Why Historical Accuracy Isn’t the Only Measure of a Great Epic Film
David Mccullough
Published May 17, 2026
By Published May 15, 2026, 10:00 AM EDT Zach Moser has been writing for ScreenRant since 2026, covering movies, classic TV, and streaming TV. His areas of expertise cover a wide range of genres with a particular interest in horror and drama, and the conversations around the TV and film industry. When he's not covering the latest film releases or chronicling the latest season of a new show, he's writing humor pieces for McSweeney's Internet Tendency, Slackjaw, and Points In Case or working on short stories and his second novel. Summary Generate a summary of this story follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap
I was excited for Christopher Nolan's from the moment I heard it was in production, and my expectations have only grown as the July 17 release date approaches. However, if the internet is to be believed, I am part of a shrinking group of fans, or possibly, just a less vocal subset.
Since my dad first let me watch Braveheart through my fingers, telling me to close my eyes during the more violent scenes, . The battles, the sweeping stories, the pointing to a real history that I could investigate on my own terms... These are still things I enjoy in the historical epics I watch.
The Odyssey is right in my wheelhouse. It's right in everyone's wheelhouse. We've all read it at least once in middle school, high school, or in college, probably more than once. I've played through it in video games more times than I can remember. Age of Mythology, anyone?
Despite Christopher Nolan directing, an incredible cast, and a story meant for the big screen, as more news has come out about the upcoming movie, there's been an uptick in people and personalities online railing against it. Like any internet firestorm, it's become hard to tell which issues come from a place of legitimate concern and which come from opportunists seeing a chance to shoehorn political and social opinions into a conversation they don't actually care about.
In my estimation, the issues that people have with The Odyssey, both real and imagined, are unsubstantiated, and don't just come from a misreading of the text, but from a misreading of what actually makes a historical epic good in the first place. I wouldn't bet against Christopher Nolan in the worst of times, and The Odyssey is shaping up to be far from that.
Movies Don't Need To Be Historically Accurate To Be Compelling
A historical movie does not need to be historically accurate to be worthwhile, or compelling, or "good", whatever that means. There are historical films that adhere as closely to history as possible, and more often than not, they're a slog. I really like 1993's Gettysburg. It's deeply rooted in the historical record, g. Gettysburg is a four-hour-plus drama that feels like it. It's worth watching, but its reverance to history means that every moment, interesting and not, is included.
If you want a one-to-one historical retelling, watch a documentary. Watch Ken Burns, buy The World at War box set, check out PBS's The Greeks. There are plenty of ways to watch rote historical facts on the screen, but a dramatic story doesn't always lend itself to being accurate to history.
My beloved Braveheart is wildly ahistorical, and it won Best Picture at the Academy Awards. Gladiator makes up history and alters the reality of what being a gladiator in Roman times would be. 300 is almost complete fantasy, selling itself as a true story, and I never get tired of it. despite its original lukewarm reception, has massive inaccuracies.
People don't only watch historical movies because they want to be engrossed in history. They watch historical movies because they want to be engrossed in a story that has echoes of something they are familiar with. A dramatic, blockbuster movie from a director with a singular vision is not the right vehicle to tell the "true" story of The Odyssey. For that, you can just read The Odyssey.
The Odyssey Is Not A True Historical Epic; It's A Fantasy
"The Odyssey is ahistorical" is said as if it's an insult, when it could be part of the book jacket description of The Odyssey if it had been published in the 21st century. Of course, The Odyssey is ahistorical; it's a fantasy epic, not true history. As far as we know, Helen of Troy, Achilles, Odysseus, and every other character in Homer's major epic was invented.
When people say that Nolan's The Odyssey is not being true to the history, which history are they talking about? Because the "history" of the Achaean Greeks sailing to Turkey to besiege the city of Troy with a giant wooden horse alongside a great warrior immune to harm save for his heel isn't rooted in historical fact.
The history of The Odyssey that Nolan's decisions seem to be going up against are still interpretations of the ancient Greek text. Much hey has been made about the use of the word "Dad" and the phrase "Let's go!" in The Odyssey trailer. Supposedly, "Father" and something more in line with classical English would be more appropriate.
