Film, TV & podcasts · film
The Odyssey by Christopher Nolan
Recommended as a fun, engaging, visually grand adaptation that many enjoy in IMAX. Critics say it strays far from Homer's poem and lacks depth.
Summarized from 95 comments.
Recommended as a fun, engaging, visually grand adaptation that many enjoy in IMAX. Critics say it strays far from Homer's poem and lacks depth.
- recommend
- 50
- criticize
- 37
- months recommended
- 7 of 13
Why people love it
Sends viewers back to Homer · 2
vindicates Homer and makes me want to read the original
Jul 2026 · commentthe movie inspired me to read The Odyssey
Jul 2026 · commentStrong, above-average blockbuster · 2
The film is really pretty good and far above any avg blockbuster.
Jul 2026 · commentNolan made some strong choices and the result is a great film
Jul 2026 · comment
What people warn about
Strays far from Homer's original · 4
Odyssey has very little to do with the original story or the worldviews and values described by Homer
Jul 2026 · commentwho has enjoyed it very much
Jul 2026 · commentThe movie is essentially a total rewrite that uses nothing more than the poem's title and character names.
Jul 2026 · commentMocap and green screen look fake · 2
It's not fine to film your entire movie with mocap bodysuits on green backgrounds
Jul 2026 · commentToo sharp and kind of fake looking, almost like TV.
Jul 2026 · commentCuts Cyclops and Circe encounters · 2
The Cyclops encounter was indeed deeply disappointing, because I recall vividly through retellings
Jul 2026 · commentThey take out all his tricks!!! No overcoming the Cyclops through trickery, no deceiving Circe!
Jul 2026 · comment
What hackers pick instead
- Perfect Days (2023 film)People recommend it as a quiet, sweet film about a Tokyo public toilet cleaner's simple routine that prompts reflection on one's own life.19recommend
- The Secret Agent (2025 film)Praised as a vivid, novel-like slice of life under 1970s Brazilian dictatorship, though critics find it slow and hard to follow without knowing Brazil.18recommend
- One Battle After AnotherPeople praise it as a politically engaged, cinematically ambitious film about fatherhood and radicalism, though several find it overlong and emotionally hollow.17recommend
- The Rocky Horror Picture ShowPeople recommend it for loud, interactive midnight screenings where audiences shout at the screen and throw props, and say it grows on them over repeat viewings.15recommend
- Star Wars original trilogyPeople recommend the original trilogy for its craft, its place in fans' childhoods, and restorations that improve picture and sound. Critics say the films feel weaker on adult rewatch and object to Lucas's later edits.14recommend
Every quote
The 40 most detailed of 95 comments. Each links to the original.
That it survived is a testament to the cultural value of the details, motives, lessons, and tensions embedded within The Odyssey.
Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “Show HN: Get alerts for good seats at 70mm IMAX showings of The Odyssey”
Odyssey has very little to do with the original story or the worldviews and values described by Homer
Mixed · Jul 2026 · in “I'm 38 and I Can't Support Myself Anymore”
The Cyclops encounter was indeed deeply disappointing, because I recall vividly through retellings
Mixed · Jul 2026 · in “Nolan's Odyssey – A technical analysis by a nitpicky Classics student”
It's not fine to film your entire movie with mocap bodysuits on green backgrounds
Mixed · Jul 2026 · in “'The Odyssey' Proves It: Audiences Want Movies Made the Hard Way”
The film is really pretty good and far above any avg blockbuster.
Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “A Silly Adaptation of "The Odyssey"”
Nolan made some strong choices and the result is a great film
Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “Nolan's Odyssey – A technical analysis by a nitpicky Classics student”
vindicates Homer and makes me want to read the original
Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “An Uncomplicated Man”
Too sharp and kind of fake looking, almost like TV.
Mixed · Jul 2026 · in “IMAX vs. IMAX 70mm: The difference between these two cinema formats”
it definitely is not Homer's Odyssey at all
Mixed · Jul 2026 · in “An Uncomplicated Man”
the movie inspired me to read The Odyssey
Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “An Uncomplicated Man”
who has enjoyed it very much
Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “An Uncomplicated Man”
The movie is essentially a total rewrite that uses nothing more than the poem's title and character names.
