Troy (2-Disc Directors Cut) (2004)

New York Times
"[With] crisply edited combat sequences, tableaus of antique splendor, [and] a hugely muscled Brad Pitt modeling the latest in Hellenic leisure wear..." 05/14/2004 p.E1

USA Today
"[T]his latest interpretation of Homer's classic tale is entertainingly epic eye candy." 05/14/2004 p.5D

Uncut
"Sean Bean's Odysseus is resourceful and driven..." 07/01/2004 p.131

Sight and Sound
"The costuming and production design are handsome..." 07/01/2004 p.68

Premiere
"A brilliantly told story."

New York Observer
"An action spectacle of weight, splendor and vast entertainment value"

Chicago Tribune
"Stunning. Raging excitement, visual grandeur and dramatic intelligence."

Associated Press
"The film is enormous and awe-inspiring"

ReelViews 7 of 10
The line between epic spectacle and overblown bore is often as unclear as it is easily crossed. So it's no surprise that Wolfgang Petersen's Troy navigates that demarcation like a drunk driver on a twisty two-lane highway. There are times when Troy is stirring and engaging. However, at least as often, it is flat. There's really too much story to cram into a 165-minute period, yet, paradoxically, the movie seems longer than its bloated running length. And all of the visual majesty that hundreds of millions of dollars can buy cannot obscure the perfunctory and unsatisfying development of the major characters...Troy is loosely (and I emphasize loosely) based on Homer's epic poem "The Illiad," which many educated viewers will have read once (probably in a high school literature class). David Benioff's screenplay keeps most of the places and names, but takes a lot of what could charitably call "artistic license"...Despite its shortcomings, there are things to appreciate about Troy, not the least of which is that it's aimed at adults, not children - a rarity amidst summer fare. And, since I'm inordinately fond of historically-based epics (even though little is known about the real Troy), I was entertained more often than not. But it seems to me that if a viewer is going to invest nearly three hours, he or she deserves more than what Troy delivers. The best epics work because they provide both visual spectacle and emotional resonance, and the second part of that equation is where Troy falls short. Tertiary love stories (such as the one between Achilles and a slave girl) and noble speeches aren't enough. Petersen understands the importance of believable characters (as he proved in his landmark Das Boot), but, excepting Hector and Priam, he fails to bring these mythological figures to life on the screen. And that, more than anything else, proves to be this film's undoing. - James Berardinelli
 
Reel.com 8 of 10
Some men buy sports cars when they're about to turn 40. Brad Pitt got buff--so he could do an action picture while he was still able. So if he struts his stuff in Troy, he's to be forgiven--and not just because he looks pretty darned good for his age, even during all those gratuitous nude scenes...Pitt doesn't have the timeless look that would make him as believably ancient as Peter O'Toole, who plays the sensitive and sagely King Priam of Troy, or Brian Cox, who blusters about as the impetuous Agamemnon...But we can forgive him because, as in Gladiator, there are some pretty intense and stylish battle scenes that hold our attention...Yes, there's blood. Lots of blood and lots of action and, surprisingly, for an epic, not enough quiet or introspective moments...Those are the biggest flaws of this film, in addition to the occasional line meant to carry mythic weight that instead comes across as slightly cheesy...The strengths are Petersen's direction, the special effects, and the cast's performances. - James Plath
 
Chicago Sun-Times 6 of 10
"Troy" is based on the epic poem The Iliad by Homer, according to the credits. Homer's estate should sue. The movie sidesteps the existence of the Greek gods, turns its heroes into action movie cliches and demonstrates that we're getting tired of computer-generated armies. Better a couple of hundred sweaty warriors than two masses of 50,000 men marching toward one another across a sea of special effects...Pitt is a good actor and a handsome man, and he worked out for six months to get buff for the role, but Achilles is not a character he inhabits comfortably. Say what you will about Charlton Heston and Victor Mature, but one good way to carry off a sword-and-sandal epic is to be filmed by a camera down around your knees, while you intone quasi-formal prose in a heroic baritone. Pitt is modern, nuanced, introspective; he brings complexity to a role where it is not required...As for the Greek cities themselves, a cliche from the old Hollywood epics has remained intact. This is the convention that whenever a battle of great drama takes place, all the important characters have box seats for it. When Achilles battles Hector before the walls of Troy, for example, Priam and his family have a sort of viewing stand right at the front of the palace, and we get the usual crowd reaction shots, some of them awkward closeups of actresses told to look grieved...In a way, "Troy" resembles "The Alamo." Both are about fortresses under siege. Both are defeated because of faulty night watchmen. The Mexicans sneak up on the Alamo undetected, and absolutely nobody is awake to see the Greeks climbing out of the Trojan Horse. One difference between the two movies is that Billy Bob Thornton and the other "Alamo" actors are given evocative dialogue, and deliver it well, while "Troy" provides dialogue that probably cannot be delivered well because it would sound even sillier that way. - Roger Ebert