Greek and Trojan mythology has always been a fantastically written set of stories, odysseys, and memoirs that truly immerse you into an era of colorful, lush personalities and lives. This was an era of philosophy, an era of love, an era of passion and art, and of course, this was an era of WAR. War is by far the most important aspect of the Trojan era, which was duly an era of conquerors, bloodshed, and a ton of violence while still keeping that glamour, glory and godliness within their ranks. This is why Troy feels like such a monumental film to most, and yet it’s still a film brimming with faults.
How to Download Troy
You can download the film from a digital store. You can also stream it. Click on the Download button at the end of this review and make your choice. If you like films set in ancient Greece, check out also our review of 300 and 300: Rise of an Empire.
The Movie Review
In this informal rendition of Homer’s “The Iliad,” Agamemnon of Mycenae has convinced everyone in Greece to side with him, leaving only the foreign nation Troy as an adversary. King Menelaus of Sparta, his brother, is weary of war and longs for peace with the nation of Troy, which he believes he has achieved with the young princes Hector and Paris.
Menelaus is unaware that Paris and his wife Helen have been having an extramarital affair for a week. As daft as Paris seems to be, he does something even worse and manages to smuggle Helen back to Troy to become his wife, enraging Meneleaus and igniting the Trojan War. This war was headed by Menelaus and Agamemnon. Even though he and Agamemnon don’t get along, King Odysseus of Ithica and Achilles are also entering the battle, making this one of the spiciest events to ever occur.
Although the story was fairly interesting, the 3 hour run time did drag quite often. I had hoped for a thrilling story throughout the entire film, but there were instances when I found myself feeling very disinterested. However, just when I was starting to lose interest, another battle sequence appeared. The battle scenes were incredible. They were bloody, brutal, and expertly shot. There were so many individuals present throughout the battle sequences that it was difficult to know where to look. I’m not sure how much of this movie was created using computer effects or how many extras were employed. Every time, there was movement and excitement.
The movie makes an effort to avoid having a villain, but Brian Cox’s campy Agamemnon gets quite close. The best of the bunch is Eric Bana as the brave commoner Prince Hector, albeit Brad Pitt, who spends the entire movie posturing rather than acting properly, might have made a better Achilles. Naturally, Peter O’Toole as King Priam has one of the movie’s most moving scenes in the film in which he begs for his son’s body.
Orlando Bloom will always be known to the world as Legolas, and when he picks up the bow and arrow for the climax, he most surely confirms this. Nevertheless, his performance is just passable, as there are clues that an actor is attempting to shed his type-casted persona and emerge into a new world for himself.
Although I thought the story was fairly interesting, I thought it went on for too long. Although I had hoped for a thrilling story throughout the entire film, there were instances when I found myself feeling a little disinterested. But just when I was starting to lose interest, another battle scene appeared. The battle scenes were incredible. They were bloody, brutal, and expertly shot.
There were so many individuals present throughout the battle sequences that it was difficult to know where to look. I’m not sure how much of this movie was created using computer effects or how many extras were employed. Every time they popped up, there were thrills and excitement.
The entire script, setting, and costumes for these epics—whether they are mythological or biblical—must be meticulously prepared and arranged since the audience is expecting something that is congruent with what they already know about the story. While this film seems to be a bit detached from Homer’s The Iliad at times, it was able to adhere to the above-mentioned standards. The movie looks fantastic, with fantastic costumes, location scouting, cinematography, sound effects, and visual effects.
The Music
The soundtrack is not too great though, it’s an orchestral mix of reinvented tunes of the main theme of this film. It’s just simply not very exciting when it comes to elevating any of the scenes. The action in particular does have some great music, but the soundtrack lacks a lot of the haunting, atmospheric and Greek-sounding music in general. James Horner is definitely capable of much better music, we’ve seen it time and time again, this one just felt like a rushed composition on the other hand.
The Verdict
Nothing in this film, which has a running time of almost three hours, even comes close to matching the epic scale of Homer’s Iliad. The stylish, slick, and occasionally vicious action, however, is what really energizes the audience. That’s how I felt about this film in general. It’s a thrilling, captivating movie for the warm summer evenings, but it won’t stand a chance against classic epics of yore and even some of the other action fantasy epics that have helped to popularize the genre.
