The Odyssey viewers all have the same complaint about Christopher Nolan's new movie
Film fans are saying The Odyssey suffers from a big problem that's affected most of director Christopher Nolan's work, so much so that he's actually spoken out about it in the past.
And no, the issue isn't the backlash from MAGA supporters about the film being woke, or the scene where viewers claim camera rigging was left in the shot.
Instead, people are complaining the film is 'stupidly loud' and suffers from an issue dubbed 'the Nolan sound problem'.
One viewer complained: "The dialogue was muffled and required close listening which was incredibly hard to do because of how earth-shatteringly loud the rest of the film was."
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Christopher Nolan fans will know it can sometimes be tricky to hear what characters are saying in his movies.
The Dark Knight Rises villain Bane (Tom Hardy) was famously difficult to understand, with Nolan telling The Hollywood Reporter at the time that it was OK if viewers didn't pick up on every word he said, as long as they got the gist.
But when it came to 2020's time travel thriller Tenet, which has an incredibly convoluted plot, suddenly not picking up every word becomes a bit of an issue. The same complaints were levelled at 2023's Oppenheimer too.
One reason why it might be hard to catch dialogue in a Nolan film is that he dislikes using additional dialogue recordings (ADR) - when actors go back after shooting and rerecord any dialogue that might have been hard to hear on set.
He told Business Insider in 2023: "I like to use the performance that was given in the moment rather than the actor revoice it later. Which is an artistic choice that some people disagree with, and that's their right."
On a Reddit AMA from sound designer Richard King, who worked on Nolan's Dunkirk, Inception, The Dark Knight and Interstellar, he was asked why Nolan will often choose to have dialogue drowned out by thundering musical scores and sound effects.
King said: "Chris is trying to create a visceral emotional experience for the audience, beyond merely an intellectual one. Like punk rock music, it's a full body experience, and dialogue is only one facet of the sonic palette.
"He wants to grab the audience by the lapels and pull them toward the screen, and not allow the watching of his films to be a passive experience.
"If you can, my advice would be to let go of any preconceptions of what is appropriate and right and experience the film as it is, because a lot of hard intentional thought and work has gone into the mix."
There were hopes things might be different for The Odyssey. Nolan shot entirely on IMAX cameras, which are incredibly loud and drown out dialogue on set, but a 'blimp' was developed to house the cameras and dampen the noise.
He told Empire: "You can be shooting a foot from [an actor’s] face while they’re whispering and get usable sound."
But viewers were still unhappy, with one writing on Reddit: "Individual sounds were totally drowned out by just overall extreme loudness."
A second said: "I had to cover my ears during basically every action scene."
Another thing that's ruffled people's feathers is the fact that those who don't view The Odyssey in specific IMAX theaters don't see the full film.
IMAX 70mm has a very different aspect ratio to normal cinema screens, meaning a lot of the action essentially gets cropped out.
Discussing his decision to shoot entirely on IMAX, Nolan told The Independent: "It’s been a very long journey, starting with The Dark Knight.
"That was the first film where we were able to go to IMAX and say, ‘Lend us your cameras. Let’s try this on things like the introduction of the Joker, the truck flip.’ But we couldn’t do the dialogue scenes because the cameras are very, very loud."
He continued: "So knowing we were doing The Odyssey, I went to IMAX and said, ‘Look, if ever we’re gonna do a whole film on IMAX, this is the movie to do it with'."
While IMAX 70mm movies are wider screens, they also give clearer, sharper pictures, which is often why directors like Nolan want to use this kind of camera.
Apparently upcoming movies Dune: Part Three and Avengers: Doomsday are being shot in IMAX 70mm as well, says IMDb.
The Odyssey: What you need to know
Written: Between 725 BC and 675 BC, so more than 2,500 years ago
Based on a true story? Mostly no (cyclops aren’t real). Historians are unsure if the Trojan War really happened
Who wrote The Odyssey? Homer, but historians don't know much about him and debate if he is a single person or a group of poets
How long is the movie? 2hrs, 52mins - best go to the toilet beforehand
Where was the movie filmed? The Hellenic Film Commission explained Nolan and co filmed at several locations in the Peloponnese, including Nestor’s Cave, Voidokilia Beach and Almyrolaka Beach, which are all on the island of Pylos; Methoni Castle, at a port town of the same name in southwestern Greece; and Acrocorinth, a monolith overlooking the ancient city of Corinth.
According to Vogue, filming also took place in Morocco, in Marrakech, Tahanaoute, El Haouz, Essaouira and Ouarzazate. The cast and crew were also spotted on the Sicilian island of Favignana, while they filmed in Iceland for the underworld scenes.
Continuing their whistlestop tour of Europe, the Odyssey team also filmed in Scotland, along the Moray Firth Coast and at Findlater Castle and Culbin Forest.
The Odyssey in IMAX 70mm vs normal cinema screens: Helpfully, the film's website shows different versions of the trailer in six different formats, all with different aspect ratios. You can see the difference between IMAX 70mm (warning you now, there are only 25 IMAX 70mm screens in the whole of the US) and the standard 35mm format.
The Odyssey is in cinemas now.
Topics: Christopher Nolan, Entertainment, Film and TV
Niamh Shackleton