It might seem silly to say this now — now that “God of War” has emerged from nearly a decade of slumber to rapturous acclaim — but when Kratos and Atreus took those first halting steps into the swirling snows of fantasy Norseland back at E3 2016, there were some that wondered if Sony’s Santa Monica Studio could really stick the transition. After all, translating the ashen-skinned “Ghost of Sparta” from the series’ baroque vision of mythic Greece to an entirely different culture proved to be a lot harder than just sticking a pair of Viking horns on his head and calling it a day.
As creative director Cory Barlog recalls, the northward shift was the logical endpoint of a lengthy research cycle that involved Barlog and his fellow writers delving into as many mythological systems as they could get their hands on, sifting through the likes of the ancient Mayans and...
As creative director Cory Barlog recalls, the northward shift was the logical endpoint of a lengthy research cycle that involved Barlog and his fellow writers delving into as many mythological systems as they could get their hands on, sifting through the likes of the ancient Mayans and...
- 5/28/2018
- by Steven T. Wright
- Variety Film + TV
It’s no secret that I’m old. I’m so old, in fact, that I saw all the Star Wars movies, the entire summer of ‘82 and ’84, plus the original Clash of the Titans, RoboCop, and Total Recall in the theaters when they were released. No HBO needed for me to see a lot of these classics for the first time. The original Clash of the Titans is of particular note because, aside from some terrible Italian Steve Reeves movies and Jason and the Argonauts, it was the go-to film for the Enlgish teachers of my era to show us when studying Greek Mythology. Trust me, it made for a nice diversion from reading Edith Hamilton’s famous book about the subject. When I studied Greek Mythology in high school, our teacher showed us Clash of the Titans, which led to the inevitable questions of how this all fit together. How...
- 6/9/2014
- by Kevin Carr
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
January! Just the time to snuggle up with a 3D sword-and-pectoral extravaganza. And although some of its more imaginative plot details would make Edith Hamilton blanch, Renny Harlin's Legend of Hercules fulfills every silly, flimsy promise that it makes in the first place: There are lots of battles (albeit rather jerkily rendered ones), some grand-looking horses decked out in handsome metal headdresses, and lots of well-oiled beefcake.
You could ask for more — an actual script, maybe? — but Harlin covers most of the basics. Or, perhaps more accurately, he leaves them uncovered.
Brawny Hercules (Kellan Lutz, Emmett Cullen of the Twilight Saga), son of the comely Queen Alcmene (Roxanne McKee), is sent off to battle by the resentful man who is no...
You could ask for more — an actual script, maybe? — but Harlin covers most of the basics. Or, perhaps more accurately, he leaves them uncovered.
Brawny Hercules (Kellan Lutz, Emmett Cullen of the Twilight Saga), son of the comely Queen Alcmene (Roxanne McKee), is sent off to battle by the resentful man who is no...
- 1/10/2014
- Village Voice
Friends of Edith Hamilton, break out the amphorae, pour the libation, raise the goblets. One of the most famous and frightening of the Greek myths lives on—vividly—in our 21st century literature. A key component of the megablockwhopperbuster Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins comes straight from the archetypal mist. (In the event you’ve been wandering a dark labyrinth in past weeks, Catching Fire, based on book two of the Hunger Games trilogy, now plays at a theater near you.) Collins partly bases her plot on a wild, three-thousand-year-old tale of a half-bull, half-man creature called the Minotaur. Here’s the myth....
- 12/10/2013
- Pastemagazine.com
As I was saying …
And as for Diana …
I hated her.
Well, perhaps “hate” is too strong a word. I didn’t hate her, exactly. She made me, um, “uncomfortable.” Even as a kid reading her adventures. Not being old enough at the time to put it into words, to analyze my reaction, I figured it out as I got older.
I loved the stories that took place on Themiscrya, aka Paradise Island. It wasn’t just that I was a mythology geek – I read Edith Hamilton’s Mythology: Timeless Tales Of Gods And Heroes when I was eight years old – but that in these stories Diana was in her true element. Unapologetically independent, intelligent, strong, and self-assured, Diana was a hero who inspired. She lit up my imagination, and along with her fellow Amazons, became a role model, an icon for a little girl who thought she might become a veterinarian,...
And as for Diana …
I hated her.
Well, perhaps “hate” is too strong a word. I didn’t hate her, exactly. She made me, um, “uncomfortable.” Even as a kid reading her adventures. Not being old enough at the time to put it into words, to analyze my reaction, I figured it out as I got older.
I loved the stories that took place on Themiscrya, aka Paradise Island. It wasn’t just that I was a mythology geek – I read Edith Hamilton’s Mythology: Timeless Tales Of Gods And Heroes when I was eight years old – but that in these stories Diana was in her true element. Unapologetically independent, intelligent, strong, and self-assured, Diana was a hero who inspired. She lit up my imagination, and along with her fellow Amazons, became a role model, an icon for a little girl who thought she might become a veterinarian,...
- 7/15/2013
- by Mindy Newell
- Comicmix.com
It has come to my attention that even with the large presence of myths and legends in popular culture, it baffles me that the following characters have not yet made their way into a mainstream video game title.
5. Dionysus
For those of you not entirely acquainted with Greek mythology: Dionysus knows how to party. Known as the god of ritual madness and ecstasy, this dude will throw you for a loop.
