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Troy has four major battle scenes but this is not the type of movie in which a battle scene is the height of the film. No, Troy battles go on and on, morning, noon, night as the Greeks and Trojans just keep slashing away at each other presumably because a war started when a prince of Troy ran off with the wife of a Greek king. This isn’t supposed to be the story of the famed Trojan horse, but that didn’t stop Hollywood for they put the horse in the story anyway. Director Wolfgang Peterson (The Perfect Storm) does an admirable job of juggling the cast and, with the help of aerial photography, shows the audience the Greek navy and sturdy walls of Troy.

The cast includes Brad Pitt as Achilles, son of a king and a nearly invincible warrior, who fights on the Greek side. Eric Bana is Hector, a Trojan prince and brother to Paris (Orlando Bloom) who takes the famed Helen (Diane Kruger) back to Troy. Helen is actually married to Meneleus (Brendan Gleeson) brother to Agamemnon (Brian Cox), who salivates for the city of Troy. Priam (Peter OToole) is the king of Troy and his daughter Briseis (Rose Byrne) is a young priestess at the temple of Apollo, who guards Troy. As the story moves along we see that Paris and Helen really love each other, but that he is a bit young and foolish. King Priam can’t deny him anything; so he keeps Helen at Troy, but big brother Hector certainly has his doubts about keeping the city safe. Agamemnon and Achilles have no love lost between them, but Achilles fights only for himself and his place in history, so the battle against Troy is sure to be a glorious one, “and our names shall live on for thousands of years.” He was right there, for here we are in the 21st century still discussing their lives and battles. Amid all the feuding and loving, the war against Troy rages and the city stands firm until the idea of the Trojan horse emerges. King Priam looks to the temple priests for guidance in defending the city, while the practical soldiers look to such things as weapons and armor for protection and Achilles believes only in himself.

This film belongs to the special effects people first and Brad Pitt and Peter O’Toole second. Pitt is as fit as he’s looked in years and his fighting style, which shocks warriors, is a combination of courage and gravity-defying leaps that are formidable when seen on the battlefield. O’Toole, as the weary king, has two great scenes. One is when Troy is burning and he sadly looks upon the city and the other is when he speaks to Achilles of surrendering the body of a dead warrior for proper burial. Orlando Bloom has a good scene in which he goes to battle against another warrior and then finds himself overwhelmed. The expression of fear on his face is something to behold. The women do nothing more than stand and look beautiful or weep as their men go to war. So much for life about 3,000 years ago. The bantering between Achilles and Agamemnon, who is played as a braggart by Brian Cox, provides comic relief. Audiences will remember Orlando Bloom and Sean Bean (Odysseus) acting together in Lord of the Rings, and once again, Bloom’s favorite weapon is a bow and arrow. This film caught me with "what might have been." However, there are one too many scenes of should-we-or-should-we-not go to war. Troy is just too close to Lord of the Rings with similar costumes and sword fights. 

Troy was a massive undertaking and works well, although it could have been trimmed in length. It's always interesting to go way back in history and try to figure out what the warriors might have had for weapons and protection, what the boats may have looked like and how battles were planned. Since the dead were burned on funeral pyres, I'm wondering where all the wood came for this and the Trojan horse, as Troy is situated on a beach and desert-type land behind the city.  Hollywood, can you answer that? Here’s another age-old question: In Troy, famous kings of ancient times fight on one beach and eventually, that same beach brings forth a wooden horse. Who, you ask, would haul this into their city? Curiosity kills the cat.

Copyright 2004 Marie Asner
Submitted 5/17/04