[HeartoftheNight]

Okay, Ladies, and Gents if you're coming to this topic, I need the truth now. Just got Troy on dvd but hesitant to watch it because I've heard its got bad reviews. So, if you take out Brad Pitt's butt, the half-naked Orlando Bloom that I saw in commercials, and the drool factor of Eric Bana and Sean Bean, does the movie have any substance?

[DarkElfChilde]

Yes, and thats all I have to say.

[NancyBrooke]

Yes, from a certain perspective.

Great Cinema it ain't, and you probably already know pretty much how it ends, but I thought it was a good, entertaining sand and sandals epic. There is some nice character development (particularly scenes between Odysseus and Achilles), it's very pretty (the overshots of Troy itself were way more exciting than Brad Pitt's butt), and I found the tension between Achilles and Agamemnon kept my attention.

Also, there's Peter O'Toole, and his presence can not be over valued.

Just grab the pop corn, curl up in the dark, take out your frontal lobe and have a good time.

[MaglorRedeemed]

[Yavanie]

Like the credits say: inspired by Homer's Illiad.

average movie. some good points. watching the guys in battle sequences had some nice shots. The hot elf plays a spoiled princling well, even gets to revamp his skill with a bow. we rented it last week and with the boys around, watched it 3 times ( they love the sword fights). would like to know how much is historically accurat (props and settings, etc.) but I'm sure it was impressive to watch on the big screen. I won't be buying a copy however. Of course, after LOTR, standards are pretty high. Do watch and enjoy but don't expect depth.

[Gypsum]

Um, I thought it left a lot to be desired, to put it nicely.

Cool visuals and special effects and Sean did a good job, but I was not impressed by Orlando and Brad.

And the writing, the writing, the writing.... Most of the audience in the theater I was in were laughing out loud at the really tragic bits cause the dialogue was so trite it was comical. Kind of like "A diversion" (which someone in the theater actually yelled out when Orlando playing Paris made some ridiculously obvious comment).

[Alassante]

Personally I liked it. After I saw it, I read parts of the book and now I want to see it again. I thought it was pretty good. Then you add Brad Pitts' ass (Nancy - you have totally different standards than I do because I think his ass is the best in the biz so far - course Colin Ferrell probably has a nice one that I just haven't seen), half naked Orlando, and Eric Bana and it is even better. One thing I didn't like was the two women - Eric Bana's wife and Helen of Troy. Eric Bana's wife was kinda whiny and not very attractive and I thought if Helen of Troy was supposed to be the "face that launched a thousand ships" they could have done better. She's pretty but I think Keira Knightly is prettier than her. And her acting was pretty dull. The other woman, the cousin of the two Troy brothers(I cannot remember one name tonight) was good and she was pretty. Not irritating like the first two The scene where Orlando shows his wimpy prince side was a little startling. I mean not only to see Orlando do it but to see the brother of a great warrior do it. I won't spoil it for you but you should watch it.

I have discovered that I usually do not agree with reviewers. They loved the movie Lost in Translation and I felt like it was two hours of my life I will never get back. Same for most other Oscar movies. They pick the artsy ones usually and I like the other ones. Like LOTR was the first fantasy film to ever win. That sucks because I love fantasy. But personally I would rather go see I Robot or Meet the Fockers than A Beautiful Mind or some others. I like a little action in my movies unless they are tearjerkers, comedies, or suspense movies.

What about Alexander? Has anyone seen it? I heard it was horrible but I wasn't sure.

[Alassante]

[Hathor]

Couple of cracking fight scenes, but apart from that... no. Really, really disliked it, and I don't even know The Iliad.

[JayofLasgalen]

I enjoyed it. Not great cinema, no, certainly not as good as LOTR, but I enjoyed it.

There are some good action/fight scenes, and great visual effects at times. My personal favourite scene is where King Priam (Peter O'Toole) pleads with his enemy. That is wonderful, but desperately sad.

Orlando as Paris is gorgeous to look at, but his brother Hector (Eric Bana) was excellent, and equally drool-worthy. Brad Pitt doesn't do a thing for me, though.

Yes, certainly worth watching.


Jay

[inglor]

I liked it, thought it was a good movie. Then again, I am very forgiving when it comes to movies. It wasn't stirring or anything but it was a nice way to kill 2 hours. It was no Ben Hur but I enjoyed it. Definitely a Brad Pit the Badass Ubermale vehicle. And the Achilles/Agememnon conflict was interesting. The battle sequences were great visually stunning. Not as good as Pellanor but then again, few things could compare with that. They paid a lot of attention to that. I don't know how accurate they were with tactics but they made sense.
It made me want to read the Illiad.

If you are going to watch Alexander and Troy, watch Troy first. Liked it a lot more than Alexander.

Inglor

[NancyBrooke]

[Alassante]

[Thuriniel]

There is no point on messing up a classic like "The Iliad" the way they did.

If at least they would've castrated Paris so that the "Hollywood Sappy Crappy Happily Ever After Shitty" Ending wouldn't have been so obvious ...

I haven't seen it. My brother, another mythology fan, told me everything I needed to know for me to refuse to even rent it.

[Elennare]

Overall I wasn't that impressed by Troy, the scenery is beautiful and so are the actors, but there is a lack of depth to it (and the siege itself is unbelievably short).
On the other hand, it was better than King Arthur which was both boring and lacking in credibility.

Alexander is another movie that really could have been done better, it glosses over too many things (including important battles/conquests), focuses far too much on their interpretation of his love-life (which comes across as very contrived), and doesn't take enough time for the audience to learn who each of the mass of generals and companions are.