Troy

Jim

Saw it today.

Now, I walked out very satisfied. So much so that I nearly considered going to see it again. It wasn't mind blowing, but it was almost exactly as I thought it was going to be, no worse or better. It doesn't follow the "historic" record of the battle, but as long as you don't take it too seriously its very enjoyable. And theres loads of little bits throw in for die hard classic's fans that'll make you smile.

The only thing which annoyed me about the film was the lack of the Greek hero's in the film. Its mostly focused on Achilles, you see Odysseus a fair bit, and Ajax is in it for about 5 minutes. But the things I liked were...

Achilles. I think they got him pretty much perfect, from his attitute, his boots, hair, armour, all the way down to the way he moved. The only thing which annoyed me was that he was a bit off the classic greek hero., in other words he had a heart in the end.

Odysseus was very good aswell, very light hearted and not as serious as the other characters, he was good medium.

Hector was pretty perfect in his role, he made the Trojans way more honorable etc.... than the Greeks. I was always up for the Greeks in the book, but he made me hate them somewhat.

The best scenes in the fom imo were the start of the battle of Troy when Achilles and his men take the temple of Apollo. The fight between Hector and Achilles, and the bit at the end when Paris gives Aeneas the sword of Troy, a bit chessy, but brilliant none the less.

Dempsey

Saw it there myself. All I knew about Troy was that there was Helen and the Horse. Heard of Achilles beofre but never read anything detailed. Good film but I found myself switching off at times with the story being a little dragged out.

The Battle scenes were very well done.

The Real B-man

looks good might go and see it or wait until dvd comes out anyone know when scary movie3 is out?

neokenzo

Just saw it and I tought its great. Fight scene was excellent.

BlitzKrieg

Saw it today aswell...Wierd its not meant to be out till next week?

Anyway


Very enjoyable. The characters all interact very well. I was worried when i saw the trailers cause the battles didnt look too impressive and that it seemed very one sided (Focuses on one armies defeat of another) But the trailer was very misleading.

In a glorification of greek myths the film jumps through many characters and shows them interacting on many levels (from the parallels of hector and achilles to the two kings and so on.) In fact it was the characters and the drama off the battle that kept me interested.

Achilles was as allready stated perfectly done. As was Hector. Paris was a prat but was meant to be a prat. Brian Cox did a brilliant "Uncle Joe" role as Agamemnon. He seemed very much a Stalin like character in how he acted.


What I didnt like about the films were the large battles. Compared to Braveheart and Gladiator's opening battle they were messy and not very impressive. The only battle that caught my eye was the 3rd major one (and only the opening to it) I guess we've been spoiled too much by LOTR and all for large scale warfare.

But i now feel after seeing its ending that the messy battles was on purpose to some extent (only to some.) As they are meant to lack tactic and seem useless to overplay the success of the horse. And to emphasize the importance of single one on one fights in these battles. Which i must say were done amazingly well. In fact i was so impressed with the hector achilles fight that i can risk saying it was more exciting then the neo smith fight in matrix revolutions (2 different types of fighting but still)


In the end i felt the characters upheld the film and made it enjoyable for me.

p.s Sean Bean and Eric Bana both impressed me.

Salubri

Good movie... If you've ever been into greek mythology or the classics go and see it.
If you just love some really good hack and slash - go and see it.
If you want "historically" accurate battles - the confusion, the opportunism, the panic and a little honour thrown in when everyone isn't too afraid...

Achilles: Kudos to Brad Pitt - spot on!
Odysseus: Go Sean Bean!
Paris: Orlando Bloom does the snivelling little wretch justice I suppose... You'd have thought playing Legolas would have given him SOME idea how a bow is supposed to be held though!
Helen: A bit too "hollywood" but a convincing performance.
Patroclus: Yup Garrett Hedlund - is definitely an actor going on my 'one to watch' list!
Menelaus: Brendan Gleeson is perfect!
Hector: Eric Bana pulls it off quite well. Impressed!

If you want the Illiad - ummm maybe don't see it.

Quote of the movie: "That's why no one will remember your name", Achilles to 'Messenger Boy'

ZENER

Thanks guys, I was wondering whether to go see it or not.

On the radio (106) during the week a critic absolutely slated it calling it the most dismal film he had ever been forced to watch !!

Was there any justification at all for his comments ? Was it more an FX fest than a good re-enactment of the story ?

