| Watch The Trojan Women (1971) instead |
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| written by SBarnett |
March 29, 2007 - 9:30 AM PDT |
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1 out of 1 members found this review helpful
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| Wolfgang Petersen is free to make whatever use he wants of the Iliad and other Greek sources--artists have been doing this for over two thousand years. The question is, What does he come up with in the end? "Troy" leaves me curiously unmoved and unchallenged, given the material Petersen is working with. Divine Helen, one of history's greatest sex symbols and femme fatales, is not sexy or hypnotic or passionate or powerful--just a pale smiling presence whose motivations and actions don't make sense. Wrathful Achilles, a tantalizing character in the myths--a combination of Hannibal Lecter, Superman, Audie Murphy, and the Taxi Driver--is rightfully the star of the show, yet he is made to be painfully narcissistic and introverted; Brad Pitt mostly seems unsure of who or what is character is and how to play him. The staging is largely static, except when showing off the latest digital effects, vast armies and fleets for which we feel nothing (think of the opening of Saving Private Ryan). There are only two good scenes in the film: the duel between Achilles and Hector (Eric Bana); and the scene where Priam (Peter O'Toole) goes to the Greek camp to get Hector's body from Achilles (both scenes hew very close to Homer). The former has the spirit of ancient Greek tragedy as well as riveting action and drama; and the latter shows what fine actors can do when put in the right situation and left alone. For an intense plunge into ancient Greece, watch Michael Cacoyannis' 1971 version of The Trojan Women (with Katherine Hepburn, Irene Papas, Vanessa Redgrave, Genevieve Bujold, etc.), a much better film in every way, as entertainment, history, and a powerful statement against the horror and futility of war. |
| Well worth the 162 minutes; probably not worth buying |
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| written by sailortitan2 |
October 2, 2006 - 11:23 AM PDT |
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1 out of 1 members found this review helpful
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Somewhere between the two previous reviews (awesome and awful) lies Troy. Although the movie, as stated previously, is definitely not faithful to it's epic origins, it's hard to expect 24 books of greek hexameter to be crammed in an 162 minute movie; considering this, Wolfgang Petersen manages to cram the "best bits" in without sacrificing many of the important themes of the original story. All of the testosterone-filled manliness of the original definitely resounds in the movie, And most of the characters--especially the male leads like Achilleus and Odysseus--are faithful in personality, if not in action, to their Homeric counterparts. For pure entertainment value, the movie is arguably better in plot and characterization than Lord of the Rings (which it is inevitably compared to) and the fight scenes certainly caught my interest more. Add to that an all-star cast that especially resounds with Peter O'Toole's performance as Priam and Sean Bean's as Odysseus, and you get a 162 minutes very well-spent, if possibly a movie not worth buying for your collection.
The biggest changes from the book that resound badly is Helen's far more willing participation in Paris' abuduction, and the romanticization of their relationship; Menelaos' womanizing nature, which is entirely contrary to the Epic (in which he even ends up taking Helen back, despite all the ugliness that went on) and most blaringly, the death of Menelaos and Agememnon (who definitely live in the original).
Other than that, frankly, it's surprising Petersen was able to make a single movie as faithful to the original as he did. |
| Different from the Iliad. And why not? |
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| written by ChiyoDad |
January 27, 2005 - 11:23 AM PST |
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9 out of 10 members found this review helpful
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Those who were hoping that Troy might be a near-faithful cinematic representation of the Iliad (like The Lord of The Rings) were most disappointed with this movie. Wolfgang Petersen's Troy is bereft of the meddling gods and goddesses that drove the passions and events in Homer's epic poem. It is an interpretation of the tale as human history; and that actually makes for an interesting, and in some ways better, perspective.
The screenplay thus fashions its characters and events in human terms. Achilles is not endowed with invulnerability but with an unparalleled talent for combat and a blind courage that makes him formidable. He pursues glory and immortality in combat. He is also oblivious to the the pain and suffering of war until Patroclus (refashioned as Achilles cousin) is killed and until he witnesses King Priam's love for his slain son. King Menelaus is a womanizer making Helen susceptible to Paris's advances and ultimately eloping with him. King Agamemnon is an ambitious ruler who sees Helen's "abduction" as an opportunity and an excuse to launch a massive war of Aegean conquest. This makes sense when one considers that he mobilized "a thousand ships" to reclaim a faithless queen. Hector, talented in combat as he is, despises war for he has seen too much of its suffering. He fights only because he must; to defend his home from the Greeks and to defend his brother Paris from his folly (certainly both he and Helen would only face death from Menelaus). Troy, and the tragedy of war as depicted in the Iliad, thus becomes more real.
The key casting was better than I expected. All the kudos for Peter O'Toole's portrayal of King Priam were well deserved and it was, IMHO, one of his best performances. Eric Bana came across as a believable battle-weary Prince Hector. As much as I am not a fan of Brad Pitt, I must acknowledge that he made an excellent Achilles and showed notable versatility as an actor in this film. (Have you ever seen him in The Mexican?)
Yet a much as the film nicely involves its audience in the human reality of war, it must sacrifice some of the historic reality for the sake of cinematic fluidity. The ten year war is shrunk into what seems to be a weeklong battle. Troy grows somewhat into a larger city than what had been unearthed in excavations. These concessions, however, were acceptable to me. (Note for comparison how, in The Fellowship of The Ring, Peter Jackson compressed the period of Gandalf's departure from the Shire from several years to what seem's like a month or a few weeks.)
My impression was that this movie was meant to focus on the tragedy of its characters which, as many scholars and readers had concurred, was one of the most vivid elements that made the Iliad an epic and Homer one of the greatest bards of Western civilization. It is this viewer's assessment that the producers, director, and cast were very successful. I enjoyed this movie more than I thought I would, and I think you will too. |
| Epic Sludge |
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| written by talltale |
January 2, 2005 - 8:25 PM PST |
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4 out of 9 members found this review helpful
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| TROY is sludge. With a screenplay not adept enough to make an intelligent epic ("Lawrence of Arabia") and burdened by a visual concept that just keeps trudging onwards, slowly, slowly, this movie sinks under its own weight. One might imagine that the original story--pretty fabulous, exciting and eventful, no matter which version you accept--would be enough to sustain a couple of movie-going hours. As if. Instead we get over two-and-one-half hours that feature an Achilles in love with a priestess of Apollo who kills Agamemnon (gee, I always thought his wife Clytaemnestra got him!) and that telescopes the Trojan War from ten years down to a few days. The movie is bloated with shoddy history. It's even shoddy legend--mostly battles and noise and bulked up bodies and some so-so sex--never pausing to notice the (not so) little things such as how the Greek soldiers or the inhabitants of Troy might feed themselves in the midst of all this carnage. Golly, no, nothing so pedestrian. This is an EPIC, after all. Prepare to check your brain at the door. |
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