Who else loves the movie Troy?

It was alright. But then again I'm a sucker for anything Brad Pitt is in.

*teh gay*

 

...eh, "Troy" is on my guilty-pleasures list..

I'd never admit to anyone that i actually have it in my collection, but i do.

By far the best part of the movie is Eric Bana's performance. Guy is swiftly climbing my list of actors whose every project i will watch. His performance is heroic in every sense of the word. When he dies, you feel it.

Sean Bean and Peter O'Toole are solid, as well, and while i don't think Orlando Bloom has much talent, i do respect the fact that he was willing to take a role that was less then flattering. Guy's heart is in the right place, as far as his willingness to risk his heart throb-image. I'm still not sold on him ever being able to carry a film on his own, but he does seem to manage to sneak into films that i want to see.

Brian Cox does 'smarmy evil villain' quite well.

Brad Pitt certainly looked the part of a God, but i really found his actual delivery to be kinda bland. Not one of his better performances (course, i'm not a chick).

The thing that really drags this movie down is the forced romance between Achilles and Briseis. Gawd, that was difficult to sit thru. I hate hate hate Rose Byrne. Woulda had alot more respect for the movie if they had actually kept Patroclus as Achilles' lover, rather then his 'cousin' (*snicker snicker giggle* Yeah, right, ... He's JUST your cousin, Brad.... )

I did like how they handled the death of Achilles, though.

An entertaining flick that deserved to do better then it did..

A standard line that i've heard from people who have seen the film:

They should have made "The Odyssey" because Sean Bean is so much cooler then Brad Pitt.


As far as i know, there's not much chance of a theatrical version of "The Odyssey" ever being made..

"Troy" was actually a bit of a flop..

 

I absolutely adore Brad Pitt's portrayal of Achilles

I always pictured Achillies as being a hardcore warrior. You know, tough as ****. Pitt made him look like a sissy.

Hollywood screwing up history just for $$$

History?

Now the technical issues.
The Visual Effects were TERRIBLE! Hmm, okay maybe not TERRIBLE but pretty shocking.
The editing of the fight scenes, I mean the big battle scene, was horrid....there were no good punctuation shots at all in this film. Why not?!

It could have been a great film, but sadly, like all the 'epic' films spawned by the LOTR trilogy, it failed big style.

 

They should have made "The Odyssey" because Sean Bean is so much cooler then Brad Pitt.

Jealous, Drew?

 

Nope. It's a scientifically proven fact that Sean Bean is the second coolest man in hollywood, today. (The first, of course, would be Clive Owen). They've done studies on this sort of thing .

Seriously, though, i'm actually quite open to Pitt. Until very recently (with "Ocean's 12" and "Mr. and Mrs. Smith", which were two slightly crummy flicks with Brad basically playing Brad), i'd never really had a problem with him. In fact, i admired that he was not afraid to take a risk, with stuff like "12 Monkeys" and "Snatch" on his resume.

I don't know.. In Troy, he seemed to be trying too hard to be a larger then life Hero, with all his deep-meaningful gazes off into the distance.



He LOOKED the part, and you have to respect how hard he worked to get that chisled body, but....

It just didn't quite work.

 

with all his deep-meaningful gazes off into the distance.

Tell me about it!!!

 

1. Troy is not history. It's mythology.

2. It's based on the epic poem The Iliad composed by Homer.

3. They screwed up The Iliad completely by taking out the gods. The Trojan War was spurred on by Aphrodite, who rewarded Helen to Paris after he judged her the most beautiful of the goddesses.

4. Menelaus did not die in The Iliad. He gets Helen and returns to Sparta. Ten years later, they aid Odysseus' son Telemachus in his search for Odysseus.

5. Agamemnon survived the seige of Troy. He got home to find his wife Clytemnestra having an affair. She and her lover killed him.

See, it's for all those reasons that I enjoyed the movie a great deal. I'm familiar with the story of the Iliad (as well as the surrounding mythology and literature that goes into the background of it), and I don't think the story could have been communicated accurately to a modern audience. All the changes that were made in the film were made so the story would have more impact on Americans living in the 21st century, and I think that's perfectly fine. Why? Because you can't explain ancient Greek mores and archetypes in a two-hour-film. A random person walking into a theater will never understand the story the way it was intended to be understood 2.5 millennia ago.

For example, let's say the Olympians had been included. As soon as gods or other minor deities appeared, the story would become a work of fantasy or fiction in the minds of most viewers, not a serious epic about war. The idea is just too far-fetched for moderners because we no longer accept that as a serious religion. It was perfect how Thetis appeared only briefly and her prophetic ability was only gently touched on. Americans can't handle immortal sea nymphs who can see the future and hang out with Poseidon under the waves.

As another example, consider one of the most significant changes made, the transformation of the story from an epic about destiny to an epic about romantic love. Romantic love was a silly thing, from the Greek point of view, and something they hardly ever discussed, so of course Achilleus didn't feel any "love" for Briseis in the story. She was a plaything, just like his gold urns and other spoils of war. Greek men only loved other men; Plato suggests in the Symposium that marriage to women is merely a societal duty so children can be born, and the real emotion ought to be saved for one's male lover. In the Iliad, the older man Patroklos is Achilleus's mentor and lover. That's why Achilleus goes mad after his death. But of course, the movie couldn't discuss this at all, because as soon as you attempt to discuss anything resembling "homosexuality" or whatever label modern-day westerners would try to slap on Greek love, audiences either start giggling or get grossed out. There's still a lot of homophobia in the world, and people can't handle man-love. That's why the story needed to be changed so Achilleus was in love with a woman, any woman, and she was the precipitant of the change he undergoes at the end.

