Spectecular but.....

Rating: Null/10 (20 May 2004)

Troy was 85% filmed in my country, tiny island of Malta. The square in front of the gates of Troy is the same square of the Colisseum in Gladiator. Gladiator was also filmed in Malta.
Troy is a spectacular movie. It captivates the tension and warmongery of the Greeks with their enemies. The main battle sequences remind me of The Lord of the Rings. However the sequences in Troy are much more refined and 'real'. I like the wardrobe a lot. Peter O'Toole is always dominating the screen. My twin brother was an extra in the movie (a priest) and he described me how Mr. O'Toole is a nice fellow and spoke together for some time during filming.
My disappointment in Troy is that the original story has been 'attacked' and partly destroyed. We do not see the gods scheming at each other....why are we discarding everything that is metaphysical nowadays? It seems that Petersen wanted to wrap up the movie in the end very quickly as it seemed it was going out of hand and it takes less than 25 minutes to end the movie with the Greeks coming out of the horse and destroy Troy. A pity. I think that the climax of the movie, the horse 'tragedy' must be given more time to develop.
In our country, the movie has been rated 16. I think the Censor Board decided so because for two reasons. The killings of men in the movie is so graphical and I think it is the first time that we see Brad Pitt almost naked. Do not tell me it is art - soft porn maybe yes.
I enjoyed the movie - I wish it was more enjoyable. My rating 6.9