View Full Version : Troy
has anyone seen it yet. i was really looking forward to it but i have exams so i havent had much time to go and watch it. it seems as though there hasnt been a lot of hype about it which is surprising. has anyone seen it and is it any good?
It was ok... kind of enjoyable but it doesn't really follow the Iliad much. I hate Orlando Bloom even more so now thanks to Troy.
BazHilder
20-05-2004, 17:33
I have no desire to watch it, i think it looks shit and its 3 hours long or something.
It's not 3 hours long, but it is ordinary.
Certainly isn't historically correct by any stretch, the acting is ordinary (Eric Bana and Brad Pitt are fantastic, Orlando Bloom is awful).
The script sucks. The dialogue is not much better, and probably worse than all of that is the fact it tries to tell 1/2 a dozen stories, but in the end it fails to deliver even one convincingly!
BUt despite all my criticism, it is worth going and seeing. But don't expect Gladiator or anything...
well i saw the british version of Troy.. i duno wat yr it was made though, but the one i watched was nice, and planning to watch the new one... hope its as good
I thought it looked good but i have heard that it is shit so i aint gonna bother seeing it.
I liked it. Dunno how historically accurate it could be considering it's based on a story, and I am never too bothered when things aren't 100% faithful to the original, as a different take on a story can be nice. I preferred it to Gladiator, as I think Russell Crowe is a gash actor, but that's just me.
It's well worth seeing, but don't expect much. As I said, Orlando Bloom is awful (for the first time in his recent acting career), but everyone else is quite good.
It does not compare to Gladiator, it looks cheap, it sounds cheap, the video is cheap, everything about the movie just seems cheap when compared to the uber-budgeted Gladiator.
But it is worth seeing.
It does not compare to Gladiator, it looks cheap, it sounds cheap, the video is cheap, everything about the movie just seems cheap when compared to the uber-budgeted Gladiator.
But it is worth seeing.
Gladiator budget - Over $100 million
Troy budget - Over $200 million.
It was anything but cheap. As for the video being cheap, I expect it will be 15 quid, like any other :p
Note that I said, 'seemed' cheap. I knew what the budget of the film was. The fact the director/producers spent that much money, and still made a horrible piece of tripe just adds insult to the injury. Especially when you look at the friggin' awful horse they entered Troy in. Goony-goo-goo.
Real Madrid have a huge budget (not necessarily spare money, but asset wise), and how good are they :D?
That's fair. The thing that ruins Gladiator for me is the unnecessary love interest with the "baddie" emperors sister. The whole point of the film is Maximus' vengeance at the brutal murder and/or rape of his wife and child, and as a husband and father I sympathised and felt Yeah! I'd do the same....and you cheer for him (well, inside, don't want to ruin the film in the cinema right?). But the love interest angle just makes him look like a retard. I heard once that the scriptwriter also thought it was a dumb idea, which detracted from the there of revenge and diffused Maximus' intensity, but studio execs wanted it there. OK, at the end he returns to his family, but by then the damage was done. Also, Russell Crowe is a gimp. Other than that I liked it, I agree it looks amazing visually.
It was ok... kind of enjoyable but it doesn't really follow the Iliad much.
Yes that is right...And to justify this:
1) The Sparti's port???( it is said in the film).From when did sparti,a greek city situated in a mounty area of greece, own a cost?Mercy...Let Hollywood guys take a look at a greek map for god sake before they actually make such an important film...
2)In the film, in no scene at all, a single greek god is mentioned!Keep in mind that Agamemnon(and generally every greek king) was taking most of his decisions with the oracles of Gods!
3)Agamemnon did not enter troia...
To clear out some things i do not have any problem at all with the story as long as it is cleared from its beginning that it is a stand alone storyline that follows ver little Iliad true events!
Trust me..I am greek you know... :P
troia=troy in greek!! LOL ;P
Well I only know bits and peices of the Iliad but I knew enough to know it was Hollywooded up to the max. There was no mention of Paris' arrow being guided by Apollo... are we to believe Paris turned into Legolas sometime during the few days the movie was supposed to be over? Oh that's another thing, the Trojan war was supposed to be 10 years wasn't it? The whole love story kinda made me sick, probably because of Orlando Bloom. I thought in the Iliad Paris was a total bitch and loved having loads of men die because of her.
