Troy - Director's Cut
Studio: Warner Bros Year: 2004 US Rating: Not Rated Film Length: 3hr 16minutes Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1 Video Resolution/Codec: 1080p Audio: PCM: English 5.1, English Dolby Digital 5.1, French Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 Subtitles: Optional English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese and Korean |
US Release Date: September 18, 2007
The Film -
out of
The Film -
out of “War is young men dying and old men talking, you know this.”
The Iliad has served storytelling well through the centuries, inspiring grand and great tales of heroism, war, love and honor. Homer, the great poet, also responsible for the literary classic Odyssey, may have only imagined sweeping vistas and thousands upon thousands of men tearing at each other with spears and swords on the bloody battlefield, but cinema of the 20th century was able to bring the vivid and violent scenes from that time period to the masses. Films of Herculean scope and scale have been around for decades, though the means by which the sheer magnitude of ancient cities and battles are created has changed with the times. Since the end of the 20th century, and the arrival of the 21st, enormous and barbaric wars have been created with the marvel of computer generated imagery. Films like Troy, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and even the recent 300 have all told tales of such battles in scales so big they can take your breath away. The theatrical release of Troy appeared to be merely a summer event spectacle, content with piecing together magnificent battles, on both grand and small scales, with the loose binding of loves tragedy and the greed of man. With the Director’s cut, however, those same scenes of massive clashes and passion fueled small scale fights carry with them the weight of a deeper emotional resonance. They are beneficiaries of the additional 30 minutes of footage that repairs what was once a wanton Hollywood epic into a meaningful, more powerful and careful tale of how men fight and die for causes that are often not their own, and how love and honor can be found on either side of a war.
Many will be familiar with the general story; as the enormous Greek armies, under the powerful rule of King Agamemnon (Brian Cox) set their sights on the city of Troy when one of Troy’s sons, Paris (Orlando Bloom), falls in love with and steals Helen (Diane Kruger) the wife of Agamemnon’s brother, Menelaus (Brendan Gleeson). To avenge himself upon the young Paris for this act, Menelaus seeks the help of his powerful brother to bring upon the walls of Troy the might of the Greek armies. Agamemnon, who had long sought to attack Troy and bring them into submission under his rule, takes this opportunity as the moment to bring Troy and its people to their knees.
Agamemnon’s greatest warrior, the petulant Achilles (Brad Pitt), has a vehement dislike for the Greek king, but fights for him anyway so that he can secure himself a place in history; that his name would be remembered long after his time on earth. As the thousand Greek ships descend upon the shores of Troy, Paris, with his elder brother Hector (Eric Bana) and their father the King, Priam (Peter O’Toole), prepare their people for war.
With this new 2007 cut, director Wolfgang Peterson has been able to create a far better film. Adding approximately 30 minutes of additional footage, Troy has become richer and more complex and is far more satisfying as a result. From the opening of the film, to a new introduction of the Odysseus character (played by Sean Bean), the changes big and small are noticeable. The motives of these larger than life characters are more dynamic and true to the original literary version as more time is spent on the relationship between Paris and Helen and on the dislike that brews between Agamemnon and Achilles. Overall, each extra moment granted to the quieter scenes is a victory for the narrative and a more meaningful step into these characters; resulting in a deeper connection to them and the story. By the time each of the many battles rolls around, the audience is more invested in these characters positions and pursuits.
Director Wolfgang Peterson is by no means a graceful director, nor one who excels at capturing weighty scenes of extended dialogue – but somehow with this version of Troy, he has been able to improve in both these areas of weakness. The dialogue is still heavy-handed at times; even borderline silly at a few key moments, but Peterson has found a cast of considerable talent to deliver these lines with credibility and substance.
Troy is a mammoth production, and a remarkable achievement in how the brutality of the bloody, violent and exciting battles is so well balanced with smaller moments that are tender and touching. The vast and excellently staged battle sequences are visually stunning, achieving enormous scale while never descending into the meaningless carnage of balls and bravado. There is often a real emotional resonance associated with these battles thanks to this new Director’s cut.
The visual effects are still a major strength of this picture as they lend grandeur to the proceedings; from the scene of a thousand Greek ships sailing to Troy, to the Greek army, fifty thousand strong, charging the soldiers of Troy outside the city walls. Everything from the production design, stunt work, costumes and action choreography somehow come alive with greater fervor in this new version, served by the improved character development.
As writer David Benioff mentions in the special features, Homer wrote not about good versus evil, but of man warring against himself in factions, whose demarcation is born of minor things compared to the scale of time. This is at the core of this 2007 version of Troy, in much finer detail than before. As much as we celebrate the skill and seeming invulnerability of Achilles, with his vanity and ego in full swing, we stand as much behind the sincere and wise Hector, whose concern for his people and his brother are genuine and heroic. Each of the two sides, fighting over love and power and warring for ideals not always of their choosing, are humanized and explored.
