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Brad Pitt picks up a sword and brings a muscular,
brooding presence to the role of Greek warrior Achilles in
this 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 gigantic warships,
clashing armies, the massive fortress city and the towering
Trojan Horse...
What
is it with Hollwood and trying to recreate the success of
Gladiator by mimicking it? In Troy's
opening scene, Brad Pitt speaks through gritted teeth and
attempts to impersonate Russell Crowe - something which he
continues to do for the film's duration.
And
sadly the Gladiator
similarity doesn't end with the acting. James Horner's soundtrack
borrows stylistically from Hans
Zimmer's
superior work. He even lifts a large chunk of music from David
Arnold's theme for Stargate. In fact, I'd even stick
my neck out, being a huge fan of Horner's previous work, and
say this is the worst soundtrack of his that I've heard. And
what happened to the sound effects engineer? Whether we have
swords clashing with sword, helmet or shield, we get the same
sound without any variation. After a while this becomes really
noticeable and distracting.
The
younger actors never seem comfortable in their roles - especially
Eric Bana. There is some pretty questionable acting in places
and even the usually solid Sean Bean seems out of place with
his very noticeable Sheffield accent. It's also interesting
to note how many different ways the name Agamemnon can be
pronounced.
Stylistically
there is little to fault. The movie looks fantastic and thunders
along at a breakneck pace. And the older members of the cast,
no doubt thanks to their years of experience in the theatre,
seem settled in their roles. Brain Cox stands out as a believable
Agamemnon, but this movie puts it's trust in too many actors
- not all of whom deliver the goods. Brad Pitt, for the most
part, is believable - which is a blessing. John Shrapnel,
as Nestor, also puts in a great performance - mind you, he
is another Gladiator link, having played Gaius. And
Peter O'Toole is great as Priam.
This
collection is also only available as a 2-disc edition which,
to be honest I thought was a bit of a rip-off. There are no
commentaries, which in itself is a crime, and no extras on
the first disc. And don't be expecting disc two to be crammed
full of great extras either. These would easily have squeezed
onto the first disc.
Extras
are In the Thick of the Battle a 17 minute look at
the battle sequences; From Ruins to Reality a 14 minute
examination of the set design; Troy: An Effects Odyssey
an 11 minute exploration of the visual and sound effects (see
my moan earlier), a trailer, photo gallery and a very bizarre
1 minute Easter Egg.
Troy
is far from awful - as a large special effects laden thrill-fest
it does what it's supposed to and nothing more. It's just
that with a little more polish this could have been so much
better.
Nick
Smithson
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$19.47
(Amazon.com)
Full Screen - Region 1 Edition |
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$19.47
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Widescreen - Region 1 Edition |
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£14.99
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2 Disc Region 2 Edition |
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