Well I only know bits and peices of the Iliad but I knew enough to know it was Hollywooded up to the max. There was no mention of Paris' arrow being guided by Apollo... are we to believe Paris turned into Legolas sometime during the few days the movie was supposed to be over? Oh that's another thing, the Trojan war was supposed to be 10 years wasn't it? The whole love story kinda made me sick, probably because of Orlando Bloom. I thought in the Iliad Paris was a total bitch and loved having loads of men die because of her.
I totally agree.You are right gav!
"There was no mention of Paris' arrow being guided by Apollo... are we to believe Paris turned into Legolas sometime during the few days the movie was supposed to be over?" =====> LOL ;)
SO theres no mention of the Gods quarrels or anything. does the film even start off with the appl and aphrodite?
Papa Lazarou
09-06-2004, 19:57
I went to see it and it's ok but how can women get naked aobut 4 or 5 times and not show anything. The directors really fucked up there especially the actress who played the main female!!
i actually enjoyed the film, lol.
I went to see it and it's ok but how can women get naked aobut 4 or 5 times and not show anything. The directors really fucked up there especially the actress who played the main female!!
The directors fucked up the film because they didn't show naked women??LOL... MERCY... :D
i actually enjoyed the film, lol
Oh I enjoyed it, despite my incessant ramblings about it above. It's not like I sat through it and winged the whole way through.
It's just that, I didn't get my money's worth, and felt cheapened by the whole experience.
I have a published review of 'Troy' I wrote, I'll c'n'p it here if you guys are interested, it's rather funny, and quite good, if I do say so myself :)
K.1.N.G.
19-06-2004, 17:05
I have a published review of 'Troy' I wrote, I'll c'n'p it here if you guys are interested, it's rather funny, and quite good, if I do say so myself :)
go for it kid
As requested, my review, which I got a very high mark for from my lecturer of the university class it was originally written for. The formatting is all horrible. I was going to just attach the *.rtf or the *.sxd file, but you can't. So I didn't ;).
Nevertheless, enjoy.
Review: 'Troy' - Inspired by Homer's "Iliad"
Duration: Approx. 2.5hrs
Starring: Brad Pitt
Diane Kruger
Eric Bana
Orlando Bloom
Peter O'Toole
Director: Wolfgang Petersen
US $200mil seemingly gives a director alot of hubris, but not the impetus to make a truly great film.
2004's (US)$200million epic shows about as much respect to Homer's Iliad as some of America's troops show to Iraqi prisoner's, which is about as much as Petersen shows to the Greek gods of yesteryear. There is little doubt that not much of the reported budget was used to research Homer's ~15,000 line poem, or if it was, then it was researched by someone with less appreciation for history than what James Cameron has for making trilogies.
In fact, it is hard to work out where the $200mil went, as the music is awful (more on that later) and the special effects are not all that special by todays standards. Overall, one gets the feeling that there was alot of movie reel left on the production floor, and that you are only getting a tiny snap-shot of a large, multi-canvass picture.
Brad Pitt, who is cast as arguably the lead character in the movie, Achilles, is about as convincing in that role as he could hope to be, given his awful script.
Achilles, who was a bisexual (or homosexual as has been suggested), arrogant, rebellious and oh-so-nearly immortal Greek (according to Homer anyway, as none of these themes are effectively conveyed to the audience during the movie), seems to be hell-bent on getting himself killed in this movie, seemingly so he can become part of the history books which will not be written for another 300-odd years. A prudent young fellow then, is young Achilles.
To Pitt's credit, he does his best in a role which simply serves as a vessel to convey the movies main theme: that men must die doing great deeds so that their names will be remembered. However, this notion of honour is often communicated with the least amount of subtelty possible, and funnily enough, is best conveyed by someone who does not step one foot onto the battlefield during the movie, King Priam (Peter O'Toole).