James Horner’s magnificent score must also be mentioned. Replacing composer Gabriel Yared at the last minute (reportedly at the request of Warner Bros.), Horner wrote an impressive and lovely score in approximately two weeks, complete with an emotional love theme and thumping battle cues that match the grandness of the film itself.
The Video - out of
out of Warner Bros. has really delivered with this presentation of Troy: Director’s Cut on Blu Ray. In its original aspect ratio, 2.40:1 in 1080p, the film looks spectacular. There is a delightfully rich balance between light and dark throughout the film, with deep shadows and clean bright scenes sharing the same excellence. The sandy and warm fire bathed tone of the film is beautifully sharp and crisp and the colors displayed are strikingly vivid. The visual palette has been enriched from the theatrical version to have a broader spectrum of colors, and that really allows the film to pop. It looks vastly improved from the standard DVD version. While it was never washed out, it certainly did not carry the lush range that we now find in this High Definition version. Truly good stuff.
The Sound - 
out of
out of Troy always had an impressive sound design, with complex action sequences requiring a balance of a wide and detailed array of effects, dialogue and music to tell the story. With this Blu Ray edition of the Director’s Cut, Warner Bros. has provided a PCM English 5.1 track in addition to a Dolby Digital 5.1 track. This track delivers the same bombastic and immersive experience but with added clarity and depth. The clanging of swords, swooshing of arrows and thundering roar of 50,000 soldiers comes through the speakers and rumbles the sub-woofer in a well rounded and penetrating audio track. The softer moments of reflection or plea, mainly in empty halls or the solitude of tents, is focused in the center channel and is crystal clear and very nicely reproduced. This is a very good audio track indeed.
The Extra’s - out of
out of Troy Revisited: An Introduction by Wolfgang Peterson (HD) : – (2:30) – The director introduces this new version of Troy, discussing the choices made in changing and adding scenes as well as the chance Warner Bros. gave him to come back to this film and deliver his final vision.
Troy In Focus: The Talent and Resources an Epic Movie Requires – (23:06) – Broken into chapters (as most of these special features are), here the director discusses the changes made from Homer’s Iliad to adapt it to the big screen, as well as the actors chosen for the roles and the motivations of the characters. The director also covers the benefits of the additional footage in this Director’s cut.
In The Thick of Battle: The Film’s Thrilling Action Sequences – (17:12) - Simon Crane, the stunt coordinator, gives us a behind the scenes peak into the stunts and techniques employed to bring the battle and blood of the fight sequences off the page and onto the screen. The discussion of the choreography used in both the larger sequences with many people to the more intimate fights between Achilles and Hector are quite interesting.
From Ruins to Reality: The History Behind the Production Design – (14:08) – As mentioned in this feature, bringing the world of Troy to life was a combination of research and imagination. The art design and production design are profiled here, including the inspiration that went into the design of the Trojan horse.
Troy: An Effects Odyssey: The Secrets Behind the Miraculous Special Effects – (10:42) – This is a nice, albeit short, peak into how some of the complex visual effects shots were conceived, pre-visualized, staged, filmed and composited. The demonstration of how the cable-cam was used to provide some of the superb sweeping shots above crowds of hundreds of soldiers deep in battle is fascinating. This feature also shows off how some of the sound effects were created, from the clanging of swords to the fiery balls of hay used in the pivotal battle on the beach.
Attacking Troy: Gearing Up for an On-Screen Siege – (15:13) – The approach to adapting Homer’s timeless tale to the big screen is covered here. The compression of the story and the removal of the physical presence of the many Greek gods are discussed. This is a bit of a retread from the other features but still contains good information.
Fun & Games: Greek Ship Towing – (1:25) – A quick set of pre-visualization clips in the hands of VFX artists having some fun.
Theatrical Trailer: – (2:07)
Final Thoughts
Wolfgang Peterson’s mediocre Troy has been cast anew in a deeper, more significant and satisfying feature. The complexity of the characters is more fully explored, and the violent, extremely bloody and unpleasant nature of battle is given a more thorough chance to splatter and splay across the screen. This may not have been a film I would have considered worthy of revisiting but, remarkably, this new version is a vast improvement. The theatrical cut was enjoyable, but ultimately inconsequential. This version is a far more mature experience and surprisingly good for all the changes that have been made. Worthy of your time!
Overall Score - out of
out of Note: If you are interested in an assessment of the HD-DVD release of this title, check out Cameron Yee's forum review at this link.
If you are interested in an assessment of the Standard DVD release of this title, check out Ken McAlinden's forum review at this link.
Neil Middlemiss
Kernersville, NC