ZEN

Rabies

I saw it last night. Definitly wouldn't give it 4/5, but thats my opinion. Pitt carried his character well. The arrogant and defiant nature of achillies was played well. I taught it was a little bit too long. Although the ending did seem rushed.
I was expecting the director to give an insight to Achillies past, a brief history maybe, but there was none of it :dunno:

Retr0gamer

There are a lot of critics giving it a low score because they left out the gods. I Think they are just trying to show off how big their heads are. Everyone I've talked to has said that it was great.

skipn_easy

Saw it yesterday. It was really enjoyable, particularly the fight between Hector and Achilles was very well done. Only complaint was to do with UGC, cos my seat and the people next to me's seats were broken

Salubri

Unfortunately I can't see any way they could have slotted in the visitations and guidance of the gods... Cheesy dream sequences anyone? *shudder*
I think best left out. A hard decision - but I believe it was the right one...

|Spoiler|
*******
My main quibble would be the softening of Achilles at the end. At least they killed him though! My friends and I went in terrified that they would cheat somehow and let him live... Or show him floating off with the gods a-la the end of Van Helsing...
*******

Jim

Another good quote.

Odysseus: I hope they write a book about me someday....

The Brigadier

It is not the Illiad....

I really enjoyed it on it's own merits....

However, I thought Brad Pitt was miscast. Achilles was the most terrifiying fighter in the world, the son of one of the gods.

I thought he was too slender and not quite the all out killing machine I would have expected. At the end when Eric Bana and Brad Pitt are putting their armour on, well Eric has pecs and looks like a fighter, Brad just has his little flat chest and scraawny body...

Mr E

Liked it alot. Most of the battle scenes left me cold, but there were some stand out scenes to make up for it - Achilles and Hectors' fight, the trojan horse (looked very cool), and my favourite scene - the meeting between Priam and Achilles.

I thought orlando bloom was a total wuss for most of the film, but he sort of made up for it in the end. If he can't grow a mustache properly, then they should have used makeup. His teenage bumfluff facial hair looked ridiculous

Enjoyable stuff, and the first real summer blockbuster (that Van Helsing crap doesn't count).

banquo

it was the casting impressed me most; i thought Brad Pitt had Achilles right down to a tap: the body language, the arrogance, everything.

orlando bloom made you really want to punch his character in the mouth, so good casting there too.

i liked how odysseus kept rolling his eyes at everything agamemnon said. also all the subtle nods to the Aeneid and the Odysseus..

Achilles: Any slower odysseus and you'll miss the start of hte battle!
Odyssues (joking): well, as long as im still here at hte end of it!!

/they both laugh it off, thinking nothing of it..

Tusky

Just saw it , really liked it. Didnt blow me away but I dont think thats a fault of the film , with CGI on the rise these days its getting harder for films to make a massive visual impression.

Great fights, VERY well acted. Fair play to Eric Bana and Sean Bean most of all. Eric Bana deserves to be a huge star , he is fantastic.

p.s Brad is good too.

de5p0i1er

Saw it over the weekend. Loved it.
The fight scenes were some of the best I've ever seen and the cast were all suited to there roles.

fitz

I enjoyed it.
Casting was very well thought out.
Though the actors were perhaps a little old for the parts, but that's ignorable.

I liked the fact that the mistakes one both sides reflect current issues too.

When the Greeks f*cked up it was because of hunger for power, the Trojans downfall was blind religous faith, so the relevance, while perhaps a little tenuous, was interesting.

However, I have a major gripe.

James Horner should be taken out and beaten with sticks for the pathetic tripe that passed for a score.

It was one of the most patronising scores I've ever heard. Truly appalling.

SheroN

Eric Bana deserves to be a huge star

Bit early for kung-fu isn't it jim?

The Brigadier

I noticed that 30% of the extras had their sandals strapped in the late roman style which didn't exist at that time period.

koneko

Very enjoyable. I don't think it'll go down in history as one of the great epic films of history, but I definitely thought it was better than some of the reviews I've seen of it. Brad Pitt, very good as usual. Eric Bana was great. I wasn't expecting much of him after seeing him in The Hulk (*shudder*). Would recommend it, great battle scenes, great casting.

I saw it last night, and i left annoyed.

This film had teh potential to be great, but they wasted the opportunity trying to hard to make an epic movie. They failed.

