Troy

"Troy" is perhaps one of the most action packed films of 2004. The film is based off the Illiad about the famous war between the Greeks and the Trojans, over the love of a Greek princess; showing how it ultimately led to one of the greatest battles in Greek mythology. The film's visuals in the movie were great, but it's too reminiscent of the other movies like "Gladiator." Another problem I had with the film, the movie seemed to have many stereotype characters and few scenes that would make it stand out from other epic films such as "Lord of the Rings: the Fellowship of the Ring" or "Brave Heart," to name a few. However, the acting of Brad Pitt (Achiles) and Eric Bana(Hector) make up for most of these flaws, to create some of the film's few memorable scenes. The level of detail in the recreation of the famous Greek battle was excellent from the costume design to the stage area. Overall, "Troy" is one of the best epic films of last year despite it's shortcomings.

The set disign and costumes were top notch because of the level of detail. The detail that helps promote the authenticity of the film, thus making the viewer buy into the story.

Unfortunately, though, the film's stereotype characters contradict that authenticity. Like most modern epic films like "Gladiator" and "Brave Heart," you have a power hungry ruler that's relentless, an angelic princess, then there's the two protagonist figures in Hector and Achiles which remain the noble throuhgout the movie. That's not to say that this film doesn't have it's good points.

Although this isn't Eric Bana's nor Brad Pitt's best role, they both manage to create some of the film's memorable scenes. Their chemistry together keeps the audience on the edge of their seat. Viewers will be in suspense when the two characters, Achiles and Hector, meet each other for the first time to the epic final battle to the death scene.

However, as good as those scenes were, they weren't nearly as memorable as most epic films. In "Brave Heart," you had scenes like when Mel Gibson gave that classic speech to the loyalist. In "Seven Samurai," you had that whole philisophical approach about how the villagers wanted the help of the samurais but rejected them as friends. In "Troy," it's just your run of the mill epic film, in comparison.

"Troy" is definitely one of the best action films of 2004. The level of detail in the recreation of the epic battle were great as well as the acting performances of Brad Pitt and Eric Bana. Overall, despite it's flaws, it's definitely a entertaining film.