The best and worst of Hollywood, all in one package: bombastic, over-the-top action scenes, famous actors chewing scenery like it's going out of style, but very little heart and truth in the characters and dialogues. None of the characters are especially sympathetic, except perhaps Hector and Odysseus (played by an underused Sean Bean). The movie claims to be "inspired by" the Iliad, but it should be noted that it plays fast and loose with the events of the Trojan War as chronicled by the Greek Epics, of which the Iliad is but a small part. It's loosely based on the Epics at best (for instance, the Trojan War was said to have lasted ten years, but here it goes by in the space of a week or two), and it makes no real effort to convey Bronze Age warfare with any accuracy. This was also peak Brad Pitt, so we get to see his naked ass a few times for good measure.

Paris, you son of a b...h

Always loved this since the first viewing at the cinema when I was in University. After repeated re-watches after 2004 I finally got around to seeing the directors cut in 2020 and it's a marvel. My wife and I could not believe how quickly the time flew by. Great pacing, great fight scenes, really interesting characters. Fantastic!

I really love these types of movies

A long watch, but just about a worthwhile one. I enjoyed 'Troy', in short. A film, interestingly given his recent exploits, written by a certain David Benioff. It definitely has more than a few pacing issues, but they only affect the enjoyment factor minorly - at least to me. The score is a little lacklustre, mind. The casting is outstanding, even if I don't think all the performances are anything to truly shout about. I found Brad Pitt and Eric Bana, although entertaining, a bit wooden in parts. Elsewhere, Orlando Bloom and Sean Bean are arguably underused from an acting viewpoint - though their characters play huge parts, of course. You also have a load of other familiar faces, from Peter O'Toole to Brendan Gleeson to Rose Byrne to Diane Kruger. The definition of an ensemble. The action helps keep things moving, the battle sequences are very nicely done. The film takes an age to reach the event that everyone knows about, but when it finally does it's excellent. The cast and the action are my big takeaways from this. I couldn't comment on its accuracy on the original work. As a film, for me, it's very good.