Achilles pales in the glory of Hector.

Rating: Null/10 (4 May 2004)

I have always been a fan of long epic movies, The Ten Commandment and Gone With The Wind being favorites of mine ever since I was young. I just returned from a screening of Troy and while it had its faults, I have to say that overall it was a decent movie with many good moments.
If I could improve anything I would have liked a better script, since most of what they said seemed trite or melodramatic. The story line is pretty much what you would find in Homer with the exclusion of the gods and a little more love interest for Brad Pitt who plays Achilles.

I was not really a fan of the book, but the movie really drew me in pretty quickly and although it was 2 hours and 40 minutes, I really didn't notice.
Brad Pitt was only alright as Achilles and I expected much more out of Orlando Bloom, but the performance of Eric Bana as Hector was marvellous. He really brought to life every aspect of Hector that is admirable in The Iliad and he definately sets himself apart as the real hero of the story. It is so touching to see him interact with his wife and young son. Eric Bana is brillant, while Achilles's story did not really touch me or spark my interest quite as much. I also wish Sean Bean had had more screen time since he did an excellent job with the few moments he had.

I don't want to give anything away, but my favorite scene was the battle between Achilles and Hector. It was breathtaking, even when I knew what was going to happen. I would see this movie again just for that scene.
As a lover of great epics, I would have to say that I enjoyed the film on the whole. But if you are going to see it, please see it on the big screen. This is one movie that would not be as good of a rent!