Prince Hector of Troy (Eric Bana, Hulk) signs a peace treaty with Menelaus, King of Sparta (Brendan Gleeson, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire), but peace is short-lived when his brother Paris (Orlando Bloom, The Lord of the Rings) brings Sparta’s Queen Helen (Diane Kruger, Inglourious Basterds) back to Troy. Menelaus turns to his brother Agamemnon, King of the Greeks (Brian Cox, Succession), who launches an attack on Troy to retrieve Helen and expand his own power. The campaign further strains Agamemnon’s uneasy alliance with the legendary warrior Achilles (Brad Pitt, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood). The film also stars Peter O’Toole (Lawrence of Arabia), Sean Bean (Ronin), Julie Christie (McCabe & Mrs. Miller) and Rose Byrne (Insidious).
What We Thought:
Troy is the type of historical epic that is usually right up my alley. I’ve rewatched films like Braveheart and Gladiator dozens of times, but I can’t honestly tell you if I’ve seen Troy in the past 20 years. So I popped in this new 4K of Troy and watched the Director’s Cut which has about a half hour of more content than the theatrical release.
The first thing that stood out is that I definitely hadn’t seen it in forever because I did not remember that it was Rose Byrne who plays the love interest of Brad Pitt’s Achilles. I remembered it was Pitt, Eric Bana and Orlando Bloom as the three main leads and Diane Kruger as Helen, but Byrne was a surprise. As was Garret Hedlund as the cousin of Achilles that he is training. I sort of remember Brian Cox and Brendan Gleeson being in it, but not being as important as they actually are.
As for the film, I still can’t say I love it, but it is a lot more watchable than I thought it was. The action set pieces and historical production design are pretty top-notch. The costuming and weaponry are spot on and everything about it looks right. But for some reason I still don’t think it’s that good. Pitt’s Achilles is a bit over-the-top especially opposite a grounded Eric Bana. Brian Cox is especially over-the-top. It’s nowhere near as good as Gladiator, but it is a lot more watchable than the Colin Farrell starring Alexander.
I think my biggest issue with Troy is that it’s based on Homer’s The Iliad, but expands on it and shortens it at the same time. The film seems like it takes place in a matter of months if not weeks, whereas the story in the book is years long and ends with the death of Hector. The taking of Troy isn’t part of The Iliad nor is The Trojan Horse. Achilles is long dead before Odysseus comes up with the idea. The film is an amalgamation of the big parts of Homer’s tales put into one film.
All that being said, Troy looks fantastic on 4K and sounds even better. Like I said before, the production design and costuming was fantastic to begin with so the 4K really adds to it. The film looks sharp and the score and action sound perfect. It also comes with the Theatrical Cut if you have less time to spend plus bonus features including an introduction by Director Wolfgang Peterson. If you are a fan of the movie this is the must-own version. I want to praise it and put it up there with other epics, but I just can’t do it.
Special features include a 4K (2160p) UHD Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible) for both the Director’s Cut and Theatrical Cut; original lossless DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround audio plus stereo audio for both the Director’s Cut and Theatrical Cut; optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing; an archival introduction by director Wolfgang Petersen; an archive picture-in-picture commentary of the film; a series of archival behind-the scenes featurettes; an archival introduction to the Greek Gods; Easter egg; the trailer; image galleries; and a collectors’ booklet.
The Nerds Templar 