7 Perfect Double Features To Watch With 'The Odyssey'

Image via Melinda Sue Gordon / © Universal Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection Published Aug 6, 2026, 3:52 PM EDT Remus is a writer, editor, journalist, and author with an eye for detail and an extremely active imagination. He is an enthusiast of everything to do with the graphic medium, whether it's Western comics and their adaptations or manga and anime. Remus is also the author of the sci-fantasy novel Once Upon a Time in Hyperspace and several works of short fiction in the mystery, comedy, and horror genres. Sign in to your Collider account A foundational work of Greek literature, Homer’s Odyssey has been adapted for the screen time and again as silent short films, television films, and series, as well as loose modern reimaginings. Of these, the 1997 TV series directed by Andrei Konchalovsky was widely regarded as the most prominent, comprehensive, and popular screen adaptation for decades, until Christopher Nolan’s 21st-century cinematic interpretation. Since its premiere, The Odyssey has enthralled fans with its ambitious storytelling, sweeping production, and psychological deconstruction of its characters. Criticisms and controversies about its historical accuracy notwithstanding, the 2026 epic action fantasy film is definitely one of the grandest, most larger-than-life Greek historical epics since 2004’s Troy. While Nolan’s latest production is unmatched in many ways, watching it with other historical films as a companion piece would make the experience more enjoyable. With that in mind, here’s our handpicked selection of the best double features you can watch with The Odyssey. 1 ‘Troy’ (2004) Image via Warner Bros An epic historical action film directed by Wolfgang Petersen, written by David Benioff, and loosely adapted from Homer’s Iliad, Troy condenses the decade-long Trojan War into a few weeks and focuses on Achilles rather than the broader story of the war. In the film, Achilles, Greece’s greatest warrior, leads the Myrmidons and the Greek army to invade the titular city to fight against Hector’s Trojan army. The film boasts an ensemble cast led by Brad Pitt as Achilles, with Eric Bana, Orlando Bloom, Diane Kruger, Brian Cox, Sean Bean, Brendan Gleeson, and Peter O'Toole as key characters. A strapping, entertaining action spectacle, Troy reimagines the ancient epic as a grounded tale of power, greed, love, betrayal, and heroism, with intense drama and stunning visuals. Headlined by Brad Pitt’s often underrated performance as the legendary hero, the film became a huge global blockbuster but received mixed reviews, though it earned critical praise for Pitt and Bana’s performances. The first in the sequence of the overarching Trojan War mythos, Troy works as a perfect companion piece to The Odyssey, contrasting a massive military campaign with an intimate, surreal quest of survival and self-discovery. 2 ‘Clash of the Titans’ (1981) Image via United Artists The original epic fantasy adventure film that inspired the 2010 3D remake, 1981’s Clash of the Titans is an iconic fantasy classic directed by Desmond Davis that loosely adapts the mythology of the Greek hero (and Homeric legend) Perseus, the mortal son of Zeus. The film reimagines Perseus’s quest to save Princess Andromeda and solve a deadly curse by battling Medusa the Gorgon and Kraken the sea monster. Harry Hamlin stars as Perseus, with Judi Bowker, Burgess Meredith, Maggie Smith, and Laurence Olivier as key supporting characters. A grand cinematic adventure full of glorious quests, fearsome monsters, and raging battles, Clash of the Titans ranks among the best sword-and-sorcery films ever made. The film is still remembered for its stellar stop-motion effects that mark the final work of legendary visual artist Ray Harryhausen, which further inspired a comic book spin-off of the film. Clash of the Titans shares the same spirit of ancient Greek myth as The Odyssey, and also features a classic showcase of a hero’s journey against the will of the gods and all odds. 3 ‘300’ (2006) Image via Warner Bros. Zack Snyder’s adaptation of the 1998 comic book series by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley, 300 is a fictionalized retelling of the Greco-Persian wars and revolves around the Battle of Thermopylae. Led by King Leonidas, 300 Spartan warriors set out to battle King Xerxes I and his army of 300,000 soldiers, while Leonidas also navigates Spartan politics and his relationship with his wife, Queen Gorgo. Gerard Butler stars as Leonidas and Lena Headey as Gorgo, with David Wenham, Dominic West, Vincent Regan, Rodrigo Santoro, and Michael Fassbender as notable