Troy (2004)
While those familiar in Greek mythology
and those who insist on realism in historical epics
might snicker uncontrollably at "Troy," I found it
enormous fun. Sure there's much to be said for Brad
Pitt's stoic chin cast in bronzed skin (not to mention
the numerous shots that come so close to his swinging
manhood that swooning is almost a necessity), Orlando
Bloom's innocent face and newcomer Garrett Hedlund's
hottie good looks that make one wish Anthony Kedis
was 20 again, but the real reason to see "Troy" is
Peter O'Toole. (The actor whose name contains not
just one but two euphemisms for the male member. Speaking
of male members, did I mention you almost get to see
Brad Pitt's here? I did. Okay...)
Seriously, O'Toole is magnificent
as wise as aged King Priam, the leader of Troy, who
becomes Pitt's Achilles arch rival. The two actors
share the screen for five minutes near the end of
the second act in a scene that becomes the linchpin
of the entire story here. O'Toole, who nearly turned
down an Oscar last year for Lifetime Achievement because
he felt he still had an Oscar caliber performance
left in him proves his initial instincts to be utterly
correct. He smolders here and makes some dialogue
that could be ridiculous in the hands of lesser thespians
soar with verbose buoyancy and crackle with immediacy.
This is a marvelous performance by one of the cinema's
few remaining living legends and to be able to witness
it makes "Troy" worth the price of admission.
Of course, many of the battle scenes
and special effect scenes are simply awesome. This
is a film of epic proportions, one that demands filmmaking
on a grandiose scale and filmmaker Wolfgang Petersen
rarely fails to deliver vibrant, plucky and hard-hitting
moments. While the film starts with some wordy title
cards that only serve to confuse us and make us expect
a story we cannot comprehend, Petersen's filmmaking
brings everything down to a level that allows even
the most modern pop culture junkie to understand what
is going on. Sure purists are going to balk, claiming
the film does not cover the epic moments of the story
as well as it could. Fuck 'em. Who needs a history
lesson in Greek mythology? "Troy" is a modern epic
spectacle on film.
This is the stuff we all read about
in Jr. High School when we studied Greek mythology.
There's Helen of Troy, whose beauty is that of the
old "face that launched a thousand ships" metaphor.
Here that phrase, thanks to CGI technology, is taken
quite literally. There's Paris, an excellent archer
who falls in loved with Helen. There's Achilles and
his infamous heel which is pierced by an arrow causing
his demise. There's Agamemnon the warrior and, of
course, the incredible mythic Trojan horse. What more
could one ask for in a swords and sandals swashbuckling
adventure?
Of course, I liked the film's take
on all these mythological legend. The battle scenes
where swordsmen linked inextricable to their weapons
have to fight in face to face contact is quite compelling.
We also see battles where archers are used. Hell,
there's even some rolling fire balls. All this action
was quite intriguing. The love story may be a little
shallow and the politics of the film a bit hard to
understand, but who cares? Before we can stop to analyze
the film inadequacies, another epic battle scenes
rolls around and the distraction of the horrible violence
gets us right back into the film.
Kinda makes you understand why the
gladiators at the Coliseum were such a popular divergence.
Note:
Also with Brian Cox, Brendan Gleeson,
Eric Bana, Sean Bean and Saffron Burrows.
David Benioff's script is, of course,
based on the epic poem by Homer.
Gabriel Yared's score was rejected
by Warner Brothers as too old fashioned and a score
by James Horner was commissioned.
Pitt tore a ligament in his Achilles'
tendon while shooting the film.
Filmed in Malta, Mexico, Morocco
and the UK. Filming locales were changed in production
because of the war in Iraq.
Viewed in Pflugerville in May 2004
with Christian and his girlfriend Brandi. On the way
back from the theater, a semi truck ran us off the
road in a construction zone and I hit one of those
plastic orange barrels and broke the mirror attached
to my drivers side door. The next two days were spent
trying to find a replacement mirror and getting it
installed. My friend Steve helped me out and I ended
up spending only about 35 bucks to get this done.
