Overall a great waste of my time to watch. The script was mediocre and melodramatic and the whole things was clearly created under the assumption that nearly everyone watching it will have never actually read the Iliad. They were probably right.
I'll admit it - I have a man-crush on Brad Pitt - and this movie sealed the deal. He was simply incredible in this movie, and I am not 100% certain he is one of my favorite actors of this generation. He has shown versatility, and depth (sorta), and always makes an entertaining film.
Eric Bana was equally as exciting, and showed again how fine of an actor he is. The lead bad guy (whose name I can never remember) was good as usual, and Orlando Bloom was, um, well, utterly forgettable (and embarrassing). He wasn't bad in the role, the role was bad for him.
The movie was shot in beautiful locations, had a decent script that kept moving, plenty of "wow" factor action scenes, and a couple sub-plots that managed to keep a large ensemble cast almost all important in the viewer's mind.
I definitely recomend that people check out the director's cut of the film. I thought the director's cut was much better than the theatrical cut of the film. The fight scene between Bana and Pitt is the highlight of this film.
Perfect. in every way i could think. there was not one moment in this film where i though improvement was required.from epic seiges, to man on man combat, this movie is one of my all time greats, rubbing shoulders with a 300 and braveheart
Odysseus: [voiceover] "Men are haunted by the vastness of eternity. And so we ask ourselves: will our actions echo across the centuries? Will strangers hear our names long after we are gone, and wonder who we were, how bravely we fought, how fiercely we loved?"
Throughout time, men have waged war. Some for power, some for glory, some for honor -- and some for love.
In ancient Greece, the passion of two of history's most legendary lovers, Paris, Prince of Troy (Orlando Bloom) and Helen (Diane Kruger), Queen of Sparta, ignites a war that will devastate a civilization. When Paris steals Helen away from her husband, King Menelaus (Brendan Gleeson), it is an insult that cannot be suffered. Familial pride dictates that an affront to Menelaus is an affront to his brother Agamemnon (Brian Cox), powerful King of the Myceneans, who soon unites all the massive tribes of Greece to steal Helen back from Troy in defense of his brother's honor.
In truth, Agamemnon's pursuit of honor is corrupted by his overwhelming greed -- he needs control of Troy to ensure the supremacy of his already vast empire. The walled city, under the leadership of King Prium (Peter O'Toole) and defended by mighty Prince Hector (Eric Bana), is a citadel that no army has been able to breach. One man alone stands as the key to victory or defeat over Troy -- Achilles (Brad Pitt), believed to be the greatest warrior alive.
Arrogant, rebellious and seemingly invincible, Achilles has no allegiance to anyone or anything, save his own glory. It is his insatiable hunger for eternal renown that leads him to attack the gates of Troy under Agamemnon's banner -- but it will be love that ultimately decides his fate.
Two worlds will go to war for honor and power. Thousands will fall in pursuit of glory. And for love, a nation will burn to the ground.
If you are expecting the epic story in the Iliad, you may be disappointed. I enjoyed this film because it was more like a "what could really have happened" type of adaptation. To me, that's what made the movie. If you are a big fan of the Iliad, I think you'll enjoy this flick a lot better if you're aware that it's an adaptation, not a retelling of the book. It has used the ideas from the book; the characters, situations, etc. But this movie is loosely based around those ideas to tell its own tale.
The movie has its own style for the story of the Trojan war, and in my opinion it tells the story as well as the book, just in a very different way. This can at first be very annoying, and to enjoy the film you have to be willing to accept that the story is its own. The characters will not behave quite as expected, and the feel of the story is totally different.
If you haven't read the Iliad, you'll probably like the movie. If you have, you should forget the book for a while and think of the movie as an unrelated story, then decide afterward whether it was a butchery of the Iliad or a story that can coexist separate from the book.
LOVE LOVE LOVE THAT MOVIE XD but i was pissed at Orlando Bloom afterwards >:P LOVE the amount of lood. Just love the part when he fights that massive guy at the begiining :)
Great battle scenes, with the fight between Hector and Achilles being the highlight. But to much posing from Pitt and Bloom, and the screenplay was a joke.
(9-14-08) This movie is about Achilles considered the greatest warrior of all time and hector of troy. Achilles is a great warrior but has no respect for his king, he only fights to have is name immortalized. This movie follows both sides as the Greeks attack troy and use the trojan horse. Great acting by Brad Pitt as Achilles. Good cinematography and battles scenes. This movie is better than Alexander but doesn't quite reach the potential of Gladiator.
I love this movie. I m totally into these types of movies, long epic movies. Except that Orlando got the wussy part. I completely disliked him in this movie, because he is a great fighter in all other movies.
The story of the woman whose face launched a thousand ships...
...or not in this case.
What was supposed to be a tale of love and lust and seduction and the aftermath turns into a bloke's fight fest. Instead of concerntrating on the themes of honour and responsibilities and destinies, this reverts to Holywood type and creates a weak tale based loosely on the tale. Most of all, it seems that the whole film was geared to towards a single fight scene and everything else was put into the background.
It's a shame really because the cast promised something that could've been really good if they had something more "meaty" to work with. Instead, the characters are shallow with not much more than their names to remind us of who they are. The love/lust thing between Helen and Paris is hinted at in a single line and that's not to mention a very very poor showing from the not very good in the first place Orlando Bloom. He is the ultimate pansy here and his every appearance on screen reminds us that this is all his fault and there is not a single sign of remorse from him.In fairness, traditionally, Paris is a bit of a pansy and generally not very good but in a film where you are forced to watch him and his actions, all if does is irritate you no end. Eric Bana does his hardest to actually act in this showing signs of his frustration at everything that's going on around him and between him and Peter O'Toole, they serve to rescue this from benig a definite bad film. You can definitely see the times when Hector really just wants to twat Paris in the face for being an idiot.
Brad Pitt puts in a reasonable showing as the nigh invincible/invulnerable Achilles but there is a bit of a disparity between his undefeatable fighting skills and that of Hector. While Hector was never supposed to be Achilles equal, you never quite got to understand just how/why Hector was supposed to be Troy's greatest warrior.
I guess part of the fault of this film is that it tries to tell the entire tale in a single film AND maintain a certain level of detail in that telling. In doing this, they lost something and the result is a film that you sit through to get to the good bits. Unfortunately, there aren't that many good bits and the bits inbetween aren't very good. Instead of being a story about many people in only tells us (a little bit) about two people.
Still, if you ignore the basis of the film and take it as it is, it isn't that bad. It's just a shame because I hoped it would've been more.
I prefer "Helen of Troy". It lacks the historical accuracy and depth the other offers, despite flash. This one barely scrapes this given rating, maybe for the mentioned flash.
Really liked it, maybe because it my kind of movie but i think it was a bit more than that. Great spectacle visually, the well known story line was well adapted to fit the demands of a 21st centuary blockbuster with out making it feel cheep or lacking in anyway. There are some nice twists in the story line and a wonderful ying and yang feel to the character of Achilles with avoided making him simply another stereotypical hero.
Eric Bana couldn't carry the whole movie, but he really tried his best. Brad Pitt reverted to his "Legends of the Fall Stand Around with Half-Pursed Lips" deal.
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