characters. Headlined by Gerard Butler’s award-winning, breakthrough performance as the gritty Spartan chief, 300 is bold, bloody, and exciting all at once. While the film didn't exactly thrill the critics as much as the fans, it became a global box office success and popularized its quotable dialogue, hyper-stylized slow-motion action, and distinct visual aesthetics. An utter disregard for realism aside, 300 is an epic action film that does complete justice to the original comics and presents a contrasting side to the ancient Greek myth of heroism. Collider Exclusive · Game of Thrones Personality Quiz Which Game of Thrones House Do You Belong To? Stark · Lannister · Targaryen · Baratheon · Tyrell Five great houses. Five completely different answers to the same question: how do you hold power in a world that will take it from you the moment you stop paying attention? Eight questions will determine where your loyalties — and your nature — truly lie. 🐺Stark 🦁Lannister 🐉Targaryen 🦌Baratheon 🌹Tyrell FIND YOUR HOUSE → 01 Someone powerful is acting dishonourably and everyone knows it. What do you do? In Westeros, the answer to this question has ended more than one great house. ACall it out, openly and on the record. If honour means anything, it has to mean something when it's costly. BUse it. Information about someone else's dishonour is leverage — and leverage is power. CAct decisively to correct it — with or without the approval of those around me. DChallenge them directly. Strength settles disputes more honestly than courtroom manoeuvring. ENavigate carefully — build alliances, apply quiet pressure, and create a situation where the right outcome becomes inevitable. NEXT QUESTION → 02 What is the source of your power? Every house endures because of something. What is it for yours? AThe loyalty of people who trust me — earned over generations, not bought with gold. BWealth, intelligence, and the willingness to use both without sentiment. CA legacy so fearsome and a vision so total that opposition becomes unthinkable. DPhysical strength, military force, and the respect that comes from being the kind of person nobody wants to fight. ECharm, connection, and the ability to make powerful people feel that my success is also theirs. NEXT QUESTION → 03 Who do you truly fight for? Strip away the banners and the words. The honest answer tells you everything. AMy family and my people — those who depend on me and have kept faith with me through everything. BMy family — the ones who share my blood, even when they exhaust me, even when they disappoint me. CMy cause — a vision larger than any single person, including me. DMyself, and those few who've proven themselves worth fighting beside. EMy house — its name, its future, the position I intend to leave it in when I'm gone. NEXT QUESTION → 04 How do you deal with your enemies? A house's method reveals its character as clearly as its words ever could. AHonestly — I face them directly, and I give quarter when it's warranted. BThoroughly — I don't leave loose ends, and I don't make the same enemy twice. CDecisively — fire answers questions that diplomacy only delays. DHead-on — I'd rather meet a threat on the battlefield than behind closed doors. EElegantly — I prefer to make former enemies into allies, or at least into people who owe me something. NEXT QUESTION → 05 What kind of ruler do you believe in? Westeros is full of answers to this question. Most of them end badly. AA just one — someone who serves the realm rather than using it, who leads by example rather than fear. BA capable one — someone smart enough to navigate the game, ruthless enough to win it, and realistic about what winning costs. CA transformative one — someone who doesn't just rule what exists but reshapes what's possible. DA strong one — someone whose authority is beyond question because the alternative is obviously worse. EA wise one — someone who understands that the realm is fed by more than armies, and that a full stomach keeps more peace than a sharp sword. NEXT QUESTION → 06 You suffer a devastating loss. How does your house respond? How a house handles defeat tells you more about it than how it handles victory. AWe grieve, properly and together — and then we endure, because endurance is what we do. BWe adapt. We reassess. And we ensure that whoever caused this loss comes to regret it completely. CWe burn hotter. Setbacks don't soften us — they clarify what needs to happen next. DWe hit back. Grief and revenge are the same motion in our house. EWe regroup quietly, rebuild our position, and return when we're ready — on our terms, not theirs. NEXT QUESTION → 07 Which of these truths about Westeros do you most believe? Every