Historically "correct" for entertainment's sake

Rating: 6/10 (24 January 2005)

Troy is based on Homer's poem, the Iliad, in which we are not assured of any historical fact. Due to this lack of information Wolfang Petersen decided to create fictitious story-lines to please the movie-going public. And it worked. Troy is a passionate, compelling often powerful film that was worth it's duration yet not nearly worth it's quarter of a billion dollar budget.
Brad Pitt turns in an unexpectedly excellent portrayal of a Hollywood altered Achilles. Eric Bana gets a five out of ten and Orlando Bloom's weak portrayal of Paris is the down point of the film. His presence may have enticed the female crowd to see this epic, yet in every regretful scene with him he is low and transparent. Nonetheless the younger cast of pretty-boys is made up for by the older more experienced cast including Peter O'Toole and Brian Cox.
The war scenes are not what you would have hoped for. They are lacking in comparison to Braveheart and the Lord of the Rings. What you really have to watch out for are the one-on-one fight sequences between the key characters.
Troy is an exciting film worth watching even more than once though watch it as a compelling action flick,not as a historical epic.