00:07The Odyssey is written and directed by Christopher Nolan and has a massive cast,
00:12Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Anne Hathaway, so many people in this movie,
00:16and it comes after his best picture and best directing wins for Oppenheimer.
00:21The Odyssey is a mythic action epic that adapts Homer's foundational saga.
00:26It stars Matt Damon as Odysseus, the Greek king of Ithaca, and chronicles his long and perilous journey home after
00:33the Trojan War.
00:34I think for a lot of film fans, this is up there on the list of most anticipated films of
00:38the year.
00:38Obviously, it is for me. Christopher Nolan has made some of my favorite movies of all time,
00:42and even some of his lesser films that I don't love more than others are still better than most people's
00:48best films.
00:49With Oppenheimer almost making a billion dollars worldwide on a film that is part black and white, rated R, biopic,
00:58without a lot of action, it's not a superhero movie or a gigantic IP, that was really an incredible feat.
01:05That's before what it did at the Oscars, and after that, it's like, okay, now you've got some leeway to
01:12do pretty much whatever you want,
01:14even though he could pretty much do whatever he wanted before.
01:16When you look at what went on behind the scenes to get the Odyssey made, you realize just how much
01:21of an ask this was,
01:22because this isn't just about adapting a really well-known text from a really well-known filmmaker
01:27filled with a gigantic cast of really well-known people.
01:31It's really not about that. That's what makes this look like an easy yes from a studio.
01:36It's really the fact that a large portion of the shoot involved a crew and all of their gear,
01:41and the cast, hiking up a mountain, helicopter rentals, somehow getting all of these massive A-list stars to these
01:49locations safely,
01:50as well as the crew safely, assembling an actual facility on the side of a mountain so that they could
01:57have lunch breaks.
01:58Like, this is a lot of money and a lot of time that's being asked to shoot a movie in
02:03a certain way.
02:04You got Hoyte Van Hoytema shooting this movie entirely on IMAX cameras, the first film to ever be shot in
02:10that way,
02:11devising a system as well to use a mirror so that the actors could understand their eyeline
02:16and see the person they were in a scene with, because the camera itself was blocking the other actor they're
02:22acting against.
02:22All of this stuff is to make the movie in a way that no one wanted it to be made,
02:27which is, in a very handcrafted way, to see these things as much in camera as possible and as little
02:34CGI as possible.
02:35And you can tell when you're watching the movie, because it feels like you're being denied some of those epic
02:41shots
02:42that you expect to see in a film that you might have seen in, like, a Troy in the past.
02:46Those wide CG shots of armies that are converging on each other that don't exist in this movie.
02:54There's quite a bit of ocean scenes in the movie, but there's one in particular at night during a fierce
02:58lightning storm
02:59where you're with the men on the ship, and it's almost entirely lit by lanterns.
03:04And you're not really seeing shots of the ocean all that much.
03:08You're seeing the occasional lightning bolt that seems to be mostly on-set strobe lighting.
03:13It's lit as if it would be.
03:14I mean, if you're on a boat in the middle of the night, you're not seeing anything, unless it's like
03:20a full moon.
03:20You know, you're basically in pitch black.
03:23If you watch a movie like The Perfect Storm, which, oddly, I'm only referencing Wolfgang Peterson films for some reason,
03:28but that film has, and I like that movie, but it has, like, a lot of shots that just exist
03:32within a movie.
03:33Like, you're not looking through a lens into reality.
03:37You're watching a movie, and a very entertaining one, by the way.
03:40Troy and The Perfect Storm, both really fun movies.
03:42But when you watch The Odyssey, it does feel like you're looking at reality.
03:46At least as much as you can when you're seeing giants, and a cyclops, and sirens, and the creatures of
03:54mythology that are in this movie.
03:56Everything about it feels as realistic as it possibly could.
03:59The techniques that are being used are so old school, and it's such a joy for me to see.
04:05It's just so rare anymore that we see a film of this scope, with this cast, that has an R
04:10rating, that is aimed at adults.
04:12There's definitely some bloody moments and some very frightening imagery, but there's no reason that this couldn't have been a
04:18PG-13.
04:19And I love that it's R, because it is committing to what it is, just like Oppenheimer did.
04:24And Nolan, at this point, has no reason to not trust the audience to show up for his films,
04:29and make sure that they're supported so we can keep seeing giant movies like this, told on this scale.
04:35There are some frightening sequences in this movie, though, and it has really made me very excited about what Nolan
04:40has said in the past,
04:41that he has interest in directing a horror movie one day, and is very clear from two scenes in particular.
04:47There is, of course, the Cyclops scene. I won't get into any spoilers.
04:51I do want to do a full spoiler video, which I will hopefully have up for you this weekend.
04:55But the sequence with this gigantic creature looks so, so real.
05:01And the score from Ludwig Gorenson, which is absolutely immaculate,
05:06the things that he did, like creating the sounds of instruments that aren't really in existence anymore,
05:11and not utilizing like a full orchestra, it's a really amazing score.
