Troy Reviews

Have always been fascinated by Greek mythology and the Trojan War, and Homer's 'Iliad' is a major example as to why. Also love and appreciate many film epics, of which there are numerous classics, and they were the main reasons in my interest in seeing 'Troy' (another being that it was the film of choice at the friend/family weekly film night).

'Troy' had a lot going for it. A talented cast, it is hard to go wrong with Brian Cox, Sean Bean, James Cosmo, Eric Bana, Brendan Gleeson and Peter O'Toole, a more than capable director in Wolfgang Petersen (though he seemed a curious choice on paper) and a fine composer in James Horner. Will admit to not being completely sure about Brad Pitt, in terms of physicality and whether he had the complexity and presence for a character as complex as Achilles, and Orlando Bloom at first. The reviews for 'Troy' were very mixed and still are, some like and even love it and have been very passionate in their defence and others dislike it intensely and are just as passionate in their criticism. My opinion is somewhere in between, leaning towards moderately liked, there are many strengths that have been mentioned and for me some big weak points, so can see both sides of the debate very clearly.

Starting with the positives, 'Troy' looks great. The setting and production look very handsome, evocative and imposing in scale. All beautifully photographed and the editing flows and is at least coherent. Worried that Petersen would struggle with the bigger and bolder approach his directing would need than the claustrophobic approach impressively brought to 'Das Boot', actually he does well in this regard.

Particularly in the action sequences, which are exciting and tremendously well staged, showing the passion that was missing in some of the drama. James Horner's score is nowhere near one of his best or most inspired, the rushed composition process does show, but it does have its rousing, beautiful and haunting parts.

Most of the cast acquits themselves well. Brad Pitt was better than expected as Achilles, not always comfortable but the charisma and passion is definitely there. Eric Bana excels, providing a noble and sympathetic Hector and have no qualms with Sean Bean who has some of the script's better lines. Brian Cox brings relish and steely intensity, while Brendan Gleeson is a powerful presence in a role that in lesser hands would have been incredibly bland. Likewise with luminous Rose Byrne. James Cosmo is as ever reliable, while Peter O'Toole is perfectly cast, on an emotional level he and Bana are the most believable.

Not all the cast fare well, though only two really didn't do much for me. Orlando Bloom is a very characterless Paris, even for a character written as a coward there was nothing interesting about the character and got nothing out of Bloom on a performance level. Diane Kruger has a non-entity role and some of the script's worst lines, and she made the character even blander by bringing absolutely nothing and looking completely lost and even out of place.

Would have liked more passion and deeper characterisation, did like that the film didn't try to take sides or make the characters too black and white but the complexity of some of the characters is lost. The romantic elements fare the worst, whereas the action was exciting and passionate the romantic elements were pure soap opera with no chemistry let alone emotion. It is here where Petersen's direction became static.

Am not going to go into detail about how many inaccuracies and dumbing down there are in order to be kind to the film, but a lot of the dialogue is more cornball and soapy than thought-provoking or natural. The pace is uneven, there is urgency and purpose when needed but in more intimate moments the film does go dead. Am not going to criticise the film massively for being overlong, there are much longer epics out there on film (many classics), though it did feel at times there wasn't enough content and that the film tended to be too on the surface and not have enough substance so for a two and a half hour film some of it felt on the thin side.

Overall, somewhat of a mixed to moderately liked view here where both sides are understandable. 6/10 Bethany Cox

Para empezar, que hayan quitado a los dioses fue una buena elección. Alguien inexperto no podría utilizarlos adecuadamente, pues casi siempre acarrean conveniencias en el guión. Ahora bien, el mayor problema que le veo no es la actuación ni nada de ese estilo, sino en el hecho de que es una historia muy simplista, que compacta casi todo el material original, haciendo que se vea como la típica historia de buenos contra malos, y donde Aquiles es prácticamente un Gary Stu. Sinceramente, me sorprende que no se haya profundizado en los aqueos, ni en los troyanos, sino que apenas en unos cuántos y ya. Es potencial desperdiciado.
Tema aparte, ¿por qué a nadie se le ocurrió hacer una trilogía de esto? Dios, el guión se escribiría prácticamente solo.

