An excellent retelling

Rating: 8/10 (16 May 2004)

Troy is a retelling of the ancient Iliad by Homer. The story is familiar: Paris of Troy abducts Helen, wife of Menelaus of Sparta, brother of King Agamemnon. Agammemnon gathers all the armies of the city-states of Greece and sets sail in a thousand ships to sack Troy.
Director Wolfgang Peterson has crafted an excellent retelling of this story. Not only does he get the look and feel of the epic poem (including the arms and armor and even the nudity), not only does he craft horribly wicked battle sequences, but he actually tells the stories of the characters.

In so many movies today the characters and plots take a back seat to the action sequences. Peterson has done a great job balancing all of this. The filmmakers also give good screen time to the stories of Achilles vs. Agamemnon over Briseis; the fondness Achilles has for his cousin Patroclus; the loyalty between Hector and Paris; Paris' love for Helen; Agamemnon's general greed. You can actually feel Priam's pain as he begs Achilles for the body of his dead son. Sure, he left out the rivalries between the gods, but their absence does not detract from the film at all (IMHO it enhances it).
The only issues I have with this film were a few implausible elements here and there, and a performance by Brad Pitt that stumble for the first 30 minutes. It takes that long to get used to him in the role of the great warrior.
I am very pleased with this movie. 8 out of 10.