So many good things that I can forgive the faults

Rating: 9/10 (6 June 2004)

I didn't expect the Iliad, and I'd already been "spoiled" on the plot changes, but most of all I have a realistic idea of what I can expect from a Hollywood big-budget movie -- adaptation to meet audience expectations.
I was very much taken by this movie as a serious and respectful adaptation, concerned with issues of character, love and war.
Unlike some, I found the dialogue very good. There were so many really bad mistakes that could have been made with the dialogue. What I got struck me as stripped down and low key, but given the excellent acting on most people's part, it was eloquent.
I didn't mind that Helen and Paris were shallow -- I always thought they were shallow. But even shallow people's love can have a big effect -- QED.
I also liked the artistic choices in armor, architecture, sculpture and costuming. I could suggest "improvements" but so what.
One could criticize the unrealistic size of everything -- but Homer's Troy and Homer's war were unrealistically big.
This was a movie about heroism and whether it is worth anything, an idea not lacking in the Iliad.