Troy Review (Revisited) "Imagine a king who fights his own battles?! Wouldn't that be a sight?!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

OK, its time for another revisitional post and this one is on a historical war film, which I have reviewed before on here about five years ago and the film is Troy, starring Brad Pitt as the legendary warrior, Achilles who fought for the Greeks. 

So, I will do the usual here by expanding on certain parts of the initial review as well as adding headings for the sections, which I didn't do in the original, which will help make it a bit easier to navigate lol!

And with that said, let's take another at this historical epic and see how it fares...

So, the usual warning is coming...

PLOT SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!!

STORY (Warning: spoilers are ahead!) 

So the story begins with prince Hector of Troy (Eric Bana) and his younger brother Paris (Orlando Bloom) signing a peace treaty with Menelaus (Brendan Gleason) the king of Sparta and celebrate the end of a long bloody war.  Paris however has been having a secret love affair with Menelaus's young and beautiful wife, Helen of Sparta (Diane Kruger) and he smuggles her aboard their homebound ship much to the anger of Hector who says this could lead to war between Troy and Greece.  

Menelaus is outraged to find his wife missing and then goes to see his older brother, the ruthless King Agamemnon (Brian Cox) and asks for his help to take Troy over, who agrees as he has been wanting to conquer Troy for a long time so he can take control of the Aegean sea.  One of the Greek kings, Odysseus (Sean Bean) pays a visit to the legendary Greek warrior Achilles (Brad Pitt) asking him to join the fight, however Achilles is initially reluctant as he despises Agamemnon and dislikes his ways.  Achilles however soon changes his mind after he speaks to his mother, Thetis (Julie Christie) who tells him that if he goes to fight his name will be remembered throughout the ages but he will die in the war.

Meanwhile in Troy, King Priam (Peter O'Toole) greets Hector and Paris even though he is initially dismayed at Helen's presence he welcomes her and allows her to stay as he realises if they sent her home then Paris would likely follow her and be killed so instead decides that the Trojans should engage the Greeks in battle.  The Greeks arrive soon after and take the beach, mainly with the help of Achilles and his Myrmidons (warriors who trained and served under Achilles) who also travels along with his cousin Patroclus (Garrett Hedlund).  

Achilles and his men soon sack the temple of Apollo and are then confronted by Hector and his Trojan troops  but Achilles tells Hector to go and return to the city, which he does.  Achilles later claims a Trojan priestess, Briseis (Rose Byrne) but Agamemnon takes her from Achilles out of spite which angers Achilles who then refuses to help Agamemnon continue their fight against Troy.

The next day the Trojans and Greeks meet outside the walls of Troy and Hector and Paris face Agamemnon and Menelaus and Hector remains defiant against Agamemnon's wishes to call on Troy's army whenever he wishes.  Paris however offers to take on Menelaus in combat for the right to take Helen to end the war, which Menelaus appears to agree with but quietly tells Agamemnon to attack after he has killed Paris.  

Paris and Menelaus then engage in combat but Menelaus quickly overpowers him and as he is about to kill Paris, Paris runs back to Hector who kills Menelaus, after this Agamemnon engages his army in battle with the Trojans but they are overwhelmed by the Trojan's defences and are forced to retreat.  Agamemenon later is forced to try and make peace with Achilles at the insistance of two of his fellow Kings, Odysseus and Nestor (John Shrapnel).  Agamemnon however has given Briseis to the men who attempt to rape her but are stopped by Achilles who rescues her and takes her back to his tent where they fall for one another.

The next day Achilles continues to refuse to fight for Agamemnon despite Odysseus's best efforts, but during the following night the Trojans launch an attack on the Greeks using fireballs.  The Trojans however are buoyed by the appearance of Achilles who engages in hand to hand combat with Hector only to have his throat cut.  Hector however on removing his opponent's helmet discovers it is Patroclus and not Achilles and out of mercy kills him to end his suffering.  

As a result of this Achilles is enraged and then goes to face Hector in combat himself, which after an even start soon goes the way of Achilles who wears down Hector and kills him.  King Priam then discreetly visits Achilles at night and asks that he allow him to take Hector's body back and that he give his son the proper burial rites and rituals, which out of respect, Achilles agrees to which means for 12 days no Greek will attack Troy.  However during this time the Greeks use this time to create a large wooden horse, which would soon leads to the film's dramatic climax.....

