Homer's bones roll in his grave

Rating: Null/10 (18 May 2004)

Oof! What a waste of time and money! Too many others have recounted the clangorous discrepancies with the original Iliad (and Aeneid) that formed the bases for this Hollywood "ballbuster" for me to recapitulate.
But, I just *had* to see it; to see what any cinematic realization of a classic of western literature would look like. From the standpoint of what one might expect of Hollywood, this film does not disappoint... sadly.
I must say that having been a Peter O'Toole fan ever since his '60s "Lawrence..." and "The Lion in Winter," his was the best acting in this travesty. His scene with Achilles wherein he begs for his son Hector's body elicited from me the only instance of poignancy associated with the original story. Even Pitt rose to the occasion.
The fact that I had just seen "Last Samurai" may have influenced my dislike of Troy. I am just about sick of seeing slaughterific battle scenes accompanied by glorifying martial musical themes. I'm quite confident that there was no such music around when Rwandans were slaughtering each other a decade ago.
If you have extremely low expectations and no sense whatsoever of what Homer is all about, loved Braveheart and Last Samurai, then go see this film. It will certainly meet those expectations - and possibly, in certain scenes - exceed them.