Troy DVD Review:

1193 B.C., Paris (Bloom) of Troy has taken Helen (Kruger) of Sparta from its ruler Menelaus (Gleeson). Even though the two are in love, his brother Hector (Bana) knows that her husband will not take this lightly and this could mean disaster for Troy. Menelaus calls upon his brother Agamemnon (Cox) to unite the kingdoms of Greece and form an army like the world has never seen. Leading that force into battle would be the Greek’s most feared warrior, Achilles (Pitt).

The sword and sandals epic returns with a dramatic retelling of Homer’s tragic poem The Iliad, the problem is that it is more Hollywood than Greek mythology.

The classic tale of war, passion, power and love was crying out for the big screen treatment but Wolfgang Petersen’s interpretation, while dramatic and gripping in parts, lacks a certain something that would make it a great movie and that’s decent dialogue. Anyone who has seen 25th Hour will know that David Benioff can write dialogue but with Troy we just seem to have an abundance of speeches, now the standard in all big screen epics, and some truly awful lines in between. Everything seems so dumbed down and when you think that this is meant to be representing a civilisation that influenced every aspect of the modern world, it makes it all the more frustrating.

The cast is extremely impressive however and the saving grace of the film. Eric Bana proves again that he is an actor to watch. His portrayal of Trojan prince Hector is the highlight of the film. This is a warrior who sees the true consequences of battle and enters the field with honour and respect. Bana captures this superbly, making the character the real hero of the piece.

Orlando Bloom continues to impress, even though his character Paris has most of the truly appalling dialogue. The poor lad has to confess his love with some of the most sick inducing lines imaginable but as with all his performances, he gives 100%.

German actress Diane Kruger is Helen, the face that launched a thousand ships but to be honest she would be lucky to start someone rowing on a boating lake. It’s not that Kruger isn’t a beautiful woman, far from it but she just doesn’t have that stunning element that would make you think that Paris would risk everything to be with her. This is mainly the fault of the script, as it doesn’t really give her enough screen time to make you emphasise with the character, to see why she would go to Troy.

There is fantastic support from the illustrious Peter O’Toole as Priam the King of Troy. His screen presence along brings a certain amount of class to the picture with a riveting performance. The same can be said of Brian Cox and Brendan Gleeson as Agamemnon and Menelaus, who could be classed as the villains of the film, even though history doesn’t see them that way. Cox plays the power hungry conquer with great zeal and Gleeson is as good as ever as his revenge-crazed brother. Sean Bean continues his good run as Odysseus but the character does have a rather amusing 1970s footballer’s perm. The beautiful Rose Byrne is also good as Briseis.

The film is all about Brad Pitt’s portrayal of Achilles however. For a Hollywood superstar who is known just as much for his personal life as he is for his diverse acting career, this is a commanding, attention grabbing role for the talented thespian. As women swoon at the sight of semi naked star in a skirt, men will cheer as he despatches Trojan soldiers with ease and gasp in awe as the inevitable battle between Hector and Achilles dominates the screen. Pitt’s energy and power makes the movie all the more watchable, making you almost forget the dire dialogue even the great warrior himself has to spew.

The overall look of the movie is also first rate. You can see every single dollar spent on the screen as the special effects effortlessly blend with the marvellous set designs and the fabulous costumes. The battle sequences are epic in scale but they don’t have the scope or bloodiness of similar skirmishes in films like Braveheart or The Lord of the Rings.

Troy is more Hollywood entertainment than a history lesson. While this isn’t a bad thing to some degree, it would have been better to stick to the Iliad than take this much artistic license. With great performances slightly outweighing the terrible dialogue, this is a watchable epic that will keep you entertained throughout its long running time. Just don’t expect any surprises to pop out of this Trojan horse.

Star Rating = * * *

PICTURE & SOUND

Presented in Widescreen 2.35:1 Anamorphic with Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, the transfer is extremely good. The picture quality is extremely sharp throughout, even during the more energetic battle and fight sequences. The sound quality is also very good with the noise of battle echoing around up as Trojans battle the Greeks.

BONUS FEATURES

In the thick of Battle (17.15 mins)

Director Wolfgang Petersen, 2nd unit director/stunt coordinator Simon Crane, chief prosthetics make-up artist Daniel Parker, weapons designer Simon Atherton, special effects supervisor Joss Williams, sword master Richard Ryan, military technical advisor Richard Smedley and stars Brad Pitt and Eric Bana reveal how the epic battles of Troy were created. With behind the scenes footage showing fight rehearsals for the major battle sequences and the amount of training even the extras had to go through to make everything look realistic and authentic, this is a revealing and informative featurette. The highlight is watching Brad Pitt and Eric Bana train for their epic confrontation as it shows that the actors did all of their own stunt work.

From Ruins to Reality (14.06 mins)

Director Wolfgang Petersen, writer David Benioff, Greek/Roman antiquities expert Lesley Fitton, production designer Nigel Phelps, art director Kevin Phipps, producer Diana Rathburn, location manager Peter Novak, special effects supervisor Joss Williams and stars Eric Bana, Diane Kruger and Peter O’Toole reveal how ancient Greece and Troy were recreated for the silver screen. The featurette takes you on a journey back through time to the discovery of the real Troy and how the set design reflected what was unearthed. Production designer Nigel Phelps shows you how the movie designs are more grandiose than what the real Troy would have looked like and takes you behind the scenes of the construction of the mammoth sets in Malta and Mexico. The cast and crew also reveal the problems that accorded on the shoot, including what happened when a hurricane hit the Mexico set and how they had to move thousands of endangered sea turtles before they could shoot the movie.

Troy: An Effects Odyssey (10.59 mins)

Split into two parts this featurette cover the computer generated imagery and the sound effects that had to be created for the movie. Director Wolfgang Petersen and writer David Benioff join visual effects supervisor Nick Davis, 2nd unit director/stunt coordinator Simon Crane and supervising sound editor Wyle Stateman to show you how the armies and ships were created and the sound effects that accompanied them. Highlights include a fascinating insight into the creation of sound effects and how they actually had to reduce the amount of ships on the screen so it didn’t look too far-fetched, even though it was the right number of boats from the invasion.

Gallery of the Gods

Visit Mount Olympus and find out about how the Greek Gods influenced the outcome of the Trojan War, according to Homer’s Iliad. Here you can find out about all twelve gods including Apollo, Athena, Aries, Aphrodite, Hermes and Zeus.

Theatrical Trailer (1.55 mins)

Your chance to watch the trailer that was used to promote the movie at the cinema.

Easter Egg (1.25 mins)

This hidden feature shows how the special effects boffins had fun during the creation of the battle scenes.

OVERALL

Warner Bros. have done a reasonable job transferring Troy onto DVD but you can not help but feel they could have done better. The featurettes are good and very informative but it is the missing features that you mostly lament. There are no long interviews with the cast (Orlando Bloom doesn’t even appear, which will disappoint his fans and the ladies) and the lack of a commentary track for a movie of this scale is almost criminal. This isn’t a bad DVD set, as the film is presented beautifully but fans will feel slightly disappointed by it.

DVD Star Rating = * * *

Jamie Kelwick

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