THOUGHTS 

As a historical epic war film, Troy is very entertaining and it largely succeeds in telling the story of Homer's Illiad, which narrated the story of the 10 year Trojan war.  The film itself is visually stunning and made an impressive scale which is understandable given its 175 million dollar budget.  Troy was however in addition to its original theatrical release also had a director's cut as well which clocked in at 196 minutes, which was 34 minutes longer than the theatrical release which expands on certain scenes particularly the battle scenes and the sacking of Troy, although I would say my preference would be the original cut myself.

PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES (Warning: this section may contain spoilers!)

Performance wise Troy is also largely quite impressive with most of the cast on excellent form.

Starting with Brad Pitt who excels at playing the muscular role of Achilles and he effortlessly handles the film intense action scenes.  And even though Brad's accent seems to go on a bit of a walkabout at times between being English and American he still effectively delivers his dialogue. 

Brad's highlights in the film which include the scene near the start of the film where Achilles is awoken by a young boy messanger (who I could swear was a girl!) who tells him that Agememnon has requested  him to do battle.  And in the scene the young boy says to Achilles "That Thessalian, he's the biggest man I've ever seen!  I wouldn't want to fight him" and Achilles says "And that is why no one will remember your name". 

Then in the next scene, Achilles confronts a giant Thessalian warrior champion, Boagrius (Nathan Jones) and before he fights him, he has a little verbal spat with Agamemnon and says to him "Perhps YOU should fight him!". So, Achille relcutantly decides to go ahead with the fight and says to himself "Imagine a king that fights his own battles! Wouldn't that be a sight!" and he slams his spear into the ground (confident he doesn't need it).  

So as Achilles fights Boagrius, he takes him out with one swing of his sword and he then goes over to the Thessalian army and shouts "IS THERE NO ONE ELSE??!!" and is met with a stoney silence. Boagrius's defeated king, Triopas, stunned asks Achilles "What's your name, solider?" and Achilles says "Achilles, son of Pelius" and Triopas tells him "I will remember the name" and he holds out a sceptre to him and says "Take this to your king" and Achilles defiantly says to him "He's not my king" and walks off. 

Another good scene comes when Achilles meets reluctantly with Agamemnon and as the two begins the scene together, Achilles refers to their successful sacking of the temple "Apparently you won some great victory". Agamemnon arrogantly says to him "Perhaps you didn't notice. The beach belonged Priam in the morning. It belongs to Agamemnon in the afternoon" and Achilles unimpressed tells him "You can have the beach. I didn't come here for sand!". Agamemnon then tells Achilles "No, you wanted to come here because you want your name to last throughout the ages!". 

Agamemnon then goads Achilles by bringing in Briseis, who Achilles had brought to his tent earlier after the sacking of the temple and Achilles warns Aga's men to let her go. So, he warns them "No argument with you, brothers! But if you don't release her, you'll never see home again! Decide!" 

Agamemnon then grabs Briseis and goads Achilles further and says to him "Mighty Achilles, silenced by a slave girl. Tonight I'll have her give me a bath, and then, who knows?!". Achilles by now is furious and he points his sword at Agamemnon and shouts "You sack of wine!  Before my time is done I will look down on your corpse and smile!".  

Then there is the scene where Achilles confronts Hector in battle after he arrives in his chariot he yells out "HECTOR!" repeatedly until Hector comes down to face him.  And in the scene Achilles starts by removing his helmet and says "Now YOU know who you are fighting!" and he continues on by saying "You won't have eyes tonight; you won't have ears or a tongue. You will wander the underworld blind, deaf, and dumb, and all the dead will know: This is Hector. The fool who thought he killed Achilles!". 

Eric Bana is also very good in his role as Hector, the brave and heroic prize warrior of Troy who get's embroiled in war with Greece.  

Bana also has some good moments such as the scene where Paris reveals to him that he smuggled Helen onboard their ship and Hector angrily orders his ship to be turned back for Sparta to return her.

