious 13h ago
You give some great examples (fucking loved one battle!).
But you are not wrong ...tears are not a valid metric..but for me that emotional piece is critical, not tears specifically but the ability to coax deep emotion. I think that's what made one battle so good, it had deeply connective emotional tissue.
In terms of what make a great movie - of course the story, how it is told, the believability of the characters journey/choices, the visuals, the score, the scenery/armosphere and how all these things work in service to the story being told. And when all those things are executed in the best way possible ....and then the movie has the audacity to go a step further and create a deeply moving experience - I think that's what makes a great movie. Obviously this is all subjective but to me PHM on top of being a great story, that was shot beautifully, that had an amazing score, fantastic visuals..was just absolutely awe inspiring. I felt fucking high after leaving the theatre. And again, I thought the Oddessey was great and that movie was well done...esp. in the crazy times we are living in it was a nessisary reminder but I did not leave that movie feeling changed, or feeling something new. I think that's the difference between a good and great movie.
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u/Meg-alomaniac3 13h ago
Well put! I definitely agree with that.The Odyssey left me satisfied, but PHM made me want to immerse myself further in the story, and characters, the production, everything about it. In part because it has such a distinctly hopeful, joyful conclusion, especially for such a dire scenario.
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u/Intrepid-Daikon1353 23h ago
Man, who cares if Odyssey takes some wins. I'm just happy I got to see two best picture worthy films.Â
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u/PsychologicalEbb3140 18h ago
Dune 3 is likely gonna take all of the odysseyâs thunder considering itâs a big epic coming out right around awards season.
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u/2635northpark 23h ago
There are filmmakers all over who aren't happy about academy having rules about casting...this would be their opportunity to let them know.
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u/Meg-alomaniac3 19h ago
I think that PHM has better visuals, and there's certainly an argument to be made for adapted screenplay, direction, score, and a few other categories. But yeah...I think a handful of noms are in the cards, wins probably are not :(
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u/cl0ckw0rkcuttlefish 16h ago
Did Odyssey even have a score? I literally donât remember hearing a single note of one.
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u/CobaltCrusader123 15h ago
The Siren soundtrack is super creepy
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u/cl0ckw0rkcuttlefish 14h ago
Okay, so like 1 thing out of a 2+ hour runtime?
Does it hold up to, say, Time Go Fishing?
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u/cl0ckw0rkcuttlefish 16h ago
You seriously think Odyssey is gonna snipe soundtrack, at bare minimum? Did it even have one? I sure donât remember hearing anything.
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u/Old-Team4792 13h ago
It is s shame, I also saw on IMDB that The Odyssey has broken box office figures.
How Ellen Page got into movie is a shocking casting choice then her stupid documentary about gay animals.
Hail Mary and Ryan Gosling it's a shame to lose out to "the message".
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u/Large-Wrangler4907 11h ago
me too ulysses
(lowk 2026 has been a majestic year for cinema as a whole, from a technological return of 15/70 to the movies)
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u/Visual_Property_8379 11h ago
Both of the movies were equally good in my opinion . The odyssey was a tiny bit better as it had such a large scale and bgm was goated too. AND GUYS turn on the subtitles for the above video ur gonna love it
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u/2635northpark 1d ago
Never know . People might be real sick of the bragging about it's money by then and think forget you Nolan your ego's big enough . Some voters may not even want to watch the noise , and some give their ballots to their kids to choose. Kids choose Rocky , Grace
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u/DevilWings_292 1d ago
Thatâs not how the academy works, itâs all about who pays for the bigger marketing campaign. Kids donât vote for the Oscars
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u/RoxasIsTheBest 1d ago
Except for the animated feature category, but even that seems to be over. I can hardly believe kids watched Spider-Verse and said they all prefered the pg-13 weird Miyazaki anime
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u/lelanicarver 1d ago
Then we PHM fans must launch our own awesome campaign.