Grok AI Odyssey film panned by reviewers after seven-minute debut
Web StoryWatch this story in 15 seconds →Key takeaways
- Grok Imagine released a seven-minute first episode of an AI-made Odyssey on October 23.
- Elon Musk had promised a full-length film by the end of the year.
- Reviewers panned the episode, and its makers promise a much better second episode.
Elon Musk promised a full-length AI film of Homer's Odyssey. What arrived instead runs just seven minutes. Reviewers panned it within days of its release.
The first episode came out on Friday, October 23. It was posted on X by Grok Imagine. Grok Imagine is the video tool from Musk's AI company.
What is The Odyssey
The Odyssey is an old Greek poem by Homer. It tells the story of Odysseus. Odysseus is a Greek hero trying to get home after war.
His trip home takes ten years in the poem. He faces storms, monsters, and long delays. The poem opens after the Trojan War has ended.
That detail matters for the new episode. The episode shows the war itself. Homer's poem starts after that war is over.
What happened: seven minutes, not a film
Musk made his promise on July 22. He wrote on X that Grok Imagine would make a full-length movie. He said it would be "historically accurate and true to the art of Homer."
The promise came days after Christopher Nolan's Odyssey opened in cinemas. Nolan's film opened on July 17. Musk had attacked Nolan's casting choices for weeks.
The first Grok episode is 7 minutes and 12 seconds long. It is posted in 4K, a very sharp video format. Musk shared it himself the next day.
The episode was made with Wonder Studios. Wonder Studios is a London-based firm that makes films with AI tools. Director Dev Walker led a small team of three people.
The team made the episode in less than two weeks. The Guardian reported it cost tens of thousands of dollars. That is tiny next to a normal Hollywood film.
What the episode shows
The episode starts with Odysseus unsure about war. He wonders if he should join the Greek army. The army plans to attack the city of Troy.
Odysseus sails from Ithaca, his home island. His men shout for revenge as they leave. They land and start to fight.
The episode ends after ten years of war. Odysseus holds a small wooden horse figure. The horse points to the famous trick of the Trojan War.
Only Odysseus is named in the episode. Viewers must guess who the other people are. That confused many first-time watchers.
The episode also drew complaints about history. Viewers spotted belt buckles and tunics from later eras. They noted Roman-style arches and cloaks in a Greek story.
Why reviewers panned it
The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw gave the episode one star. He wrote that its big moments felt empty. He compared them to shapes on a laptop screen.
A Telegraph reviewer used harsher words. The review called the film "sloppy gruesomeness." It said viewers could feel their eyes twitch.
Mashable reviewer Chance Townsend gave Musk some credit. He praised Musk for keeping "one of his sillier promises." But he found the writing weak.
Townsend also listed common AI video flaws. He noted teeth that look too perfect. He noted hair that moves like water.
He noted skin that looks smudged. He noted backgrounds that sharpen late in a shot. These flaws are common in AI-made video today.
Viewers on X were just as blunt. Fred Lambert, editor of Electrek, called it pure garbage and said Musk has no taste.
By Tuesday, the episode had 7.3 million views. That count came from the Grok Imagine account on X. Views do not mean praise, and most replies were negative.
Why Musk made it at all
Musk spent months attacking Nolan's film. He objected to Lupita Nyong'o as Helen of Troy. He objected to Elliot Page as the soldier Sinon.
He accused Nolan of desecrating Homer for Oscar rules. Nolan later called the backlash irrelevant.
Nolan's film stars Matt Damon as Odysseus. Anne Hathaway plays Penelope, his wife. Tom Holland plays Telemachus, his son.
Nolan's film cost 250 million dollars. It took 91 days to shoot in many places. It has made 1.8 billion dollars at the box office.
That success sets a high bar. A seven-minute AI clip cannot match it. But Musk's team says matching Nolan was never the brief.
Xavier Collins co-founded Wonder Studios. He said his team are fans of Nolan's film. He said no one told them to make an "anti-woke" version.
Collins said the brief was to test the tech. The team wanted to learn what AI video does well. They also wanted to learn where it still fails.
Why it matters for AI film
Seven minutes is long for AI-made video. Most AI tools still make short clips. People must stitch those clips together by hand.
So the episode is a real showcase for Grok Imagine. It shows the tool can hold a story for minutes. It also shows how far the tool must go.
A full film needs 90 minutes or more. Nolan's film runs close to three hours. Grok Imagine must bridge a huge gap by year end.
The money behind AI video is also huge. Chip makers now profit from AI chip demand. At the same time, some investors fear AI stock bubble fears.
A trailer is not the full work, either. Our explainer on a game trailer shows how early clips can mislead. Episode one is an early clip, not a finished film.
What happens next
The makers promise a much better second episode. Collins said they will fix the boats. Boats in episode one drew accuracy complaints.
They will also slow the fast pacing. They will read viewer comments for more fixes. No date for episode two has been announced.
No one has said how many episodes are planned. No one has said how long the full work will run. No one has said where it will show beyond X.
About ten weeks remain in the year. That is Musk's deadline for a full-length film. Episode one is a start, not a delivery.
The test now is simple. Can Grok Imagine turn seven rough minutes into a real film? Episode two will give the first clue.
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