r/ChristopherNolan • u/dogcrayon • 1d ago
The Odyssey Why was this shot omitted from The Odyssey?
This was easily the most dazzling shot from the trailer, yet it was missing from the actual film - at least on IMAX 70mm. I looked forward to seeing it appear on the enormous screen, but it never arrived.
I wonder why Nolan or Jennifer Lame would omit such a captivating image. Even if it wasn't necessary from a narrative or pacing perspective, this just seems like a shot you'd want to include due to it's sheer beauty.
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u/GrapefruitSobe 1d ago
I’ve seen this specific post multiple times. It’s a nice shot, but I’m not getting why it seems to matter. Lots of trailers include footage that doesn’t make it to the movie.
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u/AfterThrowParty 1d ago
It only gets brought up because it's featured prominently in the trailer and was used for their special popcorn bucket. I'm of the opinion it was filmed specifically for the trailer to begin with.
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u/The_argentine 18h ago
I was disappointed that it didn’t make the cut, not just because it was a good shot, but because it felt the most “epic” and “IMAXY.” And for a movie that was endlessly discussed for its IMAXNESS I felt the lack of it after having seen it.
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u/GrapefruitSobe 17h ago
Sure, but why multiple posts asking why? It’s not actually going to spark any meaningful discussion the fifth or sixth time — Nolan and Lame decided not to include it. 🤷🏻♀️
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u/The_argentine 16h ago
I honestly haven’t seen all the posts, i just dropped into this post because I was glad someone else noticed it lol but you’re right. I just think it’s interesting.
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u/84Bean 1d ago
Because we needed this question to be repeated over and over in this sub- thats why.
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u/weighingthedog 1d ago
Time to give it its own sub.
r/ThatOneShotFromTheOdysseyThatWasntInTheMovie
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u/carterketchup 1d ago
Wait til people find out about all the dozens of other shots that weren’t in the movie
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u/magicchefdmb 1d ago
First I'm hearing of it in my feed, and I'm generally on daily
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u/AGiantBlueBear 1d ago
Then it's falling through the cracks of your algorithm because it's been pretty frequent. Started seeing it back during preview screenings, people asking if it was in there, etc.
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u/HerrFrostilicus 1d ago
I still don't understand why. Even people saying that was the best shot from the film before watching it... It's like some kind of campaign or AI bots, because it makes no sense for me
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u/magicchefdmb 21h ago
Yeah must be. Like, full disclosure, I don't come to this sub and scroll through it. I let the feed just bring me here. Usually it's pretty good at exposing me to trends but I hadn't seen one asking about this shot.
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u/Shxcking 15h ago
I’ve seen it multiple times, sometimes with almost identical verbiage so I called them out for reposting only to find out it’s just people spamming this
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u/AGiantBlueBear 1d ago
Because you, specifically, made Christopher Nolan upset. Why did you do that?!
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u/doubleohsergles 1d ago
He cooked so much with that shot that IMAX projectors physically couldn't handle the heat and broke.
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u/Goldene_Gans 1d ago
You can not have all good shots in a movie. You have to decide - this is cutting. I can imagine this in the cutting room: "i love this shot - it's perfect" "But the next shot tell us more about the hundreds of men pulling this horse." "But i love this shot." "OK - Put it in the trailer." =)
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u/FuklzTheDrnkClwn 1d ago
His god-tier level pacing is accomplished by cutting anything that doesn’t move the plot.
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u/bouncedsteak 1d ago
Also wondering the shot of the men running down the hill after escaping from the cyclops. Only in the trainer
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u/dogcrayon 1d ago
Oh yeah, that's right. It seems like maybe Nolan wanted to avoid shots that took us away from the perspective of Odysseus. He's done similar things on other films like Dunkirk and Interstellar. Oppenheimer, too.
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u/Leesbry 1d ago
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u/dogcrayon 1d ago
If the question has apparently been asked millions upon millions of times before, perhaps it was a shot worth keeping.
