Well made

Rating: 7/10 (28 October 2005)

I found the 2-DVD version of "Troy" in the bargain bin at a local department store. Since it only cost me the equivalent to a few dollars, I decided to buy it. And I was not disappointed.
Troy, as most of us know, depicts the Trojan War described in the Iliad.
First of all, I would like to make one thing clear - Neither the Iliad nor this movie are in any way historical documents. The Iliad is an old fairytale, whereupon this movie is based. To seek rational explanations for this and that is a waste of time. Consider it for what it is and has always been, a great and very entertaining fairy tale, like the Lord of the Rings is of today.
I'll proceed with the review. This movie is a "slightly" condensed version of the epic itself. And of course with the necessary touches of hollywoodization added to it. For good or for worse. Being made into a Hollywood movie is usually either the best or the second worst - being made into a Disney cartoon is the worst - thing that could happen to a classic story like the Iliad. But Troy actually manages to end up somewhere in between, which I find rather unusual.
As I wrote earlier, the story depicts the Trojan war, a result of the elopement or kidnapping of Helen of Sparta, by prince Paris of Troy. Troy was according to legends - as well as a few historians - a city located in what is today northwest Turkey. A city that by the standards of that day was considered large and prosperous. As well as damn near impregnable, with walls that couldn't be breached or scaled*. And since this war involved the greatest nations of the known world (at least according to the ancient Greeks), it was important enough to involve the gods themselves, who gladly gave their chosen champions a helping hand here and there, as well as taking every opportunity to back-stab their opponents when possible.
Unfortunately, every divine or arcane intervention was left out of the Hollywood version, that is basically an action movie set in ancient times. The reason for this is that the filmmakers wanted to make an accurate historical movie, and thus they left out the parts that were considered a bit too unreal to fit in. I fail to see the logic in that decision, though, since the Iliad IS in fact simply that, a fairy tale. Not a historical document**. Didn't they realize that? This means that this movie sometimes feel very real, and since the acting is top notch, some might find it disturbing. Especially since most of us knows how it will end. Throw in a lot of blood and gore, and there you go.
In my personal opinion, this was a really bad call. I mean, doesn't this movie really cry out for a sequel? No, I'm not thinking about "Troy II - Paris revenge" *duh*, I mean the Odyssey. But how could you make a watchable movie out of the Odyssey without the fairy tale part? Remove that, and you end up with a boring and probable box office bomb about some guy getting really, really, really lost on his way home from Troy.
The "fairy tale" bits'n parts that were left out aren't the only changes the script writers made. Although many of the characters from the original Iliad are represented in this movie - and by very skilled actors as well - there are some changes that have been made to their personalities, traits and fates. Some, like me, might dislike that, but it's just a movie anyway. And as I wrote, it is a bit condensed, especially the time-frame. In the Iliad, the Greeks spent ten years outside the walls of Troy, until they finally realized that their current tactics weren't working, and that they should try something new. In the movie it is a matter of weeks.
Even though the script writers and filmmakers have made a lot of changes*** to the story, Troy remains quite a watchable movie. Removing the fairy tale part and trying to make a historical movie was a mistake though, for that is what the Iliad and the Odyssey is - Ancient fairy tales that have survived through time, thanks to a literary genius in ancient Greece.
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* This happened long before siege engines was invented. They didn't even have iron back then. Metal objects were made out of bronze, thus it was called the bronze age. On the other hand, siege engines hadn't been of much use, since in reality it's likely that there never even existed walls and fortifications like those of Troy back then. Buildings were small, city walls were low, ships were short, swords were weak and soft, armor gave little protection, etc.
** We don't know if Troy ever existed. Archaeologists have found remains of at least one ancient city in that area of Turkey, not necessarily the actual city of Troy. Quite a number of fairly large cities existed around the Mediterranean sea during the bronze age, and most of them have been lost. In short, there are no conclusive evidence that support the claims that Troy have been found.
*** There are changes that are necessary to make the movie watchable. And there is always the possibility of improvements. At the same time, you should - as a filmmaker or script writer - ask yourself this question: Will I be remembered as a one of the greatest writers of all time in a couple of thousand years, comparable to Homer or William Shakespeare? If you feel that "no" would be the most suitable answer to that question, don't make changes that aren't necessary. And make no improvements.