So, as they argue, Paris says "If you want to take Helen back to Sparta, so be it, but I go with her" and Hector says "To Sparta?! They'll kill you!". So, Paris naively says to his brother "Then, I'll die fighting!" and Hector angrily says to him "Oh, and that sounds heroic to you, doesn't it? To die fighting. Little brother, have you ever killed a man?" and Paris says "No" and Hector asks again "Ever seen a man die in combat?" and Paris again says "No" and Hector angrily tells him "Well, I've killed men, and I've heard them dying. And I've watched them dying. And there's nothing glorious about it! Nothing poetic! You say you want to die for love. You know nothing about dying and you know nothing about love!". Paris then says "All the same, I go with her. I won't you ask to fight my war" but Hector bitterly says to him "You already have!" and tells his men to set sail instead for Troy.    

Then there is the scene where Hector faces Agamemnon and tells him "You want me to look upon your army and tremble? Well I see them. I see 50,000 men brought here to fight for one man's greed!".  And as Aga warns him that his mercy has its limits Hector angrily says "And I've seen the limits of your mercy and I tell you now, no son of Troy will ever submit to a foreign ruler!" and Agamenon cruelly says to him "Then ever son of Troy shall die!". Paris however at this point interrupts and makes an offer to fight for Helen against Menelaus, who accepts the offer to fight Paris. Paris then anxiously tells Hector "If I fall tell Helen...tell her..." and Hector grabs him and says to him "You think of his sword and yours and nothing else!". 

Another good scene for Bana is Hector's fight scene with Achilles were Hector starts off by saying to Achilles saying " I've seen this moment in my dreams. I'll make a pact with you. With the gods as our witnesses, let us pledge that the winner will allow the loser all the proper funeral rituals" and Achilles defiantly says "There are no pacts between lions and men!" and he removes his helmet and says "Now you know who you are fighting!". Hector then regretfully says to Achilles "I thought it was you I was fighting yesterday. And I wish it had been, but I gave the dead boy the honor he deserved".  

As for the other cast members, Diane Kruger is excellent in her role as Helen of Troy/Sparta who engages in an extremely costly love affair with Paris.  

Kruger also has some good moments in the film which include the scene where Paris sneaks in and meets with Helen near the start of the film and he tells her not to be afraid of her husband Menelaus and she says "I'm not afraid of dying, I'm afraid of tomorrow. I'm afraid of watching you sail away and knowing you'll never come back".  

And then later there is the scene where Paris tries to offer an alternative to Helen to try and prevent the Greeks going to war with Troy.  And he naively says regarding Menelaus "Then I will walk right up to your husband and tell him that your mine!" and Helen kisses him and says "You are very young my love".  

And later on as Helen desparately tries to leave Troy during the night, Hector stops her before she can and sobs at the hopelessness of her situation. So, Hector spots Helen in the scene wearing a cloak and he runs after her and shouts "Helen! Wait!" and he grabs her and she cries. So, Helen tearfully tells Hector "I saw them burn. I saw them burning on the pyres. That's my fault. It is. You know it is. All those widows. I still hear them screaming. Their husbands died because I'm here. I'm going down to the ships". Helen then says to Hector "I'm giving myself back to Menelaus" but Hector tells her "It's too late for that. Do you think Agamemnon cares about his brother's marriage? This is about power. Not love!". Helen however says to Hector "I can't ask anyone to fight for me" but Hector tries to encourage her by saying "Your princess of Troy now and my brother needs you tonight".

Orlando Bloom however is the weak link in the cast here as Paris and while he is not a terrible actor by any means, he's that great here either, as I usually nickname him Orlando Bland (sorry!). All the same, this is still a fairly decent performance from Bloom all things considered but its no real different than listening to him as the Elf warrior in the Lord of the Rings.

Still, I will mention one of his scenes where Paris decides to try and end the bloody conflict between the Trojans and the Greeks by challenging Menelaus in one on one combat for the right to Helen.

So, in the scene, Paris during a meeting with high ranking officials and Prias and Hector, Paris says to them "There won't be a war. This is not a conflict of nations. It is a dispute between two men. I don't want to see another Trojan die because of me. Tomorrow morning, I will challenge Menelaus for the right to Helen. The winner will take her home. The loser will burn before nightfall!". 

