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Troy [2004] (REGION 1) (NTSC)


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Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review

There are many reasons to recommend Troy as a good ol' fashioned Hollywood epic, especially if you've never read Homer's The Iliad. Dispensing with Greek gods altogether, this earnestly massive production (budgeted at upwards of $200 million) will surely offend historians and devoted students of the classics. But there's politics aplenty in the grand-scale war that erupts when Trojan prince Paris (Orlando Bloom) makes off with Helen (blandly beautiful German model Diane Kruger), wife of Spartan ruler Menelaus (Brendan Gleeson), whose brother, the Greek king Agamemnon (Brian Cox) prods him into enraged retaliation. Greek warrior Achilles (Brad Pitt) brings lethal force to his battles (and there are many of them, mostly impressive), and his Trojan counterpart, Paris's brother Hector (Eric Bana), adds even more buffed-up beefcake to a film so chock-full o' hunks that there's barely room for Peter O'Toole (doing fine work as Trojan king Priam) and even less for Julie Christie, appearing ever-so-briefly as Achilles's melancholy mother. The drama is nearly as arid as the sun-baked locations (Mexico and Malta) that stand in for the Aegean coast, and many critics suggested that Pitt (who valiantly tries to give Achilles some tormented dimension) was simply miscast. But when you consider that Wolfgang Petersen also made The Perfect Storm, there's nothing wrong with enjoying Troy as a semi-guilty pleasure with a touch of ancient class. --Jeff Shannon


MORE LIKE GLADIATOR THAN, SAY, CLASH OF THE TITANS...
Review date: 2008-10-21 Rating: 8 out of 10

Enjoyable movie, lots of action and a visual feast!
Impressive and bloody combat scenes, together with excellent 'Lord Of The Rings' style CGI work to depict the 100,000 plus soldiers in action.
Casting is excellent, especially Pitt, Bean, Cox and O'Toole.
My only gripe, was the decision to negate the fantasy aspects especially in the wake of the Peter Jackson movies. The Gods of Greece are referenced by the cast, but are in no way depicted. Ares, Poseidon etc are all major players in The Iliad, so I find this a dissapointment.
Anyone looking for a more mythological view of Homer should check out the 1997 adaptation of The Odyssey with Armand Assante. Metal fans should maybe check out Manowar's Triumph Of Steel album from 1992.
Have to say the opening 10 minutes of Troy does kick ass!
Recommended if you liked Gladiator, 300, Jason And The Argonauts (remember, no monsters though!) etc...

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Reviews


Five-star box!
Review date: 2008-09-08 Rating: 10 out of 10

It's not a five-star film, but this stout navy-blue R1 box is a veritable treasure chest. You get two DVDs, postcards and a cute little hardback book of production designs, notes and a letter from Brad Pitt complaining about his costume. It's a beautifully put-together package, and the film itself is a longer, better cut, too. You see Odysseus trying to "dodge the draft" by pretending to be a goatherd and several other little character touches taken straight from the myths, filmed and then foolishly cut to make way for more fighting.

Good battle scenes, characters are a bit so and so
Review date: 2008-04-12 Rating: 6 out of 10

If your looking for ancient battle scenes involving shields, spears, arrows and swords then this will be an enjoyable film.

The story line is preposterous involving Orlando Bloom running away with the wife of a powerful king triggering a war. The characters are okay but you watch a film like this for the action and not an intelligent meaningful script.

What a missed opportunity
Review date: 2008-03-31 Rating: 2 out of 10

Brilliant effects but why oh why does Hollywood feel the need to re-write a story that is strong enough to have survived 3000 years!

Can you imagine if Peter Jackson had taken the same liberties with the Lord of The Rings?

Overall this film left me feeling dissapointed and looking at what might have been ...

I lived in the time of Achilles
Review date: 2007-08-26 Rating: 10 out of 10

This film pretty much follows the story with very few exceptions and possible ending. However the few exceptions and ending is what makes this story work as a movie instead of a long poem. Stories being told may ways five different insights and there should be no conflict between the reader and viewer and both stories are real to the observer.

For you that forgot the story and you that know the story well but have not seen this movie basically we are looking at a story that you may or may not have had an opportunity to sidestep in school but can never have a grasp on social history with out it. Some call it real and lost in antiquity. Others say that homer had a Good imagination. And others treat it as an allegory with a historical background.

Brad Pitt who has played fickle people before is excellent in the part of Achilles and is sort of a heel. Nothing less was expected. It was the other actors that played their parts so well that you forgot you were watching the movie.

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Two Trojan princes are the guests of the Spartan ruler Menelaus (Brendan Gleeson). While Menelaus is preoccupied with other matters he leaves his wife, Helen of Sparta (Diane Kruger), to her own devises. The younger Trojan prince Paris (Orlando Bloom) is left alone to many times with Helen and decides against everyone else's better judgment to make her Helen of Troy and thus pilfers her from Menelaus.

As a husband Menelaus is of course miffed. However his brother the Greek king Agamemnon (Brian Cox) sees this as an opportunity to absorb Troy into his territory. Natural this spawns a war in which Agamemnon recruits Achilles an extremely gifted and charmed warrior. Achilles goes to make a name for him self. He brings his cronies, and his cousin. Together they do many bold and callous things.

I will not go into the details of the war as you either know or will soon know the details. However I will say that I thought that the Trojan horse was well and realistically designed. And you may want to pay attention to the background music as it is relevant to the film.

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Eric Bana
Orlando Bloom
Brian Cox
Brad Pitt
Julian Glover

Creators:
Brad Pitt (Primary Contributor)
Eric Bana (Primary Contributor)
Wolfgang Petersen (Producer)
Barbara Huber (Producer)
Colin Wilson (Producer)
Diana Rathbun (Producer)
Winston Azzopardi (Producer)
David Benioff (Writer)
Homer (Writer)

Director(s):

Recording label: Warner Home Video
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
EAN: 0085391154518
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 2
Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Collector's Edition, Colour, Director's Cut, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC,
Release date: 2007-09-18
Universal product code (UPC): 085391154518
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Region code: 1
Running time: 163 minutes
Theatrical release date: 2004-05-14
Language: English (Original Language)
Language: English (Subtitled)
Language: French (Subtitled)
Language: Spanish (Subtitled)
Language: French (Dubbed)
Language: Spanish (Dubbed)

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