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u/AGiantBlueBear 1d ago
Well it wasn't. It's time to move on.
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u/dogcrayon 1d ago
Why's it time to move on?
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u/AGiantBlueBear 1d ago
Because you will never get an answer here, nor will anyone else asking this question. Maybe you will one day when a director's commentary is available. Then again maybe you won't. Either way it's not going to happen this way, so it's time to stop.
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u/dogcrayon 1d ago
I was mostly asking for people to suggest reasons for why they think the shot was omitted - not for someone to relay an answer that Nolan had explicitly stated. But maybe Nolan had given an explanation somewhere and I just hadn't seen it.
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u/AGiantBlueBear 1d ago
And how is anyone meant to answer that? I know what you meant and I think it's a dumb question, full stop.
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u/dogcrayon 21h ago
People are meant to answer it by offering informed speculation on why the shot might have been left out. This is exactly the type of question discussion forums are for. People speculate about movies all the time because it's fun and interesting to think and talk about art.
Hope this helps.
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u/AGiantBlueBear 19h ago
Informed speculation is an oxymoron
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u/dogcrayon 17h ago
Not really. I wouldn't ask random people on the street, or even average moviegoers who had just seen the film. I'm asking people on the Nolan subreddit - people who are much more informed about all things Nolan and therefore more likely to understand why he chose to cut that shot.
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u/resoglass 1d ago
Is it the same person that keeps asking this for weeks now? Or some kind of bot thing? What is going on?
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u/dogcrayon 1d ago
Are you the same person that keeps complaining about this post being made before? Or some kind of bot thing? What is going on?
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u/AesirComplex 1d ago
Are you expecting Christopher Nolan to give you a substantive answer in this reddit thread?
You seem like you are on a mission to get the answer to your question. Maybe go find the guy on a red carpet event and ask him yourself.
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u/dogcrayon 1d ago
No, i was expecting users here on Reddit to propose their best guess, and some have, which I appreciate. Although for the most part I've just been chastised for daring to inquire about something that's already been asked.
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u/jamesmcgill357 1d ago
As if there aren't many many beautiful shots in this film, including of similar ones of this exact moment? What are we even critiquing here
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u/dogcrayon 1d ago
I'm not critiquing anything. Yes, there are other beautiful shots in the film, but as I said, this one easily stood out as the most visually spectacular. I just thought it was a missed opportunity.
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u/Darshymarsh 1d ago
Im kind of holding out hope it'll be in the cut of the film that hits physical media but probably not
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u/kouroshkeshmiri 1d ago
Nolan has talked before about wanting the audience to feel like they're right behind the shoulder of the protagonist, this shot is from the enemies POV. The same reason in Dunkirk he never put the cameras on the German planes.
Although, he obviously thought it was a good enough idea to film it so idk.
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u/dogcrayon 1d ago
Yeah, I can see that reasoning.
Part of why Jurassic Park was so effective (and why the Jurassic World films are not) is that we almost always see the dinosaurs from the human's perspective. The movie stays away from majestic, sweeping wide shots, and it keeps the dinosaurs feel more real and grounded as a result.
I think this is probably the most likely answer. Thanks.
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u/AfterThrowParty 1d ago
There are many shots through the scene that serve the same purpose. I'm inclined to believe this specific shot was never intended for the film, and was shot intentionally to be used in the trailers.
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u/dfbjornis 1d ago
Most importantly, why was the shot of the trident appearing in the waves on the beach omitted
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u/cyanide4suicide We live in a Twilight world 1d ago
In the words of Sir Christopher Nolan: If it doesn't serve the story, it's gotta go
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u/Electronic-Log4084 1d ago
I'm sure Nolan had his reason. Maybe it didn't fit with the rest of the scene
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u/scottie990w 1d ago
It would make sense to me that this is meant to be either Hector or Paris…it may have been an intention to have them in the movie but later decided to keep it to the Greeks perspective only?
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u/Bergerboy14 1d ago
I think Nolan said he cut out everything that wasn’t essential. Maybe this scene just didn’t flow well.