I have always been surprised by the mixed reactions towards this movie. Indeed, on one hand, it has a solid rating on Imdb (7.1) which should mean that many people love it but, on the another hand, it was pretty much trashed when it was released. In my opinion, it is actually a decent blockbuster and ‘Gladiator’ (a really overrated flick in my book) which is regarded as a ‘classic’ is only slightly better. Of course, Ridley Scott is a better director than Wolfgang Petersen and neither Brad Pitt or Eric Bana are as bad-ass as Russell Crowe but both stories were both entertaining without being really amazing. One of the biggest critic was that it was not really faithful but that’s rather ridiculous. I mean, the Iliad is full of legends, Gods and myths and it was never meant to be really historically accurate and the makers made their own adaptation which was fine by me. A part from that, the whole thing was pretty spectacular, there was a solid cast (Brad Pitt, Eric Bana, Orlando Bloom, Diane Kruger, Brian Cox, Brendan Gleeson, Garrett Hedlund, Sean Bean, Julie Christie, Peter O'Toole, Saffron Burrows) and the whole thing was quite entertaining. It was also one of the last blockbusters starring Brad Pitt, a genre he has been cautiously avoiding, and, to be honest, it wasn't really his best flick or best performance. To conclude, even though I don’t think it is anything remotely amazing, it remains a decent flick and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

The film barely reaches its 10 minutes mark that it already shows very worrying qualities; cheesy, unpredictable quotes, wrong atmosphere and a pace that can be said as limping. You instantly know that it is not going to be like the other epic classics, namely Spartacus. It is only when Hector is introduced that you ease down a little and you instantly know that it is gonna be worth of your time. Hector, played by Eric Bana - who has never looked this handsome before - grabs you by the scruff of your neck and yells "pay attention to me", and you have no choice but to oblige. Hector, from his introduction to his death, remains the only character that you actually care about and find yourself rooting for, and he leaves a strong impression because of two reasons: the way he was written for the screen and Eric Bana's performance. Hector was so well-written and chemistry-wise he was so brilliant that he felt the only living flesh among hundreds of puppets and/or CGI. Brad Pitt and Orlando Bloom were both hilarious in their roles, achieving something they were not hoping for. I mean, absolutely no depth to their characters, performances were off-beat and their written script was clunky and goofy at best. From the females, a large part of the actresses were good but they could've picked a better Helen of Troy than Diane Kruger. Don't get me wrong, I loved the choice as she really is beautiful but they could've picked someone with better acting skills. Someone like Lena Headey could've been a much stronger choice. @ Hollywood: Anytime you make another sword-and-sandal flick, just cast Lena Headey and you have got it made.

Story-wise, the film is quite a-rumbling mess, like a big pile of dominoes falling or Lego blocks being smashed by a ball. It is fun to watch but offers absolutely nothing. The battle scenes are great, they really are, if this film had been directed by Walt Disney or Roland Emmerich. Seriously, CGI? Come on, what's with this PG-Rated stuff? No flying bodies, no guts falling out, no blood, absolutely nothing, except for very fast, stomach-turning editing and unnecessary focusing. Come on, Ben-Hur is times gorier than this and it was released more than 50 years ago. Not to say there wasn't any blood, there was, but I wish it could've been more. Not that I'm a fan big fan of blood coming out as if from a high-speed hose but it would've suited the atmosphere of the battles. But not all battles were done with CGI. Take a look when Hector and Achilles confront each other. Two greatest of the warriors fighting each other to death. The cinematography was great and the 2 minute fight scene was hands down the best battle from the movie and one of the greatest from modern cinema. Both handled the spear, shield and the sword better than I expected.

In conclusion, even though it employs an ensemble cast (the above + Sean Bean & Brian Cox), it just didn't achieve what it was hoping for. Even though it was enjoyable I would have to say it was a miss.

7.5/10

I *think* I watched this....probably not that closely; it's a good movie not to watch too closely.

It's not so terrible, but it's one of those ones not to take too seriously.

Legolas is a pretty boy, Brad Pitt punches people....

Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose.

.....

But, then, maybe I'm being too generous. This isn't just a mediocre movie, like "Jurassic Park"; this is a suck-y movie, like "Gladiator".

I mean, I remember that one of my friends who saw it thought that it trivialized the whole thing--"It made it sound like the Trojan War happened in three days!"-- although I almost didn't want to mention that, since I don't exactly want it to be longer.

I mean, Brad Pitt is Achilles and Boromir is Odysseus? Really?

