Immortals (2011 movie)

Director Tarsem Singh and cast Luke Evans, Henry Cavill and Isabel Lucas at WonderCon 2011

Immortals is a 2011 American adventure-fantasy movie directed by Tarsem Singh. It is loosely based on the myths of Theseus, the Minotaur and the Titanomachy. The movie it stars Henry Cavill, Freida Pinto and Mickey Rourke. It was released on November 11, 2011. The reviews were mixed to negative. But it was a commercial success.

Plot

Before the age of man or beast, the immortals wage war on each other in the heavens. The winners become the gods. The losers become the Titans who were imprisoned in Mount Tartarus. During the war, a powerful weapon called the Epirus Bow was lost. In 1228 B.C., the Heraklion king Hyperion (Mickey Rourke), lays waste to Greece searching for the bow. With it he can free the Titans and destroy the gods who failed to save his wife and children from dying of disease. Hyperion captures the virgin oracle Phaedra (Freida Pinto), in the hopes that her psychic visions will help him locate the bow.

Meanwhile, the people of a village prepare to flee to Mount Tartarus to escape from Hyperion's soldiers. One of them is the warrior Theseus (Henry Cavill). He was mentored by a mysterious old man (John Hurt). Theseus and his mother Aethra (Anne Day-Jones) are considered as outcasts as he is the product of Aethra being raped. They are forced to stay behind by soldiers from Athens including Lysander (Joseph Morgan). Theseus beats off multiple opponents until the Athenian officer Helios (Peter Stebbings) has Lysander dismissed for his actions. Lysander travels to Hyperion offering him his service the location of the village. The king accepts but labels Lysander a traitor and, to punish him, has his testicles hammered, so he is unable to produce children. Hyperion's soldiers attack the village and, after murdering Aethra and the villagers, take Theseus captive.

It is revealed that the old man in Zeus (Luke Evans). He warns his fellows gods Athena (Isabel Lucas), Poseidon (Kellan Lutz), Ares (Daniel Sharman), Heracles (Steve Byers) and Apollo (Corey Sevier) not to interfere with mortal affairs unless the Titans are freed and they must have faith in the humans to defeat Hyperion.

Theseus is enslaved alongside the thief Stavros (Stephen Dorff). Phaedra, who is being held prisoner nearby, sees a vision of Theseus and organizes a riot, and Theseus uses the chaos to escape with Stavros and the other slaves. Theseus attempts to pursue Hyperion by hijacking a boat, but he and his allies are attacked by Hyperion's soldiers. Poseidon deliberately disobeys Zeus by diving into the sea from Olympus and causing a tidal wave which drowns Hyperion's men. When Phaedra sees a vision of Theseus standing near a shrouded corpse, she determines he must return to bury his mother. Despite Theseus's scepticism, his mother believed in the gods and therefore must receive a proper burial.

While laying Aethra to rest in the village labyrinth, Theseus discovers the bow embedded in rock. He frees it, but Hyperion's henchman Minotaur attacks him; though he succeeds in killing the monster, Theseus collapses from poisoned wounds. Phaedra heals Theseus, and later falls in love with him. The two have sex, stripping her of the prophecies she deemed a curse.

As Hyperion's forces gather at Mount Tartarus, the party travel to Phaedra's temple, and Theseus loses the bow in an ambush. Outnumbered by Hyperion's men, Ares, going against Zeus's orders, directly intervenes by fighting the soldiers, and Athena provides Theseus and Stavros with horses to reach Tartarus. Zeus arrives and angrily kills Ares for his defiance, letting his death be a warning to the gods, and that the mortals will no longer receive divine support, and must justify the faith he has in Theseus, before leaving with Athena. The stolen bow is brought to Hyperion.

Theseus, Stavros and Phaedra travel to Mount Tartarus, where he tries to no avail to warn the Greek king Cassander of Hyperion's plans. Cassander dismisses his talk of the gods as myth, intending to negotiate a peace treaty with Hyperion. The next day, Hyperion uses the bow to fell the walls of Tartarus, which are seemingly impregnable.

Theseus leads the Greek forces against Hyperion, and kills Lysander. Hyperion ignores the battle, storms through to Mount Tartarus, killing Helios and Cassander and using the bow to release the Titans, with the force of the release knocking the mortals down. Unable to escape the vault, Stavros kills a Titan to buy Theseus time to escape, before sacrificing himself. Zeus leads the gods in a battle against the Titans while Theseus fights Hyperion, and while they are more than a match, the gods are overwhelmed by sheer numbers, with all but Zeus and Poseidon dying. While Zeus collapses the mountain onto the Titans, Theseus kills Hyperion. As the mountain collapses, Zeus ascends to the heavens with Athena's body and a wounded Poseidon. The collapsing mountain decimates Hyperion's forces, and the dying Theseus is rewarded with a place among the immortals.

Years later, Theseus's story has become legend, and Phaedra is raising his son Acamas, who has inherited her gift of prophecy. The boy is visited by Zeus as an old man, who informs him he will become a warrior like his father and mustn't fear his visions. Acamas has a vision of Theseus leading an army of gods in a battle in the sky with the Titans.

Cast

• Henry Cavill as Theseus, a mortal chosen by Zeus to fight evil.
  • Robert Naylor as Young Theseus.
• Stephen Dorff as Stavros, a cunning slave and master thief who joins Theseus on his quest.
• Luke Evans as Zeus, god of the sky and king of the gods.
• John Hurt as Old Man, a disguise used by Zeus to interact with mortals.
• Isabel Lucas as Athena, goddess of wisdom.
• Kellan Lutz as Poseidon, god of the sea.
• Freida Pinto as Phaedra, an Oracle priestess who joins Theseus on his quest.
• Mickey Rourke as King Hyperion, the King of Heraklion.
• Joseph Morgan as Lysander, a traitorous Athenian soldier who joins King Hyperion after being discharged.
• Peter Stebbings as Helios, an Athenian general.
• Daniel Sharman as Ares, god of war.
• Anne Day-Jones as Aethra, mother of Theseus.
• Greg Bryk as Nycomedes, a monk in service to Phaedra.
• Corey Sevier as Apollo, god of light.
• Steve Byers as Heracles, the god who forged the Epirus Bow.
• Robert Maillet as The Minotaur, Hyperion's powerful henchman who wears a metal bull mask.
• Romano Orzari as Icarus, an Athenian soldier.
• Alan van Sprang as Dareios, a slave who joins Theseus on his quest.
• Stephen McHattie as Cassander, the King of the Hellenics.
• Mark Margolis as The New Priest, a monk.
• Gage Munroe as Acamas, son of Theseus and Phaedra.
• Tamas Menyhart as Heraklion

Other websites

• Immortals Movie Clip "Zeus's Wrath" Official 2011 [HD - Henry Cavill; YouTube]