Saw it again, I'd go with a solid B. It's brash entertainment, but not much more - and certainly not a faithful adaptation of The Illiad.

Though an unfaithful adaptation of The Iliad, this is a great movie and a wondrous epic. The differences between the poem and this film didn't bother me, as the credits even admit that the film was inspired by Homer's epic, not based on it. That aside, this is a grand film in both scope and execution, as it recounts the battle of Troy from both sides and has a fair amount of action and drama. There are a few flaws, most noticeably the acting by Orlando Bloom, but they are overcome by the rest of the film, especially the performances by Eric Bana and Peter O'Toole. Both of them stand out with genuine, memorable turns. And the action scenes are both exhilirating and believable. A true epic.

I didn't mind the removal of the gods from the storyline (aside from Achilles' mother), as it made the film more historical than mythological, nor the deaths of characters who didn't die in Homer's version, as it made the drama better. I mean, it's not as if Homer's version is an accurate retelling either, as he wrote it several hundred years after the war. Nor did I mind the shortening of the overall war, as liberties must be taken since it's a film, not a documentary. The overall story was very well-told and compelling, and while Homer's poem is a classic, it is not necessarily well-suited for a film. So, I think the film did as good a job as it could have with the story.

Though it clocks in at two and a half hours, the tale never drags or feels boring, mostly due to the action scenes and the interesting characters. By showing both sides of the war, none of the characters are reduced to one-dimensional, stock villains (except maybe Agamemnon) but instead are believable, intriguing human beings. The fight between Achilles and Hector is probably the best part of the movie, as both characters have been developed nicely up until that point, and you don't want to see either one lose. The climax, with the Trojan Horse, is perfectly realized and ends the film well. And the bookending narration by Odysseus makes a nice lead-in to The Odyssey, if they ever decide to adapt that one. All in all, a flawed epic with some great performances and fantastic action - just classic moviemaking.

I'm sorry, I thought it was terrible. All it looked like was single combat...pixel battle...single combat...pixel battle...single combat. I think they really tried to develop the characters, but something was wrong with the pacing, or the editing, or the direction..something didn't click. And I don't mind being unfaithful to the original story, but some things went completely unexplained. Achilles gets whacked in the heel with no explanation at all, as if we're all supposed to remember our 8th grade history/English.

The only comaprison I can make is as if you showed a football highlight reel to somebody who has never seen a football game, and then asked them if they liked the game of football. It's like you can't really answer.

C+

And the "+" is because, story or no, Troy is a textbook example of Manflesh.

That god damned stone.

Couldn't they have made him fall in some other way... or at least not go out like a pussy?!

Still a great movie, very enjoyable!

dumb mindless entertainment.
7/10.

Recent rewatch. What an epic, awesome, rousing, entertaining film.

Pitt is wooden at times but ultimately immensely watchable as the brooding hero. Orlando Blooms acting is abominable, holy fuck, Josh Hartnett or Heath Ledger would have been 100x better in the early 2000s pretty boy lead male role.

Eric Bana utterly commands the screen. After this, Black Hawk Down, and Munich, I am surprised he didn't become bigger star. Peter Otoole is also brilliant, along with Brian Cox, Brendan Gleeson, Sean Bean, etc.

The score is also magnificent. How was this not nominated for an Oscar? Horner's music is tremendous here.

Eric Bana is an interesting guy.

I remember being dumbstruck that he was starring in Hollywood films because he was always a comedic buffoon here on Oz TV. Even when he played real life gangster Chopper Reed in Chopper - there was a comedic element to it.

However, I was very impressed what he managed to do in Hollywood even if short lived. He was the best thing about Troy.

BTW - I met him in early 2003 at a bar outside the F1 Grand Prix here in Melbourne and he's a great guy. He had the longer hair and mentioned how he'd wrapped Hulk and would be going to Malta to film Troy.

I mainly remember the godly shape Pitt was in.

Nice!

And I should watch Troy again, it was some of my favorite cinema visits that year and it got me more interested in Greek mythology too.

It also has to be noted how comically different this Is then the Odyssey. This movie takes place over the course of like three weeks

Helen of Troy Is beyond beautiful in this movie.

That is just awesome.

I always liked the Illiad and the the Achilles arc of the great warrior sitting out the battle at first cause he's pissed. I wish they went through a period where the Greek stories got a series of film adaptations, like they haven't made a big version of the Odyssey despite how a cyclops and hot mermaids should be good movie material. Then for the gods movies if they had an Iron Man or Jungle Book that worked and could model the rest's style after, they would have such easy material for a while with some gods getting their own trilogies plus the Avengers style team up movies.

Thinking further....Brad Pitt kind of sucks in this. There script does him no favors, and he is playing a character who semi-playing a character within the film (Achilles never wants to be there and puts on a forced front for 90% of the film) which is nog easy, but still, him and especially Bloom are cringe worthy and totally overshadowed by Bana and OToole.



Bana in Troy, BHD, and Munich is really high-level caliber 'likable alpha' performance. He is 100% of those actors who could come out of nowhere to win a Best Actor award if given the right role.

Those movies would hemorrhage money if done today tbh, nobody under 30 cares. Even 2004 Troy, with its mega star power and insane marketing campaign, was a domestic disappointment and only achieved clear hit status due to its immense overseas performance.

TROY is very much akin to 2001s PEARL HARBOR in that it is clearly the Hollywood/MTV adaptation of historical source material. King Arthur, Alexander, and Kingdom of Heaven continued the downward trends of swords and sandal epics 2004 - 2005 and by the end of the year, they were gone.

The 2000s featured mega-budget one-off/no sequel potential' historical tentpole/remake prestige films ala GLADIATOR, THE PATRIOT, PEARL HARBOR, ALEXANDER, KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, KING KONG, what an odd time.

Rewatched this, great film. Love the source material and they put some of the best ensembles together for it. The film doesn't quite adapt the material that well and the characters never really come to life and with that I mean that it doesn't have the emotional heft as epics like Gladiator and Braveheart. Troy is all spectacle instead, the battles and score are great, there are nice bits of dialogue and except for maybe Bloom, it has perfect casting. So it doesn't manage to be an all-timer, but if just looking at it from a blockbuster and popcorn entertainment perspective it's definitely one of the best in that regard.

A-