Cheap Troy (Two-Disc Widescreen Edition) (DVD) (Brad Pitt, Eric Bana, Orlando Bloom) (Wolfgang Petersen) Price

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Customer Reviews of Troy (Two-Disc Widescreen Edition)

The film centers around two characters--and they are not Helen and Paris. A beefed-up Brad Pitt plays Achilles, a fierce Greek warrior who is literally unbeatable. Yet Achilles is anything but a nice person: he is self-centered and pretentious, and he fights on his terms, often to the detriment of his countrymen. Achilles has but one quest: to be immortalized through history, and the Greek siege of Troy provides him the perfect opportunity. For such a shallow, narcissistic character, Pitt is perfectly suited for the role.

Eric Bana, on the other hand, steals the show as Hector, Prince of Troy. Hector is a good, kind, and decent man who loves his family and his country. Faced with having to clean up the mess after his brother Paris (Orlando Bloom) brings Helen of Sparta (Diane Kruger) to his beloved land, Hector leads the Trojan army against the Greek invaders; his showdown with Achilles is inevitable, and is also the film's defining moment.

Yet TROY is bursting at its wooden horse seams with other memorable performances, including a frail Peter O'Toole as Trojan King Priam, and his scene-chewing counterpart Brian Cox, who plays greedy King Agamemnon. Brendan Gleeson and Sean Bean are superb, too, as Greek kings Menelaus and Odysseus, while Bloom is less than stellar as a peach-fuzzed, pusillanimitic Paris.

Director Petersen delivers a grand epic complete with stunning cinematography, fierce action, imaginative special effects, and a spellbinding story. His film does not detract, but instead enhances, Homer's classic. In the words of King Menelaus of Sparta: "May the gods keep the wolves in the hills and the women in our beds." How can an epic go wrong with a line like that?
--D. Mikels

Brad Pitt as Achilles
Brad Pitt stars as the legendary Greek warrior Achilles in "Troy," an epic drama full of action and adventure based on Homer's Iliad. Lovesick Prince Paris has run off with Helen to his land of Troy. Helen's husband wants her back, and convinces Greek King Agamemnon to "launch a thousand ships" and bring Helen back. The King enlists the aid of Achilles, and the battle begins.

On the plus side, the movie looks just great, with spectacular sets and thousands of soldiers who fight gallantly. The supporting cast is wonderful; in particular Eric Bana as Paris' brother, Hector, and Peter O'Toole as his father, King Prium. Their scenes are the best in the film.

On the down side, Brad Pitt, while ruggedly handsome and sincere, never really loses himself in the character of an ancient Greek hero; you can't forget he's Brad Pitt. The actress who plays Helen is not the classic beauty one would expect and looks like so many modern starlets. The battle scenes are for the most part filmed in close-ups and edited in very quick shots, which makes them look blurry and chaotic, and you may need a scorecard to keep up with all the characters.

Troy has the look and feel of a good epic, but isn't a great one. If you enjoy sword and sandal war movies with handsome leading men, you'll like Troy. Brad Pitt is delicious eye-candy and that just may be good enough after all.

A really good piece of entertainment..
I have read many other reviews which complain about how different this movie is from Homer's Illiad. I have read the Illiad and agree with them, it is different. However, the title of this movie is not "THE ILLIAD"; the title is Troy. Yes, a few things have been changed, and a few deaths unplanned, but overall the story is great and sticks to the main plot. The movie itself is a masterpiece with extraordinary special effects and a cast of talented actors. If talent is not your thing, then the eye candy will hopefully do. Troy is a gripping and poetic film which I reccomend watching.