Homer meets his Pearl Harbor

Rating: 4/10 (1 November 2004)

Oh dear, after Gladiator, I was looking forward very much to watching this DVD and was very disappointed.
Let's start with the good points - it's an action packed with plenty of high quality computerised war scenes. Brad' Pitt's comment along the lines of "the god's envy us because what we have, ends - and is therefore more beautiful") - that's about it.
What could have been better ( a lot better)
The script, characters & casting were "Hollywood thin"; no substance.
I know a lot is dumbed down these days but I found the script so poor I wondered how seasoned thespians such as Peter O'Toole accepted the parts. Perhaps they wanted the money?
Hector's (Eric Bana)pep talk to his Trojan army before they took on the Greeks was about as uplifting as Sir Percy's address in BlackAdder 2 - only not as funny. Ditto Agamemnon role cf King Richard IV of England in Blackadder 1.
I'm sorry but after this I'm not a Brad Pitt fan, whom they chose for a clean cut, bronzed, slightly confused, macho cum softy-in-the-end Achilles instead of someone who could be really sinister and loving - like Jean Remo, Gary Oldman or Alan Rickman.
There was no fantasy, no gods, no Zeus; Homer meets his Pearl Harbor - and you just about have it. Aimed, I guess, at teenagers with an assumption that they have no thirst for knowledge.
Bring back Jason & the Argonauts.