The Odyssey rows its boat onto the big screen

Greek poet Homer's work from the eighth century finally sets its sights on the big screen in the 20th century. The Odyssey covers a great deal of territory with an epic journey written in 24 books. The written version takes about eight hours to read and the cinematic version takes two hours and 52 minutes.

The overall plot covers 20 years, with 10 years fighting the Trojan War and 10 years wandering the seas. The film version took 91 days to film and around 90 hours of footage were used to create the 172-minute final cut. The production came with a hefty price tag of $250 to make it and an additional $125 million for a marketing campaign. Do the math and that adds up to one of the most ambitious films made in recent history.

A trip by boat from Troy to Ithaca in ancient times would take close to 10 days, but in Homer's harrowing poem it lasts 10 years. There were many obstacles in the way of poor Odysseus and his band of merry men on their Trojan War expedition.

Not only are the men blown off course, but they also encounter singing sirens, the sorceress Circe and a cyclops with a side eye. To make matters worse, Odysseus is further sidetracked by Calypso, who holds him hostage on the island of Ogygia.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Odysseus' home turf of Ithaca is under siege and his wife Penelope is forced to pick a suitor to replace him on the throne. The punches don't stop until the bitter end and the manner in which it rolls out is engaging.

The poem is left up to interpretation and writer Christopher Nolan takes liberties with The Odyssey, such as the language, which often pays off.

As a director, Nolan is the puppet master pulling all the strings and to be fair, his masterpiece needs to be seen in an Image Maximum movie theater. Filming for the first feature shot entirely with an IMAX film camera presented challenges for the performers as well. Across six countries, the shoot proved taxing for all involved because of camera limitations and sight lines.

The cast pulled through and the results are several stellar performances throughout the film.

Star Matt Damon as Odysseus does the heavy lifting and carries much of the movie on his shoulders. Off camera, he trained heavily to play the lead and has worked with Nolan previously in Oppenheimer and Interstellar.

Robert Pattinson portrays the jaded Antinous as an unlikable and tricky fellow without overdoing it.

John Leguizamo is the lynchpin to this tale and deserves accolades after a long career of playing a wide variety of character roles.

Tom Holland takes on the task of Telemachus with gusto and Anne Hathaway as Penelope somehow summons the necessary emotions when hidden behind a cage-like screen.

The cast is made up of people with little or no Greek heritage and the dialogue is maintained in a modern style, but only distracting in a few places.

Whether audiences get on board Nolan's boat or not remains to be seen and there are other chapters in the story of Troy for possible sequels.

For now, prepare to be swept away on an unforgettable voyage this summer.