The 11 Best Film Adaptations of Homer's The Odyssey of All Time

From sword-and-sandal epics and Depression-era road movies to blockbuster prestige cinema, Homer's masterpiece has inspired wildly different visions across seven decades. Which version stays truest to the spirit of the original?

1. 1
   The Odyssey (1997)

   Emmy Award-winning NBC miniseries directed by Andrei Konchalovsky, starring Armand Assante as Odysseus alongside Isabella Rossellini and Vanessa Williams, offering a chronological and visually ambitious mainstream retelling.
   1000pts

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2. 2
   O Brother Where Art Thou (2000)

   Coen Brothers' Depression-era masterpiece loosely based on the Odyssey, following three escaped convicts led by George Clooney through an adventure filled with sirens, a cyclops, and a blind prophet, winning the Oscar for Best Cinematography.
   869pts
3. 3
   Ulysses (1954)

   Italian-American epic starring Kirk Douglas as Odysseus, bringing the hero's journey to vivid Hollywood life with memorable encounters including the Cyclops, Circe, and the Sirens in one of cinema's most faithful classical adaptations.
   529pts
4. 4
   The Return (2024)

   Artistic recent retelling starring Ralph Fiennes as Odysseus and Juliette Binoche as Penelope, focusing on the psychological complexity and emotional cost of homecoming — identity and belonging examined through a classical lens.
   247pts
5. 5
   The Odyssey (2026)

   Christopher Nolan's long-awaited $250M IMAX epic starring Matt Damon as Odysseus and Anne Hathaway as Penelope, with Tom Holland, Zendaya, and Robert Pattinson — the most expensive and anticipated adaptation ever made.
   0pts
6. 6
   L'Odissea (1968)

   Italian RAI four-part television miniseries directed by Franco Rossi — one of the most faithful and comprehensive screen adaptations of Homer's poem ever made, widely respected by scholars and critics for its literary accuracy.
   0pts
7. 7
   Ulysses 31 (1981)

   Franco-Japanese animated series reimagining the Odyssey in a far-future space setting, following Ulysses and his crew aboard the Odysseus spaceship — a cult classic that brought the myth to generations of children worldwide.
   0pts
8. 8
   L'Odissea (1911)

   Milano Films' Italian silent epic directed by Francesco Bertolini, Adolfo Padovan and Giuseppe de Liguoro, the first feature-length screen version of Homer's poem, with Cyclops and Calypso scenes.
9. 9
   Keyhole (2011)

   Guy Maddin's surreal Odyssey-inspired noir in which Jason Patric's gangster Ulysses Pick fights his way through the haunted rooms of his house toward his wife, played by Isabella Rossellini.
10. 10
    Odysseus (2013)

    The French-Italian Arte television series starring Alessio Boni as Odysseus and Caterina Murino as Penelope, retelling the hero's return through the intrigues of Ithaca's palace.
11. 11
    Troy: The Odyssey (2017)

    The Asylum's low-budget 2017 action retelling that follows Odysseus from the fall of Troy through the Cyclops, the Sirens and Circe on his long voyage home to Penelope.

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