A number of aspects i hated:

Posturing: For Gods Sake! a few moments is fine, but do you have to take the pose every 3 minutes? If it wasn't Brad Pitt, it was some other actor striking the pose like he was in some Disney film. Pathetic. Gladiator and Braveheart, while both liked the posturing, did it quite tastefully, and didn't try to make a movie out of the lead roles looks.

Actors: Just two to mention really, But the rest didn't inspire more than a yawn.

Brian Cox - What? No intention to loose the accent that definetly showed him as not being from Greece? He looked more like a Celtic Warlord than any of the images I've seen of Greek Kings. Decent actor in other films, but definetly not my choice for this film.

Brad Pitt - Great actor, but why the hell did he spend the whole time in a pose? Could he not have moved like a warrior, without a camera on him the whole time? Bloody hell, worst acting I've ever seen him do.

Mass-fight Scenes: Crap. Simply put, the rash of Roman films from teh 50's showed better fight scenes. Both Braveheart, and Gladiator shows how to provide interesting and decent fight scenes. But did we get them? Not a bit. Sure there were some nice moments, but nothing inspiring or memorable. Annoying in the extreme.

Single Combat: The only aspect that actually looked good on the screen. Nice fighting, if a trifle boring.

Music: Boring. Not in the least bit interesting or inspiring. End movie song, sounded like it was from "Ants" or some other kids movie. GRRR

I love Epic Movies. Whats more, I love films abt Rome, Sparta, Macedonia or other ancient nations/wars. This movie was an opportunity to push back all other epic movies and stand forth a a great movie. Instead, I doubt I'll ever see it again. Major, Major disappointment.

Last comment. Overdone in extremes :mad: :mad: :mad:

Wacker

I haven't seen it yet, but I will. I'm really looking forward to it. Can someone answer a question for me though? Does Achillees have that thing where he is only vunerable in his heel?

It would be best if the answer were put in a spoiler.

hyp

i have been looking forward to seeing it for ages now, but i heard allot of bad things about it
how does it compare to an epic like gladiator ?

Tusky

Originally posted by SheroN
Bit early for kung-fu isn't it jim?

Well when you contrast Hector to the role he played in Chopper it shows his range and also his willingness to put on weight/lose it and put countless hours in the gym. I actually also liked him in The Hulk...

Dempsey

Originally posted by hyp
i have been looking forward to seeing it for ages now, but i heard allot of bad things about it
how does it compare to an epic like gladiator ?

I though Gladiator was much better. The large fight scenes are better in Troy but Gladiator i thought was much better everywhere else

BlitzKrieg

Personnally i perfered the large battle in Gladiator then all the battles in Troy.


-Wacker -no, he doesnt have the invincible skin but

the ending shows why people thought he did after Paris kills him with numerous arrows only one he doesnt pull out is the one in his heel

Draupnir

Well that sounds like a load of crap then. Sounds to me like this Petersen chap decided that the story of the Trojan War was a good one to take, change totally and remove all the factors of the original story except the big wooden horse. Throw in a few "heart throbs" and your laughin all the way to the bank.

I havent seen it yet though.

Myself and a friend saw a trailer/Ad for a film called "Helen of Troy" on sky movies 2 last night. You know the type, 2 inches removed from a TV drama. Oddly enough though, it actually looked better than "Troy" did (I daresay with a budget 1,000th the size) . Put us in the giggles for ages.

Wacker

Draupnir, I'm not sure what you mean. If you arereferring to the spoiler, then keep in mind that Achilles's heel is not mentioned even once in the Illiad.

jArgHA

like some others, all i knew of the story was some geezer pinched the most beautiful woman in the world and 1000 ships were sent out to 'rescue' her from the trojans.

wasn't too impressed with the movie, we have become accustomed to top class major battle scenes through lotr , gladiator et al, it is difficult not to take large scale battles for granted these days.

thought pitt was miscast, bana was impressive, sean bean was excellent and legolas got to fire a few arrows. pitt's one on one fights looked great, this seems to be the concensus but i couldn't help thinking throughout that zatoichi would kick his as$.

well worth watching, but would have expected more from the man who brought us das boot.

Jim

Originally posted by klaz
Posturing: For Gods Sake! a few moments is fine, but do you have to take the pose every 3 minutes? If it wasn't Brad Pitt, it was some other actor striking the pose like he was in some Disney film. Pathetic. Gladiator and Braveheart, while both liked the posturing, did it quite tastefully, and didn't try to make a movie out of the lead roles looks.

