The Odyssey: Redux

The Odyssey2026

“Hey! You already wrote a long-ass article on Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey! What gives?”

My article, my rules. Take a hike, imaginary mean-spirited reader!

This morning, at 7:45 AM, I saw  The Odyssey in 

IMAX

70MM

I bought these tickets over a month ago when I found out the theater a few blocks away from me was the only one in my state that had the ability to play the film in this premium format.

Standing five stories by seven stories, 50 feet by 70 feet, it’s the largest screen I’ve ever seen.

I don’t even think my photo does it justice. We had an employee do a pre-show speech, wherein she mentioned she was a film student and proceeded to pull out six feet of film. What movie do you think a film student would keep in their pocket? Pulp Fiction? Psycho? Lawrence of Arabia? 

Three strikes and you’re out. It was Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa

What? Why? Doesn’t matter, she gave no explanation.

I was sat in Row G, just behind the halfway mark of the audience, just off-center. And despite being in a perfect spot, I still had trouble taking in the full picture. It’s immense and all-encompassing the film. The IMAX 70MM is full-frame, noticeably taller than the other formats, more so than regular IMAX. 

This taller frame made the film that I had already seen twice feel brand new. The siege of Troy felt bigger, and the storm that destroys Odysseus’ ship felt real. The lightning in that scene was particularly blinding, having 3500 square feet of white light flashing in your face will shock you.

I don’t know what else I can say about the film itself. And spoilers ahead if you’ve never read The Odyssey, but the one-two punch of Odysseus greeting his dog followed by Telemachus’ line, “You’re my father” to the knockout punch where Odysseus tells him how proud he is gets me tearing up every time. I think this film really succeeds at using its extended runtime to ramp up the tension to the Jason Bourne-esque ending. And I think there’s something in the film about aging and usefulness in society. It’s obviously seen with Eumayus and Argos, but to a greater extent with Odysseus, losing respect with his crew and his ability to lead.

The only thing that doesn’t sit well with me is the repeated use of “Zeus’ Law” It just doesn’t sound right coming out of everyone’s mouths. I think Zeus’ Rule would’ve felt more grounded.

The best part of it for me was just before the film started, they played a scene from the upcoming Dune: Part 3 presented in glorious IMAX 70MM. Even after three hours of Nolan’s epic, I walked out of the theater and the first thing I said was, “How about the Dune trailer?” It was worth the $25 ticket just for those five minutes.

We had people that drove in from neighboring states just to see it, so if seats were available, I’d absolutely make the trip to your nearest IMAX 70MM theater if possible. Unfortunately, the theater I went to is sold out through their run that has been extended through mid-September. All I can say is set the alerts for Dune 3 in IMAX 70MM now.