Underrated film

Rating: 8/10 (31 August 2005)

"Troy," as we all know, is an adaptation of Homer's classic poem, "The Iliad." It tells the tale of Paris, the prince of the Kingdom of Troy, who falls in love with Helen, the wife of King Menelaus of Sparta, and kidnaps her. This outrages Menelaus, and he begs his brother, Agamemnon, for help. Agamemnon sees this as an opportunity to make war on Troy, and he gathers all the kingdoms of Greece in a war against Troy. Warriors from every Greek kingdom is present at the war; among these warriors is Achilles, one of the most famous figures in Greek mythology. And thus begins the tale of the Trojan War.
The story of the Trojan war is, perhaps, one of the most popular myths is human history. It has had several film adaptations, including the 1950's "Helen of Troy," a 2003 film of the same name, and, of course, 2004's "Troy," released after the success of epic films like "Gladiator" and "LOTR."
David Benioff, using "The Ilaid" as a primary guide, writes the screen play and retells many of the most famous events in the myth. Of course, every adaptation of a literary work has some changes to the original tale, and "Troy" is no exception. It is filled with many changes to the "Iliad" in the name of artistic licensing. Example of changes include:
-The Death of Menelaus under Paris even though he's supposed to survive the war and reclaim Helen as his wife again
-The death of Agamemnon under Brisies even though his wife is supposed to kill him when he comes home from the war
-The fact that Achilles is on board the Trojan Horse even though he's supposed to die even before it was built
-Paris living in the end even though he's supposed to die during the war
-And, perhaps the biggest change in the original story are the omission of the Greek gods, who play a major role in the story.
But despite these changes to the original tale, "Troy" is a fair adaptation of the Greek myth. The omission of the gods is tolerable and makes the story realistic; "Troy" is an attempt to tale the tale from a realistic point of view, excluding many of the supernatural elements. There is no mention of Achilles' immortality (unless he's struck in the heel) and it takes several arrows to kill him. But this does not mean that "Troy" is an unfaithful adaptation, since it has the basics. The war, like in the original tale, in this film, is triggered by the abduction of Helen by Paris, and this film also has the famous Trojan Horse.
With an acceptable script to work with, "Troy" fell under the direction of Wolfgang Petersen, famous for his work in "Das Boots."
This movie includes an all-star cast, a cast headed by Brat Pitt as Achilles. Gaining muscle for his role, Pitt portrays Achilles as a strong warrior. But even though he is the star of the film, the real star is Eric Bana as Hector, the Trojan prince and hero of his people who comes face-to-face with the mighty Achilles. Bana portrays a noble warrior like Hector and makes him a person you'd want to root for. The best performance in this movie goes to Peter O'Tool as King Priam of Troy, a loving father and wise ruler. Other stars include Brian Cox as a believably vile Agamemnon, Brian Gleeson as Menelaus (angry that his wife left him for the pretty boy prince of Troy), and, of course, Orlando Bloom and Diane Kruger as puny Paris and beautiful Helen, the two lovers who started the Trojan War.
Now, for the technical parts of the film, one word - impressive. The sets are realistic, and so are the costumes. The cinematography is breathtaking (this film was filmed in Mexico and Malta). And, of course, no film is complete with a score. Originally, Gabriel Yared's music was supposed to be on this film, but it was deemed too "classical" a replaced with James Horner's music that he made in less than two weeks, a score that is considered inferior to Yared's, but I still found it tolerable. This movie also includes Josh Groban's "Remember" in the ending credits.
When "Troy" premiered, it receive mixed reviews from critics and the public. The criticism was based on its changes to the "Iliad," while others blasted others like Orlando Bloom's portraying of Paris as a weakling (even though he's supposed to be) and several others. However, despite criticism, this movie still manages to get a 7.0 rating on the IMDb and has some decent reviews.
Overall, "Troy" is a fair adaptation of the Iliad and a good epic film.
163 minutes Rated R for graphic violence and some sexuality/nudity