Needs more than one viewing

Rating: Null/10 (3 August 2004)

The first time I saw this film, I thought it was too long and boring. Too much of actors staring into the horizon & other places, pointless filming of inanimate objects etc.. But on my second viewing, it seemed perfectly rounded, and I really got to appreciate the details in the dramatic scenes, battle scenes and production design. This is one of the few films I have seen that actually got better on second viewing. In my opinion, Sean Bean gives the best performance here, with his fine underplaying of Odysseus. I was on holiday in Greece recently, and I discussed the film with a Greek person. He thought that many details from Homers poem had been badly distorted. The same has been written in many other comments here.
But in the end credits, it says that it is inspired by The Iliad, not copied from it. As for the comments saying that the Greeks take the Trojans by surprise in the film, what is that about? Trojan archers are on the beach when the ships are sighted. Others are sharpening timber and pointing them towards the shoreline as some kind of defense. Hector doesn't know the exact hour the Greeks are coming, but he has definitely prepared the army for battle. I recommend you see this several times, I have seen it 6 times in a theater.