Absolutely Woeful

Rating: 1/10 (16 June 2004)

This was worth the price of admission just to see how bad it really is.
To prove just how poorly researched this film was, Agamemnon's brother, Menelaus was constantly referred to as MeneLOUSE. As anyone who has studied Greek literature would know, it's pronounced MEN-A-LAY-US. If they can't get the pronunciations correct (and a basic internet search will get you that), what makes you think the rest of the film will be well thought out.
The dialogue was appalling. Some lines may have been taken from The Iliad but dialogue in a story does not translate well into dialogue on screen.
And the accents, my God! As an Australian, I am proud of our exported actors but never has the phrase "Paris don't" been uttered in a broader Australian accent than it was by Rose Byrne at the films end. And since when was Achilles' cousin an American??
I heard many bad reviews before I saw Troy but didn't take any notice of them because I love mythology and love epics but little could have prepared me for this shocking film. The dialogue is bad, the acting is bad, the direction is bad and the score is bad. By the end of the film, the cinema I was in was scattered with the sounds of sniggers and restrained laughter.
During the fight between Menelaus and Paris, I was convinced it was filmed by a kid on set who must have been on work experience. It was that shambolic.
Was it entertaining? Of course it was, but only because I was stunned at just how bad it was. As an example of bad cinema is gets 10. As a memorable film, it gets 1.