deja vu?

Rating: 7/10 (17 May 2004)

Hmm, after a while I sort of expected Golem to appear. But then, good actors are had to find, so you use the decent ones you've discovered over and over. Its been a while since I read the Iliad, but most of the movie seemed to be more or less faithful to Homer's plot (except, maybe, the ending). I'd particularly like to complement the set designers, those were damn functional yurts on the beach, and I don't recall seeing that many ships assembled before, even in WW II D-Day photos. Also, I liked the way that Petersen developed the viewer's appreciation of how the weaknesses and strengths of the major characters changed over the course of the movie. At the beginning I pigeonholed Achilles as a bloodthirsty status seeking dork. By the end I realized he was a noble bloodthirsty status seeking dork with a conscience. Helen of Troy's character, though pretty, didn't really ring my chimes at all. very 2- dimensional she was. But, all in all, the whole shebang was worth the price of a ticket.