The Odyssey 

This fine adaptation of Homer's epic tale is superbly directed by Andrei Konchalovsky and is one of the best adaptations of Greek mythology ever captured on screen. Effectively cast throughout,the acting honours must surely go to Armand Assante who shines as Odysseus creating not your stereotypical 'sword and sandal' hero but an older,wiser and intelligent warrior king who endures every trial the gods throw at him as he journeys home from the Trojan war. The war itself is dismissed with rather too quickly but as that was the subject of Homer's other great work "THE ILIAD" this is excusable.Less easy to excuse is the omission of Odysseus's encounter with the sirens which is an integral part of the legend and which was quite well done in the 1954 Italian version of the tale starring Kirk Douglas.Other gods and monsters,however are excellently done especially the cave monster Scylla. A quality production which deserves to be seen by a world-wide audience,this giant amongst mini-series has never been shown on British t.v.( probably because there are no policemen or doctors in it)or released on video. With NTSC compatible video recorders now widely available in the U.K. I strongly advise obtaining the superb American video of "THE ODYSSEY" for anyone whose tastes run to mythic fantasy yarns like "JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS" to which this is very similar.Why do the likes of George Lucas try to create their own mythology when there is so much untapped material like this they could be making instead?....Go figure.