What was wrong with the death of Agamemnon, by the way? The movie didn't have time to go on and explain how he was killed by his wife, so it had him die at the hands of another angry woman instead. I thought that was a lovely bit of poetic justice.

 

Love the epics. Braveheart best by far, then Gladiator. I thought Troy was a fun movie, true the story was mangled a little bit, but nobody cared when Gladiator was winning Oscars and it wasn't a true story at all. King Arthur on DVD (Director's Cut) is actually very good. It is the rated R version of the crap the theatre gave us. Kingdom of Heavon was so-so, and Alexander was awful! BTW: I am a trivia nut for Star Wars(obviously), Braveheart and Gladiator.

 

I figured there would be a lot more people on this board who loved epics, really. That's kind of what Star Wars fandom is about - an appreciation for stories about the epic things in life. War, love, death. Anyway, I really lap up those sorts of stories.

 

I haven't even seen it.

 

In the Iliad, the older man Patroklos is Achilleus's mentor and lover. That's why Achilleus goes mad after his death. But of course, the movie couldn't discuss this at all, because as soon as you attempt to discuss anything resembling "homosexuality" or whatever label modern-day westerners would try to slap on Greek love, audiences either start giggling or get grossed out. There's still a lot of homophobia in the world, and people can't handle man-love. That's why the story needed to be changed so Achilleus was in love with a woman, any woman, and she was the precipitant of the change he undergoes at the end.

If handled correctly, it would have made no difference.

It could have been implied that Achy and Patch were doing the deed without being so blatantly obvious as to have that little blonde Queer Eye guy playing Patch.


Perhaps it was changed because Brad Pitt himself is a homophobe....

 

I thought the movie was badass nonetheless.

How many people really complained when the Gladiator in Gladiator was revealing his face and identity to the audience? Gladiators NEVER did that. NEVER.

But that movie was still winning awards.

Troy was badass, especially Brad Pitt as Achilles.

 

Romantic love was a silly thing, from the Greek point of view, and something they hardly ever discussed, so of course Achilleus didn't feel any "love" for Briseis in the story. She was a plaything, just like his gold urns and other spoils of war. Greek men only loved other men; Plato suggests in the Symposium that marriage to women is merely a societal duty so children can be born, and the real emotion ought to be saved for one's male lover.

Not necessarily--the entire point of the Odyssey was romantic love.

Odysseus *truly loved* Penelope--on Calypso's island, he cries every night for her. At the other end of the spectrum, you have Penelope who *truly loves* Odysseus so much so that she refuses to remarry unless anyone can provide proof of Odysseus' fate.

And on another love tangent, you have Nausicaa--who as a Phoenician princess had a budding affection for Ody, but after hearing his tale loved him enough to allow him to continue to Ithaca, which is the exact opposite of Calypso and Circe--Calypso only allows Ody to leave after Hermes threatens her, Circe allows Ody to leave only after he outhinks her potions.

 

I rented it a couple weeks ago, enjoyed it. Its long, but didn't seem to drag for me.

When Orlando Bloom was learning to shoot a bow and arrow, I told my wife he didn't have to learn, he'd already shot one quite well in LOTR.

 

Troy is one badass movie.

 

I agree

 

I agree 100%.

My only complaint is that one chick who had sex with Orlando Bloom's character. She had a lumpy butt.

 

Don't.Call.Him.Ody.

 

I liked the movie, it was fun.

 

It was an April morning when they told us we should go
And as I turned to you, you smiled at me, how could we say no?

With all the fun to have, to live the dreams we always had
Oh, the songs to sing, when we at last return again

Sending off a glancing kiss, to those who claim they know
Below the streets that steam and hiss,
The devil's in his hole

Oh to sail away, To sandy lands and other days
Oh to touch the dream, Hides inside and never seen.

Into the sun the south the north, at last the birds have flown
The shackles of commitment fell, In pieces on the ground

Oh to ride the wind, To tread the air above the din
Oh to laugh aloud, Dancing as we fought the crowd

To seek the man whose pointing hand, The giant step unfolds
To guide us from the curving path, That churns up into stone

If one bell should ring, in celebration for a king
So fast the heart should beat, As proud the head with heavy feet.

Days went by when you and I, bathed in eternal summers glow
As far away and distant, Our mutual child did grow

Oh the sweet refrain, Soothes the soul and calms the pain
Oh Albion remains, sleeping now to rise again

Wandering and wandering, What place to rest the search
The mighty arms of Atlas, Hold the heavens from the earth

The mighty arms of Atlas, Hold the heavens from the earth
From the earth...

I know the way, know the way, know the way, know the way

Oh the mighty arms of Atlas, Hold the heavens from the earth.

 

I didn't finish the movie. I liked the characters all too much to see them go to war and stuff. I'll just pretend it all ends well.

 

Troy was ok, but the part where Achilles is yelling out "Hector" made me laugh, mostly because the movie was trying to make it a serious goodbye scene with Hector and his family, but it's kinda hard to do that with Achilles yelling every five seconds. I know it's part of the actual Greek mythology, but in the movie it just came across cheesey to me.

 

I liked it. No good guys. No bad guys. You choose sides.

 

It was ok. Not terrible but not awesome at the same time.