Troy (Director's Cut) [HD DVD]
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Movie Reviews of Troy (Director's Cut) [HD DVD]
Movie Review: Directors should have final say!
Summary: 5 Stars
The Iliad has always been my all-time favorite story, and I was very skeptical about Brad Pitt playing my favorite Hero, Achilles. When I saw the movie in the theater, I though it was okay, and never had the urge to see it again, but one night I was in the DVD section of a major retailer and the very cool packaging caught my eye. I bought it right away, and was blown away by the film the second time around. No one should ever second-guess Wolfgang Petersen. He truly understood the story and knew how it should be told. He filmed it the way he wanted it to be presented, but of course, the producers always seem to screw things up afterwards on any movie and it was edited badly, in some cases ending conversations before the characters were finished with their dialog. If this movie had been shown in theaters the way it's presented here, It would have been way more successful, but that's Hollywood. Thank God epics like The Ten Commandments, or Ben-Hur were not made in this day and age. I can just see some modern-day Hollywood idiot casting Justin Timberlake as Moses or Kid Rock as Ben-hur. Man that would Suck! I don't think even Wolfgang could save either of those!Movie Review: Achille's vs Troy
Summary: 4 Stars
If you enjoy epic battles then this movie should move you. The fact there is a good storyline with it won't hide the fact this is a movie about epic men and women and great bloody battles. I must say though the gore was not overdone as in some movies. This is no worse than "Ben Hur" or some other of that caliber. I enjoyed it thoroughly since I thought the casting and acting was great. The love stories and tradgedies follow the true stories fairly well. The timeline is a bit askew but we are no worse off for that. We get the overall story and see where the lines "Beware Greeks Bearing Gifts" and "Achilles Heel" come from.
There are those that would think Brad Pitt was not right for the part of Achilles, but if that was so, he did a fine job of making it his part. His fights were choregraphed meticuously and are worth seeing the movie for alone. The detailed methods of fighting showed me some moves that I had not seen in this type movie before but make perfect since to me. Afterall a moving target is hard to hit, and Achilles moves very well. I recommend it if you enjoy this type movie. Personally I like these real people movies over the CGI types. You can feel their sweat and blood. I think most the family can watch this as it is no different in theme than many of the classic sword and sandal movies. Excellent quality DVD with good replayability.
Movie Review: Entertaining enough
Summary: 3 Stars
For me this was an attempt to remake Gladiator on a grander scale. The same sort of etheral music is used. It has a very impressive cast list and uses a director who has made some excellent films in his time.
That it succeeds partially is a tribute to most of the cast. Brian Cox and Peter O'Toole both give fine performances as the respective Kings of Greece and Troy. Eric Bana is pretty good as Hector and even Brad Pitt is reasonable as Achilles. The battle scenes are well done, although the over reliance on CGI effects is painfully obvious in places.
However, Brad Pitt is not Russell Crowe (who when it matters is a really good actor), and for that matter Wolfgang Peterson is not as consistently a good filmmaker as Ridley Scott. In Gladiator I sympathised with Russell Crowe's character, and I hated Commodous. In Troy Hector was the most likable character but his future in the film was blatently obvious after a short period of time. Achilles was not a sympathetic character and sometimes I found Pitt a bit robotic. In fairness some of his fight scenes are very well done.
So its well worth watching, and at the right price I might buy it to watch again in five years time. BTW forget completely about any historical accuracy, its just a film.
Movie Review: EPICS CAN STILL BE MADE
Summary: 5 Stars
Movies these days are won or lost on the hype that precedes them. Not only that, but after those expectations are developed, the film maker must follow through for that movie to have any staying power which results in it's making any money at the box office. So often we are built up to believe one thing only to be disappointed once we sit down and the lights go dim. Such is not the case with TROY.
Many years ago the sword and sandal movies were a staple in Hollywood. They reached a grand scale with movies like BEN-HUR and bottomed out with others like HERCULES IN NEW YORK. But these films were movies that people went to see and either loved or hated. Times changed and with the interest in more real storied that developed in the late sixties and early seventies, it seemed none were made. The release and success of GLADIATOR changed that. And as much as I enjoyed that film, I liked this one even more.
For those who don't know the story or have never read the Iliad (include me in that category), it revolves around the attempts of Agamemnon (Brian Cox) to bring together all of the states of Greece under his rule. He is out to establish an empire and is on the verge of doing just that. The film opens with a battle between his army and that of Thessaly about to occur. A challenge is made and they place their best man against his to cut down on casualties, winner takes all. His challenger is Achilles (Brad Pitt), the fiercest warrior ever known. The battle takes mere seconds and the character of Achilles is established for all to see.