However, the English word "Father" and some more epic lines, like "To me!" from something like The Lord of the Rings, are barely any closer to the Homeric Greek the Odyssey was written in, as a more modern interpretation, like "Dad", is. Soldiers' armor has drawn criticism as well, but again, this isn't a historical retelling; an element of fantasy in the armor is not a stretch.
We don't need to spend much time on the casting of Academy Award winner Lupita Nyong'o and the star of Nolan's Inception, Elliot Page, as characters who are barely in The Odyssey. There is no "right" way to depict Helen of Troy; she's not real, and everyone has a different idea of whom the "most beautiful" woman in the world is. My idea of the most beautiful woman in the world could be far different from someone else's; maybe you don't know her and she goes to a different school.
As for Page, just know there is no confirmation of who he will be playing. If he is picked to play Achilles, and complaints rain down about how he is not as "beefy" as Brad Pitt in Troy, just remember Pitt wasn't known for his physique before that film. Read David Edlestein's review of Troy for in 2004 to see how contemporary audiences viewed Pitt, "...not the first actor to leap to mind for the godlike, muscle-bound Greek killing machine, Achilles..."
Emotion, Storytelling, And Themes Make For A Good Historical Epic
What makes a good historical epic, or a good fantasy epic, is the emotions, storytelling, and themes. One reason to do a historical movie, beyond that history offers exciting stories and fables that writers don't have to spend time making up, is that the setting immediately sets the stakes and does the legwork of getting the audience invested.
In Braveheart, . It's a fight that many are familiar with, maybe even personally so. When William Wallace (Mel Gibson) wages his guerrilla war against the English, we're quickly on his side because we understand the history of people being kept under the boot of a more powerful kingdom.
However, if Braveheart did not include a beautiful romance, or make Wallace into a heroic, though haunted figure, we would not be nearly as interested in his survival or how his own personal vengeance is intertwined with his fight for independence. By marrying the historical events with a semi-fictional story, Braveheart adds nuance to the history and colors it, allowing viewers to step into it from a platform they can more easily conceptualize.
Subscribe for deeper take on Nolan's The Odyssey and epics
Explore Nolan's creative choices and the craft of epic adaptation-subscribe to the newsletter for in-depth analysis, context, and thoughtful takes on The Odyssey and the wider world of historical epics. Get Updates By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept our and . You can unsubscribe anytime.
I can't personally relate to Scottish peasants wanting to remove the yoke of English rule in the 13th century, but I can relate, on a level, to losing something that's yours because a bully decides they want it. Because we understand Wallace's love for Murron MacClannough (Catherine McCormack) and his despair at losing her, we better understand the wider fight he's a part of.
The Odyssey is rich in themes and emotion, which is why children, teens, and adults are asked to read it again and again. The symbols, parables, and metaphors are so obvious that they are great instruction. An adaptation of The Odyssey needs to be focused on capturing the feel and meaning of Homer's story, not whether the armor the fictional characters wear is appropriate for the time period or if every character looks like what past productions have told us they are supposed to look like.
Bet Against Christopher Nolan At Your Own Risk
What's especially galling about the backlash against The Odyssey is that some people seem to be forgetting who is directing the film.
to earn the movie-going public’s' trust with his legacy of movies and ability to shoot "historical" epics with big names. Dunkirk starred Harry Styles in his first major film role, and Nolan brought the historical World War II evacuation to heart-pounding life.
Oppenheimer stars Robert "Iron Man" Downey Jr., Midsommar's Florence Pugh, Matt Damon, back-from-the-dead Josh Hartnett, and plenty of other actors who felt too "big" to be a part of a historical film, and it ended up being one-half of the movie event of the decade.
Nolan is a director who can craft a time-looping World War II epic and still leave space to get audiences invested in Barry Keoghan's minor character. This is a director whose take on the superhero genre ended up as one of the greatest movies ever. He's a director whose least successful projects are still worth your time. The Odyssey was never going to be an easy movie to make, but if I were a betting man, I'd wager Christopher Nolan's is going to pull it off.
Cast
-
Odysseus -
Telemachus -
Athena -
Penelope
Emma Thomas, Expand Collapse
Follow Followed Like Share Close Trending Now
