TROY TROy TRoy Troy ....troja

[Anonymous]

Just saw it and, although it is not perfect, I was entertained. The director states that he read Homer's tail in the original when he was but a lad of 15. And the comment above that the historical research showed Troy to be a bit uninspiring (by Hollywood standards) was in Time a couple of weeks ago.<br>
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It is too bad that the writer could not find a way to work the gods and their meddling into the film, but their absence did not bother me as much as the death scenes of both Agamemnon and Achilles. Having spent the entire film telling and showing us that war is neither glorious nor heroic the director gives Achilles' a standard Hollywood heroic death, while satisfying the audience by letting Braises kill Agamemnon.<br>
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Perhaps these are minor problems, but is seems that the director had more of an edge when he did Das Boot, and I wish he had used that same sense of ironic fate from Das Boot in Troy.<br>
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Still, this film is doing well (the 2:30 showing I went too was full but for a dozen seats) and that means the studios will remain interested in Ancient History. Besides, Homer has already written the sequel to Troy and Sean Bean makes a great Odysseus. (It will be tough to out do the Cohen Brother's unique take on Homer, but I hope Warner Brothers tries.)<br>
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Narukami <p></p><i></i>

[Catiline]

They crow-barred in another sequel facilitator towards the end with Paris and a certain young man carrying his ageing father. It seemed pretty shameless to me, so I htink that's likely to be the sequel of choice. is that obscure enough for anyone scared of spoilers. i'm farily sure someone already alluded to it earlier in the thread <p></p><i></i>

[Praefectusclassis]

Yeah, that was weird. An entire movie full of historical / mythological errors, then they stick in a bit which has nothing to do with the story per se, 1% in the audience maybe has an inkling this is the mythological link to Rome... Weeeeird. <p>Greets<br>
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Jasper</p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

Uh, I thought that was actually quite clever (and most other people did too), and I *highly* doubt it was inserted with the intention of it linking in to a potential sequel. If you knew films..<br>
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Shameless? Uh, no. <p></p><i></i>

[Catiline]

Clever!? if you didn't know what was going on you'd hardly have noticed it, and if you did know it was about as subtle as being hit by a ten tonne truck. <p></p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

Ok, I'm not going to lecture you about why it was necessary to include it in the movie because I honestly couldn't care less.<br>
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Let's just say it was a nice touch and I'll leave it at that. If you didn't like it, then fine lol. <p></p><i></i>

[Frank Miranda]

Just saw this film today. Leaving aside the the butchering of the <em>Iliad</em> (because, as we all know, this is Hollywood, not history), this was a turkey! The plot was good, but plot development was terrible. There was no character development to speak of and the dialogue was lame through much of the flick and, at times, downright hokey- I'm talking 1950's corny here! The special effects were, of course, excellent. Pitt was much better in Spy Games.<br>
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It's doing very well still- just goes to show you that the mob can be entertained by anything!<br>
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<p></p><i></i>

[Catiline]

I'm perfectly prepared to be lectured, though i suppose if you couldn't care less it couldn't have been that significant or clever after all <p></p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

Hehehehehehe.....<br>
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when i saw the film, i was amazed how many jewellery Schliemann had actually found!!!! didnt know it was such a commonly used headdress in those days.....<br>
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M.VIB.M.<br>
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<p><span style="color:yellow;font-family:times new roman;font-size:medium;">M.VIB.M.<br>
V COH II<br>
LEGIO X GEMINA<br>
EX GER INF</span></p><i></i>

[Catiline]

I think i spotted some that looked suspiciously similar to that headdress from Ur. Presumably they'd been playing swopsies <p></p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

so..... long live ALEXANDER!!!!<br>
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<p><span style="color:yellow;font-family:times new roman;font-size:medium;">M.VIB.M.<br>
V COH II<br>
LEGIO X GEMINA<br>
EX GER INF</span></p><i></i>

[naso]

I agree with Frank here on Troy. I found myself waiting for it to end because I didn't care about the characters. They were all good actors so the blame lies on the director. There was just no emotion. While it looked pretty good for a Hollywood epic you've got to have some connection with your main characters. Otherwise do we really care if they die.<br>
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I liked that they didn't make Achilles a "nice guy" which was a good touch. You felt he could be honorable but he wasn't the politically correct heroe. Like I said it was a pretty good looking film and they did alot right but it was just too emotionally detached.<br>
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naso <p></p><i></i>

[Muzzaguchi]

HI,<br>
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I thought Eric Bana tried to do something emotional and must credit that since no one else tried. That's not true - I enjoyed Peter O'Toole's performance. There were also scenes where it was clear Helen was meant to be showing emotion - but it came across like scenes from 'Days of our Lives' (that reads quite harshly). I think one of the problems (because there were so many) was that the removal of the gods made the motivations of Achilles, Paris etc like petulant school children which is uninteresting.<br>
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Also how could any one be so un-inspired by the Iliad!? I mean there are lines of dialogue ready and waiting in the poem but instead we get the 'made for video game' 'Immortality ... its yours ... take it'. Ick.<br>
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I did actually enjoy the battle scens as an essay in early shield wall warfare - not ideal as there were no battles over corpses to stip armour - No new armour for Achilles either - shame. But the idea of the sheer organisation for the osthimos and then the undulating of the line so that individual combats could take place. Except for that whole Patroclus death - 'Oh my god I've killed a silly boy who dressed in Achilles armour. Oh no. And now that I've demoralised the entire Greek army by apparently killing their champion and swinging the battle Troy's way so that the Greeks will be pushed off the beach, I'll give up and retreat'. Hmmmm. 'And more than that I'll leave Achilles armour so he can redress himself in its latex finery' (in what is a horribly obvious sequence). Okay, so I didn't enjoy it that much but it was interesting. Not that shield wall warfare was itself 'historical'.<br>
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This is longer and harsher than I intended. One last thing - I did like the fencing manoeuvres although they got a bit martial arts flick. Also - Achilles seemed a one move wonder - 'I jump to the side and thrust down into your shoulder'. Very easy to counter - totally telegraphed - jumping up to the side - hello! and utterly ineffective for anyone with a shield. Oh well<br>
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Oh one last thing - I liked the horse being made out of ship wreckage much better than the perfection usually portrayed. And then they ruined it with all the panels and the number of men inside. And we can't have Sean Bean strangling one of his own men can we! Oh and the entire fleet hiding round the corner - please!<br>
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That said - many I have talked to liked it as an action movie just set 3000 years ago. Its just dissapointing when it offered so much more.<br>
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Oh and praise for Malta which did a good job of looking like Greece and Troy.<br>
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Cheers<br>
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Muzzaguchi <p>It is an unscrupulous intellect that does not pay Antiquity its due reverence - Erasmus of Rotterdam<br>
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'Modern history, like a deaf man, answers questions no one asks' - Tolstoy War and Peace Ep. ii.1</p><i></i>