| Immortals | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Tarsem Singh Dhandwar |
| Written by | Charley Parlapanides Vlas Parlapanides |
| Produced by | |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Brendan Galvin |
| Edited by |
|
| Music by | Trevor Morris |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Relativity Media |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 110 minutes |
| Country | United States[1][2] |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $75 million |
| Box office | $226.9 million |
Immortals is a 2011 Americanepicfantasy film directed byTarsem Singh Dhandwar, written byCharley and Vlas Parlapanides, and starringHenry Cavill,Stephen Dorff,Luke Evans,Isabel Lucas,Kellan Lutz,Freida Pinto andMickey Rourke. It is based on theGreek myths ofTheseus and theMinotaur, and theTitanomachy. Principal photography began in Montreal on April 5, 2010.
The film premiered inLos Angeles on November 8, 2011 and was released in the United States on November 11 byRelativity Media. The film received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $227 million against a $75M budget.
When theTwelve Olympians imprisoned the traitorousTitans beneath MountTartarus, they lost the Epirus Bow. In 1228 BC, the genocidal kingHyperion searches for the bow to release the Titans; to this end, he captures the virginoraclePhaedra, to use her dreams and visions to find it.
Theseus is ahoplite trained by the Old Man, who says Theseus has been chosen by the gods. He and his mother Aethra are outcasts due to Theseus being a bastard child. Hyperion attacks Theseus' village; Theseus kills many of his men before being captured, and is forced to watch as Hyperion murders Aethra.
The Olympians, especiallyAthena, are sympathetic to the humans suffering at Hyperion's hands, but are forbidden byZeus from interfering in mortal affairs. Unless the Titans are released, they must have faith in mankind'sfree will to defeat Hyperion. Zeus himself has trained Theseus in the guise of the Old Man, but reasons he has helped him as a human as opposed to a god.
Theseus is made a slave in a salt mine. Phaedra, held captive nearby, sees a vision of Theseus embracing Hyperion; she and her sisters then attack Hyperion's guards, provoking a riot. She uses the chaos to escape with Theseus and the other slaves. They pursue Hyperion, but are overwhelmed by his 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, which she takes to mean that Theseus must return home to bury Aethra.
As Theseus buries his mother in the village's sacred labyrinth, he discovers the Epirus Bow inside a rock. He frees it, but is attacked by Hyperion's henchman the Beast, whose armour resembles aMinotaur. Theseus kills him and uses the Bow to kill his allies' captors before collapsing from poisoned scratches inflicted by the Beast. Phaedra later tends to Theseus; having fallen 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 to kill Hyperion but are lured into an ambush, and 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 eliminates Ares for disobeying his law, while sparing Athena's life as 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.
Theseus warns King Cassander, leader of the Hellenic resistance, of Hyperion's plans to destroy theHellenes and release the Titans, but Cassander dismisses the gods as myth, intending to negotiate peace. Hyperion uses the Bow to breach the city's immense wall, killing many defenders. Theseus rallies the Hellenic army and leads them against Hyperion, but Hyperion storms through, decapitates Cassander, and, before Theseus can stop him, uses the Epirus Bow to blast open the mountain and free the Titans. Zeus and the gods descend to battle the Titans, and they 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; as Athena dies, she begs Zeus to not abandon mankind. Hyperion mortally wounds Theseus, but Theseus overpowers and drives a knife into him in an "embrace". Zeus collapses Mount Tartarus on the Titans and Hyperion's men, and ascends to Olympus with Athena's body and Theseus.
With time Theseus' story becomes legend. Phaedra gives birth to Theseus' sonAcamas, whom the Old Man tells that he will fight against evil. Acamas sees the sky filled with Olympians, Titans and Theseus, in battle.
Additional actors include Canadian wrestlerRobert Maillet who playsthe Beast,Kaniehtiio Horn,Ayisha Issa and Mercedes Leggett as Phaedra's oracle sisters,Corey Sevier asApollo,Steve Byers asHeracles,Gage Munroe asAcamas andMark Margolis in an uncredited role as the priest of Phaedra's temple.
