Decent if you know nothing about the Illiad or Greek History (Spoilers)

Rating: 5/10 (22 May 2004)

Let me first start off by saying this is a halfway decent movie. Although, that probably has much to do with the fact that it is based upon the Illiad, one of the best books of all time. But, they screw the story up so much that anyone who has read the Illiad will spend the entire movie with a 'wtf' expression on their face. Some general problems:
No gods - the Illiad was FULL of gods. Where are they? How can you do the Illiad without gods? Incorrect deaths - Ajax dead? Menalaus killed by Hector? Agamemnon dies? WTF? Achilles - Brad Pitt is what, 150 pounds? Not very threatening. Achilles was supposed to be HUGE, as was Hector and all of the other heros. Perhaps the greatest fighter in the word shouldn't look like a little kid.
Timeline - The war was supposed to have lasted 10 years. According to this movie it lasted about 3 days. There was no sense of time elapsing or anything. Character inserts - Aeneis is my main example. In his story, he fights a little at Troy before founding Rome. In this movie, he's a little kid who gets handed the sword of Troy. Why even insert him, if only to make people confused as to why Aeneis is a little kid?
There were many other changes made, I'm sure to make it fit some cookie cutter Hollywood image. Perhaps the guys in Hollywood should pick up a book before putting something like this out.