War stinks, Troy rules

Rating: 9/10 (17 March 2007)

Countless words have been written in the course of these past 3 years about Wolfgang Peterson's "swords and sandals" epic, Troy. However, I still don't understand why this beautiful retelling of the historic battle of the walled city remains in the minds of so many a mediocre product at best.
There are so many good things going on for this film, starting from its ultra-wide cinematography, spectacular fight scenes (especially the "dance fight" between Hector and Achilles), and superb performances by Brad Pitt, Rose Byrne, Eric Bana and Peter O'Toole (amongst others). More so, the most memorable anecdote I personally took from the film was the careful and balanced point of view Peterson took when showing both sides of the story. This allowed us as viewers to gain an objective perspective of the war, after learning the advantages and flaws of each side. Bottom line: war stinks, Troy rules.