Ulisse (1954) watch online HD

Odysseus' journey told in Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. After fighting in the Trojan War, Odysseus spends years trying to return home to Itaka. This is the story of a man who left his home , his wife and his son to go away to war.. He destroyed the city of his enemies and started back home . But Neptune , protector God of the conquered people , pursued him with his anger and kept him murdering for ten years . It is the story of Ulysses who dared defy the god and continued his journey to Ithaca , his home, where his wife Penelope was waiting.. and waiting.. The dust of centuries has not dimmed the glories of Ulysses' heroic deeds. the cave of Pholiphemus still reverberates with the with the bellowing roars of the son of Neptuno . The sorrowful face of Penelope still gazes longingly across the open sea. And on a distant shore Circe still casts her spill . For the immortality that Ulysses refused of a goddess was later given to him by a poet ..And the epic poem that Homer sang of the hero's wanderings and of his yearning for home will live for all time .

Good rendition deals with Ulysses on his Odyssey home to Penelope and Telemaco after the Trojan War . The classic version ever of Homer's epic produced by two greatest Italian producers as Carlo Ponti and Dino De Laurentis . Based on Homer's Odyssey adapted by seven writers ,including the American prestigious Irwin Shaw and Ben Hecht , Billy Wilder's usual. As a tale , the Odyssey is an unparalleled metaphor of the struggles of a man's life. The cast is brilliant and international with American as Kirk Douglas , Anthony Quinn and Italian actors as Silvana Mangano , Rossana Podesta and Franco Interlenghi. Silvana Mangano gives us a typical Greek tragedy style performance in a double role as Penelope and Circe , but most amazing is Kirk Douglas acting as the brave and valiant Ulysses , really good looking , impulsive and totally convincing, it seems the role was really written for him . Partially shot in natural locations in the Mediterranean and Ponti-Laurentis studios. The exteriors of this Lux motion picture were filmed on the Mediterranean coast and islands described in Homer's Odyssey . The sea and the sky are strikingly blue, the islands green and wild . Colorful and spectacular cinematography by Harold Rosson . Evocative and impressive original score by Alessandro Cicognini , well conducted by Franco Ferrara . The motion picture is professionally directed by Mario Camerini and some scenes by Mario Bava though uncredited . Rating : Better than average take on that will appeal to classic film lovers and Kirk Doglas fans . Another excellent adaptation results to be ¨L'Odissea¨ (1968) TVseries directed by Franco Rossi and also by Mario Bava with Bekim Fehmiu as Ulysses and Irene Papas as Penelope.

I too first saw this movie when I was in my very early teens and still at school, but unlike my movie buff friend who wrote the first comment, I enjoyed this film when I saw it again many years later and still do some half a century after the first time.

Kirk Douglas and Anthony Quinn are excellent in their lead roles as one can imagine by their chequered careers, nevertheless I find Rossana Podesta' and Silvana Mangano very good on the eyes but rather pedestrian in their interpretations of the "forgotten women". I doubt a man like Ulysses would fall for such a verveless Circe.

Young Franco Interlenghi plays a suitable youthful Telemachus. The scenes with Polyphemus are good and the overall photography quite stunning. The final scenes when Ulysses rids his house of the unwanted suitors is very violent and gory but well performed. Unfortunately the English dialogue is dubbed and at times this is quite obvious, but after all this was an Italian production (I first saw it in the original language with my late father).

According to Homer, Ulysses is king of Ithaca, and father, by his wife, Penelope, of Telemachus...

Homer portrays Ulysses as a man of outstanding wisdom, eloquence, resourcefulness, courage and endurance...

In the Iliad, Ulysses appears as the man best fitted to cope with crises in personal relations among the Greeks and his bravery and skill in fighting were demonstrated repeatedly...

Ulysses wanderings and the recovery of his house and kingdom are the central theme of our film, which also relates how he accomplishes the capture of Troy by means of the wooden horse...

The motion picture, fill in the gaps with flashbacks, describes Ulysses' wanderings between Troy and Ithaca... As a troubled man, Ulysses spends much time at the shore trying to remember his past...

