Product: The Odyssey [VHS] (1997)
Rating: 1.0
black holes in the dryer, space time continuems in kitchen
Intoxicated, I had just finished The Iliad and The Odyssey. I came to the conclusion that I still hold, that Homer is one of the greatest poets of all time, (and to his merit, I deduce this from a translation, and even very good translation saps a massive percentage of goodness from almost any poetry).Then, a few days later, upon entrance into the incandescent crucible of Freshman English class, we started "studying" the Odyssey, and to the stupid pleasure of my classmates, our teacher in her benevolence announced that we would be watching this piece of worthless crap supplementing our piecemeal "study" of the Odyssey. I was skeptical, but I could not have been prepared for the ensuing blasphemy. I am not inclined to waste my time recalling every freakish perversion of plot, travesty of drama as an art form, embarrassment to the special effects crew, and overall mockery of Homer that this film contained, but let it suffice to say that there was not one well done instant in the whole film, not one moment that gave me anything akin the orgasmic mythopoeic thrill I encountered in the poem itself.This is not to say that I did not enjoy the film- far from it. During the few minutes when my head was not hooded and submerged under my desk, during the hilarious moments when my ears were not frantically plugged, I had about as much comic relief to the perdition of high school as a boy can ask for. After hearing Aelous, I relished thoughts of mutilating the "brains" behind this catastrophe. And I suppose I have a soft spot for patently fake gore and cheesy pseudo-Gothic atmospheres of "terror", and the Scylla scene pandered to that. I pretended I was watching Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and enjoyed myself. I LOVE crappy special effects!!I was shocked to learn that this was made in 1997. I truly believed this was made in the 60's.Homer, I praise thee, and maybe I shall avenge thy memory.