Good idea lost in the noise

How wonderful it is to see this fine actress carry a film and carry it so beautifully.

it is the rare 'crazy' movie that actually has something to say.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

I haven't seen acting this bad since Tommy Wiseau's 'The Room', and it wouldn't be super far-fetched to say that The Room's cast had the upper hand. The miniseries has some "dramatic" moments that alongside the poor acting, poor script, and poor direction ends up feeling laughably bad. It isn't so-bad-it's-good like The Room: instead, it's straight up awful. Don't waste your time with this poor adaptation of Homer's Odyssey. Anything but this.

The Odyssey made me see my kids again after my wife got full custody. I loved the smiles my kids had when they saw the cyclops eat the man alive, it put a warm feeling in my heart. Almost better than A Talking Cat!?©2013

This 1997 TV movie by Andrey Konchalovskiy is an almost-three-hour rendition of Homer's Odyssey, the epic Greek poem that details Odysseus' decade of wandering from one adventure to another after his victory in the long Trojan War, trying to make it back to Ithaca, Greece, and his beloved Penelope. Armand Assante plays Odysseus, Greta Scacchi his wife and Alan Stenson their son. Some of the numerous guest stars include Isabella Rossellini, Bernadette Peters, Eric Roberts, Christopher Lee, Vanessa Williams and Michael J. Pollard.While the cast, locations and score are excellent, the story is conveyed in a relatively dull manner in the first half and is hampered by the manifestations of "the gods." Yes, I realize the filmmakers' were only trying to be true to Homer's epic, but some of these manifestations are eye-rolling and take the viewer out of the story. This explains why 1954's "Ulysses" and 2004's "Troy" played down this element or cut it out altogether. However, after the first half you start to accept it as part of the adventure/fantasy and roll with it, particularly because the second half is nigh exceptional, starting with the crew's confrontation with the three-headed Scylla, which is a truly horrific sequence, and then the entire final act, especially the action-packed fight between Odysseus & his son and the brutish suitors of Penelope.Assante isn't larger-than-life as Douglas was in "Ulysses," but he evokes Odysseus' intelligence, guile, and versatility, as shown in the poem. Once you catch a grip there are some potent scenes/acting, like the initial revelation of Odysseus with various Ithacans. Furthermore, some parts have a palpable spiritual quality. Unfortunately, it does take a while to get into the groove, but the second half is more than worth it (not to mention the score and the magnificent Mediterranean locations).Lastly, some people have erroneously summed up the moral of the film as "Don't anger the gods." While this is true on the surface, the subtext is way more than this and totally applicable to reality. It's revealed in the second half: *** SPOILER ALERT*** Odysseus was condemned to wandering from crisis to crisis for a decade because of his arrogance after his victory at Troy. Before finally returning to Ithaca we observe a humbled and enlightened man. This is the core message. Once Odysseus is humbled a potent nugget of wisdom is revealed: Sometimes it's necessary to temporarily kowtow to the arrogant in order to assess the situation and bide your time for an effective strike.The film runs 176 minutes (the VHS 165 minutes) and was shot in Turkey and Malta.GRADE: B

This is an Odyssey for people who were weaned on network TV and are incapable of reading. Director Konchalovskiy is, apparently, one such person, given the way he utterly eschews any subtlety or nuance, overloading every scene with sweeping, syrupy music that insists you _feel_ very deeply what he insists you feel, as well as over-the-top special effects and scenery-chewing from nearly every actor.Armand Assante is, of course, incapable of anything but scenery-chewing, as are most of his fellow cast members. It's as if Konchalovskiy said "OK, now everybody turn it up to eleven!" Homer's epic story is rendered "super-ultra-mega-epic!" for TV. Every plot turn, every character, has to be introduced with declamation or voice-over. Bereft of anything but Hollywood blather, this is a pathetic waste of money and effort.Save your time and read the original story.