Its interesting that you say this, because I think that this is one of the things that they got right in the film. Achilles and most of the other characters "posed" alot in the film. But the whole point is that they are supposed to be like that, cockey and full of themselves. They belong to the old style Greek hero, who were only out for themselves (Achilles being loyal to himself and not to Greece) and making themselves famous. They rarely thought about what they were going to do, they were all about action and self glorification.

On the other hand, probably the humblest character, Odysseus, was one of the only characters who didn't pose. This is because he belonges to the new style of Greek hero. They are more inclined to be more patriotic and care for more them themsevles, their family, their men etc... They are also more intelligent and think about things more and prefere a tactical plan rather than action. ie.Odysseus was the one who came up with the horse idea.

Tbh I didn't like Gladiator at all, but I love Troy. The big battle scenes in Troy aren't great, but I personally didn't go to it just to see them.

Tusky

Originally posted by Draupnir
Well that sounds like a load of crap then. Sounds to me like this Petersen chap decided that the story of the Trojan War was a good one to take, change totally and remove all the factors of the original story except the big wooden horse. Throw in a few "heart throbs" and your laughin all the way to the bank.

I havent seen it yet though.

:rolleyes: have you even read the Illiad ? go to the film and make your own mind up.

Its interesting that you say this, because I think that this is one of the things that they got right in the film. Achilles and most of the other characters "posed" alot in the film. But the whole point is that they are supposed to be like that, cockey and full of themselves. They belong to the old style Greek hero, who were only out for themselves (Achilles being loyal to himself and not to Greece) and making themselves famous. They rarely thought about what they were going to do, they were all about action and self glorification.

I think I understand what you mean. However, to me it was done too much. It put me in mind of the hero adventures of the 40s-50's like Robin Hood and such. However, I was hoping for the more modern version, like Gladiator, or even Terminator. Posturing, but only at a few moments.

Like when the king of troy first sees the combined greek army. The camera focuses on him on his throne. For abt 2 minutes it just shows him staring aghast at the army. The problem was that after about 10 seconds it got almost comical. There were people laughing in the cinema near me. Personally, I just found it stupid. I understand why they did it, however, I still think they went way overboard.

lodgepole

Originally posted by klaz
For abt 2 minutes it just shows him staring aghast at the army. The problem was that after about 10 seconds it got almost comical.

The shot was only about 10 seconds. It just feels long because modern films don't posture anymore. I appreciated that Troy let its camera hang on things for prolonged lengths of time. The fact that the shot you're talking about was of Peter O' Toole, who lit up the screen.

Tusky

Originally posted by klaz
I think I understand what you mean. However, to me it was done too much. It put me in mind of the hero adventures of the 40s-50's like Robin Hood and such. However, I was hoping for the more modern version, like Gladiator, or even Terminator. Posturing, but only at a few moments.

Like when the king of troy first sees the combined greek army. The camera focuses on him on his throne. For abt 2 minutes it just shows him staring aghast at the army. The problem was that after about 10 seconds it got almost comical. There were people laughing in the cinema near me. Personally, I just found it stupid. I understand why they did it, however, I still think they went way overboard.

it was hardly 2 minutes , surprised if it was 15 seconds, I thought it was a great shot personally.

Fence

Originally posted by fitz
James Horner should be taken out and beaten with sticks for the pathetic tripe that passed for a score.

It was one of the most patronising scores I've ever heard. Truly appalling.

Well I didn't think it was that bad, apart from one bit where the rousing "Oh Look Isn't Troy Great" music was playing over the end of a battle scene. Very inappropriate, from what I can remember anyway.

ixoy

I really enjoyed it but I will agree that James Horner produced another rubbish score. Why he gets so much I'll never know.

Eric Bana was very good in this, but whenever Sean Bean's Odysseus was onscreen, was I the only one thinking, "Ulysses Ulysses soaring through all the galaxies, in search of earth, flying into the night"? Was I? Oh well....

namaimo

Just saw the film last night and thought it was excellent for what it was.
Screenwriter David Benioff will not please classicists and purists with his adaptation of Homer's Iliad. And rightly so.

The Iliad, to be a successful Hollywood blockbuster, needed to be turned into an audience-friendly Tuesday night movie. If it had stuck to the doorstopper of a read that it is, it would have been a bit of a bore - the length of the poem is just too long and too daunting.

