OAO Troy Thread

[Guest Nanks]

Man, I am so psyched for this movie. I'm seeing it 4 hours. Anyone care to deflate my hopes??

[LaParkaYourCar 0]

I thought it didn't come out until Friday?

[Guest TheAustralian]

I saw it earlier today,

 

Us Aussies seem to be getting the summer movies a couple of days early.

 

I think its a pretty basic Epic,

 

I found the first hour uneventful,

 

The Acting wasnt groundbreaking, Bana and Pitt werent to bad, but Bloom was horrid,

 

The fighting scenes for the whole were like every other movie like this, to tell you the truth apart from a couple of good scenes the movie seemed stale,

 

For some reason I felt like I had seen it before,

 

So like I said earlier, it was "good"

[Guest TheAustralian]

It was great to see Rose Byrne though, I have been a fan of hers for a while.

[spiny norman 0]

My old Ancient History teacher went to school with Rose Byrne.

 

Yeah, I'm sad to see all the "bleh" reviews, because I was really quite psyched for this. First Van Helsing, now this.

 

I guess I'll have to hope for Prisoner Of Azkaban to be awesome.

[Guest Nanks]

I hadn't realised we were getting this before the US. That's awesome. Well despite the slightly deflating comments so far, I'm still psyched. I'm a bit of a Greek Mythology buff. Heading off to see it in an hour. Will report back later.

 

Am hoping to see the Prisoner of Azkaban trailer tonight, I missed it when I was late for Van Helsing the other night. By all reports PoA is supposed to be the best book thus far.

[spiny norman 0]

Bah, I wouldn't say best book, I think with every book they improve further. But it's definitely where the awesomeness begins.

 

Anyway, I hope it's good for you.

[Dangerous A 0]

I'm locked in for Friday as well. I'm big on Greek mythology and am waiting to see how this turns out.

 

One thing I do know is that the movie is different from the books in that the Greek gods were left out and it's just the mortals acting on their own accord.

[starvenger 0]

I'm locked in for Friday as well. I'm big on Greek mythology and am waiting to see how this turns out.

 

One thing I do know is that the movie is different from the books in that the Greek gods were left out and it's just the mortals acting on their own accord.

Probably isn't any mention of the homoeroticism either.

 

Eh, whatever. I'm still going to see it - the Trojan War holds much more appeal to me than the Alamo...

[Guest Nanks]

Oh man, I REALLY enjoyed this movie. As I said, I'm all about the Greek Mythology, and this movie really did the story justice. As Dangerous A said, the Gods are left out of the story, but for mine, adding in the 12 Olympians and sufficiently explaining their stories and allegiances would have over-complicated the movie and taken away from the telling of the story of the mortals. Brad Pitt turns in a really good performance as Achilles, and I really think one day he'll earn himself an Oscar. Not sure it'll be for this role however... Eric Bana was pretty good in his role as Hector, but as I said, I just can't see it with Bana, the American audience may well view him differently, but to me he'll always be a goof. Orlando Bloom is OK as Paris, but as those familiar with the story will be aware, removing the direct influence of the Gods tampers heavily with the character of Paris and his part in the story. All in all, I enjoyed how all of the various characters were portrayed and I strongly recommend this movie. I'm giving it ****1/2.

[starvenger 0]

Was Bana actually a good comedian? Just curious.

 

Over on chud.com the screenwriter basically said that if he had the gods in the picture it'dve been longer, and more like Clash of the Titans, which they were trying to avoid.

 

And I can see this having a huge effect on Paris. Without the gods involved, he would probably be less of a sympathetic character, right?

[Guest Nanks]

Oh yeah, Bana is fuckin' hilarious. If you had followed his comedy career you would find it very difficult to accept him as a dramatic actor. I will be very interested indeed to hear the reactions to his performance in this.

 

Yeah, the movie would have definitely been much longer if the Gods were included, and it's already 2 and 1/2 hours, so that wouldn't be wise. The lack of divine intervention in the story can make Paris less sympathetic to some degree. But frankly I don't find his character overly sympathetic in the full story. What it does do is force his character to be a little stronger than it otherwise would have been.