And after the meeting, Paris speaks to his father, Prias "Father…I'm sorry for the pain I've caused you"
and Prias asks him "Do you love her?" and Paris tell him "You are a great king because you love your country so much. Every blade of grass. Every grain of sand. Every rock in the river. You love all of Troy. That is the way I love Helen". 

Brian Cox is also excellent as the ruthless and power hungry king Agamemnon who is determined to conquer Troy.  

Cox also has quite a few highlights in the film which include the scene where Aga (call him that for short!) meets with Achilles and taunts him by bringing Briseis in front of him and saying to Achilles "The spoils of war!" which enrages Achilles who warns the men to let her go or he will kill them and Agamemnon gloats and says "Mighty Achilles, silenced by a slave girl. Tonight I'll have her give me a bath, and then, who knows?!".  

Another good scene is when Aga confronts Hector and Paris outside the city walls of Troy and he says to them ""I see you're not hiding behind your high walls. Valiant of you. Ill-advised, but valiant. And he then states his demands to Hector "I have two wishes. If you grant them, no more of your people need die. First, you must give Helen back to my brother. Second, Troy must submit to my command, to fight for me whenever I call".  And as Hector defies Aga's wishes, Aga nastily says to him "Then every son of Troy, shall die!".

And lastly there is the scene where after Agamemnon's initial attack on Troy's walls fails, he is back at his tent later on, ranting at his failure and one of the kings, Odysseus (who Achilles trusts) insists he must make peace with Achilles. 

So, he shouts at Odysseus "Achilles is just one man!" and Odysseus shouts "Hector is just one man and look at what he did to us today!" and Agamemnon shouts back ""Hector fights for his country! Achilles fights only for himself!". Odysseus however angrily shouts at Agamemnon "I don't care about the man's allegiances, I care about his ability to win battles!". Agamemnon then rants ""Even if I could make peace with Achilles, the man won't listen to me! He's as likely to spear me as to speak to me!" but Odysseus tells him "I'll talk to him. He'll want the girl back" meaning Briesis. So, after Odysseus asks where she is, Agamemnon wearily tells him "I gave her to the men. They need some amusement after today!".  

Sean Bean is also very good in his role as the wise King Odysseus, the only man whom Achilles will listen to.  

Bean has some good scenes as well such as the scene where Another good scene comes when Odysseus visits Achilles near the start of the film and Achilles throws his spear into a tree quite near him and Odysseus smiles saying "Your reptuation for hospitality is fast becoming legend!" and tries to persuade Achilles to fight for Greece again in taking Troy he says "This war will never be forgotten, nor will the heroes who fight in it".

Odysseus and Nestor try to persuade Agamemnon to get Achilles back on their side to help them take Troy and as Aga shouts "Achilles is just one man!" and Odysseus shouts "Hector is just one man and look at what he did to us today!" and Agamemnon shouts back ""Hector fights for his country! Achilles fights only for himself!" Odysseus says " I don't care about the man's alliegence, I care about his ability to win battles!".  

And the last few I will quickly mention Rose Byrne who is good in her role as the priestess, Briseis who becomes romantically attached to Achilles.

So, I will mention just one of her scenes, which is the one where Briseis has been captured and taken to Achilles tent. 

So, in the scene, Briesis remains quiet as Achilles removes his armour and washes himself and he asks her "What's your name?" but she remains silent and Achilles asks "Did you not hear me?" and Briseis angrily tells him "You killed Apollo's priests!" but Achilles says to her "I've killed men in five countries but never a priest!". Briseis then spitefully says to Achilles "Then your men did! The sun god will have his vengeance!" and Achilles warily tells her "What is he waiting for?" and she says to him "The right time to strike!". Briseis then angrily shouts at Achilles "You're nothing but a killer! You know nothing about the Gods!" but Achilles says to her he knows more about them than she does and asks her name again and says to her "You're royalty, aren't you? You spent your life talking down to men!". 

Achilles asks her name again "Even servants of Apollo have names" and she tells him "Briseis" and he asks her "Are you afraid, Briseis?" and she asks him "Should I be?". However, they are briefly interrupted by Eudorous, his second in command and after he leave, Achilles says to her at the end of the scene "You don't need to fear me, girl. You're the only Trojan that can say that".  

