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Starring: Julian Glover, Brian Cox, Nathan Jones, Adoni Maropis, Jacob Smith
Theatrical: 2004
Genre: Action & Adventure
Director: Wolfgang Petersen
Studio: Warner Home Video
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Rated: R
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Aspect Ratio: WideScreen (Widescreen) |
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Sound: Dolby Digital |
| Duration: 163 |
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Video Format: NTSC |
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Languages: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish |
| Region: 4 |
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Media: DVD |
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Subtitles: Dutch French, German, Italian, Spanish, English - HI, German - HI |
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| Summary: A couple of months ago, I saw the highly anticipated epic, "Troy", at the theater. I, for one, must say that the film was, without a doubt, one of the most impressive and action-packed epics ever made since Russell Crowe's "Gladiator" and Charlton Heston's "Ben-Hur"! The direction of Wolfgang Petersen ("Air Force One") was top-notch and flawless! The performance of superstar Brad Pitt ("Snatch", "Ocean's Eleven"), headlining the film's cast as the Greek warrior Achilles, was powerful and commanding! Once again, this is Pitt's best performance in years! The performance of Eric Bana ("The Hulk", "Black Hawk Down"), as Achilles' Trojan counterpart, Prince Hector, was not only a tour de force performance, but an unforgettable one at that! Rounding out the cast are Orlando Bloom ("The Lord of the Rings" trilogy), Diane Kruger ("Wicker Park", "National Treasure"), Brian Cox ("The Ring"), Brendan Gleeson ("Cold Mountain"), Sean Bean ("Don't Say A Word"), Saffron Burrows ("Wing Commander"), Rose Byrne ("Star Wars: Episode II -- Attack of the Clones"), Julie Christie ("Afterglow"), and Peter O'Toole ("Lawrence of Arabia") in which they gave excellent performances as well!For those not familiar with Homer's "The Iliad", the oldest and most enduring story ever told, "Troy" goes like this: Trojan princes Hector (Bana) and Paris (Bloom) are on a peace-keeping errand for their father, King Priam (O'Toole), in Sparta. Paris falls for King Menelaus' (Gleeson) lovely young bride Helen (Kruger), and Paris whisks Helen back to Troy for his own. Big mistake for Paris! Because with Helen missing, not to mention Menelaus presenting the problem to his brother, the land-grabbing Super-monarch Agamemnon (Cox), who uses the problem as an excuse to start a war between Troy and most of Greece, and only a great, big wooden horse and the might of warrior-for-hire Achilles (Pitt) can infiltrate the impenetrable walls of Troy and avenge the "theft" of Helen.To take on the role of Achilles, Brad Pitt worked out ferociously for months, with four hours a day of intensive body-building and four hours of fight training. But Pitt's training took a turn for the worse as an injury sidelined him for three months while filming a crucial fight scene: the mano-a-mano showdown between Achilles and Hector (In other words, Pitt had damaged his Achilles heel, paying homage to his character). Yet physically, Pitt is everything that Achilles should be: beautiful, god-like, and a fighting machine. Yet, Achilles is not a brooding, James Dean, introspective Hamlet-type, which is how he is played by Pitt. Achilles is a hero with a tragic flaw (almost always hubris). "The Iliad", like the writings of the ancient Greeks, is not about language or character development. It's about larger-than-life themes: gods, goddesses, vengeance and might, and fury and fate. With fate behind all decisions, there is almost no need for character because there is no inner struggle. The Greek myths are painted in the broadest of strokes to create the largest of pictures. The story of this is saddled with a mortality and humanity that saps it of what makes it great in the first place: infinity.Nonetheless, "Troy" proved a whole lot. Pitt, a superstar and a member of Hollywood's $20-million club, has only carried a blockbuster once: "Se7en", and that was nine years ago. Likewise, the success of "Troy", to me, had a lot to say about the leading-man future of Eric Bana, whose supporting performance was the best thing about Ridley Scott's "Black Hawk Down" in 2001, but who languished as last year's "Hulk" in the Ang Lee film. Pitt did an excellent job in the film because he's buff and fights well, and we all know he can act from "Se7en" and "Twelve Monkeys", and he should have hits well into the near future. It will be long, however, before a romantic comedy or courtroom drama will test Orlando Bloom's mettle. But so long as he's shooting arrows ("The Lord of the Rings" films) and buckling swashes ("Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl") in the company of $200 million-grossing Hobbits and pirates, he's safe. It's Bana who is the revelation as Hector. His warrior physique and huge, vulnerable eyes mix perfectly for a romantic hero. Fortunately, "Troy" follows the model of all great and not-so-great Hollywood epics by having a multi-national cast with British accents for characters who wouldn't have spoken English, anchored by the last surviving British theatrical aristocracy. That's why we get screen legend Peter O'Toole as King Priam, who, dusted off, is still the best actor in any scene he's in.In conclusion, "Troy" has it all: a great cast, spectacular action, a powerful storyline, and extraordinary, larger-than-life characters! My advice about the film is: Come for the Brad Pitt, savor the Orlando Bloom, and stay for the Eric Bana. And never, NEVER, under any circumstances, underestimate Peter O'Toole. "Troy", without a doubt, is a DVD must-have when it's released! |
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