[starvenger 0]

Oh yeah, Bana is fuckin' hilarious. If you had followed his comedy career you would find it very difficult to accept him as a dramatic actor. I will be very interested indeed to hear the reactions to his performance in this.

Not having heard of him before his movie career stateside, I'd imagine I'd be the exact opposite of you in that I'd find it hard to accept him as a comedian, you know?

[Guest TheAustralian]

There was one god in it, Achillies mother is a god, isnt she?

 

Nanks you say your a greek mythology buff, I thought you would hate it then, as it destroy's the mythology of this story, IMO

[Guest Nanks]

Achilles mother is a nereid. If memory serves. When we say Gods, we mean the Olympians. Nereids are Gods in a way, in that they are immortal, but not in the sense most people would associate with the word Gods.

 

I see your point, TheAustralian, but various tellings of the story include varying levels of divine intervention. The same applies to all Greek Mythology. It doesn't bother me so much that this one goes to the extreme of having none. Frankly, I would have found the other extreme, where the Gods control the mortals like a chessboard, more frustrating. Everyone's perception of mythology differs, however, so this is just my opinion.

[Guest El Satanico]

I like history and Greek mythology, i enjoy epics and i don't have a problem with any of the actors. Despite all of this, I'm just not hyped for this movie. I'm not sure why this is, but the only reaction I've been getting from it is blah. I'm much more interested in the King Arthur movie.

[Guest TheAustralian]

 

Just read a article where the director compares Troy to Iraq, I must of missed the part where Prince Hector raped and killed women, and committed genicide

 

Director compares 'Troy' to Iraq war

 

 

The world premiere of the Hollywood big-budget epic Troy in Berlin on Sunday saw German-born director Wolfgang Petersen draw parallels between the Trojan war and the United States-led war in Iraq.

 

   

   

   

   

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Hundreds of star-struck fans lined the red carpet in the dome-shielded central plaza of Sony Centre in the heart of Berlin as Petersen and the film's romantic leading man, heartthrob Brad Pitt, arrived for the premiere of the $175-million movie.

 

Towering above them and the fans was the Trojan horse itself, the actual full-size replica that was built for the movie and that was brought to Berlin and reassembled for Sunday's world premiere.

 

Petersen, director of the World War II German submarine classic Das Boot and the action-thriller Air Force One, said he has been taken aback by the way the conservative rightwing has taken over the White House with a militaristic agenda.

 

The invasion of Iraq occurred just as shooting for the film got underway in Malta.

 

"I couldn't believe it," 60-year-old Petersen told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. "I thought, it's as if nothing has changed in 3 000 years. People are still using deceit to engage in wars of vengeance."

 

While stressing that he "did not make this film with the intention of making an anti-American statement", Petersen said the parallels between the Trojan war and the Iraq war became more apparent daily during the filming.

 

"Just as King Agamemnon waged what was essentially a war of conquest on the ruse of trying to rescue the beautiful Helen from the hands of the Trojans, President George W Bush concealed his true motives for the invasion of Iraq." He added, "I wouldn't make a movie like Air Force One now," which showed how the Vietnam veteran US president personally piloted Air Force One to a safe landing after it was briefly hijacked by terrorists.

 

Pitt, 40, who plays Achilles in the epic, said he could identify with the mythical character's passions, both in love and on the battlefield.

 

"He was a passionate guy," Pitt told a Berlin news conference.

 

"I partly identified with him. I mean, I'd go into battle to defend my principles." Petersen is especially on the defensive in America following a disastrous review of his film on Friday.

 

The Hollywood Reporter, a major movie industry trade paper, said in a damning review that Petersen's movie fails to appeal to crowds who thrilled to Gladiator and also fails to appeal to "male audiences conditioned by video-game combat on a movie where soldiers beat on one another with primitive Bronze Age weapons".

 

Though "inspired" by The Illiad by Homer, the film makes no mention of Greek gods, distorting the entire Greek myth, the paper said.

