Troy [HD DVD]

Big Fat Search

Starring: Julian Glover, Brian Cox, Nathan Jones, Adoni Maropis, Jacob Smith
Directed by: Wolfgang Petersen
Binding: HD DVD
Published: 2006-09-12

Features:

Anamorphic
Color
Dolby
Subtitled

Troy [HD DVD]

Editorial Review:

Brad Pitt picks up a sword and brings a muscular, brooding presence to the role of Greek warrior Achilles in this spectacular retelling of The Iliad. Orlando Bloom and Diane Kruger play the legendary lovers who plunge the world into war, Eric Bana portrays the prince who dares to confront Achilles, and Peter O'Toole rules Troy as King Priam. Director Wolfgang Petersen recreates a long-ago world of bireme warships, clashing armies, the massive fortress city and the towering Trojan Horse.
No doubt about it, the 196-minute unrated director's cut of Troy represents a significant improvement over the film's original 162-minute theatrical release--and not just because it has more sex and violence. As director Wolfgang Petersen notes in his new "Troy Revisited" video introduction to this 2-disc special edition, he didn't have the time or directorial discretion (prior to Troy's release in 2004) to present a cut that more closely matched his vision for the film. Three years later, Petersen approached the film with a more relaxed perspective, and the result is a well-crafted expansion on a film that was previously underrated, with 30 minutes of previously unseen material. Character dynamics have been improved and intensified; the epic-scale narrative is now easier to follow, with greater emphasis on the inner turmoil of Achilles (well played by Brad Pitt) and his rivalry with Hector (Eric Bana); and viewers will feel a more satisfying escalation of tension and suspense from battle to battle. The film's enormous battle scenes (impressively enhanced with CGI) are bloodier and gorier, but they're also more effectively integrated into the political story, which goes beyond Homer's The Iliad and the death of Hector to incorporate elements of Virgil and a more revealing study of the differences between Trojan king Priam (Peter O'Toole) and his megalomanical Greek rival, king Agamemnon (Brian Cox), whose lust for revenge is now one of the film's most powerful ingredients. Some of Troy's original weaknesses remain (such as Orlando Bloom's wimpy performance as Paris), but overall, this director's cut easily justifies its existence, regardless of the film's overblown and historically inaccurate depiction of Troy as a gigantic city of massive columns and statuary. The good parts are better, and the not-so-good parts are more easily forgiven. And no matter how you cut it, Troy is a lavish feast for the eyes. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

Avg. Customer Rating: 3.5 / 5.0

Troy:

I had written earlier because I had only gotten 1 part of a 2 part DVD. But then Sonic read my review, contacted me and sent the second part. So I raised them to 4 stars. Thank you. Pam Mendoza

educational standpoint:

As a high-school teacher for English foundations, I try my best to expose my students to the literature their peers in regular English classes receive. I must utilize movies as a visual aide supplement to help them connect with the characters, setting, dialogue... I strongly recommend using this dvd to support your curriculum to teach on all levels of student learning (auditory, kinesthetic, visual). However, for this particular movie, I had to fast forward the unneccesary sex scenes with Brad Pitt that... more info

"The Iliad" is not the only version of the Trojan War!:

Many reviewers have complained that the movie "Troy" is not completely true to the Iliad in portraying the characters and events of the Trojan War. This is unfair. Even in ancient times, the Iliad was not the only version of the Trojan War stories, and the Iliad which has come down to us may not be the only version that was performed. The Iliad only tells what happened in the space of 50 days in the 9th year of the war, although it alludes in passing to events that happened before and after these 50 days.... more info

Great Acting - Great Scenes - Great Dialogue:

I can't think of anything they could have done to improve this
movie. Troy is not one of my favorite stories, so this movie
will never be on my top 10 list, but I can't think of another
"swords and sandals" movie that comes close.

Similar Products: