No Gladiator, but Stands on its own..

Rating: Null/10 (17 May 2004)

I like the Epic style (Gladiator, Braveheart) and felt that the grandeur of Troy is right up there. I find that until I've seen a movie a couple of times, little things go unnoticed, but for now it is pretty good. Orlando Bloom throws the dice against his Legolas/Will Turner image by playing a decidedly less courageous character. Eric Bana I must say, did an excellent job. I was worried after seeing the Hulk that he might not be that enjoyable to watch. He proved me wrong. It was kinda of neat to see Brendan Gleeson (Hammish, big sidekick in Braveheart) and the actor who played his father, James Cosmo on opposite sides! I felt they wasted Peter O'Toole by making him wide-eyed through the whole thing, and the Helen character just seems to be a waste. Sean Bean is good being a good-guy on the questionable side, and so was Achilles's right hand man (Nigel Terry?). There are enough Honorable Funeral Pyres in this movie to last a lifetime of movie watching. Are they Vikings? And then there's Achilles. Other people have said that this is just a fight movie, but Brad Pitt FILLS the movie with his role. He agonizes over the decisions he makes; ie how he is seen now, compared to how History will see him. You see hundreds of emotions all at once. The one-on-one fight with Hector (Bana), is just awesome. That is the action scene Troy will be remembered for, as Gladiator was for the dual-sword battle in Gladiator (lost head), multiple scenes in Braveheart (killing the magistrate, oiled battlefields) and the Darth Maul (Ray Park) battle scene at the end of Episode 1. Achilles vs Hector is like a dance, it's so fluid.