Immortals (2011 Film)

''Immortals'' is a 2011 American fantasy action film directed by Tarsem Singh and starring Henry Cavill, Stephen Dorff, Luke Evans, John Hurt, Isabel Lucas, Kellan Lutz, Freida Pinto, Joseph Morgan, Daniel Sharman, and Mickey Rourke. The film was previously named ''Dawn of War'' and ''War of the Gods'' before being officially named ''Immortals''. It uses motifs of the Greek myths of Theseus, the return of the Heraclids, the Minotaur, and the Titanomachy, but the plot does not resemble any coherent narrative originating from Greek mythology.

Principal photography began in Montreal on April 5, 2010. The film was released in 2D and in 3D (using the Real D 3D and Digital 3D formats) on November 11, 2011 by Relativity Media, becoming a commercial success at the box office by grossing over $226 million. Premiering in Los Angeles on November 8, 2011, the film received mixed reviews, with critics praising Tarsem's direction and visuals, acting, ensemble cast, action sequences, production and costume design, and music score, but criticized the film's storytelling and the lack of character development.

Plot

When the Twelve Olympians imprisoned the Titans beneath Mount Tartarus, they lost the Epirus Bow. King Hyperion searches for the bow to release the Titans. Hyperion attempts to capture the virgin oracle Phaedra, to use her dreams and visions to find it. He learns that a man named Theseus will slay him.

Theseus' village prepare to flee Hyperion's army. Theseus is a warrior trained by the Old Man, who says Theseus has been chosen by the gods. His mother Aethra was raped by Zeus, and Theseus was born. Forced to remain behind by Lysander and his Athenian soldiers, Theseus battles them until General Helios discharges Lysander for his actions. Lysander offers his service and the village's location to Hyperion, who attacks Theseus' village, murdering Aethra, and capturing Theseus.

The Old Man is Zeus. He commands the Olympians not to interfere in mortal affairs; unless the Titans are released, they must have faith in mankind's free will to defeat Hyperion. Theseus is manacled to the thief Stavros. Phaedra, held captive nearby, sees a vision of Theseus supporting Hyperion. Phaedra and her sisters, assaulted by Hyperion's guards, kill them, provoking a riot. She uses the chaos to escape with Theseus, Stavros, and other slaves. They pursue Hyperion, but are overwhelmed by Hyperion's forces when trying to seize a boat. Poseidon, unseen by Zeus, dives from Olympus into the ocean causing a tidal wave that wipes out Hyperion's men. Afterward, Phaedra sees a vision of Theseus standing near a shrouded body. She says Theseus must return home to bury Aethra.

This done, Theseus discovers the Epirus Bow in nearby rock. He frees it, but is attacked by Hyperion's henchman the Beast, whose armour resembles a Minotaur. Theseus kills him and uses the Bow to kill his allies' captors before collapsing from poisoned scratches inflicted by the Beast. Phaedra tends Theseus and falls in love with him. She begs him to take her virginity, stripping her of the visions she deems a curse and they have sex.

They return to Phaedra's temple while Hyperion is away at Mount Tartarus. They discover Hyperion was torturing Phaedra's sister oracles to learn where Phaedra is but they refused. Stavros and Theseus are lured into an ambush. The bow is seized by Hyperion's hyena. Ares directly intervenes to save Theseus, killing the attackers. Athena then provides them with horses to reach Mount Tartarus. Zeus suddenly descends and kills Ares for disobeying his law, he spares Athena's life because she did not physically interfere like Ares did. Zeus tells Theseus that he and his allies will receive no more aid from the gods as he must justify the faith that Zeus has in him alone.

Hyperion now has the Epirus Bow. Theseus, Stavros, and Phaedra gallop to Mount Tartarus. Theseus warns King Cassander of Hyperion's plans to destroy the kingdom's children, make their future generations his own descendants, and release the Titans, but Cassander dismisses the gods as myth, intending to negotiate peace. Next day, Hyperion uses the Bow to breach the city's immense wall, killing General Helios and many defenders. Theseus rallies the Hellenic army and leads them against Hyperion, killing Lysander. Hyperion storms through, kills Cassander, and before Stavros and Theseus can stop him, uses the Epirus Bow to blast open the mountain and free the Titans. The blast stuns the mortals and Hyperion drops the Bow. Stavros takes it up, but is slain. Zeus and the gods descend to battle the Titans, and urge Theseus to fight Hyperion. Zeus destroys the Epirus Bow with Ares' Warhammer. The gods prove more powerful than the Titans, but are overwhelmed, and all are killed except Zeus and a badly wounded Poseidon. Theseus kills Hyperion, and Athena dies, begging Zeus to not abandon men. Zeus collapses Mount Tartarus on the Titans and ascends to Olympus with Athena's body and the mortally wounded Theseus. The collapsing mountain wipes out Hyperion's men.

