Troy (2004)
For honor
Starring: Brad Pitt, Brian Cox, Brendan Gleeson, Diane Kruger, Eric Bana, Orlando Bloom, Sean Bean, Rose Byrne, Saffron Burrows, Julie Christie, Peter O'Toole, Garrett Hedlund
Director: Wolfgang Petersen
Running Time: 163 minutes
US MPAA rating: N/AUK BBFC rating: 15
Action, Adventure, Drama, War
"Will strangers hear our names long after we're gone, and wonder who we were?", asks the voice-over at the beginning of Wolfgang Petersen's 'Troy', and then at the end answers with "These names will never die". Characters in 'Troy' bang on a lot about the eternal fame of their names, and this is just as well - for while the film is based not so much on real events as on a cherished myth of the ancient Greeks (especially the version told by Homer), it often seems that the names are the only thing that have been remembered.
Although you would not know it from seeing this film, in the traditional legend Achilles (here played by Brad Pitt) is not on the first boat to land at Troy, he is never on friendly terms with Odysseus, and he dies long before the sack of Troy. Ajax dies by his own hand after losing a contest for the armour of dead Achilles. Paris does not survive the Trojan war, while both Menelaus and Agamemnon do, and Helen ends up returning to Sparta with her former husband. Most importantly of all, the siege of Troy lasts ten whole years, whereas Petersen's Troy is a shock-and-awe campaign lasting only sixteen days and a night (and that's including the twelve-day truce for Hector's funeral games), in which there is not really enough time for anyone to earn the kind of honour that makes legends.
Does any of this really matter? After all, Homer's 'Iliad' focuses on only a few weeks in the middle of the decade-long war (although his genius manages to encapsulate the essence of the whole war, and indeed all wars, in that brief space) - and in any case his Troy is only the first written version of many from the ancient world, some of which are wildly inventive. Troy belongs to everybody, and is up for grabs, so there is nothing intrinsically wrong with making changes for the film. The decision, for example, to keep the Homeric gods as strictly absent, unseen figures (apart from Achilles' mother Thetis, whose divinity is at least implied), while still peppering the dialogue with references to them, is a neat compromise between Homer's divine machinery and the scepticism of our own age.
'Troy' was never intended to be a straightforward adaptation of Homer's 'Iliad' - instead it is, to use the wording of the final credits, 'inspired' by it. The problem is, however, that there is little sign of any 'inspiration' here, from either Homer or the Muses. As Hector (Eric Bana) tells his brother Paris (Orlando Bloom) in an early scene, there is nothing 'poetic' in death - not of course true of Homer's epic, which is all about the poetic possibilities of death, but true enough of a film whose lines are largely banal hokum and whose characters are cardboard cutouts (despite valiant efforts from some of the actors). The reason that Homer's name will always be remembered alongside the names of his epic heroes is that he made Troy an arena of unforgettable depth and grandeur. Wolfgang Petersen's name, however, is more likely to be remembered for 'Das Boot' than for this sword-and-sandaller, which for all its impressive CGI fleets and armies, is sublime only in its averageness.
It's Got: CGI so good that you do not notice it, Agamemnon reduced to a cartoon villain (although Brian Cox is as wonderful as ever), and in what is the film's most surreal moment, the roads of Troy being trodden by llamas (from South America!).
It Needs: Some depth of character, and, for the sake of epic grandeur, a longer war (which need not mean a longer film).
Alternatives: Also reviewed by Gary Panton 'The Thin Red Line', 'Unforgiven', Saving Private Ryan, 'Apocalypse Now'
Summary: Impressive, if empty, spectacle - but a blind man has done better than this.
External Links
Official Web Site
Troy at the IMDB
Comments12 Comments |
| This thing was awfull. I didn't want my money back - I wanted the 3 hours of my life back. This movie is best described as a homo-errotic, over budget, **** poor acting, slap in the face to the gladiator genre. I especially liked the flying fairy fighting technique by and oiled up Achilles. Just Awfull. |
| Comment by:- sabotosh | | 16 June 2004 | ip: logged |
| hemhem! I reckon that Troy is the best movie eva thankyou very much! Brad Pitt is the best looking guy in history and foreva! And it was a great movie with all the superb actors! Brad Pitt, Rose Byrne and Orlando Bloom. The movie was GREAT!!!!!!!!! |
| Comment by:- Yvette | | 08 October 2004 | ip: logged |
| Troy was very adventorous and exciting to watch but as I'm reading the Iliad it really differs from what is really written about the true war between the acheans and the Dannans. But I also have to realize it's just hollywood. |
| Comment by:- Ebonne Clark | | 12 October 2004 | ip: logged |
| Ha ha ha ha - Llamas! |
| Comment by:- Paul | | 25 October 2004 | ip: logged |
| this movie ******* rules,my favourite movie,omg this movie is so good |
| Comment by:- rabarbersoep | www.aars.be | 31 October 2004 | ip: logged |
| hiya, never seen the movie but i like chocolate. |
| Comment by:- mimi | | 15 November 2004 | ip: logged |
| it was great!amazing moves of Brad Pitt!!!!!!! I really like this kind of movie****all i can say is THE BEST |
| Comment by:- john | | 18 November 2004 | ip: logged |
| I liked it! it might not be the true story but it was an entertaining 3 hours and Brad Pitt was Hot!!! |
| Comment by:- Anonymous | | 19 December 2004 | ip: logged |
| this movie is the best movie eva!!!brad pitt is soooooo hot and he is fit. i love the movie to bits! i've seen it 9 times allready and i only got it last week!!! |
| Comment by:- Anonymous | | 01 January 2005 | ip: logged |
| i love brad pitt forever and always! he is so fit.i love the movie too. it is the best eva! |
| Comment by:- becka | | 01 January 2005 | ip: logged |
| I love this film more than anyone else can in the world! i've seen it a million times and it never gets boring!i love brad pitt to bits! he is soooooooo sexy!i cant get over how great this film is!i love it!!!! |
| Comment by:- becka | | 01 January 2005 | ip: logged |
| Watch the film!!! you will thank me one day. its the best film eva. best 3 hours of my life watchin that. absolutely great! brad pitt is soooo fit as achilles, i wish i was jenifer aniston so much! This film is THE BEST!!! |
| Comment by:- Rebekah | | 02 January 2005 | ip: logged |
