10 spectacular films about ancient Greece

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

"Troy", "Agora", "King Oedipus" and other paintings for those who adore historical motives.

1.300 Spartans

• USA, Canada, Bulgaria, Australia, 2007.
• Action, drama.
• Duration: 117 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 6.

The film tells about the historical confrontation between a small detachment of Spartans and the army of the Persians, which surpassed them by orders of magnitude. Despite the fact that there were more enemies, the heroes were not going to surrender and held the defense to the last.

The painting "300 Spartans" can easily be called a comic book come to life. Director Zack Snyder brought Frank Miller's iconic graphic novel literally frame by frame to the screen. At the same time, some viewers criticize the film for its historical inaccuracy, but in this case these nit-picking is meaningless. Indeed, in the original, the entire visual story is built on the grotesque.

2. King Oedipus

• Italy, Morocco, 1967.
• Drama.
• Duration: 104 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 3.

The son of the ruler of Corinth wants to know the story of his birth and his destiny. The hero is predicted that he will kill his father and marry his own mother. To prevent the prophecy from coming true, the young man leaves the city, but only makes it worse.

The Italian provocateur-director Pier Paolo Pasolini often transferred the plots of ancient myths to modern times. Thus, he tried to rethink the old legends and understand their characters. In addition to "King Oedipus" based on the tragedy of the same name by Sophocles, mythological motives can be traced in "Theorem" (1968), "Pigsty" (1969) and "Medea" (1969). Moreover, in the author's interpretation of Pasolini, a lot of these stories appear in an ambiguous light.

3. Agora

• Spain, Malta, Bulgaria, 2009.
• Drama, adventure.
• Duration: 126 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 2.

391st year, Alexandria. The woman philosopher Hypatia teaches philosophy, astronomy and mathematics at a local school housed in the famous Library of Alexandria. Meanwhile, a revolt of Christians is brewing in the city, and the adherents of the new faith begin to openly attack the pagans.

Formally, the plot unfolds already during the collapse of Hellenistic society. And Alejandro Amenebar incredibly tragically conveyed the decline of this ancient culture. By the way, the classic of Spanish-language cinema had never shot biopics before. Moreover, this is his first film with such a large budget.

4. Troy

• USA, Malta, UK, 2004.
• Action, drama, melodrama.
• Duration: 163 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 2.

The Mycenaean king Agamemnon and his brother Menelaus, ruler of Sparta, conclude a peace agreement with Troy. But after the holiday, it turns out that the Trojan prince Paris stole Menelaus' wife Helen the Beautiful. Then Agamemnon gathers a huge army under the leadership of the hero Achilles and sieges the enemy city.

Director Wolfgang Petersen shot a very free adaptation of Homer's poem Iliad. First of all, there are no gods among the heroes of the film, who played a rather important role in the plot. In addition, the greatest emphasis is on Achilles, played by Brad Pitt. Initially, Petersen wanted to do even without Elena, but the studio insisted on this character, and then the director hired the then little-known Diana Kruger.

5. The Adventures of Odyssey

• Italy, France, USA, 1954.
• Fantasy, adventure.
• Duration: 117 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 7.

King Odysseus, the hero of the Trojan War, for a long 10 years cannot get to his native Ithaca and see his beloved wife Penelope and son Telemachus. The fact is that the gods were angry with him and sent terrible trials to him and his team. Meanwhile, a crowd of suitors demands from Penelope to marry one of them. But the woman believes that her husband will return, and in every possible way tries to save time. Therefore, she announces that her chosen one will be the one who can shoot Odysseus from the bow.

The film is based on Homer's Odyssey, but many iconic scenes from the poem were not included in the picture. For example, there was a bright moment in the text where Odysseus was fleeing from sirens, half-women, half-birds with a beckoning voice, tying himself to the mast. But in the cinema, even this remained behind the scenes.