(6/10)

"In Warner Bros.' Troy movie, certain decisions were made that had dramatic and, depending on how you look at the Troy movie, devastating consequences. Chief among these was the elimination of the involvement of the gods and goddesses in the lives of men at Troy. Without the hand of Apollo to guide the arm of Paris, Achilles should have survived and might well have lived long enough to be inside the Trojan Horse. Without the hand of Aphrodite, Paris should have died, killed at the hand of Menelaus -- or, in the alternate reality of the Troy movie, fled for safety to his brother. In this alternate Hollywood-reality, it makes some sense that Hector would kill Menelaus to save his brother's life, although the code of honor that the warriors followed -- in ancient times as in the Troy movie -- makes this action questionable. Perhaps it was only because of the intervention of the gods that the Trojan War lasted 10 years in the original, rather than the 2 weeks of Wolfgang Petersen's godless rendition. You'll have to get over the time problem, the presence of Achilles in the Trojan Horse, and the killing by Hector of Menelaus and Ajax, in order to enjoy the Troy movie.

Hector, played by Eric Bana, is torn between his piety, his family, and his country. When he first learns that he is leading a ship back from Menelaus to Troy carrying his son's kidnapped bride Helen, he considers returning her, but then caves in to the wishes of his brother. When Paris grabs his leg during the single combat between Menelaus and Paris, Hector defies the code of the hero and kills Menelaus to protect his brother. Hector tries to console his wife, but he does his duty to his country even when he knows he will be killed because Achilles is a better fighter.

Brad Pitt as Achilles seems to be the most controversial of the leading actors of the Troy movie because people disagree with his portrayal. To me, his independence, dance-like fighting techniques, impulsiveness, defiance of Agamemnon, and love of Briseis all seem in line with the Achilles Homer wrote. Achilles is moved by love of glory and knows that he will die young if he pursues it, but his reputation is all that counts because all he is is a warrior and the best one, at that. Brad Pitt captured that essence and was a delight to watch.

The scene where Achilles washes his face, but none of the dirt and blood comes off as well as the closeups of his battle-time dripping helmet, and the face of Hector's corpse crusted with sand and grit, were among the many realistic touches. The fighting scenes used large numbers of real people, instead of relying only on animation techniques -- although Brad Pitt's leaping almost looked like something from Matrix. The presentation of the walls of Troy and the ships dotting the sea as far as you could see were inspired."

N.S. Gill

The song "Remember" is the best part of the movie.

awesome movie , one of my favorite movies ,

i have never seen a movie, which is better than it..

To be perfectly honest, I was unsure of what this film was going to be like. That was because I read a few reviews saying it was very flawed with over the top acting but with top-notch production design. The story and cast (apart from Orlando Bloom) seemed interesting so I stuck it on TV. When I did finish this film, I thought this film was good but I thought it was quite flawed. It was flawed because it doesn't quite bring any realistic sides to the characters and some of the acting was a bit over the top and some were miscast for their roles. I mean, it was enjoyable but it was quite disappointing. I think the action scenes were awesome and were well filmed and that is about it. Also, it was a very predictable ending because almost everyone knows what happened to Achilles. Also, I didn't think have a clue who the heroes were and who the villains were because they both do it for almost the same purpose. This film had a good ensemble cast.


Brad Pitt didn't really impress me as Achilles because I could only see him as Brad Pitt not as Achilles. I don't really see Brad as an action hero. He had the body build for the character but not really the looks involving face, hair and voice. He was miscast as Achilles. Eric Bana was good as Hector with a side to him that is in my opinion rather mysterious. Eric Bana was better in this film than Brad Pitt was. I have never really liked Orlando Bloom at all because he really irritates me and doesn't make any of his characters believable. Troy is another film that features another bad performance from Orlando. I really liked Peter O'Toole as Priam who is the ruler of Troy because he is old and seem like an old man with a lot of power.


The director did a good job with the action sequences but was rather weak with the characters. This film would have been better if it was directed by either Ridley Scott, Michael Bay or Joe Wright. The script was quite flawed as well. I liked the scene where Priam confronts Achilles in his tent and they have a heart-to-heart.


This is not my favourite Brad Pitt film. He is one of my favourite actors of all time but he wasn't good as Achilles in this film. He had a massive miscast in this one. This is a disappointment but with awesome production design, make-up and visual effects.