Every ghastly, sinful, ludicrous activity can find a history with Dionysus. To think that designers and developers have forgone the opportunity to include him in a Leisure Suit Larry-style brawler where players are pit against bouncers and goons of all shapes and sizes in search of the ultimate party is unbelievable. Sure the last Leisure Suit Larry release didn’t really hit its stride according to vgchartz but a game highlighting the antics of Dionysus still sounds like an...
5. Dionysus
For those of you not entirely acquainted with Greek mythology: Dionysus knows how to party. Known as the god of ritual madness and ecstasy, this dude will throw you for a loop.
Every ghastly, sinful, ludicrous activity can find a history with Dionysus. To think that designers and developers have forgone the opportunity to include him in a Leisure Suit Larry-style brawler where players are pit against bouncers and goons of all shapes and sizes in search of the ultimate party is unbelievable. Sure the last Leisure Suit Larry release didn’t really hit its stride according to vgchartz but a game highlighting the antics of Dionysus still sounds like an...
- 6/29/2012
- by Antony Wanjala
- Obsessed with Film
It’s gotten to the point where studio period and fantasy epics are as ubiquitous as sequels, remakes, and superheroes. This of course creates a paradox in that the entire reason for the existence of these films is their flash and spectacle. If Wrath of the Titans, a sequel to a remake focusing on a mythological superhero, has taught me anything, it’s that it might be time for these movies to vanish to the ethereal plains…at least for a little while. The latest in a string of underwhelming, despite themselves, period epics, Wrath is a tedious chore as messy in its visuals as it is frustratingly poor in its construction. The story here is that Perseus (Sam Worthington), having saved the world from both Medusa and the Kraken, is called into hero service again when his father Zeus (Liam Neeson) is taken prisoner by Hades (Ralph Fiennes) and Ares (Edgar Ramirez). The two conspirators plan...
- 3/30/2012
- by Brian Salisbury
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
Friends of Edith Hamilton, prepare the bacchanal. One of the most famous and frightening of the Greek myths lives on—vividly—in our 21st century. Once upon an Attic time, there lived a king named Minos. Ascending his throne to rule the island of Crete, Minos asked the God of the Sea, Poseidon, to bless his reign. Poseidon sent Minos a marvelous white bull and commanded the king to sacrifice it in the god’s honor to bring happiness and bounty to Minos’ kingdom. The animal proved so magnificent, however, that the king betrayed Poseidon and kept the beast for his own herd....
- 3/27/2012
- Pastemagazine.com
Tarsem Singh's "Immortals," which hits theaters on Friday, has as much to do with Greek mythology as Adam Sandler's "Jack & Jill" has to do with the unraveling of the structure of DNA. Yes, the main character's name is Theseus. Yes, there are characters named Phaedra and Zeus and Athena, just like you might see if you pulled your tattered Edith Hamilton down from the shelf. But it isn't *that* Theseus. It isn't *that* Phaedra. And it's barely that Zeus or that Athena. The effect is similar to watching a slacker comedy about a pair of video store clerks whose...
- 11/11/2011
- by Daniel Fienberg
- Hitfix
I have not read as many books as I wanted to this year, nor have I written about as many of the ones I did manage to read. (I didn’t manage to save as much from the flood as I would have liked, either; it’s a low-batting-average kind of year.) But the year is not over, and I can catch up on one of those fronts very quickly, viz:
I’ve devoted several thousand words over the past few years to the “Best American Comics” series — see my posts on the 2006 and 2007 and 2008 and 2009 editions — so perhaps I’ll be forgiven for not diving as deeply into the Neil Gaiman-edited 2010 edition. (Particularly since the 2011 book is out now, all shiny and new, so this is terribly old news.) Each editor shifts the material somewhat — Gaiman’s volume leads off with a long excerpt from the Jonathan Lethem...
I’ve devoted several thousand words over the past few years to the “Best American Comics” series — see my posts on the 2006 and 2007 and 2008 and 2009 editions — so perhaps I’ll be forgiven for not diving as deeply into the Neil Gaiman-edited 2010 edition. (Particularly since the 2011 book is out now, all shiny and new, so this is terribly old news.) Each editor shifts the material somewhat — Gaiman’s volume leads off with a long excerpt from the Jonathan Lethem...
- 10/27/2011
- by Andrew Wheeler
- Comicmix.com
With larger-than-life mythical beasts, breathtaking vistas spanning the depths of hell to the heights of Mt. Olympus, and battles to the death between man and the gods, “Clash of the Titans” is a mammoth spectacle that will grab audiences from the first scene and take them on a wild, 3D ride through an ancient Greece only imaginable in the 21st century.
“It’s a big, fun adventure, a big escapist movie, and I love escapist movies,” says director Louis Leterrier. “The story is heroic, it’s mythic, it’s romantic, it’s about fulfilling your destiny. There’s fantasy and fun, and it’s a bit scary, too. Add to that an unbelievable cast like Sam Worthington, Ralph Fiennes and Liam Neeson, and it was truly an exhilarating experience.”
With Leterrier at the helm, the stars of the film were eager to step into the mythical world. “I am always...
“It’s a big, fun adventure, a big escapist movie, and I love escapist movies,” says director Louis Leterrier. “The story is heroic, it’s mythic, it’s romantic, it’s about fulfilling your destiny. There’s fantasy and fun, and it’s a bit scary, too. Add to that an unbelievable cast like Sam Worthington, Ralph Fiennes and Liam Neeson, and it was truly an exhilarating experience.”
With Leterrier at the helm, the stars of the film were eager to step into the mythical world. “I am always...
- 3/30/2010
- MoviesOnline.ca
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