05:16Once again, this guy is just pumping out great work.
05:21But that sequence was quite scary.
05:23But there's a later sequence.
05:24If you know anything about the story, you probably know what I'm getting at.
05:27I'll just say that it involves Samantha Morton's character.
05:30And that scene was amazing.
05:34Absolutely glorious.
05:36Like, it's a full-on horror scene.
05:38I was mesmerized.
05:39It's really, really freaky shit.
05:42I loved it.
05:43The casting of Matt Damon as Odysseus seems like it makes perfect sense on paper.
05:47Like, it feels like the type of thing where, oh yeah, yeah, that's easy.
05:50He's Jason Bourne, of course.
05:51There's a lot more to glean from his performance in the film.
05:55He's really, really terrific.
05:57He's fantastic in the movie.
05:59And I'll talk more about this in the spoiler video.
06:01But it's really the approach to Odysseus as a legend and as a hero and the things that
06:06he chose to do that past films have explored in a very specific way.
06:12And this movie is taking an approach with it that I really admired.
06:17And it's one of the things about the movie that excites me the most.
06:20And we'll discuss that more in the spoiler video.
06:22At this point now, I'm pretty good at telling, like, what's in camera and what isn't.
06:26Or that's a set extension with CG or that's a sky replacement or whatever.
06:29Obviously, there's lots of really great hidden CG in movies and things that we don't necessarily
06:33notice anymore, usually like background elements that are blurry or out of focus.
06:39But with this film, so much of it really does look in camera.
06:42And I really could not believe what I was looking at for most of the runtime.
06:47It's just a beautiful looking film from start to finish.
06:51Narratively, it's pretty easy to follow.
06:53But the only times that I felt lost were really the first 10 to 15 minutes.
06:56And it's because you're kind of thrown into this world, almost assuming that you have
07:02an obsession with the Odyssey that Nolan must have to want to make this story.
07:06Like, you know, all the characters, you know, all the story.
07:09And you're just like in it.
07:10You've done all the homework and there's all these names being thrown around.
07:13And you kind of have to have this moment where you're like, oh, my God.
07:15OK, focus.
07:17Because in typical Nolan fashion, even though his movies are long, they're edited very efficiently
07:23and very quickly.
07:25And so you're kind of digesting information at a super fast rate.
07:29And you're having to remember a lot of different characters and a lot of different motivations
07:33and things that are going on in their lives that are very important to them.
07:38But you don't necessarily know why they're important yet.
07:40But you will later.
07:41A lot of Nolan movies are like this, Dunkirk, Tenet, you know, like Oppenheimer, like where
07:48you have these different timelines that are all kind of folding in on each other.
07:51It's not like Memento or anything, but it does have an element of like we're here now
07:55and now we're here and now you were there before.
07:57And you do have to remember all of that.
07:58And it can be rather overwhelming.
08:01It can feel a little educational, like you're being taught things.
08:05And that's great.
08:06Like, I love a good film education, but sometimes it feels like, oh my God, just entertain me
08:11for a second.
08:12I've had, I've got, I've got enough info.
08:14I need some entertainment.
08:16And this movie does have that splice throughout very, very well.
08:20But once I settled into the groove, I really, really started to appreciate the movie much
08:24more.
08:25And I would say the second half of the film in particular is just wonderful.
08:30That first half is good and you're on the ride.
08:33But once a certain thing happens, it feels like, oh, okay, this is the movie.
08:38This, this is like meaty shit.
08:40Like I'm in it now.
08:41I really feel like I'm in the world and I'm just vibing with it at 100%.
08:46The third act of the movie is one of my favorite Nolan third acts.
08:50It's just magnificent.
08:52I really, really dug the Odyssey.
08:54I think it's fantastic.
08:55I can't wait to see it again.
08:56I'm going to see it this weekend on 70 millimeter because the screening was in IMAX and there's actually
09:02a few theaters near me that are going to do a 70 millimeter.
09:04So I'm going to go and do a spoiler video after that.
09:07And I think by then I'll have like a better understanding of like everything in this movie
09:12because I'm very overwhelmed right now.
09:14The Odyssey is basically everything I wanted it to be as well as things I didn't expect
09:18it to be.
09:19And that's typical Nolan, like where you go to see a movie expecting a certain kind of
09:23thing and you get this new thing that you kind of have to chew on a little bit.
09:26And I'm very excited to see audiences and how they react to this movie because Oppenheimer
09:31was a test and people really dug that film.
09:34And I think that this movie is also going to be pretty appreciated.
09:37So I'm looking forward to seeing what people say about it.
09:40Thank you guys as always for watching.
09:42Look forward to more videos very soon and look forward to a spoiler video for the Odyssey
09:45this weekend.
09:46As always, if you like this, you can click right here and get Stuckmanized.
09:49See you next time.
