magnificent!

Rating: 9/10 (21 January 2009)

I just watched this movie in its entirety last night. Over the last several years I've seen parts of it on TV and was always impressed, but now that I've seen it all, I have to write a comment.
This is a stunning, magnificent movie, perhaps the best war movie I've ever seen. The only better one I can think of is "Saving Private Ryan." The acting by Brad Pitt is awesome. Eric Bana is excellent too, as are, really, all the supporting characters. There are no bad portrayals. There is no bad dialog.
I will skip over complementing the battle scenes, but, yes, I agree with other posters, the battle between Achilles and Hector is marvelous, and many other ones are very fine.
I have been a fan of the ancient Greeks all my life and have read several translations of the Iliad and Odyssey. This may sound like heresy, but this movie is better. The writers have wisely dropped the parts of the Iliad that would be difficult to translate into a film for modern viewers. They have put aside parts of the Iliad and brought in scenes from the Odyssey and other traditions. It is amusing to read the reviews of some people here who complain that the result is not "historically accurate." Oh come now. Surely you don't think the Iliad was historically accurate? It's a myth! The truth to be found in myths is not historical accuracy.
The net result is that the movie captures the feel of the Iliad for me. Brad Pitt's Achilles is absolutely perfect. The scenes with Priam in his hut begging for the body of Hector, and the earlier scene with his mother before he leaves for the war, are marvelous. This is no comic book or super hero version of Achilles. This is real.
One of the finest short exchanges I've ever seen is with Achilles and Briseus in the hut. "When does it ever end?" "It never ends."
The only reason I don't rate it it a 10, but only 9, is because inherent in the story is the semi-divinity of Achilles. While that adds something wonderful, it also makes it slightly less relevant to ordinary human life, though you can say that on the other hand it thereby symbolizes parts of human life.
In any event, a magnificent achievement all around. Clearly a performance and embodiment of Achilles and the ancient Greeks that can never be surpassed. Way, way superior to the movie "300", which is full of comic book characters.