Director Wolfgang Petersen gets another go at the siege of Troy. Although this version doesn’t last the ten years that the fabled city was under siege, it does open up the film more and is a better film than the theatrical cut.
Princes Hector (Eric Bana) and Paris (Orlando Bloom) of Troy are on a peace mission to King Menelaus (Brendan Gleeson) of Sparta. While under the hospitality of the king, Paris falls in love with Helen (Diane Kruger), Menelaus’ wife! On the sea voyage back to Troy, Paris reveals that Helen is hidden away in the hold of the ship. Hector is torn between returning her or succumbing to his brother’s wishes and allowing her passage to Troy.
Knowing that it will result in war, he sides with his brother and takes the lovers back to Troy. Meanwhile, King Agamemnon (Brian Cox) is engaged in empire building with the assistance of the warrior Achilles (Brad Pitt). Achilles is more in the endeavor for fame and doesn’t bear much allegiance to Agamemnon. Menelaus calls upon his brother Agamemnon to attack Troy to secure the return of Helen.
Agamemnon agrees but more for reasons of power and could really not give a hang about Helen. Achilles is persuaded by King Odysseus (Sean Bean) to join in Agamemnon’s quest to attack Troy. Hector urges his father, King Priam (Peter O’Toole), to return Helen to Sparta but his soothsayers predict that Troy will be victorious in battle.
Achilles joins Agamemnon in his assault on Troy for the glory, but after a successful first battle on the beaches he finds the priestess Briseis (Rose Byrne) in a temple the forces seized. Achilles is now more apt to stay in his tent with her instead of following Agamemnon’s commands. All of these mythical characters gather on the beaches of Troy where the fates have something in store for each of them.
“Was this the face that launched a thousand ships…?” It surely launched thousands of feet of film when director Wolfgang Petersen decided to film the epic poem Homer’s The Iliad. The battle for Troy supposedly lasted a decade but Petersen was only given a little over two and a half hours to relate the tale. I can imagine that both theater owners and studio execs would’ve preferred it be done in around 90 minutes, but epic tales call for epic movies.
The complaint about Petersen’s theatrical version was that it seemed abbreviated. Now thanks to the wonders of DVD we’re treated to an extended cut of the film that adds 30 minutes of new footage. The tale is give room to breath and is a much better experience than the theatrical version.
The siege still doesn’t last ten years (feels like ten days in the movie), but there are more character moments and the show benefits from it. Brad Pitt is pretty and showy as Achilles, but his heel shows in the acting department – especially when he’s up against an old pro like Peter O’Toole.
I’m biased since St. Peter is a great favorite of mine, but his performance when he goes to claim his son’s body is glorious where Pitt just seems to be mugging. Brian Cox was an oily villain (but reminded me of Brian Blessed quite a bit – when he howls after his brother is dispatched I thought of Vultan).
I thought that Eric Bana was very thoughtful in his role and wondered what it would’ve been like if he had played Achilles. Diane Kruger is beautiful to look at (as I suppose some parties will find Pitt and Orlando Bloom the same for eye candy as well), but she seems to be pushed to the back by the boy’s characters. All in all, I thought that Petersen crafted a fine film in this cut and liked it much better than Oliver Stone’s extended Alexander.
Troy is presented in anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) and enhanced for 16x9 televisions. The film is divided into two parts over the two discs in this set. The special feature for disc one is a 2-minute introduction by director Petersen. Disc two has the remainder of the special features, which are a collection of featurettes.
Before I go into their content I should mention that the featurettes are divided into sections but have a play all feature, but when you do that on the new featurette it still plays the copyright statement and a blurb about what translation of the Iliad they’re using.
This gets old real quick as I would’ve preferred those credits just to appear at the end of the feature when selecting the play all feature. The 23-minute “Troy in Focus” is a solo interview with Petersen that covers elements of the film and the new cut. The rest of the featurettes are from the other DVD release of the film.
Including the 17 minute “In the Thick of Battle,” the 14 minute “From Ruins to Beauty,” the 11 minute “Troy: an Effects Odyssey,” the 15 minute “Attacking Troy,” the 80 second “Greek Ship Towing” CGI gag reel, and the 2 minute theatrical trailer.
The director’s cut of Troy is an improvement and puts epic back into the film. You wonder if they would’ve released it this way if it would have been more of a moneymaker at the box office. Thanks to the wonders of DVDs we know have the chance to look at the original vision of Petersen and find out that it was the better one.
Troy - Director's Cut (Ultimate Collector's Edition) is now available at Amazon . It is available for pre-order at AmazonUK for an Oct. 1st release. Visit the DVD database for more information.
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