Battles: Idiot Iliad

Rating: Null/10 (19 May 2004)

Spoilers herein.
Petersen did a good job with Das Boot, where he mastered the notion of place and how it affects sight. That made him a name, and since then, he has been able to get work based on his `don't rock the boat dependable corporation man' image. As a result, all his films are designed by a committee whose primary value is avoiding risk.
And that's what we have here, something like what Microsoft would do: massive, polished, `good enough' and boring. The appeal of Homer's poem is the story of Achilles in the context of a legendary battle. Market forces of film have turned it the other way around: the reason for this to exist is the spectacle of the battles and the scope of the sets.
But these battles have none of the personal humor of Braveheart, or the sweep of Lord of the Rings, or the orchestrated movement of Ran, or the freneticism of Private Ryan, or the beauty of Thin Red Line, In fact, they excel in no dimension and so are forgettable. Similarly with the sets and costumes. Good enough and no more.
Only Saffron Burrows and Peter O'Toole escape embarrassment as actors here - Peter because he cannot be coaxed into strutting externally because he is already excessive internally. In Saffron's case, she is intended to be only a face, and she has one of the most remarkable faces in all filmdom. Even though they have removed her red hair and made her coloring `Greek,' she still outshines this wan Helen.
The next day I saw Van Helsing, which is the very best of the genre. This is only average it its.
Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.