Saffron Burrows is also pretty good (and pretty) in the part of Hector's wife, Andromach although she isn't given much of a role in the film, which is a pity. 

However, I will mention one of Saffron's scenes which is the one where Andromache pleads with Hector to not fight against the Greeks.

So, in the scene, Hector recalls his surprise at Achilles skill as a warrior and says "The man who killed Tecton outside Apollo's temple, I've never seen a spear thrown like that". Andromache is more worried about Hector however and pleads with him "Don't go tomorrow. Please don't go" but Hector reassures her "Paris fights tomorrow, not me" however Andromache warns him "Fifty thousand Greeks didn't cross the sea…to watch your brother fight. You know this" and Hector tries to smile and says "You'd make a fine general, my love". Andromache continues to beg him "You've been fighting your whole life. Let other men do battle this time" and Hector tells her "You know I don't want to fight. I want to see my son grow tall.I want to see the girls chasing after him" but Andromache becomes more emotional and says to him "I can't lose you. I won't survive".

Peter O'Toole is also pretty good in the film even if his performance is somewhat hammy as King Priam and there is an amusing scene in the director's cut (or rather unintentionally so!) where Priam faints in shock after witnessing Achilles kill his son Hector.  

O'Toole also has some good lines in the film as well such as in the scene where Paris brings Helen home and Priam greets her. So, in the scene, Paris introduces Helen "Father, this is Helen" and Priam asks in surprise "Helen of Sparta?" and Paris tells him "Helen of Troy" and Priam gracefully says to her "I have heard rumors of your beauty. And for once, the gossip is right!" and he kisses her welcomingly on both cheeks. 

WARNING: BIG SPOILER IN THE NEXT PARAGRAPH!

And lastly, I will mention the scene where Priam pays a sneaky visit to Achilles's tent the night after Achilles kills Hector in a one on one fight for revenge over Patroclus's death. 

So, in the scene enters his tent to see Priam and Achilles asks him "Who are you?" and Priam emotionally says "I have endured what no one on earth has endured before. I kissed the hands of the man who killed my son". Achilles then realises who he is and asks "How did you get in here?" and Priam tells him "I think I know my land better than the Greeks do and Achilles says to him "You're a brave man. I could have had your head on a spit in the blink of an eye". Priam however remains somewhat defiant of Achilles warning and says to him "Do you really think death frightens me now? I watched my eldest son die, watched you drag his body behind your chariot. Give him back to me. He deserves a proper burial, you know that. Give him to me". Achilles however is unwilling and tells Priam "He killed my cousin" and Priam says to him "He thought it was you. How many cousins have you killed? How many sons and fathers and brothers and husbands? How many, brave Achilles?".

So, after some time in the scene, Achilles appears to swayed by Priam's words and relents and allows him to take back Hector's body. However, Achilles warns Priam "I admire your courage. But even if I give you him back, you're still my enemy in the morning" and Priam tells Achilles "You're still my enemy tonight but even enemies can show respect".

And last of all is Brendan Gleason who is great in his role as King Menelaus who is out for revenge after his wife, Helen, leaves him for Paris.  

And Gleason also has some good moments especially the scene where Menelaus fights with Paris and in the scene before they fight Menelaus says to Paris "I accept your challenge and tonight I shall drink to your bones!". So, as the two of them begin to fight, its pretty clear that Menelaus has the upper hand is too experienced and strong a warrior for Paris.  

So as Menelaus beats Paris and knocks him to the crowd, having slashed his leg, he moves into kill Paris and teases him by saying "See the crowes, they've never tasted prince before!".  And Paris suddenly get's up and runs away leaving Menelaus disgusted, he shouts up at Helen "IS THIS WHAT YOU LEFT ME FOR???!!!". And as Paris crawls away, Menelaus shouts after him disgusted "FIGHT ME! YOU COWARD! FIGHT ME! WE HAVE A PACT!". 

