Battle Between Hector and Achilles

Rating: 7/10 (28 March 2005)

I had very high expectations for Troy. Why wouldn't I. The Battle of Troy is the one story that has overcome time and lived for over 3000 years. The epic battles, the powerful characters, and most importantly, the beautiful women. To be brutally honest, Troy fell short in every aspect. If there was one thing that could have saved the movie, it would have been the battle between Hector and Achilles outside the Trojan walls. I was expecting a ten minute battle, a sequence that would have done justice to probably one of the greatest battles of ALL TIME. It didn't. It was unemotional and simply lacked creativity. To venture from the battle and discuss casting, Brad had his moments. He comes across as a hard brute, exactly what he should have been. It was not until half way through the movie, where his emotions started peeking through, that I began to enjoy his performance. To me, he just seemed distant and not in the moment. On the other hand, Peter O'Toole, the king of Troy, was AMAZING. My favorite sequence was when the Trojan Horse was brought into the city and the Greeks began to burn Troy to the ground, and the camera cuts to Peter O'Toole looking over it all. That shot had a lasting impression on me for the rest of the film (which was about 4 minutes), and only Peter O'Toole could have pulled it off. AMAZING job.