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Incongruities of the movie - Making Wine and a Blooper


Even if one isn't familiar with the original story of The Odyssey, he/she should have enough sense to know that trampling grapes with the feet doesn't result in wine overnight, only grape juice w/c isn't the least bit alcoholic.
what the heck was going on in the producer's minds when they made this movie? Did they read the book or not? Anyhow, in the Homeric version, Ulysses and company brought their own wine.

Also, note a blooper near the final part of the movie, where Ulysses (Kirk Douglas)in beggar's disguise, is granted permission to draw the bow. As he takes it and moves to another spot to string it, a metal wristband suddenly materializes on his left arm where a few seconds before there was none.

Any more bloopers noted pls let me know.

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You are very right to discover those mistakes in the production of "Ulysses". Nevertheless, it was the best of any productions based on Homer's epic. There are many bloopers indeed, in that film.

Are you an enthusiast of Homer's epic? If so, please talk to me. I love that poem. There has nver been a decent film of the "Odyssey" though the 1954 version seems still the best. It will, I think, never will be well done, as no one understands the genius of Homer. Do you agree? Tell me dear.

Charles

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You've never heard of birds getting drunk as a result of eating berries? Very ripe grapes will ferment slightly, on the vine. Granted the alchohol would be minimal and a person would have to drink a great deal to become intoxicated.

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You've never heard of birds getting drunk as a result of eating berries? Very ripe grapes will ferment slightly, on the vine. Granted the alchohol would be minimal and a person would have to drink a great deal to become intoxicated.

As long as we're nitpicking, the cyclops Polyphemus had never drank before, and didn't even know what wine was. Therefore, he was totally unaware of it's effects and would have been caught off-guard.

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Why the same post twice, scifiguy1-1? You can delete one!

I think it would take a lot of wine and a long fermentation period to produce something sufficiently intoxicating to knock out Polythemus the Cyclops. But that's why they call it a "movie". (Or a poem.)

Given that all this is a fantasy (though perhaps with some bases in reality, handed down to Homer), I wouldn't hold anyone to the exact standards involved in wine production...or raising swine!

As to fealty to Homer, I don't think you'll ever see a film depiction that can live up to his prose. This was a decent effort at a popularized version of some of The Odyssey. To me the greatest sin is the producer's insistence on calling it ULYSSES. I realize that more people may have recognized that name than "Odysseus", but why not THE ODYSSEY? The Greek rather than Roman variation of all names should have been kept (including Poseidon instead of the Romanized Neptune).

But -- seven writers for this film!? Either a great tribute to Homer or a lot of wasted effort!

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Well, the movie was made in Italy, directed by an Italian, with screenplay by Italians (modern Romans).

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Yeah, but it was all about Greeks, so....

Of course, the ancient Greeks weren't speaking English or Italian, but the less suspension of disbelief required, the better.

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They mixed Roman and Greek god names, such as using Athena instead of Minerva. Although I enjoyed it as a kid, this movie is a mess.

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Yeah, but a fun mess. I've often wondered why actors of the stature of Kirk Douglas and Tony Quinn agreed to star in this movie...beyond the financial incentives, if indeed any other considerations intervened. Quinn especially didn't get to do much, just stand around waiting on Penelope. At least Kirk got into a lot of adventures, plus Circe.

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Actually it has been tested years ago (perhaps brought about by this movie then) that if a person THINKS he is drinking alcoholic beverages, he will take on an intoxicating nature.

And by George, it was shown in a Laurel and Hardy short where they thought they were drinking liquor and Stan's wife had replaced it with tea and they became drunk.

Unless we think a cyclops is going to be that much smarter than Laurel and Hardy and not notice any difference?

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Actually it has been tested years ago (perhaps brought about by this movie then) that if a person THINKS he is drinking alcoholic beverages, he will take on an intoxicating nature.
But the Cyclops didn't even know what wine was. When Ulysses offers it to him, he bellows "What is wine?" He would have had no idea that wine is supposed to be intoxicating, so he couldn't have gotten drunk because of some placebo effect.

Perhaps the screenwriters assumed the kids who would be watching this show would have little knowledge of the process of fermentation. Or maybe they thought "Hey, if you can believe in a guy who is twenty feet tall and has one eye in the middle of his forehead, why not believe that wine is created instantly by stomping on grapes?"

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yuh, you are correct. i did it myself. i served a married couple "fake" wine (wine without the alcohol) once, telling them it was the real thing. and they started to feel....slightly tipsy. however, there is a difference between feeling slightly tipsy and being passing-out drunk.
Jonathan Becker

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but ... the cyclops had never drank wine before so how would he know what tipsy feels like ?...in the story by homer ulysees brought the wine with him and didnt make it

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Myabe somebody already said this, but you have to give the characters something to do, therefore making wine by stomping on the grapes is something to do.

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Besides the wine, those oars didn't look like they'd be useful for much beyond firewood.

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