fabulous version recreates events that made the myth

Rating: 9/10 (31 January 2005)

This movie, based on The Iliad, portrays how the Greeks felt and what they believed about their gods as well as there loves, lusts and desire to leave some kind of legacy. One scene accurately depicts the inner conflict a man might have about war, power, destiny Vs home, family, peace. Achilles' mother tells him that if he stays away from this war, he will marry and raise children and be remembered for many generations but if he goes, she will never see him again and he will be remembered...forever. And she is right..
The basic story is that Agamemnon, a king of kings, has conquered many nations but wants more. So when Paris, the younger prince of Troy, steals his brother's wife, Helen, Agamemnon uses this excuse to set his sights on conquering Troy.
He has used the mercenary, Achilles, to fight many battles although Achilles' impudence annoys him greatly. They arrive on the beaches of Troy but Achilles refuses to fight unless Agamemnon acknowledges that his power rests with the lives of his soldiers and, especially, on Achilles so they are quickly turned back from Troy's mighty walls by the archers under the command of Hector, Paris' brother and Troy's true champion.
The priests incite the king of Troy to fight against the Greeks further and this instigates a battle in which Achilles' cousin is killed by Prince Hector because he is dressed in Achilles armor. Achilles kills Hector to revenge his cousin's death and thus, the ultimate destruction of Troy is set in motion, for inside Hector beat the heart of the true Trojan- not the religious king or philandering younger prince.
The invaders pretend to leave a gift for their god on the beach and pull back to hide and wait. The foolish king ignores his remaining son's advice to burn the giant wooden horse and instead listens to the priests and brings it inside to the god's temple. He has unknowingly given the enemy safe passage through the mighty wall and the men inside the horse destroy the archers on the wall and let in their companions to burn and sack the city. Paris flees with the women but he does fatally wound the great Achilles, whose death will finally bring him peace.
The king of Troy, who obviously loves his sons and Troy greatly, always defers to the priests of the gods he worships- and at great price to his sons and his country. To give him credit, he believes Troy has always been protected and honored due to his gods' protection. The movie makes it obvious that he should have given his honor to the soldiers who fought and died for Troy instead.
Achilles shows disdain for the gods and for kings, who he believes sit back and make decisions that cause other men to die and suffer. The virgin priestess who has dedicated her life to serving the invisible gods tries to defend them to Achilles but loses her own inner battle and falls for this very visible and virile man instead. Achilles tells her, "I'll tell you a secret. The gods envy us," and we believe him.
The movie brings out clearly that what the men of Greece believed about their gods motivated them to act the way they did. The soldiers believed themselves to be ordinary men at the mercy of power-hungry kings and the condescending gods. I like the fact that the gods are not in the movie. This makes the movie seem more like what we think was the real story behind the myth of the Iliad than an adaptation of the Iliad itself.
Paris was a ladies' man. Indeed, as Helen tells him after his embarrassing defeat at the hands of her husband, a woman would prefer her man to do as he did and choose to live instead of keeping his pride and dying. A woman cannot hold a ghost. Yet a woman could not be proud of such a man and we do not like Paris much.
Hector was the real hero. A man who loved his family and fought for his country. Even when he knew they were wrong, no matter how many times he tried to warn them unsuccessfully to take another course of action- he was first and up front to fight for them. Having made arrangements for the safety of his family, he fights bravely and dies the true hero of Troy.
And this brings out a point the movie makes very well. Throughout the movie you see ordinary men, soldiers, carving small wooden toys for their children. Guts and glory are not on their minds although they are being forced to fight. They fight because they love their children and their wives and they get through their battles by thinking of the ones they really love, their real legacy. In this way, the movie seems to bring honor to soldiers without glorifying war.
War is not glorious. It is caused by a few and brings grief to many. But the soldiers, the men who fight for their country and their families are heroes. They are not glory hounds who want to be remembered forever but they make it possible for us to live in peace and freedom for generations to come... and so they are remembered.
I hope that this movie will make you want to read the book. The Iliad, is a classic and I'm glad it has inspired yet another generation of men.