 

While giving kudos to actor Peter O'Toole as ageing King Priam, the newspaper scathingly says the dialogue is "corny" and, "The battles tend to look like those body pileups in rugby matches, and the drama remains stubbornly unfocused and remote." The legendary war circa 1200 BC ignites when Paris (played by Orlando Bloom) prince of Troy steals away Helen (Diane Kruger), the much younger wife of Menelaus (Brendan Gleeson) from the brutish king of Sparta. Pitt plays Achilles, receiving an arrow to his heel at the climax of the movie.

 

"The film's more intimate scenes between generals in conflict or families in peril bog down with strained, even corny dialogue and static action," The Hollywood Reporter said. 

 

 

 

Seriously what a dickhead.

[spiny norman 0]

I found Bana as a comedian to be funny when he wasn't using his own material.

 

As for your glowing reviews, sadly you seem to be in the minority, as most reviews I've seen have been negative. I doubt I will go out of my way to see it (though I probably will somehow end up having seen it).

[Mole 0]

Pitt is 40? Gee, I wonder if he got any work done...

 

I'm going to wait to see it with my dad when I get home from school next week. He likes these type of movies so I figured it would be nice to see it with him, so I told him I'd wait.

 

I think I might see Mean Girls tonight instead.

[Guest Just Looking]

Saw it last night (I work for Warner Bros.), and I liked it. Pitt was good, Bana was absolutely great, and Bloom did a very good job of looking like a tool (this is a compliment, trust me).

 

The best part for me was seeing Nathan Jones job to Achilles in about 5 seconds in the curtain jerker. I laughed out loud at that.

 

The worst part? Hector's baby's head was FRIGGIN' HUGE! Seriously, that kid's mother must have been in so much pain. I was so distracted by that kid's melon.

 

This was a pretty good movie- I recommend it.

[Mik 0]

That was Nathan Jones? I thought that guy was a monster. Damn he was big.

 

Pitt was a total badass in this movie. He pulled it off well, and he was cool as hell doing it. He knew he couldn't lose and it showed.

 

I thought it was an entertaining way to spend a few hours and enjoyed it quite a bit.

[Guest The Midnight Rocking Warrior]

In 99 Bana won an award for being Australia's most popular comedian ( Read that in a "Marvel comics presentsT he history of The Incredible Hulk") Come to think of it, the only comedic performance I've ever seen Bana do was in Finding Nemo. The AA sharks were awesome. ( I just realized that the other supporting Shark was the Fucking Trainman in Matrix Revolutions)

[Tawren 0]

Just got back from Troy. It sucked.

 

(spoilers following, so don't highlight if you don't want anything spoiled!)

 

What a terrible, terrible movie. The acting was mostly OK, with a decent performance by Pitt, but everything else was terrible. Some of my problems with the movie:

 

Troy was the good side for most of the movie, which made no sense as Achilles was fighting them. Yes, I understand that the Greeks were to be portrayed as the evil invaders, but the movie seemed to swap objectives many times through this long-ass movie. Troy was built up very sympathetically, as a group suffering because of Paris' stupid decision. Paris came off like a tool, as in the original story he is influenced by the gods to love Helen, but in this he just loves her and steals her away, refusing to give her back even when Troy is about to fall because of it.

 

Achilles' heel was not addressed at all throughout the movie until the end, when Paris shoots an arrow throught it. Four arrows kill Achilles makes no sense after some of the fights he had been through. Achilles came off as a huge pussy at the end.

 

Condensing the war into 3 days total (minus the 12 day break in the middle) really hurt it. In the story, it is a 10 year siege. Here, it was condensed to so small and fast, and was poorly done.

 

The Trojan horse, much like the heel of Achilles, was not built up to. Just BAM! look, Greeks have left, a huge horse is here, oh god no. A greek guy just comes up with the idea, and then we switch scenes to the horse. If there was a scene with the guy explaining it to the King, it would have worked far better, especially if they explained how it was the only way to get through the wall.

 

Most of the movie came across as "look! it's an epic! trust us! epiiic!" rather than an actual epic movie. More of the foot soldier war we've seen done before (and done better, as well).