Paris then crawls over to Hector and desparately holds onto him as Menelaus rants at them both "This is NOT honor! This is not ROYALTY! If he doesn't fight, Troy is doomed!" but Hector firmly tells Menelaus "The fight is over!". Menelaus however remains defiant and shouts "The fight is NOT over! Stand back, Prince Hector! I'll kill him at your feet! I don't care!" but Hector angrily spits back "He's MY brother!". So, as Menelaus makes to kill Paris, Hector quickly takes out his sword and stabs Menelaus right through the chest, who soon collapses and dies leaving his brother, Agamemnon outraged as they launch their attack on Troy (unsuccessfully at this point though!).

DIRECTOR AND MUSIC 

Finally moving onto the director, Wolfgang Petersen who does a fine job in keeping the story moving along despite the film's length it never really lags too much (although the director's cut is just a bit too long at nearly 3 hours and 20 minutes!).  Petersen also confidently handles the film's epic and bloody battle scenes very well as they well staged and Achilles and Hector's fight is also well done, which does last just over 3 minutes but its certainly alot longer than all of Achilles other battles in the film! So overall, Petersen does an excellent job here with the film.  

The film also features a pretty good score by James Horner although it does appear he has nicked the odd moment or two from Maurice Jarre's Lawrence of Arabia score here and there! However, the score still has a very impressive grandiose feel to it and it is very suited to the period and tone of the film itself.

FLAWS (Warning: this section may contain spoilers!)

 
As for Troy's flaws.... its not quite a perfect film of course and there are some niggles. For a start the film's dialogue at times is pretty cringeworthy for an epic you do get some almost obligatory cheesy lines for the actors to chew on and here Troy is no exception!  

And there are a few wopppers here and there but the worst one comes from Eric Bana when he tells his wife sadly that he must face Achilles and he says "I want live in peace, grow old and I want to see my boy grow and watch him chase the girls!".  And another cracker comes from Orlando Bloom when Paris says to his father King Priam "You are such a great King because the way you love all your lands.  And that is the way in which I love Helen!". Uggghhhh!!

Another issue I had with the film was more to do with the director's cut which does add some rather unecessary moments here and there I also felt the sacking of Troy was suddenly made far more graphically violent which I found a bit off-putting.  Some of the film's battle scenes in the director's cut were also made a bit more bloody and violent than necessary in certain moments as well.  And yes as I previously mentioned the director's cut in general is just a bit too long!  

I was also a little disppointed in a way by how the fight scene ultimately ended between Achilles and Hector where Achilles doesn't even get as much as a scratch (except on his armour) against Hector and I was hoping he would have sustained some sort of injury to make the battle that bit more even than it was.  However Achilles ultimaltey met his own demise at his heel as we all know!   

And now for the film's biggest flaw, well for me anyway, which comes in the scene when the Trojans launch an attack on the beach by firing large fireballs at the Greeks.  And earlier in the film Achilles had a fallout with Agamemnon and as a result refused to fight for him.  OK.  So that in mind when the big fireballs are rolling down on the beech and all the men are screaming and flailing about and there is lot of noise, Achilles does not ONCE bother to step out of his tent to find out what is going on!!!  And he doesn't step outside until the next morning only by then to find that there are quite a few casualties including his cousin Patroclus! 

Now if I were Achilles, the greatest warrior of all time and there was all that commotion going on I think I would even take a peak outside just to see what the hell was going on! And for me it remains the silliest part of the film which makes little sense especially as many Greek soldiers died as a result as well as Patroclus and if Achilles had bothered to take his selfish ass outside and fight then he might have prevented Patroclus's death and ultimately wouldn't have needed to fought and killed Hector.  But hey that's allegedy how the story went, but personally I think its just a daft scene.  

And that's it for the flaws!

SUM UP

So, to sum up, Troy 16 years on, is still an excellent historical war epic, which is both visually stunning and also very well performed by its starry cast with Brad Pitt, Erica Bana, Brian Cox, Peter O'Toole and Diane Kruger giving the standout performances here. The film's action scenes are also very well staged and have enough blood and grit to give them a real sense of weight and drama (so to speak!). And despite any of the film's minor drawbacks, Troy is still an impressive film worth checking out. 

OK, that's it for now and I will try and get another post in before the month is done (hopefully!).

So, till then its bye for now!