By Marlow Stern
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Chief Correspondent
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Everett/Universal Pictures It’s been decades since cinemagoers have been treated to a high quality sword-and-sandal film, so leave it to the great Christopher Nolan to reinvigorate the dying genre with his thrilling take on Homer’s classic “The Odyssey.” Needless to say, Elon Musk and his army of trolls couldn’t have been more wrong about this one.
The first film to be shot entirely in Imax 70mm, Nolan’s latest tells the tale of Odysseus (Matt Damon), who embarks on an epic decade-long quest home to Ithaca — encountering goddesses, armored giants, cyclops, Scylla and sirens along the way — after guiding the Greeks to victory in the decade-long Trojan War. Back on Ithaca, his grieving wife Penelope (Anne Hathaway) and callow son Telemachus (Tom Holland) ward off dozens of suitors feasting the family out of house and home as they vie for her hand in marriage (and Odysseus’ throne).
Nolan’s “The Odyssey” is sure to be recognized in a big way come Oscar time, but where does it rank among the greatest sword-and-sandal films ever?
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Troy (2004)
Image Credit: Everett Christopher Nolan was all set to replace Wolfgang Petersen as director of this adaptation of Homer’s “Iliad,” from a screenplay by David Benioff, but when Petersen’s “Batman vs. Superman” project blew up, Petersen went back to “Troy” and Warner Bros. offered Nolan “Batman Begins” as consolation. Anyway, Benioff’s screenplay completely bastardizes Homer’s tale, even killing off Agamemnon (!), though the Achilles/Hector showdown is thrilling and the casting is pretty spot-on, including Brad Pitt as Achilles, Eric Bana as Hector, Sean Bean as Odysseus and Bryan Cox as Agamemnon. At least it planted the seed for Benioff and Bean’s reunion on “Game of Thrones.”