However, the Achilles that Homer wrote about is a man made of sterner stuff, and so there is much more to the lynchpin of the Greek army than that. But as with every other character in the movie, his past and backstory is conveniently left out by Petersen, seemingly so he could leave out the whole Greek god, thing.
And therein lies Troy's greatest failing as a movie: there is no character for the audience to barrack for, or to care for, as the movie does not give the backstories to any of the characters. All of the characters are 2-dimensional, with little-to-no explanations given as to why they are doing what they are doing. To be fair to Petersen, he was making a Hollywood movie, and not a historically correct documentary on the period for the Discovery Channel. It is just that it seems that the backgrounds of the characters were left out so that Petersen could avoid the Greek gods, but to the uninitiated, who's only knowledge of Achilles is the adage "Achilles Heel", a bit of background as to why it was Achilles' heel that was his weak spot (there is no mention of a poisoned arrow in the movie) would have been appreciated no end. And that is to say nothing of the golden apple from the goddess Eris, or the promise to Paris from Aphrodite that he could have the most beautiful women in all of the world, Helen of Troy (Diane Kruger), both of which are scenes that are absent from this film.
But, it is the director's perogative to decide what stays in and what misses out, and in this case, leaving the Greek gods out of a movie which is to be released to a techno-savvy audience in 2004 in a less-than-3hr-long movie is forgivable. But something like forgetting to even hint at the fact that the siege of Troy lasted a decade, and not a few weeks is not forgivable. Nor is the fact that none of the characters' motives are ever developed or resolved during the movie, such as the war over the control of the Aegean, which is why Agamemnon (Brian Cox), king of the Mycenaeans is involved in the war for.
As for the much flaunted special effects of the movie, there is nothing here that will amaze you or leave you feeling awestruck. Despite Gladiator predating Troy by some 4 years (in Hollywood date release speak, not historically), Troy just does not look like a movie made in 2004. Even the scene of 1000 ships setting sail for Asia Minor from Greece cannot compare to the boat battle scenes in Master and Commander, which only had 2 battleships in it.
Sure, there are some neat fighting scenes, but unfortunately for Petersen, they have all been done before, and done much better. Saving Private Ryan has better sound effects. Gladiator has better fighting scenes (Tigers anyone?), and Lord of The Rings has better music.
Speaking of music, who could of imagined that music could be clichéd? Well, wonder no more, as the musical compositions in Troy will leave you cringing. If you have watched Star Wars (any of them), Gladiator and LoTR, you will have heard all the genres of music there is to hear in movies. Except for the genre of 'audibly cringing', which when paired with some of the acting in Troy, will have you reaching for the sickbag more times than a movie with Meg Ryan in it ever could.
But overall, and despite the negative tone of this review, Troy is not actually a bad movie. There will be no academy award nominations for the actors (save perhaps, for Peter O'Toole, who plays the role of the king of Troy, King Priam, and is the only character who you can get emotionally involved with throughout the movie), or for the musical or screenplay writers, but then again, neither will Secret Window, which is a faithful interpretation of a story (A Stephen King story no less) and will arguably be one of the best movies this year (after Shrek 2 and Farenheit 9/11). But then again, a movie that contained approximately 400,000 repetitions of "Jack!... Rose!..." did win many awards, so not much should be read into that suggestion.
Troy has lots of man-flesh for the girls (Brad Pitt in a pleated leather mini-skirt: a picture that Gucci or Ralf Lauren could only dream of having on their billboards), and plenty of action for the guys. Just do not expect to come out of the theatre after watching it knowing anymore about the siege of Troy than what you knew when you went in. And if you understood that last sentence on your first go, then you will probably enjoy this movie.
So, go see Troy for the price of a concession card holder, if you can, and use the money you saved to buy or lend a copy of Homer's Iliad. Atleast then you will get the full picture.
6 Trojan horses out of 10.
The author of this review does not condone the P.O.W. abuse that has occurred at any time during the war in Iraq, or in any other war for that matter.
Political correctness be damned.
/edit: Argh, the formatting is a bit of a mess.
vBulletin® v3.8.2, Copyright ©2000-2013, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.