The Direcotr's Cut: Improved, but still not perfect

Rating: 9/10 (5 April 2008)

Now that I have seen Troy: The Director's Cut four times, I have come to my conclusion of whether I liked this version over the theatrical or not. Most directors' cuts improve the original release such as: Blade Runner, and The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. I enjoy this version of Troy more than the theatrical, but only slightly.
The story is the same. The following morning of the peaceful pact between Sparta and Troy, Prince Paris (Orlando Bloom) loves Helen of Sparta (Diane Kruger) and decides to take her with him to his home Troy. Her husband Menelhaus (Brendan Gleeson) learns about this betrayal and decides to go to war with the Trojans, aided by the support of his power hungry brother Agamemnon (Brian Cox) who recruits the greatest warrior of the world Achilles (Brad Pitt) to partake in the war that launches a thousand ships. King Priam (Peter O'Toole) and his eldest son Prince Hector (Eric Bana) must defend their city from the Greeks onslaught.
Compared to the theatrical version, which to me was just a big budget action flick, there are scenes added in the film that help develop the character's revealing their motives.
For instance, there's an added scene where King Priam tells his son Hector a story about him as a baby when he was sick. He told him he prayed to the Gods and made a promise to them that if they saved him, he would dedicate his life to them. When young Hector's health improved, Priam says, "Since then I've dedicated my life to the Gods. I've worked thirty years for peace." The reason why he fears and respects the Gods so much is explained. There are several other scenes like this that makes the characters more believable and more understanding.
There are other scenes that may not have been extended, but rearranged via editing. An example would be in a scene where Briesis first meets Achilles, bound by the wrists in his tent. Rather than cutting back and forth between Achilles talking to her and her talking to him, the screen focuses only on her. The scene is not longer, but it draws its main attention on her.
In the theatrical version of Troy, I found the battle sequences to be very entertaining, but at times unrealistic with the sometimes bloodless slashes, choppy camera angles, and occasional overuse of CGI. I was surprised it got the R rating. But this version rubs the battles in your face, very much like Mel Gibson's Braveheart. The blood/gore fans will enjoy this very much.
There are several other things that have been changed in this new version. The colorization is brighter than the theatrical version. The statue of Apollo is a gold rather than bronze. This also makes the blood stand out more.
The score by James Horner is broader, adding more drama and emotion to the film. It is very similar to the theatrical version, but the pieces are rearranged and a little bit of a Gabriel Yared feeling (the original composer for the film) is added to it. This had quite a positive effect on the film. However, the music during the duel between Hector and Achilles is totally different. Rather than a solo drum supporting the suspense of the fight, an entire group of drums and other instruments are at work, drowning the scene rather than allowing the fight on the screen do most of the work.
As I've said earlier, many scenes added make the movie better. But there are also scenes added that had no purpose to the film. There's an added scene following Paris ecstasy with Helen in which hector confronts Paris. He questions him about who he was sleeping with. Paris lies but Hector doesn't buy it. Instead, he grabs him by the face and tells him that if he ever messed up the peaceful pact with Sparta, he would "rip his pretty face from his skull."
This gives the implication that he knew about his brother and Helen, which does not add the surprising revelation on the boat in the theatrical version. This also shows that Hector knew about the affair, yet he didn't straighten it out. I found that to be weak on his part, particularly as such a wise and honorable man who would do anything for his country.
I also found the rearrangement of Hector's funeral to be unneeded. Rather than Horner's score flourish, an annoying female soloist sings her heart out, sounding like a chicken being choked. Every time I come across this scene, I skip it, because I might just scream.
Overall, the director's cut is better, but it is still flawed. Nonetheless, out of Wolfgang Peterson's effort to make such a compelling story, I give it a 9/10.
The myth by Homer will always be the best version.