The film incorporates some elements fromclassicalGreekmyths and was filmed using3D technology.[original research?] DirectorTarsem Singh said that he was planning an action film usingRenaissance painting styles. He then went on to say that the film is "Basically,Caravaggio meetsFight 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 likeBaz Luhrmann doingRomeo + Juliet in Mexico; it's just taking a particular Greek tale and half (make it contemporary) and telling it."[3] The film had a production budget of $80 million ($75 million after tax rebates)[4][5] to $120 million[6] and cost "at least" $35 million to market.[7]
The score for the film was composed, produced and conducted byTrevor Morris and has been released on November 8, 2011.[citation needed]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Immortal and Divine" | 1:30 |
| 2. | "War in the Heavens" | 2:32 |
| 3. | "Hyperion's Siren" | 3:47 |
| 4. | "Witness Hell" | 1:56 |
| 5. | "To Mount Olympus" | 2:54 |
| 6. | "Enter the Oracles" | 2:30 |
| 7. | "Theseus and Phaedra" | 1:37 |
| 8. | "Poseidon's Leap" | 1:24 |
| 9. | "This Is Your Calling" | 1:31 |
| 10. | "Theseus Fights the Minotaur" | 2:13 |
| 11. | "Theseus Fires the Bow" | 2:16 |
| 12. | "My Own Heart" | 3:03 |
| 13. | "Zeus' Punishment" | 2:27 |
| 14. | "Ride to the Gates" | 1:00 |
| 15. | "In War, Fathers Bury Their Sons" | 1:05 |
| 16. | "The Gods Chose Well" | 1:18 |
| 17. | "Fight So Your Name Survives" | 3:07 |
| 18. | "Battle in the Tunnels" | 2:44 |
| 19. | "Immortal Combat" | 3:34 |
| 20. | "Do Not Forsake Mankind" | 4:33 |
| 21. | "Apotheosis" | 1:44 |
| 22. | "Sky Fight/End Credits" | 2:22 |
The film premiered in Los Angeles on November 8, 2011, and was released on November 11, 2011, in the United States.[citation needed]
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.[8] In its first week of release,Universal Studios Home Entertainment sold more than 1.2 million units of the film[9] making it the week's #1 film in Home Entertainment.[10] 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.[11] 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.
Archaia Press released a graphic novel tie-in titledImmortals: Gods and Heroes, the hardcover book featured new stories that expanded on the universe established in the film.[12]
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.[13] It then finished the weekend of November 11–13, 2011 at #1 with $32.2 million, ranking asRelativity Media's biggest opening weekend to date, against newcomersJ. Edgar andJack and Jill.[14] 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.[15]
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).[16] 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.[5]
OnRotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 50% 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 forImmortals' slack, boring storytelling."[17] OnMetacritic, the film has a score of 46 out of 100, based on 23 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[18] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale, rising to a "B+" among viewers under 25.[15]
Roger Ebert gave the film two stars out of four, writing, "Immortals is without doubt the best-looking awful movie you will ever see,"[19] whileThe 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".[20] Todd McCarthy ofThe 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" of300 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."[21]
It received an honorable mention fromMTV as one of the year's best films[22] as well as making Guy Lodge's top twenty films of 2011 list on HitFix.[23] Furthermore, it was onTORO Magazine's Top Ten list[24] as well asGlasgow To The Movies' Top Ten Films of 2011.[25] It also was nominated for several Saturn Awards, including Best Fantasy Film.[26]
Retrospectively, the film was named as one of the top ten underrated fantasy films of the decade byScreen Rant.[27] It was also named one of Vocal Media's "5 Underappreciated Fantasy Films" in 2018.[28] Isaac Feldberg ofPaste Magazine wrote that "a decade later,Immortals still feels sublime. This particular kind of auteurist exercise so triumphs in executing its mad vision that it stands as something of a gold standard for other visual stylists, especially those circling a broader mainstream they fear will stamp them out."[29] Critic Phillip Moyer calledImmortals Henry Cavill's best non-Superman film and noted its popularity on streaming platforms likeHulu andMax, where it reached as high as third place.[30]
| Year | Award | Category | Recipient | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | IGN Summer Movie Awards | Best Fantasy Film | Immortals | Nominated | [31][32] |
| Best 3-D Movie | Immortals | Nominated | |||
| 2012 | Saturn Awards | Best Fantasy Film | Immortals | Nominated | [31] |
| Best Production Design | Tom Foden | Nominated | |||
| Best Make Up | Annick Chartier, Adrien Morot, and Nikoletta Skarlatos | Nominated |
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