Troy (2004)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Wolfgang Petersen

Writers (WGA):

Homer (poem)
David Benioff (screenplay)

Release Date:

14 May 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Action | History | Romance

Tagline:

For Honor

Plot:

An adaptation of Homer's great epic, the film follows the assault on Troy by the united Greek forces and chronicles the fates of the men involved.

Plot Keywords:

Prince | Fate | Power | Epic | Bronze Age

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 3 wins & 17 nominations

Cast

Julian Glover	...	Triopas
Brian Cox	...	Agamemnon
Nathan Jones	...	Boagrius
Adoni Maropis	...	Agamemnon's Officer
Jacob Smith	...	Messenger Boy
Brad Pitt	...	Achilles
John Shrapnel	...	Nestor
Brendan Gleeson	...	Menelaus
Diane Kruger	...	Helen
Eric Bana	...	Hector
Orlando Bloom	...	Paris
Siri Svegler	...	Polydora
Lucie Barat	...	Helen's Handmaiden
Ken Bones	...	Hippasus
Manuel Cauchi	...	Old Spartan Fisherman

Also Known As:

Untitled 'The Illiad' Project (USA) (working title)
Troya (Argentina) (Panama) (Peru) (Spain) (Venezuela) [es]
Troie (Canada: French title) (France) [fr]
Troja (Finland: Swedish title) (Sweden) [sv]
Troja (Austria) (Germany) [de]
Троя (Russia) [ru]
Tróia (Brazil) [pt]
Trója (Czech Republic) [cs]
Trója (Slovakia) [sk]
Trója (Hungary) [hu]
Troija (Finland) [fi]
Troja (Poland) [pl]
Troja (Denmark) [da]
Troja (Norway) [no]
Troja (Croatia) [hr]
Trooja (Estonia) [et]
Truva (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]

MPAA:

Rated R for graphic violence and some sexuality/nudity.

Runtime:

163 min | Germany:189 min (director's cut) | 196 min (director's cut) | Turkey:146 min (TV version)

Country:

USA | Malta | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS | DTS

Certification:

Malaysia:U | Iceland:14 | Singapore:M18 (director's cut) | New Zealand:M | Argentina:13 | Australia:MA (original rating) | Australia:M (re-rating on appeal) | Brazil:14 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A | Chile:14 | Czech Republic:12 | Finland:K-15 | France:U | Germany:12 (cut) | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Ireland:15 | Japan:PG-12 | Netherlands:16 | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Philippines:PG-13 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:NC-16 (original rating) | Singapore:PG (edited for re-rating) | South Korea:15 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Taiwan:R-12 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Blue Lagoon, Comino, Malta

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Historians are sharply divided on the question of whether or not the Trojan War actually occurred - and if it did, which archaeological site is actually Troy. Discoveries made at the beginning of the 21st century provide new evidence of several armed battles in the right area at the right time - but definitive proof is hard to find, due largely to the historical practice of constructing one city on the ruins of another. Homer's Illiad (and other similar epics depicting the Trojan War) were written hundreds of years after the Trojan War supposedly occurred, and are of little use in determining factual historical events as they included many mythological elements: gods such as Apollo, Zeus, and Hera were central characters in the story who drastically affected the course of the war by killing and/or saving individual people during the conflict. There is also the theory that the Troy of Homer's lifetime was destroyed by a sea earthquake and that the Illiad is a symbolic reinterpretation of this event, since a horse is the symbol of the Greek god of earthquakes. The producers' decision to eliminate all mythological elements from the story gives their film an air of historical authenticity not present in the original works.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the battle of Hector and Achilles, Achilles kicks Hector to the ground. There is a shot of Hector crawling towards a piece of broking spear. In one shot Achilles throws away his shield and talks to Hector. During this speech, Hector reaches the spear. But after the shot of Achilles walking towards the camera, Hector just reaches the spear and gets up with it.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Odysseus: [voiceover] Men are haunted by the vastness of eternity. And so we ask ourselves: will our actions echo across the centuries? Will strangers hear our names long after we are gone, and wonder who we were, how bravely we fought, how fiercely we loved?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Jeopardy!: (2005-11-25)" (2005)

Soundtrack:

Remember

Worst movie ever? Let me ask you a question... Did you see Gigli?

I have to say that I had been looking forward to this movie ever since I saw the trailer for the first time, but I went to the movie yesterday with very lowered expectations because of what I had read here (and because of the very bad things Swedish Movie-critic Orvar Säfström had said about it). But since my expectations were so low, I got positively surprised. It's not so bad that some of you claim. The acting, which has been very criticized, was overall OK. The only one that didn't work was Orlando Bloom, but that was compensated by the very good performances of Sean Bean, who in my opinion excelled the few times he appeared on the screen. Brad Pitt did all right, even thou it's hard to see an icon like him play such a famous character as Achilles. Every time he appeared on the screen I say him more as Brad Pitt then Achilles. This was not because of bad acting, but because of the contrast between these two. Eric Bana, Peter O'Toole and Brian Cox all did their job well, nothing to complain about there. One thing a very much agree on thou is that the music was bad, almost very bad. Since I had read these posts before the movie I listened especially to the music, and I must say it sucked. The only theme that worked was the a little dark one that is played when the Greeks approaches Troy for the first time, but you probably don't remember it, and neither do I. I think this is the main problem of the film, since music plays a VERY important role in an epic film like this. Apart from these things, the movie was good to me. I know you can complain about the Hollywood ending, or the SOMETIMES exaggerated dialogue, but these are not big problems. I think the ending with Achilles getting an arrow in his heel and then get shot a few times in his chest, and then pull-out the arrows so the only one left when they find him is the one in his heel, is a very good thought of what might had happened if the story was true and no gods were involved. And please stop complaining about changes made from the book. A film is not the same thing as a book and cannot be treated the same. End of story. Another scene that was worth remembering was of course the fight-scene between Hector and Achilles, and as a fighting enthusiast I must say it was the best-choreographed fight-scene I've seen in a long time. I haven't really read 'The Iliad' yet, even thou I know the story pretty well, so I'm off to borrow it at the library as fast as I can. I got a little inspired, which is a good review for this movie. By the way, does anyone know if the rumor about Brad Pitt having a stunt-leg for this movie is true? I mean he looked pretty well fit on the upper body, got to check which training program he used.

Troy: 7/10