house has a philosophy. This is yours. AThe lone wolf dies, but the pack survives. Nothing matters more than the people you protect. BA Lannister always pays their debts — in gold or in kind. Reputation is built on consistency. CI am the blood of the dragon. Some destinies are written before the person who carries them is born. DOurs is the fury. When we move, we move completely — and we don't stop until it's done. EGrowing strong means knowing when to bloom and when to wait. Patience is its own kind of power. NEXT QUESTION → 08 The Iron Throne is within reach. What do you do? The answer reveals not just your ambition — but your character. AClaim it only if the realm needs me to — and rule in a way that makes it worth having. BEnsure someone who owes us sits in it. The power behind the throne is safer than the throne itself. CTake it. It was always meant to be mine — I feel that in my bones and in my blood. DSeize it — with both hands, without hesitation. Opportunity in Westeros does not wait to be asked. EPosition my house to be indispensable to whoever sits there — influence outlasts any single reign. REVEAL MY HOUSE → The Maester Has Spoken Your House Is…Your answers point to the great house whose words, values, and way of surviving in Westeros match your own. Bend the knee — or don't. That's very much up to you. 🐺 House StarkWinter is Coming — and you have always known it. You prepare not out of fear but out of duty, because the people who depend on you deserve someone who takes the long view. You lead with honour even when it costs you, because you understand that a reputation built on integrity is the only one worth having. Your loyalty to family and people runs deep — not as sentiment but as a code that doesn't bend when things get difficult. The North endures because Starks endure — not by being the cleverest players in the game, but by being the kind of people others are willing to follow into the cold. You are that kind of person. The pack survives. The lone wolf dies. You already know which one you are. 🦁 House LannisterYou understand the game — its rules, its exceptions, and exactly when the rules become the exception. You play it without illusions and without apology. You are sharper than most people realise, and you have learned to use that gap to your advantage. A Lannister always pays their debts — and you always keep your word, because your word is an instrument of power, and instruments must be kept in working order. You love your family with a ferocity that sometimes blinds you, and you know it, and you do it anyway. The lion doesn't concern itself with the opinion of sheep. Neither, in the end, do you. 🐉 House TargaryenYou carry a sense of destiny that is difficult to explain and impossible to ignore — the feeling that you are not simply participating in the world but meant to reshape it. You are capable of extraordinary things, and you know it, and that knowledge is both your greatest strength and your most dangerous quality. Fire and blood are not just words to you — they are a philosophy about what change requires and what it costs. The Targaryens at their best were transformative rulers who broke chains and defied the limits of what anyone thought possible. At your best, so are you. The dragon has three heads. You are one of them. 🦌 House BaratheonYou are a force — direct, powerful, and difficult to ignore when you enter a room or a conflict. You do not negotiate with challenges. You meet them. Ours is the fury — and yours is a kind of intensity that commands attention, respect, and occasionally fear from those who underestimate what's behind it. You value strength and straight dealing. You'd rather know where you stand in a fight than navigate a web of courtly whispers. The Baratheons built their house on the back of one of the greatest military victories in Westerosi history — and then struggled with what came after. The lesson of your house is that winning is not the end of the story. Governing is. You are learning that too. 