 

I have many other smaller complaints, such as Achilles flip-flopping between cold hearted war monger ("HECTOOOR!" and chopping off the head of the statue) and dignified, quit man ("here ya go, his dead body, which I dragged back behind my chariot" and "don't hurt that woman! i love her!") and the cheesy lines always being spouted out (one character gets zoomed in on and says a clip designed for the commercials about 10 times in the movie).

 

3/10

 

 

[Mik 0]

The Trojan horse, much like the heel of Achilles, was not built up to. Just BAM! look, Greeks have left, a huge horse is here, oh god no. A greek guy just comes up with the idea, and then we switch scenes to the horse. If there was a scene with the guy explaining it to the King, it would have worked far better, especially if they explained how it was the only way to get through the wall.

"That guy" is Odysseus, who you just may have heard of. And it is foreshadowed. After the council of leaders where Agamemnon is going crazy and yelling that they will never breach the wall, he goes out and sees a soldier making a wooden horse for his son. He gets a glimmer in his eye and the idea for the horse is born. He is also the narrator of the story for the brief period it is narrated and went on to have a little adventure of his own.

[Tawren 0]

The Trojan horse, much like the heel of Achilles, was not built up to. Just BAM! look, Greeks have left, a huge horse is here, oh god no. A greek guy just comes up with the idea, and then we switch scenes to the horse. If there was a scene with the guy explaining it to the King, it would have worked far better, especially if they explained how it was the only way to get through the wall.

"That guy" is Odysseus, who you just may have heard of. And it is foreshadowed. After the council of leaders where Agamemnon is going crazy and yelling that they will never breach the wall, he goes out and sees a soldier making a wooden horse for his son. He gets a glimmer in his eye and the idea for the horse is born. He is also the narrator of the story for the brief period it is narrated and went on to have a little adventure of his own.

I wouldn't say it is foreshadowing. He just sees it and bam, they build the horse. I'd have preferred to have seen a scene or two of them building it, or debating building it.

 

And no, I was not aware that was Odysseus. Telling who was who in the movie was pretty confusing at times.

[Guest Nanks]

There is a scene of them building it. As for some of your earlier complaints. The movie is largely based on Homer's Iliad, and somewhat on Virgil's Aenead (sp?). The Iliad is a 4-5 day snapshot of the war, in which the major events occur, having the movie cover 10 years really wouldn't achieve anything. If Achilles' vulnerable heel had been built up during the movie then you'd just be asking the whole time why anyone would try to hit him anywhere else. Paris didn't really intend to hit him there with that arrow, his shot is guided by Aphrodite, I really disagree that Achilles ended up looking like a pussy, he pulled those 4 arrows out of his chest like they were nothing. As an extra sidenote, by the way, in the original story Paris' love for Helen isn't influenced by the Gods, it is the other way around. Paris won Aphrodite's favour and she granted him the love of the most beautiful woman in the world at his request. Unfortunately, however, as I said earlier, the omission of the Gods from the story really messes with this part of the plot

[Hogan Made Wrestling 0]

I liked it quite a bit. Sean Bean as Odysseus was the screen stealer in my opinion. He was given good material and pulled it off very well. I also liked how they didn't drag out the ending (*cough*LOTR:ROTK*cough*).

[spiny norman 0]

Um, do we really need spoilers for this? I doubt anyone here will leave the film going "Wow, I can't believe there was that wooden horse at the end".

 

Mind you, when I saw Titanic, just as it hits the iceberg the woman behind me shouted "Oh my god, it's gonna sink" so maybe I should retract that statement.

[Hogan Made Wrestling 0]

Um, do we really need spoilers for this? I doubt anyone here will leave the film going "Wow, I can't believe there was that wooden horse at the end".

 

Mind you, when I saw Titanic, just as it hits the iceberg the woman behind me shouted "Oh my god, it's gonna sink" so maybe I should retract that statement.

NEVER doubt the ignorance of the general public when it comes to movies based on a historical event.

[Guest The Midnight Rocking Warrior]

I saw it and liked it.......... no explanation necessary at the moment