He encounters Polyphemus, the Cyclops, son of Poseidon... He escapes from his cave by getting him drunk and running a ram into his eye...

Shipwrecked, his men gone, his memory lost, he is discovered by a beautiful young princess Nausicca (Rossana Podesta) who immediately falls in love with him... Ulysses defeats the champion wrestler of Phaeacia in a public exhibition, but remains distant trying to recall his past...

He then encounters the Sirens whose songs lure sailors to their death... Plugging the ears of his men with wax, he has himself tied to the mast with ropes so that he can hear their call...

Ulysses reaches the island of the enchantress Circe who casts her spell on him... Taking on the appearance of his wife Penelope, she held him captive and turned his crew into swine, but fails to keep him in her company...

After almost l0 years, Ulysses at last arrived in Ithaca, where his wife, Penelope, and son, Telemachus, had been struggling to maintain their authority during his prolonged absence...

Kirk Douglas plays, with sensitivity, Ulysses, "the man of many turns" who had many opportunities of displaying his talent for ruses and deceptions; but at the same time, his courage and loyalty..

The full-figured Silvana Mangano plays a double role: Penelope, the faithful wife and Circe, the sorceress...

Anthony Quinn is the arrogant Antinous, the most persistent of Penelope's suitors, hanging around the palace with a group of vicious noblemen, trying to persuade the lovely queen that Ulysses is dead and that she should choose one of them as her next husband..

With the elements of an Italian epic adventure tale photographed in Technicolor, the film is quite entertaining in its attempts to translate episodes of Homer's Odyssey...

Homer's tale goes that after his brilliant idea of a huge wooden horse that decided the Greek's victory in the Troyan war, Ithaca's King Ulysses challenged the sea god Poseidon and he was punished to sail around for 10 years before he could get back to his island and his faithful wife Queen Penelope. During the hero's long absence many ambitious men have settled in his palace with the intention of marrying the supposedly widow Queen and rule Ithaca with her. The picture is about Ulysses's trip and all the tasks he has to go through before reaching home and, once there, how he deals with the men that are trying to take his place.

Though the film is sort of slow by the middle part of the story and perhaps a little exceeded in its running time, it doesn't lack adventure, action and entertainment. Ulysses faces the cyclops who wants to have him and his crew for lunch, survives the seducing singing of the mermaids, visits the kingdom of the dead and escapes the spell of sorceress Circe who plans to retain him for herself. Arrived at last in Ithaca after loosing all his mates, he faces the pretenders to his throne in a memorable action and fighting sequence.

"Ulysses" is pure entertainment and adventure in ancient Greece. The film is well done and easy to watch (its excess in duration apart)with a correct direction by Mario Camerini. It shows well chosen locations and carefully designed settings. Special effects are more than acceptable for 1955. But perhaps the main feature is a well selected main cast.

Kirk Douglas is the perfect choice for Ulysses and his performance is strong and convincing. Silvana Mangano renders a believable Penelope and Anthony Quinn is at his best playing the main pretender Antinoos ("the first in pride").

It could be true that this picture inspired the sword and sandals sub genre that started a bit later with Steve Reeves's "Hercules", but you can be sure that fortunately this one doesn't belong to that category.

A fine product in its genre.

Any history class which desires to imbue students with imagination, needs this film in their library on Ancient Greece. In 1955 this movie on the wanderings of the Trojan Hero "Ulysses" made it's way across the country. In the professional opinion of many a history teacher, this movie fell far short of being historically accurate, but in it's basic rendition of Homer's classical, it proved a masterpiece. In this version, fans saw the Greek Ithican King as portrayed by Kirk Douglas. For his fans it was a perfect role and one which convinced us, he was indeed a true thespian. Through his legendary encounters with the Titan, Polythemeus, The Sirens of the rocks, and of course, Circe, the witch, he is pitted against all the ancient Gods. But it is his final challenge by the suitors who wish to claim his wife and throne, which is his greatest threat, for they are led by the champion Antinoos (Anthony Quinn), from the island of Encephelonea. Only through a special contest and with the help of Athena, can he regain his kingdom, his wife and his son. This is a classic in its own right and like our hero, has never been equaled. ****

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.

