Troy is a very good epic film that could have been great!

Rating: Null/10 (1 June 2004)

Directed by Wolfgang Petersen
Runtime: 163 min
Troy is a very good epic film that could have been great! The movie sets and battle scenes are grand and reminiscent of other blockbuster movies like Gladiator, Brave Heart and the Lord of the Rings. The movie's scriptwriters take a little too much artistic license in my view and deviate from Homer's The Iliad and other literature about the Trojan War. An example of this is the leaving out of a very important character by the name of Cassandra, who foresaw the end of Troy before it happened.
Much of the story revolves around Brad Pitts character Achilles. Brad Pitt did a credible job but I still had a hard time buying him as the world's greatest warrior. Where is the Rock or Vin Diesel when you need them?
Eric Bana did a much better job of playing the reluctant but great Trojan warrior Hector. I really liked the way he portrayed the honorable warrior who loves his family and still does his duty just like many soldiers have to do today.
Orlando Bloom plays Paris who is apparently a better lover than a fighter and starts the whole Trojan War by stealing Helen from the Spartan king Menelaus.
Peter O'Toole plays King Priam of Troy with his usual great skill and talent.
Brian Cox does an excellent job of playing the really mean and nasty King Agamemnon.
There are some people that are not going to like this film. It is not a small budget independent film with some weird obscure director. It is grossing way too much money to be 'in' with that film crowd.
The movie misses the mark of being great but it is a very good entertaining movie if you can ignore the changes to the traditional story. I rate it a 7 out of 10.