Review of Troy (2004) by Brett H — 20 Jul 2016

Wolfgang Petersen's violent and large-scale adaptation of Homer's, The Iliad, is an entertaining piece of sword-and-sandals popcorn entertainment with an A-list cast, fantastic production values, and amazing fight choreography that will certainly astonish.

The film chronicles the Greek assault against the Trojans holed up in the massive city of Troy; as we follow Greece's mightiest warrior, Achilles, played with god-like conviction from Brad Pitt who trained for six months to get the ideal body figure.

Also starring is Brian Cox as the ruthless leader, Agamemnon, and Eric Bana as Troy's deadliest fighter, Hector, whose one-on-one battle with Achilles near the end of the film is one of the all-time best sword fights I've ever seen, with the two actors performing their own stunts and choreography.

Rounding out the cast; Orlando Bloom and Diane Kruger star as Paris and Helen Of Sparta (eventually Troy) who are secretly having an affair and after eloping together, her vengeful husband, Menelaus, seeks to reclaim her and take down the Trojans for their betrayal.

The film isn't entirely accurate in its adaptation of the epic Homer poem, nor actual history, and certain events and fates of characters don't line up, but you can forgive all that as this is clearly a condensed version of what took place.

It's a bloody, epic, and highly enjoyable war film that succeeds largely thanks to the solid casting and big-budget thrills and for me, the nearly 3-hour runtime flew by!