So he removed the gods from the story, abridged the length of the war considerably and brought in the story of the Trojan Horse - not in Homer - to finish off the story.

Either we throw our arms up in despair, or accept that the movie was aimed at those who like to sip on coca cola and munch on popcorn.

Dempsey

Originally posted by jArgHA
pitt's one on one fights looked great, this seems to be the concensus but i couldn't help thinking throughout that zatoichi would kick his as$

Me and my shotgun would of had him.....:D

Brerrabbit

All in all I enjoyed it; I thought it followed the iliad (Which is itself a bit of a hodgepodge of legends) pretty well (Though my memory of the iliad is full of holes so...)
One thing though; not really a spoiler; in the scene before Hector goes out to fight Achilles, he's saying goodbye to his wife and infant son... Look at the size of the babies head!!! Itsw huge! I dont know if he was a mega baby or if just his head was gigantic. Couldnt stop laughing... kind of drew me out of the film a bit too

Fuhrio

I enjoyed it, although it was what i was expecting, im a huge fan of greek mythology and history so it was good to see a good film about it, maybe alexander the great will be good too, who knows?

c0rk3r

I've read the odyssey and the Aeneid and this was a disappointment.

Am i going to explain why.For now,no.

koneko

Originally posted by Brerrabbit
... Look at the size of the babies head!!! Itsw huge! I dont know if he was a mega baby or if just his head was gigantic. Couldnt stop laughing... kind of drew me out of the film a bit too

Actually I noticed that too. It looked like she was carrying a pink watermelon around.

Sleepy

I'm not sure. The movie was OK but there was a real sense of the cast and crew trying too hard and just not getting there...

Enjoyable enough but I wouldn't rush out to see it again. I might watch it on telly but I wouldn't be inclined to rent the DVD when it comes out.

bean

i think i missed something. It ranks as one of the worst movies i have seen. I am a movie goer and i really reconsidered my habit as i felt that i had just wasted those hours of my life. The acting was apalling....showed Pitt out for what he is, fairly talentless(i now think that up to know he has happened to chose movies that dont really require much talent) the script was "i love you brother as you are my brother whom i love" arse.... .Its a great tale and they really messed it up, very boring.
Then again, just my opinion

Paladin

Ah it was ok. Its action. Turn your mind off and enjoy it kind of film.

I found one part funny, it just stood out as being wrong (and I wasnt trying to nit-pick I just laughed at this):

The greek army was marching towards troy and there was the sterotypical rythmic marching sound
*stomp*stomp*stomp*
It was just like the sound of the orc armies marching in Lord Of The Rings

The funny thing was there was thousands of men NOT in formation, walking randomly on SAND.
Why did they feel the need to put this completely out of place sound in???

funky penguin

Originally posted by Brerrabbit
All in all I enjoyed it; I thought it followed the iliad (Which is itself a bit of a hodgepodge of legends) pretty well (Though my memory of the iliad is full of holes so...)

Funny, i thought it strayed a bit too much from the illiad.

1. Brises didnt have that big a part in the poem.
2. Patroclus was Achilles best friend, not his cousin. (was there a fear of questioning Achilles sexuality? :eek: )
3. Menalaus did NOT die in the Illiad. In fact he was in the Oddessy aswell.
4. The war itself was 10 years long, and it was played out to be a few months.
5. Aeneas looked about 12 or something! This the guy, who in the Aenied has a wife and child and later goes on to found Rome! 12?!

But thats enough ranting. I liked the film!:)
Pitt was appaling.
Eric Bana played the honourable hector well.
Bloom did well in portraying the pussy cat Paris.
And, well, Peter O'Toole. The man can do no wrong.

Oh, and 6. I think Achilles was killed before the Horse was made.

kahlua

The script was really weak, so the first part of the film was boring. The horse comes in at the end like its a side note, there's too much concentration on Achilles and Agamemnon's bickering. Other then that i enjoyed it. I agree about the music....really crap.

funky penguin

Originally posted by kahlua
The script was really weak, so the first part of the film was boring. The horse comes in at the end like its a side note, there's too much concentration on Achilles and Agamemnon's bickering.

But that was one of the most important parts of the Illiad, plus the horse isn't in the poem either.

JaneyMackers

I understand that it is very good film on it merits also.


But as a fan of Greek history etc if your going to say a film is based on the Illiad and then leave of the central core of the gods who pull the string throughout the book its makes little sense.

But I am looking forward to seeing it anyway;