I enjoyed it very much. I assume this was the earliest of the bunch of muscleman films that became increasingly popular with the release of the Hercules with Steve Reeves. It starts out a bit slow, but Ulysses' voyage is done wonderfully. The highlight of course is the cyclops that takes him and his men prisoner. The effects are well done, as is the cyclops make-up. Kirk Douglas makes a good Ulysses and Silvana Mangano is beautiful as his wife Penelope and seductive in the second role of the witch, Circe. If you enjoy these kinds of films, this is one of the good ones.

I saw this film when I was seven,(1962), I was an epic then and will remain an epic thru eternity. Good strong Italian cast, camera angles and cinematography were cutting edge for that time,(52),Ulysses,(Kirk Douglas), has been away from home on a quest of war and exploration for ten years, and his wife fears he has died in the wars, with her heart broken and her friends and family giving advice to move on with her life, plus the towns political figures trying to pursue her "late" husbands fortune in the guise of suitors, Ulysses wife devises a contest, with the winner taking all including her hand in marriage. All one must do is string Ulysses bow and shoot an arrow thru a multitude of axe heads eyes to meet it's destination at a bullseye at the other end, (without touching the eyelets of the axe handles). What happens at the event is a climax worth waiting for, for thirty-eight years, as that's how long I've waited for it to be released on video/DVD. Release date: 1/1/2000. I rate it a ten!

Fun to watch, do not be to hard on the special effects it was 1954 after all! Fun to see such a young Anthony Quinn. Who played Cyclops? Does it matter?

In this fantasy-adventure based on Homer's epic poem The Odyssey, Kirk Douglas is larger than life in the title role and Silvana Mangano is spellbindingly beautiful in the dual role of Penelope/Circe. Most importantly, the story & script are compelling. The Cyclops sequence is a highlight and the F/X are surprisingly good for 1954. Moreover, the climax when Ulysses is revealed after posing as a beggar is dynamic. Sometimes it's necessary to temporarily kowtow to the arrogant in order to assess the situation and bide your time for an effective strike.

In my humble opinion this version is better than the 1997 rendition with Armand Assante, "The Odyssey," because it's more streamlined, lacks the eye-rolling manifestations of the gods and it's hard to beat Douglas' imposing portrayal. However, "The Odyssey" is still worth checking out since the effects are more modern and there are some quality cast members and effective sequences, particularly the crew's horrific confrontation with the three-headed monster, Scylla, and the entire final act.

The movie runs 117 minutes and was shot in Italy, the Mediterranean Sea and North Africa.

GRADE: A

Sure, there are spots where the producers cut corners, scenes criminally underlit. But there are other scenes of Rembrandtesque beauty. And while we may chuckle at the absurdity of the Greeks' making wine instantaneously, well, BLAME HOMER ! It's in the original Greek ! With the exception of Phemios' absurdly pro-Trojan song to the suitors in Ithaka--which runs counter to Homer and would've gotten the bard skewered on the spot by unsympathetic Greek nobles--there's nary a false emotional note.

This is so far superior to the bloated made-for-TV version, which is, well, Rococco and superficial-beyond-belief.

I've recently viewed this film on video, and though I found it to be a much better than the awful 1998 TV movie, it still lacks an accurate portrayal of the main characters. Ulysses(Odysseus)is cunning, clever, ever testing those around him including his wife and son. He never reveals his true identity until he is certain he can trust the various characters he meets throughout his journey. For instance, in the English translation by Kennedy, Ulysses washes up on shore and feigns memory loss until he knows his hosts can be trusted. This is a display of his clever nature. However, in this version, Kirk Douglas portrays him as actually having lost his memory. There is very little of his clever nature portrayed anywhere in the film.

Also missing from this version is a portrayal of the goddess Athena who is so important to Homer's epic. Will there ever be a faithful version of this classic story?

I've seen this one when I was 10...40 years later I can assure you that I Remember every part of it and than it gives me (along with the stories of Moses Ben Hur Jason and Spartacus ) a huge success among the Children and teenagers who have no opportunity to hear such stories who have even more suspense blood and hot pursuits than an average Bruce Willis story ! i just don't care if the movie is a masterpiece or a B-serie : its certainly a fantastic story-teller and that's what it matters.

