AboveDeepBuggy Some things I liked some I did not.

SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Ploydsge just watch it!

Voxitype Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

HotToastyRag I rented this movie a few weeks back because I was preparing to honor Kirk Douglas on Hot Toasty Rag. I groaned and rolled my eyes during the first fifteen minutes. The production values weren't very good, some Italian actors had had their voices dubbed in English, and the acting style was extremely dated. As the scenes progressed, I started to get a sense of déjà vu. Halfway through, I started predicting what was going to happen! "If they meet a giant with one eye and get him drunk, I've seen this movie," I said to myself. Turns out, I saw the movie in a high school English class!My teacher had assigned Homer's works for required reading, but when the entire class flunked the test afterwards, she knew something was wrong. No one understood what had happened in the story! She tried explaining it and cited passages to help our little brains connect the archaic language to what she was saying, but again, it went over our heads. Finally, she knew there was only one way for us to learn Odyssey: she showed us the movie.The second time around-once I remembered I'd seen the film before-I was taken on a very enjoyable trip down Memory Lane. "There's the giant! There are the sirens! The pigs!" My review, as you can probably tell, is a little colored by my past. I have no idea how much I would have liked or disliked Ulysses if I'd seen it for the first time last month. You might turn it off and think it's ridiculous, or you might think it's a clear, understandable adaptation of a very dense classic poem. I consider this movie a sentimental favorite, like the first version of The Nutcracker my teacher showed the class in fourth grade. Plus, for half the movie, Kirk Douglas practically prances around in his underwear, so that's always fun.

mark.waltz For those of you who like movies about gladiators, Kirk Douglas did no wrong as "Spartacus". But several years previous, he went into Greek territory to play King Ulysses who has many adventures (and flings) after defeating Troy with that glorious wooden horse. He finds refuge as an amnesiac falling for a neighboring King's daughter, but slowly, his memory comes back to him as he re-counts his many adventures, including a visit with Neptune's son, a giant cyclops (with a memorable wine making scene), fighting the urge to crash his ship because of a beautiful singing voice calling him to their deadly shores, and finally dealing with the beautiful but possessive witch who wants Ulysses all to herself. Back home, his wife, Queen Penelope (Silvana Mangano), is urge by the people to re-marry, and the strong but arrogant Anthony Quinn is most determined to be the one. It's a battle of the strongest when Ulysses comes home to reclaim his wife, son, and kingdom.Surprisingly well filmed in spite of an obvious low budget, it is a step above the Steve Reeves Hercules and Goliath films. Douglas didn't have to be dubbed like many of the other actors (whose voices don't match their looks), so he comes off unscathed. Special effects are good, characterizations and plot are well fleshed out, although some of the male costumes are quite skimpy and revealing of the male anatomy. This will never be in the category of Ray Harryhausen's mythic adventures, but overall, it is much better than average.

bkoganbing Kirk Douglas entered the sand and sandal genre six years before his acclaimed Spartacus with this version of Ulysses and his long voyage home from the wars of Troy. If you'll remember your classical history, and the recent movie Troy, Ulysses was the guy who finally broke the siege at Troy with that wooden horse gambit. But as the Greeks ran amuck in Troy, behaving very much like barbarians, Cassandra the high priestess of Poseidon, called on the big guy to do his very worst to Ulysses. Of course in the film Poseidon is called by his Roman name of Neptune.As Ulysses, Kirk Douglas invests the part with his own combination of aggressiveness and charm. It ain't exactly the classics, but realize that the film was aimed at a juvenile market and it works out rather well. Even the grownups will get a good hearty laugh at how the clever Ulysses outwits the Cyclops.Silvana Mangano does very well as the long suffering Penelope, the wife of Ulysses who's needs just aren't being met and as Circe the witch whose profession kind of scares the guys away. Anthony Quinn has a small role as one of Penelope's suitors for the hand of the presumed widow. Why he took such a small part in a film I'm not quite sure, but this would be the first of three films he did with Kirk Douglas. The next one, Lust for Life would gain Quinn a second Oscar.Ulysses is not one of Kirk Douglas's greatest roles, but the film still holds up well today and kids and grownups will appreciate it.

Brent Beebe Kirk Douglas saves the film from otherwise becoming too languid. The director may have thought he was directing an "epic", but should've just realized he had another sword and sandle flick on his hands. The scenes which re-tell Ulysses journey are the best parts. Oh, and the end is kick ass as well. But again, without Douglas...