Nowadays Adventure is worth watching primarily for the legendary actors. The role of Odysseus was played by the famous Kirk Douglas, and the main antagonist of Antinous was played by Anthony Quinn. And both the main female roles - the faithful Penelope and the villainess Circe - went to the incredibly beautiful Italian actress Silvana Mangano.

6. War of the Gods: Immortals

• USA, Canada, UK, 2011.
• Fantasy, action, drama, melodrama.
• Duration: 110 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 0.

The Cretan king Hyperion, having gathered an innumerable army, wants to conquer humanity and take revenge on the gods. To do this, he needs to free the titans imprisoned by Zeus from the dungeon. However, young Theseus stands in the way of the invader, and now the fate of the world depends on the outcome of their confrontation.

The film was directed by Tarsem Singh (Outland), who has a powerful visionary talent. Therefore, in "War of the Gods" there are many bizarre pictorial solutions, and in general the picture turned out to be quite stylish. But cinema is more likely to rethink than retell Greek myths.

7. Hercules

• USA, 2014.
• Action, adventure.
• Duration: 98 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 0.

The legendary hero Hercules is a mighty and incredibly strong warrior. But in fact, he is not the son of Zeus, and his exploits are slightly embellished. In addition, a team of like-minded people helps him in his affairs. For help, the king of Thrace turns to them, whose state was attacked by an army of centaurs led by a mysterious sorcerer.

Director Brett Ratner's film is based on Steve Moore's graphic novel Hercules: The Thracian Wars. So the picture has little relation to the events of the famous myths, but this is precisely its trick. And Dwayne Johnson seemed to be born for the role of the most powerful Greek hero.

8. Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief

• USA, 2010.
• Fantasy, adventure, family.
• Duration: 114 minutes.
• IMDb: 5, 9.

An ordinary New York teenager Percy Jackson suddenly finds out that his father is the ancient Greek god of the seas, Poseidon. In addition, the hero is accused of allegedly stealing lightning from his uncle Zeus. Together with the satyr Grover and Athena's daughter Annabeth, the young man must embark on a dangerous journey to Hades to prove his innocence.

In 2001, it was Chris Columbus who launched the Harry Potter movie saga. Thus, he proved that he is perfectly able to create fabulous worlds where reality lives next to magic. That is why it was this director who was entrusted with filming Rick Riordan's literary cycle Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

The result is not perfect. But fans of Greek mythology (provided that they do not find fault with inaccuracies and the author's interpretation), teenagers and just fans of fantasy "Percy Jackson" may well go.

9. Clash of the Titans

• USA, UK, Australia, 2010.
• Fantasy, action, adventure.
• Duration: 102 minutes.
• IMDb: 5, 8.

The demigod Perseus, raised by the fisherman Spyros, swore revenge on Hades after his stepfather died from the wrath of the Olympians. But in order to restore justice, as well as save the city of Argus from the mighty Kraken, the hero will have to go through many trials.

To get even a little pleasure from the plot, you must completely discard all knowledge in the field of Greek mythology. After all, very little remains of the original legend of Perseus in the "Clash of the Titans". But lovers of beautiful battles, fantasy and grandiose special effects will most likely like the film.

10. Alexander

• USA, UK, Germany, Netherlands, France, Italy, Morocco, Thailand, 2004.
• Action, drama, melodrama, adventure, military.
• Duration: 175 minutes.
• IMDb: 5, 6.

The great king and commander Alexander the Great died when he was only 32 years old. But in his short life, he managed to defeat the most powerful empire of that time - the Persian one - and build his own on its ruins.

Oliver Stone's three-hour epic will definitely appeal to those who appreciate the high cost and scope of cinema. But at the same time, the film was criticized for inappropriate caste. So, for some reason, the Irishman Colin Farrell was taken to the role of the ancient commander, and Alexander's mother was played by the same age as the actor - Angelina Jolie. There were also those who were offended by too obvious allusions to the bisexuality of the great commander.