As far as entertainment goes, this movie would rate an OK if there's nothing else better to watch on TV on a week night. But for mythology buffs like me, it would rate as so-so if not below average. It runs too short a time to portray Ulysses as the clever & resourceful man that he is supposed to be, and the role of the gods in his journeys, especially Athena his patron goddess is virtually non-existent. Also, Penelope (Silvana Mangano)should have been portrayed as a woman of strong character, steadfast in her belief that Ulysses might yet return & resolute in her refusal to give in to pressure by the suitors to choose a husband among them, not as a drama queen complete w/hysterics & crying. Telemachus is merely a babbling wimp in this movie & Nausicaa unfortunately depicted as a silly air-headed brat given to childish whims & fantasies. It's pretty obvious that whoever wrote the script based the dialogue on a comics or cartoon adaptation of Homer's Odyssey without actually having read the original text.

I have always been a fan of Kirk Douglas, AND, of Homer's two books "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey".

So when I saw this film it was, for me, what they call a "two-fer" or two for the price of one.

The scenes with Polyphemus still impress me, and yes the comments about the wine not really being wine ( no time to ferment) are understandable, but, they don't really diminish the scene. (Hey, it's the movies).

Another thing about ANY of these Italian movies, from this one to the traditional "Hercules" movies, is where do they find all those GORGEOUS women?. YIKES!!.

I also love the scenes between the witch Circe, and Ulysses, there is a faint green glow the lighting designer bathes Circe with, to make her seem more "spooky".

All in all this is a great movie for those who like Greco-Roman mythology, or Italian sword and sandal films, or even if you are a big Kirk Douglas fan!.

BTW, look for a young Anthony Quinn, and remember that these two men would join up again later in "Lust for Life".

So sit back and enjoy a 2500 year old story that seems as fresh and exciting as any story you see today, maybe even more so!. Pssst sorry NO GCI!

In this film there are two absolute beauties, Silvana Mangano (in double role, Circe and Penelope) and a very young Rossana Podestà (Nausicaa), both not only very beautiful but also very talented actresses, which is rare. Big Anthony Quinn doesn't have a great role in this movie, not because he's bad, but because he has an insignificant small part. Kirk Douglas, however, shines sharply in the title role, being credible, funny, dynamic, excellent.

for me, "Ulysses" is a slide of childhood. and this does the things complicated and easy. easy because I can not imagine an alternative actor in the role of Ulysses except Kirk Douglas. because , for my inner child, Silvana Mangano is the perfect Penelope and Franco Interlenghi the right Telemach. the scene of the meet with Polyphem , the revenge against suitors, the song of mermaids and the courage are clothes for the images of Homer. so, I could not say if it is a decent film or a bad one. only , I admit, it is a slice from my childhood. so, unique.

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.

Mario Camerini's "Ulisse" ("Ulysses" in English) is a fun romp, with Kirk Douglas as the Greek warrior who spends years trying to return to Ithaca after participating in the destruction of Troy. A lot of the movie is corny, but no one watches these movies expecting the sort of material that you'd see in a Stanley Kubrick movie.

Probably the greatest adaptation of "The Odyssey" is the Coen brothers' "O Brother, Where Art Thou?", starring George Clooney, John Turturro and Tim Blake Nelson as escaped convicts in Depression-era Mississippi (it has one of the greatest soundtracks ever). Watching this version, I kept picturing the characters from the Coens' movie.

All in all, this movie definitely hits a Homer!

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.

It took 10 years for the Greek hero Ulysses to make his way back to Ithica after the Trojan War. Kirk Douglas is Ulysses. He overcomes the Cyclops, the Sirens, and Circe. His final challenge is the suitors who want his wife and throne. Chief among them is Antinoos (Anthony Quinn). With help from Athena, Ulysseus regains his kingdom and Penelope. Gorgeous Silvano Mangano plays both Penelope and the enchantress Circe. Scenes focus on Silvano's hypnotic eyes and sensuous lips. In fact, the film has a way of getting right up in the faces of its characters. The film seems old by modern standards, but the strength and acting prowess of Kirk Douglas makes it relevant and worthwhile. Douglas recently turned 100 years old.

