TROY (2004)

Men are haunted by the vastness of eternity. So we ask ourselves…will our actions echo across the centuries? Will strangers hear our names long after we’re gone…& wonder who we were…how bravely we fought…how fiercely we loved? ~ Odysseus

Inspired by Homer’s ‘The Iliad’, TROY depicts the events which lead to the Trojan War. Wolfgang Petersen often known for his war movie masterpiece Das Boot brings us closer to the Greek mythology. Even though visually overwhelming with epic battle scenes, the movie still had some shortcoming.

With a brief preface we learn, after decades of warfare Agamemnon (Brian Cox), King of Mycenae, has forced most of the realms of Greece into a fragile alliance. However being wearied with years of war his brother Menelaus (Brendan Gleeson), King of Sparta settles on to make peace with Troy which remained unvanquished. When Trojan Prince Hector (Eric Bana) & his younger brother Paris (Orlando Bloom) visit Sparta to negotiate peace, Paris falls for the Spartan queen Helen (Diane Kruger) & furtively brings her to Troy. Enraged with Paris’ action, Menelaus swears retribution & seeks for Agamemnon’s support to wage war against Troy. Agamemnon had been scheming for years to conquer Troy; taking brother’s pledge as the liable opportunity, he calls for the largest army from entire Greece to fulfill his lust for power.

However Troy’s history of sturdy defense made her impenetrable from attack, thus it required exceptional leaders to breach her defenses. Generals within Agamemnon’s council ask him to bring Achilles (Brad Pitt) & his Myrmidons warriors to unite the troops for the cause. Achilles was considered to be the greatest warrior ever born yet his contempt for Agamemnon’s rule threatened the alliance & the success of the war’s final outcome.

Even though the running length had just about been 162 minutes, there were certain aspects of the story which required more attention. With several crammed subplots, some of the important characters like Odysseus (Sean Bean) & his relation with Achilles left partly explored. In the end it was Odysseus,King of Ithaca who devised the plan for building the Trojan horse; certainly his role required further importance. As per legends, the Trojan War took nearly ten years, yet it covered a fraction in this movie; a liberty I can acknowledge for the sake of filming constraints. Considering Helen as the significant character in this story, her relation with Paris lacked intensity. Whether Hector’s cousin Briseis (Rose Byrne) was accountable for the mounting conflict in-between Agamemnon & Achilles is still debatable. Apparently such authenticity can never be vouched from mythical fables. When it comes to action, the duel between Hector & Achilles was adequately choreographed yet the battle filmed between the unknown Trojan & Greek warriors needed vitality, earlier seen in Scott’s Gladiator.

Even if this movie falls short in contrast to Braveheart & Gladiator still epic lovers will definitely enjoy TROY. To end with, the story might be little flawed yet worth the time.

My Rating : 7/10