The scene shifts to Sparta where the brother of Agamemnon and king, Menelaus (Brendan Gleason) has just signed a peace treaty with Troy and its representatives Prince Hector (Eric Bana) and Prince Paris (Orlando Bloom). As a feast ensues, Menelaus wife Helen (Diane Kruger) leaves to her room, followed by Paris. The two have been together since his arrival and now she plans to run off with him. This sets in motion the war that is to be waged as Menelaus attempts to regain his wife while Agamemnon uses the excuse to lead his army into battle to win Troy.
Leading a fleet of a thousand ships, Agamemnon must also swallow his pride for a moment. He and Achilles never see eye to eye and have even come close to battle themselves. But with the help of Odysseus (Sean Bean) he recruits Achilles to be a part of this force setting out for Troy.
It is not for the sake of Agamemnon that Achilles fights. Nor is it for the honor of Menelaus or to rescue his wife. Achilles fights for glory and for honor. He fights so that his name might live on long after he has departed Earth. A vision by his mother Thetis (Julie Christie) tells him this will happen, but that he will never return to her.
The ships sail and the Trojans prepare for war. Their walls have never been breached and they are confidant that no matter who attacks, they will be victorious. King Priam (Peter O'Toole) backs his son Paris' and his love for Helen. War is coming their way and they are as prepared as they can be to battle this incredible army.
There you have it, the set up for a grand and glorious movie about war. And in reading just that much, you might expect that it deals only with the victories and failures of the men involved. But there is so much more going on in this film. And amazingly enough, it never presents war as a bad thing or a good thing. It shows it for what it really is, a clash of two parties that yields both good and bad.
It shows the honor between men fighting together in a solid unit as one, using tactics instead of brute strength to win a battle. It shows men willing to lay down their lives for something they believe in, for a leader that commands them to do so.
At the same time, it shows a leader who is blinded by his own ego, men dying due to poor leadership and the fact that death is everlasting and not a grand as the cry before battle might make it out to be. Some men will walk away as heroes to be spoken of from that day forward. Others will become nothing more than fuel for funeral pyres.
The mix of these ideas back and forth makes this movie more real than most and less political than many would assume we will find in this day and age.
The battles are well made, presenting not only the best that CGI has to offer in showing thousands involved in combat, but the up close fighting is more real than most seen in some time. The hand to hand combat, the archers' arrows landing in the most gruesome ways, the use of anything on hand to become a weapon make it all seem real.
The acting is stupendous with Brad Pitt taking the lead. Pitt has done some great films in the past and has shown that he is not just another pretty face. But this film uses everything from his looks to his physical abilities to form a character that the audience comes to sympathize with as well as fear.
Eric Bana also excels as Hector. His character is also a warrior to be reckoned with but one with more heart, with more at stake, with more foresight to see what can become of this whole mess. While Achilles fights for glory, Hector fights to protect his land and his family, to protect that which he loves most. And Bana portrays this with an insight rarely seen or shown in most actors these days.
Perhaps the weakest link in the entire film is a character that should be center stage, Paris as played by Orlando Bloom. While I thought him fantastic in the LORD OF THE RINGS films, Bloom has yet to make an impression on me since. His portrayal of Paris here is as if he were a twit and a coward, a man who thinks only of himself and his pleasures at the expense of everything and everyone else. If this was who he was then Bloom does a better job than I give him credit for. I still see him as only a simpering wimp here and not the hottest actor working today.
The directing is amazing with Wolfgang Peterson turning in another stupendous job. He uses everything he can at his disposal to get the tale put onscreen in its entirety. Scenes of battle mingle with scenes of tenderness, both presented as real and as a part of the story that when brought together tell the entire tale.
Hollywood has for years forsaken the genre of epic in an attempt to make more money on smaller films. Battling against everything from video games to the internet, it has gone back to draw viewers into seats once more. If they can continue to produce films like this they will continue to prosper. TROY is a film that fulfilled all of my expectations, though to be honest they were not high to begin with. It is perhaps one of the best films I have seen in some time.
Movie Review: Troy on HDDVD .......Wow!!!!!!
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a good movie,This is one of the best since gladiator.
I have not seen the directors cut hddvd troy ,but the regular edition hddvd is great.
I probably gonna buy this edition soon,it can just be even better than the regular edition.The sound,the picture, everything is very good in this movie.Orlando bloom playes not that good in this movie so because of that I give the movie 4 stars.Still a strong movie that you should buy if you like this kind of film.A good action movie from beginning to the end.