Like many here I remember seeing Ulysses when I was a kid, probably at the Colonial Theatre in Harrisburg, Pa. My memories are not as vivid as those of 7th Voyage of Sinbad, which I saw at the same downtown theater, but what kid could forget Ulysses' cannibalistic cyclops which was much more human and nightmarish than the one in 7th Voyage.

The current Lionsgate DVD is welcome but something of a disappointment visually. I was somewhat put off by the dark opening scenes but when Ulysses' adventures kicked in I became quite involved.

The story, based on a condensation of the Odyssey, moves along, cutting between episodes from the hero's adventures returning from the Trojan war, and his wife, Penelope, fending off greedy suitors on the home front.

Clocking in at nearly 2 hours the film manages to evoke an epic feel on a modest budget. The special efx, credited to the German/American Eugen Schüfftan, a pioneer in the field of optical effects, are modest but effective, especially the cyclops and ship wreck scenes.

The screenplay credits eight writers, including Americans Ben Hecht and novelist, Irwin (The Young Lions) Shaw. There are some effective dramatic scenes, particularly between Ulysses and the beautiful witch, Circe, when during their final confrontation they discuss the nature of life and death. (The DVD is dubbed into English with apparently only Douglas and Anthony Quinn speaking for themselves).

Before the flashbacks of Ulysses' long journey home a prologue in Ithaca includes a brief scene from the Trojan war as background, though the famous wooden horse is not as spectacular as in another international production, Helen of Troy (1956). Interestingly, Rossana Podesta, who here plays Nausicaa, has the lead as Helen in that Robert Wise film. Silvana Mangano, who plays both Penelope and Circe, went on to become a major star in Italian cinema.

Ulysses was among the early films to utilize American stars, usually males on the way up or down, from Clint Eastwood to Rory Calhoun, mostly in Italian films of the spaghetti western and sword-and-sandal variety.

Ulysses, produced by Dino De Laurentiis and Carlo Ponti, is several steps above the typical s&s production. Kirk Douglas is an Americanized but quite the dashing Ulysses. I was never a big fan but he was certainly versatile, and here his cool beard and longer hair make him a much more attractive, even sexy hero than does the austere buzz cut look he sports in the later epic, Spartacus (1960).

Cinematography is by Hollywood veteran, Harold Rosson, which raises hopes that a higher quality DVD (with a few extras) might appear sometime in the future.

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...

I just bought a dvd of this film as it was going for under 10 euros and had always been interested in the adventures of Ulysses. I opted as always for the original version on the dvd and was amazed to hear Italian, not English !! I had no idea that Kirk Douglas could speak italian so fluently.......absolutely amazing !! That is, unless the notes on the dvd were incorrect and it wasn't the original version at all but one dubbed into Italian. I suppose we'll never know! I was expecting a better film than what I saw, something of the quality of The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad, but was rather disappointed with the script, a lot of useless talk and not enough action ! I suppose this is what we can expect of Italian cinema ( the director of the film was italian as were a number of the actors ! ). The picture quality, although announced as Technicolor had too much contrast plus clicks and spots and certainly left to be desired. There was a good passage with the Cyclops, Polyphemus, however, we saw nothing of the sirens and I was desperately looking out for Charybde and Scylla but saw no sign of them. I really thought too much of the story had been omitted and too much time given over to boring soporific chat. Certainly not a film to be recommended !

I remember seeing this movie at about 8 yrs. old; I thought it was thrilling; I enjoyed it a lot better than Jason & The Argonauts; If any one knows where I can purchase the DVD/VCR please let me know; I've been waiting such along time to see it again. I think this is one of Kirk Doughlas' best; a lot of action and a good story; it doesn't matter if it were true or not, I think it was very well done; I was fully entertained; I can't imagine anyone not enjoying this movie. I think Kirk Douglas is such a great actor; I don't believe there were any of his movies that I didn't enjoy. He can play any character; I don't know if he ever won an Oscar but if he hasn't, he should have.