Herb Kane
Screenwriter
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Troy
Two Disc – Widescreen Edition
Studio: Warner Brothers
Year: 2004
Rated: R
Film Length: 162 Minutes
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Enhanced Widescreen
Audio: DD 5.1
Color/B&W: Color
Languages: English & French
Subtitles: English, French & Spanish (French only for Special Features)
MSRP: $29.95
Package: 2 discs/Keepcase with a 2 page insert
“War is young men dying and old men talking”
The Feature:
Warner Brothers is about to release Wolfgang Peterson’s (The Perfect Storm, Air Force One, In The Line Of Fire and Das Boot) epic film, Troy which was scripted by David Benioff and is loosely based on the epic poem The Iliad by Homer.
The film details the legendary Trojan War, as the city of Troy is attacked by a Greek army led by King Menelaus (played by Brendan Gleeson) of Sparta and King Agamemnon (played by Brian Cox) of Mycenae. The ensuing attack on the fortified city is a result of a young Trojan prince, Paris (played by Orlando Bloom), who winds up seducing the queen, Helen (played by Diane Kruger) while in Sparta on a peace treaty mission.
Helen's husband, Menelaus becomes enraged, and pleads with his brother Agamemnon to take his army into battle with the Trojans since he wants his wife back. Paris' brother Hector (played by Eric Bana) is also furious with his younger and immature brother as he realizes what the consequences of his actions will bring.
The seduction of Helen by young Paris is the focal point of the story. It serves as the justification which the Greeks need to invade the city of Troy in an attempt to consolidate and extend their power in the area of the Aegean. As a result of not only ego, but the desire of greater power, Agamemnon and Menelaus have assembled an enormous Greek army consisting of 50,000 warriors to besiege the impenetrable city of Troy.
The Greek’s most revered fighter is the legendary Achilles (played by Brad Pitt) who possesses the fiercest reputation of all Greek warriors. Achilles however, despises Agamemnon and feels the king is a poor leader and has grown tired of constantly fighting his battles for him. Agamemnon also dislikes the young warrior and loathes his constant disobedience, petulance and insubordination, but condones his actions due to his fierce fighting abilities and his ability to motivate his warriors. In fact, Achilles and his personal fighting warriors travel to Troy but he is seemingly uninterested in the ensuing war knowing it is nothing more than Agamemnon’s desire for greater power and Menelaus’ desire to serve retribution to the man who stole his wife. That is, until his beloved cousin Patroclus (played by Garrett Hedlund) is killed by Hector in battle.
Achilles has been instructing the younger cousin Patroclus in the art of fighting, and looks amazingly similar to Achilles. However, fearing for his safety, Achilles assigns Patroclus to guard the boat. Patroclus however, feels he is ready for combat and decides to engage in battle wearing his cousin’s full armor in an attempt to fool the enemy and as a result is slain. Initially, they do think Achilles is dead but soon discover it is only the young Patroclus and realize his death will bring with it, severe consequences.
The leader of Troy is King Priam (played terrifically by Peter O'Toole), father of Hector and Paris. King Priam is an honorable leader who garners the utmost amount of respect from those who follow him. However, on the brink of war, he seems to underestimate the power and determination of the Greek army. The King even ventures out of the fortress to meet Achilles to make a specific request of him. Amazed by his courage and devotion, he is told by Achilles, "you're a far better king than the one who leads this army."
Has the Greek army actually left Troy? Or will a large Trojan Horse left as a gift factor into the destiny of Troy…?
Troy is by no means a terrible film but it isn’t a great one either. Even though it seems lately, Hollywood is keen on reprising these great historic films of epic-like proportions (Alexander and King Arthur are two recent examples), I can’t help but feel these have all been done before and to a greater extent, much more effectively. Aside from the contemporary film, we have versions which starred the likes of Charlton Heston, Elizabeth Taylor, Kirk Douglas, Victor Mature and Rossana Podestà who seemed to be at least equally successful, if not greater, in the character roles they portrayed. That said, Troy is an impressive film to look at in terms of cinematography and the realistic visuals that were created to allow the film to look and feel as authentic as possible. There are plenty of battle scenes to keep you interested, but if you’re susceptible to excessive CGI, then you might find them rather fatiguing.
The Feature: 3.5/5
:star::star::star:
Video:
I suspect the majority of those watching this disc will be pleased, but I couldn’t help but feel the overall look of this transfer was rather bland. Actually, I have very little negative to say about the look of this film, in fact most of it is positive – but let me explain…
Troy comes in its proper OAR of 2.35:1 enhanced widescreen and has an overall look of warmth to it – an appearance of monochrome, with an emphasis of yellows and browns, presumably to lend itself to the climate and surroundings of its locale.
Colors were bright, falling just short of being vibrant, although saturation was adequate. Flesh tones looked accurate and real. Black levels were dark and deep, however, many of the night shots bordered on being murky lacking appropriate definition. Whites were always stark and clean.