Theseus' story becomes legend. Phaedra has since given birth to Theseus' son Acamas. The Old Man tells Acamas that he will fight against evil. Acamas sees the sky filled with Olympians, Titans and Theseus, in battle.

Cast

Production

This film incorporates some elements from classical Greek myths and was filmed using 3D technology. Director Tarsem Singh said that he was planning an action film using Renaissance painting styles. He then went on to say that the film is "Basically, Caravaggio meets ''Fight Club''. It's a really hardcore action film done in Renaissance painting style. I want to see how that goes; it's turned into something really cool. I'm going for a very contemporary look on top of that so I'm kind of going with, you know, Renaissance time with electricity. So it's a bit like Baz Luhrmann doing ''Romeo + Juliet'' in Mexico; it's just taking a particular Greek tale and half (make it contemporary) and telling it." The film had a production budget of $80 million ($75 million after tax rebates) to $120 million and cost "at least" $35 million to market.

Soundtrack

The score for the film was composed, produced and conducted by Trevor Morris and has been released on November 8, 2011.

Release

The film premiered in Los Angeles on November 8, 2011, and was released on November 11, 2011 in the United States.

Reception

Box office

In North America, it was released on November 11, 2011. ''Immortals'' had a $1.4 million midnight showings and then grossed a total of $14.8 million on its opening day, topping the daily box office. It then finished the weekend of November 11–13, 2011 at #1 with $32.2 million, ranking as Relativity Media's biggest opening weekend to date, against newcomers ''J. Edgar'' and ''Jack and Jill''. 3D showings accounted for a substantial 66% of the weekend gross. The film's audience was 60 percent male, 75 percent under the age of 35.

Outside North America, it earned $38 million overseas from 35 countries on its opening weekend. Its highest-grossing territories were Russia ($8.2 million), China ($5.7 million) and South Korea ($4.5 million). The film has earned $83,504,017 in the United States and Canada and $143,400,000 in other countries, for a worldwide total of $226,904,017.

Critical reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 49% based on 139 reviews, with an average rating of 5.4/10. The website's critical consensus states: "The melding of real sets, CG work, and Tarsem's signature style produces fireworks, though the same can't be said for ''Immortals slack, boring storytelling." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 46 out of 100, based on 23 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale, rising to a "B+" among viewers under 25.

In an affectionate but unfavorable review, Roger Ebert gave the film two stars out of four, writing, "''Immortals'' is without doubt the best-looking awful movie you will ever see," while ''The Guardian'' gave the film three stars out of five, commenting, "Theseus battles the Titans in a cheerfully idiotic mythological yarn ballasted by Tarsem's eyecatching image-making". Todd McCarthy of ''The Hollywood Reporter'' wrote, "Thuddingly ponderous, heavy-handed and lacking a single moment that evinces any relish for movie-making, this lurch back from the "history" of ''300'' into the mists of Greek myth is a drag in nearly every way, from the particulars of physical torture to the pounding score that won't quit."

Of those who praised the picture, it received an honorable mention from MTV as one of the year's best films as well as making Guy Lodge's top twenty films of 2011 list on HitFix. Furthermore, it was on TORO Magazine's Top Ten list as well as ''Glasgow To The Movies'' Top Ten Films of 2011. Marc Eastman, of ''Are You Screening'', named ''Immortals'' the #3 film of 2011. It also was nominated for several Saturn Awards, including Best Fantasy Film. The film is now viewed as a cult hit and was recently named as one of the top ten underrated fantasy films of the decade by Screen Rant. It was also named one of Vocal Media’s Five Most Under Appreciated Fantasy Films in 2018.

Accolades

Release

Home media

''Immortals'' was released on DVD, Blu-ray Disc, and Blu-ray 3D on March 5, 2012 in the United Kingdom and on March 6, 2012 in the United States and Canada. In its first week of release 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment sold more than 1.2 million units of the film making it the week's #1 film in Home Entertainment. It sold 648,947 DVD units for a total of $11,116,462 and 926,964 Blu-ray Disc units for a total of $21,310,902 for the week ending March 11, 2012. An additional 100,000 3D units sold totaling almost $40,000,000 in home entertainment sales in its first week of release in the United States.

Comic book

Archaia Press released a graphic novel tie-in titled ''Immortals: Gods and Heroes'', the hardcover book featured new stories that expanded on the universe established in the film.

See also

* The brazen bull, an ancient Greek device of torture and execution, is applied in the film to the maidens of the oracle.

Notes

References

External links

*

{{Hercules media

2011 films
Greek-language films
2011 3D films
American epic films
Canadian action adventure films
American fantasy adventure films
Films based on classical mythology
2010s action adventure films
2010s fantasy adventure films
Films set in ancient Greece
Films set in Crete
Relativity Media films
Rogue (company) films
Universal Pictures films
Films directed by Tarsem Singh
Films shot in Montreal
American action adventure films
Fiction about deicide
Phaedra
Cultural depictions of Theseus
2010s English-language films
2010s American films
2010s Canadian films