Hollywood has tried to adapt Greek, Roman, and Egyptian myths for decades with high inaccuracies and generally poor reception, but that hasn’t curbed the appeal of making new movies one bit. Before Disney revives the Percy Jackson series, it’s worth taking a look at film’s past attempts to bring classical heroes, battles, and mythical creatures to the big screen.
Not on this list are the 2010 and 2013 adaptations of the first two books in the series, The Lightning Thief and The Sea of Monsters, widely panned by fans and the author, Rick Riordan, and chock-full of disappointing spoilers.
‘Jason and the Argonauts’ (1963)
Now a cult classic and famous for its spectacular stop-motion creatures, Jason and the Argonauts is mostly faithful to the myth surrounding the voyage of the Argo with some discrepancies. The story follows Jason on a quest to find the magical golden fleece with his crew of Argonauts, famous hero Hercules among them.
Ray Harryhausen’s stop-motion work on the film, with various monsters like the famous skeletons, Talos, and a hydra, is regarded as his finest and Jason and the Argonauts remains one of the best fantasy movies of all time.
‘Hercules’ (1997)
Disney’s retelling of one of mythology’s most famous heroes is one of many over the years. It has the perfect balance of camp, Disney humor, catchy gospel sing-alongs, and a unique twist on the standard Disney romance. The story follows Hercules on his many trials against a hydra, the Nemean Lion, and Hades himself under the tutelage of Chiron.
His love interest, Megara, is one of Disney’s most self-sufficient heroines, poking fun at the damsel-in-distress trope and the insta-love romances of the other films in the Disney Renaissance. Hercules plays fast and lose with the finer details of the myths, but it takes itself just seriously enough to be wildly entertaining.
‘Clash of the Titans’ (2010)
2010’s Clash of the Titans is a remake of the 1981 loose adaptation of the myth of Perseus (the same hero Riordan’s Percy is named after). The film follows Perseus, a demigod son of Zeus, caught between Hades and the rest of Olympus with the threat of the Kraken looming over him and the city of Argos. With the life of Princess Andromeda hanging in the balance, Perseus hunts down Medusa to use her head as a weapon to stop the Kraken.
Clash of the Titans is loud and gritty and makes caricatures of the myths its based on, but for a summer blockbuster and a cast centering around Sam Worthington’s Perseus that does their best, it’s still a fun action movie with lots of spectacle and stakes worthy of the gods.
‘Wrath of the Titans’ (2012)
The sequel to Clash of the Titans takes place ten years after the events of the first film and follows Worthington’s Perseus on another quest, this time against Kronos. The gods draw their power from human worship and devotion and when it wanes, Kronos seizes the opportunity to enact revenge for being cast into Tatarus thousands of years ago.
Wrath of the Titans also makes heavy caricature of the myths its based on, but it’s an equally entertaining blockbuster with much of the cast reprising their roles with Liam Neeson as Zeus and Ralph Fiennes as Hades once again.
‘Troy’ (2004)
Very loosely based on the Iliad, the film stars Brad Pitt, Eric Bana, and Orlando Bloom during the war between Sparta and Troy. Pitt plays Achilles, one of the most famous Greek heroes well-known today in a face-paced war that trims ten years of combat down to a couple of weeks. Far more spectacle than faithful to historical events and cultural accuracy, Troy remains one of the most expensive films ever made.
Every actor brings dedicated nuance and depth to their characters where the bombastic plot falls short. Troy is still thrilling entertainment that brings impressive historical events to the big screen.
‘Helen of Troy’ (1956)
For a much older retelling of the Trojan war, Helen of Troy takes equal creative liberties with the events in the Iliad, but absolutely sells its action, stunts, and practical sets. The film follows the same story as 2004’s Troy, centered around Paris (Jacques Sernas) and Helen (Rossana Podestà) whose love affair ignites the war between Sparta and Troy.
The stripped plot and shallow characters do the film a disservice, but the spectacle of the massive cast’s depiction of battle and the siege of Troy with the infamous giant horse are still worth a casual watch.
‘300’ (2006)
300 is based on the comic books of the same name about the Battle of Thermopylae between Sparta and Persia and stars Gerard Butler as King Leonidas of Sparta and his 300 Spartans against King Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) of Persia and his 300,000 men.
Highly stylized, as Zack Snyder movies tend to be, the movie is incredible spectacle and popcorn fun with impressive cinematography. Historically, the story takes liberties with Spartan and Persian culture and has been criticized as being Islamophobic as it paints either side as blanket good versus evil.