Criticizes · Jul 2026 · in “Show HN: Get alerts for good seats at 70mm IMAX showings of The Odyssey”
They take out all his tricks!!! No overcoming the Cyclops through trickery, no deceiving Circe!
Criticizes · Jul 2026 · in “Nolan's Odyssey – A technical analysis by a nitpicky Classics student”
Being Nolans "source" for the Odyssey which butchered the original story doesn't help either.
Criticizes · Sep 2026 · in “Emily Wilson to retranslate the Odyssey from scratch”
Odyssey is very sanitized but it works very well because the characters and events are by definition representations of ideas
Mixed · Jul 2026 · in “An Uncomplicated Man”
Wilson made her translation using strict iambic pentameter and matching line count to retain the pace of the original poem.
Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “An Uncomplicated Man”
It lacks psychological, emotional, political and ethical depth. Its narrative structure is gimmicky.
Mixed · Sep 2026 · in “Coyote v. Acme (1990)”
very literary and written in a style of English that can be difficult for the average modern reader
Mixed · Jul 2026 · in “Which Odyssey translation wins a blind reading test?”
would say it was quite good. But, yes, "grandiosity" is true - in IMAX, it was loud and intense.
Mixed · Jul 2026 · in “An Uncomplicated Man”
Emily Wilson's translation is way better, more modern and adequate to present-day readers
Recommends · Aug 2026 · in “The Claudyssey: A line-for-line translation of Homer's Odyssey by Claude Fable 5”
Nolan's movie is in many ways a good adaptation (it's fun and engaging to modern viewers)
Mixed · Sep 2026 · in “Emily Wilson to retranslate the Odyssey from scratch”
I'd say that Odyssey is quite good, even though the original work is 100 generations old.
Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “EFF to Courts: Don't Rewrite Copyright over AI Hype”
it is sad that most people will only watch the movie rather than read the original work
Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “Show HN: Get alerts for good seats at 70mm IMAX showings of The Odyssey”
The Fagles translation is much more lyrical without being overly pompous or florid
Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “An Uncomplicated Man”
The landscapes were often gorgeous, but otherwise I thought it was all a bit dull
Mixed · Jul 2026 · in “An Uncomplicated Man”
With Odyssey we have customers with 50k+ connections operating normally.
Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “We scaled PgBouncer to 4x throughput”
Fagles was what I read when I first read the Iliad/Odysseus years ago
Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “Which Odyssey translation wins a blind reading test?”
superb part of the Odyssey where Odysseus is reunited with his dog
Recommends · Mar 2026 · in “Woman who never stopped updating her lost dog's chip reunites with him after 11y”
the reviews from both the viewers and the critics are really good
Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “'The Odyssey' Proves It: Audiences Want Movies Made the Hard Way”
It's one of the greatest stories of all time directed by Nolan.
Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “'The Odyssey' Proves It: Audiences Want Movies Made the Hard Way”
A good one, I definitely recommend it, but far from memorable.
Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “An Uncomplicated Man”
likes it based on movie reasons, so that was encouraging
Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “A Silly Adaptation of "The Odyssey"”
an entertaining and uniquely American spin on the story
Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “IMAX vs. IMAX 70mm: The difference between these two cinema formats”
diffusion model world gens like Odyssey are the future
Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “WorldGen – Text to Immersive 3D Worlds”
There are tons of other, really good movies to watch.
Recommends · Oct 2026 · in “America has lost 200k of jobs in media, film and the arts. How much is AI?”
It felt both familiar and fresh at the same time
Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “An Uncomplicated Man”
it was the one most accessible to modern readers
Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “Which Odyssey translation wins a blind reading test?”
total trash compared to, say, The Odyssey
Recommends · Aug 2026 · in “Seedance 2.5”
the Cyclops, Circe, and the Lotus-Eaters
Mixed · Jul 2026 · in “Who Is America's Homer?”
IMO it's a mixed result in The Odyssey.
Mixed · Jul 2026 · in “IMAX vs. IMAX 70mm: The difference between these two cinema formats”
Counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, Nov 2025 to Nov 2026. How we count · Report a mistake