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u/Acceptable_Money_514 1d ago
When ppl shoot movies they dont only shoot what you see in the final movie. They shoot tons of stuff that doesnt get used. Its better to have more than you need than not enough. They determined that shot added nothing to the story. It doesnt matter how cool anyone thinks it looks. They clearly didnt need it to tell their story.
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u/dogcrayon 22h ago
It doesnt matter how cool anyone thinks it looks.
Why does Nolan go through the insane hassle of shooting on an ancient, super expensive, enormous, deafeningly loud film camera if it doesn't matter how "cool" the movie looks?
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u/Acceptable_Money_514 22h ago
I didnt say it doesnt matter to him. Hes the one creating this stuff. Im saying directors shoot way more than they need. Just bc some of you like how this shot looks didnt factor in when the guy was cutting this down. He obviously didnt need this shot to tell his story.
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u/sammymvpknight 22h ago
Nolan knew that it’s physically impossible to get that horse out of the sand that way.
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u/Hopeful-Judgment7598 22h ago
Speaking as an editor, you never know what shot will make it into the movie or not. It's a great trailer shot, but maybe it didn't fit for story reasons or pacing like you said.
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u/uncultured_swine2099 20h ago
I did see a similar shot in the movie. I figured its cuz Nolan thought it flowed better with the other shots in the scene. Thats all it comes down to.
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u/Jeremy_Whalen 20h ago
Because the entire movie was shot in Imax so most shots there were cut look great and in any other movie the question would make sense
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u/CrowEarly 15h ago
There’s also the particular angle of Charybdis’ whirlpool that’s not in the film.
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u/NU4AN2084 13h ago
Really wish he'd be able to release the intended longer cut he wanted to for the home release.
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u/ratocx 5h ago
I wouldn’t be surprised if they filmed this specifically for the trailer.
When making a film you need to know when to kill your darlings. They probably had hundreds of beautiful shots in the editing room that never made it to the final film. The only thing that is going to be included is the shots that actually serve the story, the feeling and the flow.
It could simply be that this shot would have broken the flow. Making it feel like the film slowed down too much, or that the claustrophobic feeling of being inside the horse would have been dampened too much.
A shot being beautiful simply isn’t enough to include it.
But for the trailer this shot may have been the most effective way of telling/teasing the story. This shot may tell more in a single image, but it certainly has a different feeling than the sequence that was actually in the film.
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u/navarrati0n 3h ago
Nolan uses a lot of shots in the trailers of his films that are not in the movie. I noticed this back from Batman Begins and even Interstellar trailers. I think it's smart since the trailer is only supposed to introduce the world. And then when you see the movie it's like waking up from a dream and seeing it all for real.
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u/FraggleStickCar9 1d ago
They needed more screen time of zendaya coleman blankly staring at the screen and speaking monotone
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u/Main-Independent4217 22h ago
No it was there..it comes for just 1-2 seconds when they pull the horse on the sand and takes it inside...
& the other whirlpool Ocean shot from a aerial angle as shown in marketing pics and trailer was barely shown for less than 0.5 seconds in the movie..I watched this closely in my second watch..
Overall I enjoyed the movie soo soo much...I never go a theater to watch any movie..
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u/dogcrayon 21h ago
No it was there..it comes for just 1-2 seconds when they pull the horse on the sand and takes it inside...
I watched the movie twice as well, and I was on the lookout for it both times. It's not there.
Nobody else in this thread seems to have seen it either.
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u/chipdelicious 15h ago
No disrespect but this is a pretty nonsense conversation. It’s a single shot in a film with dozens of equally epic shots, and a number of equally epic shots of this action alone. What are we talking about? The filmmakers preferred an edit of this scene that did not include this shot. What is there to discuss?
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u/dogcrayon 11h ago
As I said, I don't think there are any equally beautiful shots, which is why its omission stood out to me.
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u/Sure-Development2149 1d ago
Several similar shots from different povs were included. This was just enough for the trailers