There was a minute amount of film grain present which afforded a pleasing amount of depth and dimension to the film. As we would expect with such a new film, the print was absolutely immaculate and free of any dust or dirt and not a blemish to be found. The image was rock solid never suffering from any shimmer or jitter. Compression issues were non existent and I noticed very little evidence of edge enhancing halos.
My problem with the film relates to image definition. There were many instances of great sharpness and impressively defined images. However, much of the film bordered on slightly soft with a slightly glassy or processed look to it. Who knows… perhaps too much filtering? But it was enough to lower my score significantly. I think we have come to expect perfection, realistically at least in terms of new releases. In the case of Troy, perfection wasn’t achieved.
Warning: Troy also comes in a fullscreen version.
Video: 3.5/5
:star::star::star:
Audio:
Similar to my feelings about the overall look of Troy, are those regarding the sound of Troy. However, as a qualifier, I have nothing to report in terms of negativities, just a soundtrack that’s rather mediocre – at least for this day and age.
Presented in DD 5.1, the soundtrack on Troy is certainly more than acceptable, but rarely does it do anything to rise above that level of distinction. The track is free of any hiss or other noisy distractions. Dialogue was always exceptionally bold and intelligible and never lost among the James Horner score that frequently and effectively accompanied the film.
The soundstage was satisfactorily wide where the majority of the film’s auditory effects are anchored. The overall dynamic range was adequate, but the film lacked the boominess and visceral robustness of castle doors slamming and the thunderous pounding of horses galloping. Finer detail was also noticeably absent such as in the clanging of swords and chains, splashing water etc. Directionality and separation was impressive as the various effects and their locations were clearly defined.
Equally impressive was the deployment of surrounds. These were used to great extent during the plethora of battle scenes, flying spears and arrows and action sequences and were always tactful and never sounded gimmicky. LFE was present and never bloated but lacked the depth we’ve become accustomed to with many of the newer releases.
Audio: 3.5/5
:star::star::star:
Special Features:
The set is comprised of two discs. Disc one contains the movie only – no other features whatsoever are located on it. The special features are located entirely on disc two starting with:
[*] In The Thick Of The Battle is perhaps the best of the bunch in terms of special features. A number of the film’s cast and crew members participate including Eric Bana, Brad Pitt Simon Crane, Wolfgang Petersen, Richard Smedley, Simon Atherton, Daniel Parker, Joss Williams and Richard Ryan. This featurette looks at some of the challenges involved in such a large and sweeping epic film. Various subjects are discussed such as the battle sequences, weapons, silicone make-up prosthetics and various special effects work used in the production of the film. Duration: 17:14 minutes.
[*] From Ruins To Reality. This is a shorter feature which focuses more on set design and the location of the film shoot. Again a number of participants show up including Wolfgang Petersen, Eric Bana, Brad Pitt, Joss Williams, David Benioff, Lesley Fitton, Diana Rathbun, and Peter O’Toole among many others. Interesting but brief. Duration: 14:05 minutes.
[*] Troy: An Effects Odyssey is a feature that focuses entirely on the special effects used in Troy. Obviously, CGI was used extensively throughout the course of the film including the enormous armies, the 1000 ship armada sequences and various battle sequences. Again, interesting but brief. Duration: 10:58 minutes.
[*] Gallery Of The Gods. In case you weren’t paying attention in Mr. Donat’s Greek mythology classes (as I probably wasn’t), here is a short tutorial of twelve various mythological Gods and what each of them represent. Duration: 12 minutes approximately.
[*] Finally, the Theatrical Trailer is included which looks great. Duration: 2:07 minutes.
These are all pretty decent special features, they’re just too short. By the time you find yourself caught up in the meat and potatoes, they’re over. My only complaint - these could have and should have been longer.
Special Features: 3.5/5
:star::star::star:
**Special Features rated for the quality of supplements, not the quantity**
Final Thoughts:
I have mixed feeling’s on Wolfgang Peterson’s Troy. Although I didn’t see the movie theatrically, when I went into it, admittedly my expectations were low. And for the most part, I wasn’t disappointed. But to be honest, I certainly wasn’t all that overwhelmed either. I like Brad Pitt but felt that he really was out of his element playing the Greek legend, Achilles. The movie is long, but in fairness to Peterson there is a lot of ground to cover and it does move along briskly. As you might expect, O’Toole’s performance was terrific but Bana’s performance was the surprise here who winds up carrying much of the movie himself.
I’d have a tough time recommending this film to those, sight unseen. As I look at the overall scores of the disc, it clocks in at 3.5 across the board in every category. If I were to use a single word to describe the entire package from the film, to the presentation to the special features, that word would be “average”. If you’re familiar with the film, you should find the presentation satisfying – no more, no less. If you’re going into this blindly, you might consider a rental first.
Overall Rating: 3.5/5 (not an average)
:star::star::star:
Release Date: January 4th, 2005
