Troy

This 60th highest grosser of all time is a mythological war-drama directed by Wolfgang Peterson , which recounts the legends of Trojan war, a historical war fought between the Agamemnon of Mycenae along with a group of his allied kings against the army of Troy to seek control of the Aegean Sea using his brother's revenge as a disguised justification. Based on an epic poem "The Iliad" by Homer, it takes us through the times when war was all about bows and arrows, sword and shields, Kings and Warriors, Strategies and Politics and "Prince and Queens". The main attraction or, as i call, selling-point of this movie was its War sequences, apt film location (Major sets for the city of Troy were built in the Mediterranean island of Malta at Fort Ricasoli ) also commendable costume design and makeup for all its characters, intense fight scenes amongst its protagonists, and also larger than life recreation of famous Greek myths.

The film commences with Trojan Prince, Hector (Eric Bana) and Paris (Orlando Bloom), visiting Sparta to initiate peace talks with their king Menelaus (Brendon Gleeson). During their stay, Paris acquaints himself with Menelaus's Wife Helen (Diane Kruger) and soon are shown to fall in love, and eventually smuggles her to Troy without informing his brother of this act. 

Infuriated by this act, Menelaus vows revenge and in desperate need of getting his Wife back turns to his Brother Agamemnon (Brian Cox), King of Mycenae, and interests him into the matter by making him realise of his aim of gaining control of the Aegean Sea which could be initiated only by the seizure of Troy. The Great Achilles (Brad Pitt), the best warrior amongst the Greek hordes, refuses to fight for Agamemnon in lieu of his ego clashes with the king only to be convinced by Odysseus (Sean Bean) and his mother apprising him of the historical importance and the immortality that clung to this war. 

With Achilles by his side, Agamemnon besets Troy with a vast Greek army. Achilles and the Myrmidons are the fastest rowers and land before anyone else. They kill many Trojans and desecrate the temple of Apollo. Briseis (Rose Byrne), a member of the Trojan royal family, is captured and taken as a prize to the Greeks, despite Achilles claiming her as a war prize himself which then leads him in sitting out of battle the next day. After this, the film gradually moves forward with frames and scenes depicting many failed attempts by the Greek army of breaching the Trojan Wall and also a turn of event which totally twist and shape the course of the battle towards the army which is strategically mightier than the other.

The movie, even though a box office hit ,lacked in some areas such as story which itself was a result of a coarse modification of Homer's poem and hence resulting in criticism from a wide bunch of critics owing to its fiddling of Greek mythology and poor adaptation of the epic poem. But in spite of all the mixed reviews the movies delivers in many fields such as the costume design, for which it received an Oscar nomination, power packed performance by Brad Pitt who with his buffed-up physique delivers a quietus of a performance which is certainly one of his best ever. 



Eric Bana as the caring elder brother of Paris totally justifies his role and Brian Cox as the King stricken with lust for power also doesn’t disappoint. Orlando Bloom as the helpless prince did a decent job along with Diane Kruger who should also receive some recognition for molding in perfectly in the skins of Helen of Troy. This movie scores as an all-time entertainer with all its fight and war sequences keeping you at the edge of your seats especially the epic clash between Achilles and Hector is a must watch.

The best scene in the movie has Peter O'Toole creating an island of drama and emotion in the middle of all that plodding dialogue. He plays old King Priam of Troy, who at night ventures outside his walls and into the enemy camp, surprising Achilles in his tent. Priam asks that the body be returned for proper preparation and burial. This scene is given the time and attention it needs to build its mood, and we believe it when Achilles tells Priam, "You're a far better king than the one who leads this army“. As far as sets and location are concerned, everything from the Wooden Horse to the Greek encampment and the huge kingdom of Troy has been rendered to perfection.

This movie scored heavily on its dialogue which synced in perfectly with the characters, aptly framed to set the tempo of the film , providing thorough description of each character and also in providing the audience a taste of arrogance and confidence of the Greek gods. In all, the movie is a must watch as it has all ingredients of an epic war drama film and the efforts of Wolfgang Peterson in recreating the legend almost perfectly must be applauded.