X
- 2004
- R
- Warner Bros.
- 2 h 43 m
- 2004
- R
- Warner Bros.
- 2 h 43 m
Summary Throughout time, men have waged war. Some for power, some for glory, some for honor -- and some for love. (Warner Bros.)
Directed By: Wolfgang Petersen
Written By: Homer, David Benioff
- 2004
- R
- Warner Bros.
- 2 h 43 m
- 2004
- R
- Warner Bros.
- 2 h 43 m
Troy
56
8.6
Where to Watch
Summary Throughout time, men have waged war. Some for power, some for glory, some for honor -- and some for love. (Warner Bros.)
Directed By: Wolfgang Petersen
Written By: Homer, David Benioff
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 43 Critic Reviews
56
42% Positive
18 Reviews
18 Reviews
49% Mixed
21 Reviews
21 Reviews
9% Negative
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 43 Critic Reviews
56
42% Positive
18 Reviews
18 Reviews
49% Mixed
21 Reviews
21 Reviews
9% Negative
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
In a league with Hollywood's top historical epics, ancient or otherwise. It's stunningly handsome film, with an equally stunning cast and engrossing story.
When the film focuses on the Trojans, it's splendid. But when Troy attempts to sort out the competing agendas of the Greeks, it drags.
User Score
Universal Acclaim
Based on 657 User Ratings
8.6
84% Positive
555 Ratings
555 Ratings
13% Mixed
86 Ratings
86 Ratings
2% Negative
16 Ratings
16 Ratings
User Score
Universal Acclaim
Based on 657 User Ratings
8.6
84% Positive
555 Ratings
555 Ratings
13% Mixed
86 Ratings
86 Ratings
2% Negative
16 Ratings
16 Ratings
One of the best war movies of our time.
The movie sets, costumes, dialogues, actors.
Even if you have see LOTR, the action of both the movies are totally different.
Highly recommended!
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The movie is successful -- harsh, serious, and both exhilarating and tragic, the right tonal combination for Homer. [17 May 2004, p. 107]
For what it is -- a big, expensive, occasionally campy action movie full of well-known actors speaking in well-rounded accents -- Troy is not bad. It has the blocky, earnest integrity of a classic comic book, and it labors to respect the strangeness and grandeur of its classical sources.
The movie sidesteps the existence of the Greek gods, turns its heroes into action movie cliches and demonstrates that we're getting tired of computer-generated armies.
Hardly gay camp for nothing, sword-and-sandal epics cannot help but teeter on the brink of self-mockery, and Troy, for all its grim seriousness, embraces both the clichés and the beefcake.
Troy does look good--so good, in fact, that it takes a while to reveal itself as a thundering dud with much action but little personality, human drama, or brains.
This movie strikes many of the right beats to create a classic. While there are some slightly cheesy moments, and I have been told it barely follows the poem it was based off of, the movie manages to create it's own enthralling narrative, and remains gripping from start to finish. This movie's use of music, special effects, and set peaces conveys this sense of scale which many films fail to produce, with all of this Hollywood spectacle however, this movie still has substance. Amidst it's immense run time, no scene is gratuitous, and most the viewer can understand and follow most characters personalities and motives pretty easily. But more importantly the movie raises several interesting moral questions, ranging from the meaning of war, to the importance of one's legacy. The only real issue I have with this movie are that sometimes Brad Pitt's performance is a little wooden, and many scenes which were supposed to be emotionally impactful, I found to be lacking in the sentimental value necessary to really get a reaction. Also, while the film's double narrative was generally well put together, it kind of snubbed certain main characters throughout the second act.
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Have always been fascinated by Greek mythology and the Trojan War, and Homer's 'Iliad' is a major example as to why. Also love and appreciate many film epics, of which there are numerous classics, and they were the main reasons in my interest in seeing 'Troy' (another being that it was the film of choice at the friend/family weekly film night).
'Troy' had a lot going for it. A talented cast, it is hard to go wrong with Brian Cox, Sean Bean, James Cosmo, Eric Bana, Brendan Gleeson and Peter O'Toole, a more than capable director in Wolfgang Petersen (though he seemed a curious choice on paper) and a fine composer in James Horner. Will admit to not being completely sure about Brad Pitt, in terms of physicality and whether he had the complexity and presence for a character as complex as Achilles, and Orlando Bloom at first. The reviews for 'Troy' were very mixed and still are, some like and even love it and have been very passionate in their defence and others dislike it intensely and are just as passionate in their criticism. My opinion is somewhere in between, leaning towards moderately liked, there are many strengths that have been mentioned and for me some big weak points, so can see both sides of the debate very clearly.
Starting with the positives, 'Troy' looks great. The setting and production look very handsome, evocative and imposing in scale. All beautifully photographed and the editing flows and is at least coherent. Worried that Petersen would struggle with the bigger and bolder approach his directing would need than the claustrophobic approach impressively brought to 'Das Boot', actually he does well in this regard.
Particularly in the action sequences, which are exciting and tremendously well staged, showing the passion that was missing in some of the drama. James Horner's score is nowhere near one of his best or most inspired, the rushed composition process does show, but it does have its rousing, beautiful and haunting parts.
Most of the cast acquits themselves well. Brad Pitt was better than expected as Achilles, not always comfortable but the charisma and passion is definitely there. Eric Bana excels, providing a noble and sympathetic Hector and have no qualms with Sean Bean who has some of the script's better lines. Brian Cox brings relish and steely intensity, while Brendan Gleeson is a powerful presence in a role that in lesser hands would have been incredibly bland. Likewise with luminous Rose Byrne. James Cosmo is as ever reliable, while Peter O'Toole is perfectly cast, on an emotional level he and Bana are the most believable.
Not all the cast fare well, though only two really didn't do much for me. Orlando Bloom is a very characterless Paris, even for a character written as a coward there was nothing interesting about the character and got nothing out of Bloom on a performance level. Diane Kruger has a non-entity role and some of the script's worst lines, and she made the character even blander by bringing absolutely nothing and looking completely lost and even out of place.
Would have liked more passion and deeper characterisation, did like that the film didn't try to take sides or make the characters too black and white but the complexity of some of the characters is lost. The romantic elements fare the worst, whereas the action was exciting and passionate the romantic elements were pure soap opera with no chemistry let alone emotion. It is here where Petersen's direction became static.
Am not going to go into detail about how many inaccuracies and dumbing down there are in order to be kind to the film, but a lot of the dialogue is more cornball and soapy than thought-provoking or natural. The pace is uneven, there is urgency and purpose when needed but in more intimate moments the film does go dead. Am not going to criticise the film massively for being overlong, there are much longer epics out there on film (many classics), though it did feel at times there wasn't enough content and that the film tended to be too on the surface and not have enough substance so for a two and a half hour film some of it felt on the thin side.
Overall, somewhat of a mixed to moderately liked view here where both sides are understandable. 6/10 Bethany Cox
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[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]
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Production Company
Warner Bros.,
Helena Productions,
Radiant Productions,
Plan B Entertainment,
Nimar Studios
Release Date May 14, 2004
Duration 2 h 43 m
Rating R
Genres
Tagline For Honor
Awards
Academy Awards, USA
• 1 Nomination
Teen Choice Awards
• 1 Win & 5 Nominations
NRJ Ciné Awards
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations
