Fantasy films: Gods or no gods?

[Norrin Radd]

Question: can ancient gods (greek, norse, etc.) be featured in a fantasy film without it degenerating into cheese? We've got Thor coming up from Marvel, but I keep thinking about Clash of the Titans and it's got me somewhat worried. I love Clash for the memories, but let's face it...it's not exactly Laurence Olivier's magnum opus. The Hercules series from Kevin Sorbo was entertaining but campy to the extreme. Then you have that hideous Lou Ferrigno Hercules film....shudder. Though the recent Troy film didn't have the gods, it...well...wasn't the greatest either...

 

[Timewalker]

If a series' premise starts out with ancient gods, they should stick to that premise and not play fast and loose. I enjoyed the interaction between Hercules, Xena, Ares, Aphrodite, and the others.

What I did not enjoy was when those series meandered into "modern" territory and completely screwed around with recorded history, especially with Xena. A lot of fans enjoy the Xena/Caesar stories, but as someone who has extensively studied classical history -- the Julio-Claudian dynasty in particular -- these stories make me want to throw the idiots who came up with this concept into a live volcano.

That not to say that a movie that is traditionally inclusive of gods can't work without them -- First Knight is a wonderful example of an Arthurian movie that had zero mention of what I call the "three M's" -- Merlin, Morgan La Fay, and Mordred. The film works quite well without the supernatural elements.

As long as the movie is internally consistent and doesn't insult the viewers' intelligence or ability to suspend disbelief, having gods in fantasy movies should work. But personally, I prefer the ones that don't need them.

 

[A Clockwork Lim]

The gods of ancient mythologies are essentially identical to the superheroes today. If you can make a good superhero movie, you can make a good movie about the ancient gods.

 

[Captain Intrepid]

I'd love to see a good adaption of The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul. I don't trust Hollywood at all to make one though, so it's best kept as a book.

 

[Thespeckledkiwi]

As long as we don't get the love scene between Zeus and the cow, I think we'll be okay...

 

[FPAlpha]

If taken seriously it can work very well.

Classical mythology is a treasure trove of stories and many of our contemporary expressions and other stuff are based on them without people knowing it because they don't read classical mythology anymore.

The Xena/Hercules stuff was camp at its best while the Harryhausen Era of the 60s was the product of its age.

Take Lord of the Rings.. the material was taken very serious and the result was fantastic and blew everyone out of the water.

Gods just need someone who can grasp their scope and portray them faithfully.. i'd instantly see a movie about Ragnarok if it's done to the same level as LotR and i'm pretty sure it would be a blockbuster.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

I'd like to see an Elric movie with all the Melnibonean gods. The Final Fantasy games have gods (summons, at least) that are cool. Not all fantasy gods have to be guys with beards in togas and sandals with laurels in their hair.

 

[theenglish]

I would have to agree with FPAlpha on this. The problem with Mythological Gods in the past is that they either speak too pretentious (in British accents even if they are Greek or Norse or Egyptian), or they are too "down to earth". The subject matter itself is not flawed, the flaw lies in how it is handled.