🌹 House TyrellYou understand that power does not always announce itself — that sometimes it arrives with flowers, good wine, and a smile that doesn't quite reach the eyes. Growing strong is your house's motto, and you live it: patiently, strategically, always investing in the relationships and resources that will matter most when it counts. You are charming by choice and calculating by nature — a combination that makes you one of the most effective players in any room you enter. The Tyrells fed King's Landing and shaped its politics without ever sitting on the Iron Throne — and they were arguably more powerful for it. You know that the person who controls the food controls the kingdom. And you always know where the food is. ↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ 4 ‘Gladiator’ (2000) Image via Universal Pictures An award-winning historical film and the first major Hollywood blockbuster of the year 2000, Ridley Scott’s Gladiator follows the fictional story of the titular warrior, Maximus (Russell Crowe). Once the trusted general of Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius and known for his valor, Maximus is reduced to slavery after the king’s death and becomes a gladiator, using his unparalleled combat skills to avenge the death of his family and his emperor. Besides Russell Crowe, the movie also features Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Ralf Möller, Oliver Reed, Djimon Hounsou, and Derek Jacobi in memorable roles. In its day, Gladiator became a monumental historical film that defined the epic cinema of the 21st century by reviving the sword-and-sandals style for a modern audience. Perfectly designed, directed, and acted, the epic action-adventure film is thoroughly stimulating and high-energy, though also quite violent and gory. Gladiator became a benchmark for the genre and is cited as one of the films that have had a major influence on Nolan’s The Odyssey. 5 ‘Beowulf’ (2007) Image via Paramount Pictures Directed by Robert Zemeckis and written by Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary, Beowulf is an animated epic fantasy action film that reinterprets the Old English poem, which tells the story of the titular legendary Geatish (Goth) warrior. In the film, Beowulf arrives in Denmark to slay a dangerous monster and faces a vengeful adversary, which leads to long-drawn consequences, forcing him to pay the price for his choices as an aging king. Ray Winstone performs the mythical hero, with Anthony Hopkins, Robin Wright, Brendan Gleeson, John Malkovich, Crispin Glover, Alison Lohman, and Angelina Jolie rounding out the main cast. In much the same way that Homer’s Odyssey is central to Ancient Greek literature, Beowulf is foundational to Old English as the longest epic in the tradition and the most famous surviving text. The film brings that literary legacy to life through an uncannily realistic animation style similar to Zemeckis’s The Polar Express. Featuring a talented cast, solid performances, and a brilliant visual style, the film brings a grand cinematic, entertaining interpretation to the ancient epic, just like The Odyssey. 6 ‘Jason and the Argonauts’ (1963) Image via Columbia Pictures Loosely based on the 3rd-century BC Greek epic poem The Argonautica by Apollonius Rhodius, Jason and the Argonauts is an epic fantasy adventure classic. The story follows Jason, the titular Greek hero, as he sets out on a quest to find the magical Golden Fleece to reclaim his throne. In the process, he receives divine intervention and encounters mythical monsters. The film stars Todd Armstrong as Jason, with Nancy Kovack, Gary Raymond, Laurence Naismith, Niall MacGinnis, and Honor Blackman as other key characters. Considered to be among the best sword-and-sorcery films of all time, Jason and the Argonauts adapts ancient Greek mythology into a landmark work of cinema. Legendary creatures and grand battles come alive through phenomenal visual effects and animation by Ray Harryhausen. Additionally, Jason and the Argonauts and The Odyssey are both epic cinematic adaptations of ancient Greek mythology featuring extensive voyages, dangerous mythical creatures, and high-stakes heroic quests, making them perfect as a double feature. 7 ‘The Northman’ (2022) Image via Focus Features Based on the medieval Scandinavian legend of Amleth, as documented in Gesta Danorum by Saxo Grammaticus, The Northman was directed by Robert Eggers, who also co-wrote the film with Icelandic poet and author Sjón. Set at the peak of the Viking Age, the movie follows exiled Viking prince Amleth and his indomitable quest to avenge the death of his father at the hands of his uncle. Alexander Skarsgård stars as Amleth, with Nicole Kidman, Claes Bang, Anya Taylor-Joy, Gustav Lindh, Ethan Hawke, Björk, and Willem Dafoe in notable roles. An atmospheric, ethereal, and blood-soaked revenge saga, The Northman is one of the best medieval fantasy films of this century. The film has earned widespread critical acclaim for Eggers’ remarkable way of contrasting Amleth’s brutal journey and his dark and dangerous world with breathtaking visuals and immersive storytelling. Distinctive in its style and tone, with familiar touches of Eggers’ filmmaking style, The Northman is an unmissable epic to rival The Odyssey. Release Date April 22, 2022 Runtime 137 minutes Director Robert Eggers