terrible script

Rating: Null/10 (2 June 2004)

The main thing that's wrong with this epic is the script. Compare this piece of Hollywood formulaism to a REAL epic, like Lawrence of Arabia, and all you can do is say, 'yuck!'
SPOILERS
The love story between Achilleus and Briseias should never have been there, but that's not the worst. The worst is that the movie just plays like any other formula action movie you could imagine, instead of using the great potential in the classic story at hand.
And some things are just plain ridiculous. Why in the midst of a brutal battle does everyone stop to look at Achilleus (really Patroklos) and Hektor fighting? In a battle your LIFE is supposed to be at stake!
And why is Achilleus, the cynical warrior, so very, very, very upset that his cousin Patroklos is killed? Isn't he used to people being killed around him? And why is he so upset at Hektor for killing him? Isn't war about killing people? Have I got it wrong? And Hektor apologizes to Achilleus because he killed Patroklos, and says he only did it because he thought it was Achilleus. BUT... does any man stop in the middle of brutal combat and choose who to fight or kill? Isn't that kind of fighting ABOUT killing as many as possible and hopefully surviving yourself?
Another thing; thousands of men die during the battles, presumably, but does each an every one of them get a kings burial with a lot of burning wood etc.? It seems like each time a main character dies he gets the gloriest of gloriest of funerals, even if he's not remotely royal. The soldiers really must spend a lot of their daytime collecting wood for those burials.
The actors try their best, but most do not come wholly unbruised away from this thing; they are let down by a terrible script and surprisingly unsure direction, especially in the early scenes in the film. Peter O'Toole and Sean Bean do really well throughout, though.
Disappointing all in all, especially with the story at hand. The music is terrible, too. I cannot understand why so many people like this film so much. Are these the same people who liked Pearl Harbour and The Last Samurai? P*** with bubbles is NOT champagne!