"Troy" is time well spent

Rating: 9/10 (2 September 2006)

"Troy" is as faithful to its literary inspiration as any movie made on this subject matter can be.
Divine influences are eliminated, by necessity, but political themes are left intact. It would be a mistake to think those issues were inserted by movie-makers; they were an integral part of the epic novel in its original form.
Achilles is given an expanded role, one which might bother purists, but probably makes the movie more interesting to most viewers.
Peter O'Toole and Brian Cox as the opposing kings are superb. Eric Bana provides an excellent performance as the true hero of the story, Hector. And Brad Pitt does very well as the central character, Achilles, in one of his finest works.
Beautifully filmed, superbly acted, "Troy" is one of the greatest epic movies ever filmed. It suffers in comparison to "The Iliad" in written form, and to less ambitious films, but if measured against similar movies, is a work of art, and both informational and inspirational.