Troy (Director's Cut Ultimate Collector's Edition)

Great movie with good actors. Lots of action. Interesting plot and script. Worth watching.

First of all Im not sure I saw the same movie that all these nay sayers have seen. That some didnt like this movie is understandable, but to call it a "bad movie" or "boring"? I just think that's a giant stretch even by the harshest of critics. Troy, is a wonderful modern-day interpretation of Homer's "The Illiad" which must be one of the most well known story's of all time. The Trojan war was long thought to be a myth, which no basis in reality. Untill one historian spent his life searching for the city of Troy and found what he believed to be it's ruins. This sparked a lot of debate on whether such a tale might well have it's roots in real events. "Troy" is born of this desire to contemplate "what may have really happened". It doesnt have any God's or Godesses, nor does it really stick firm to Homer's tale. What it does is take Homer's work and reintepret it through the mindset of "hey this is what might have really went down". This is why many such as Robert Ebert didnt like "Troy", because they were expecting Homer. But the storyline of troy has all the essence of homer only portrayed in a more realisitic version. Helen, wife of the king of Sparta, falls in love with Paris Prince of the powerful city state of Troy. She willingly sneaks out of Sparta and from a loveless marriage to the trojan boat and returns with Paris to Troy. This sparks a chain of events culminating in a massive war and the fall of a city. The King of Sparta is outraged and appeals to his brother - Agamemnon - who has just finished uniting the cities of greece under his rule. Using his brother's misfortune as a pretext for war, he assembles a 40,000 man strong army and sails them to troy on 1,000 ships. And so begins the trojan war. The acting throughout the movie varies from acceptable to spectacular. Brad pit gives an excellent performance as the hero Achilles. But Achilles of the movie is not immortal or divine, just an amazing warrior with a complex personality consisting of strong narcasism and some true honor (they dont always mix well). The character of hector is brilliantly portrayed as a man who has seen war and knows there is no glory in it, the antithesis of achilles. While Peter O'Toole (yes from Lawrence of Arabia!) does a FANTASTIC job as the Trojan king Priam. One scene is truly dramatic as he begs achilles for the body of his fallen son, proclaiming "even enemies can show respect". The battle scenes and special effects are amazing, and the battles in troy are second to none. But it's not all action, in fact much of troy is a look at the nature of war and politics. How the macro affects the micro. How small events trigger big ones. How ordinary people can play a part in larger than life stories. And how history plays out similar stories again and again. There's a strong anti-war message underlying the film. There's also a lot of unfinished ideas and holes in troy that never get filled. The end feels rushed and thrown together, and some interesting ideas brought up by the film are never fully explored. This is made up for by some truly GREAT scenes. Such as when the Greek fleet apears on the horizons of Troy. Bells are sounded, and all the characters react when they look out to see the horizon clouded with enemy ships. This scene is so well done it amazed me. All things considered I found Troy to not only be a great movie, but a great analysis of how the world works and how the greed of the few culminates in the suffering of the many. It wasnt as powerful as gladiator, and it isnt going to have the broader appeal of LOTR (it's not that kinda movie at all, completely different genre in fact), but while it's no Brave Heart, troy is the first movie in a while to come close to being in that class and is certainly an excellent movie.

Movie came in with no dents or anything. If you’re a fan of Troy, especially the directors cut this movie if for you. The colors pop more and it is super clear. Definitely recommend adding this to the collection.

Just as I expected, another great for my collection. Ibhave owned the DVD Theatrical Cut, Bluray Directors Cut, and what a treat to own this 4K release with both cuts in it! Can't wait for THE ODYSSEY 4K to match this epic.

As a teacher of Classical Greek and Roman Mythology I was looking forward to "Troy." In the past I have put together a unit on the Trojan War that included not only Homer's epic poem the "Iliad," but also the plays of Euripides and Aeschylus and other ancient works on the stories of these characters. In other words I am familiar with this story to the extent that when Briseis showed up wearing a garment with long sleeves I was upset that we did not get to see the lovely arms that were part of her usual epithet. So, suffice it to say, that when characters who survived the Trojan War started dying in this film, I was not exactly happy. Consequently, the truth is that the less you know about the Trojan War of classical mythology, the more you will enjoy Wolfgang Petersen's "Troy." I have no problem with the idea that Homer and the other ancients have to be adapted in making a modern motion picture about the Trojan War. The decision to eliminate the gods is appropriate, getting away from the idea that this was a ten year war makes sense, and if the alliance of the Greeks is now political rather than as part of an oath sworn by the princes who were suitors for Helen's hand, I consider that to be legitimate. I do not understand why Iphigenia, Cassandra, and Hecuba are all eliminated but there are not fatal omissions. But when you start rewriting who gets killed that is going a bit too far, especially when one premature death starts a chain effect that means Athens will never develop the jury system, which means we probably lose out on it too. David Benioff's screenplay was "inspired" by Homer's "Iliad," which at least is an honest way to characterize what he did in this script, but I still do not have to like it or endorse it. The big selling point for this film was not Homer but rather Brad Pitt as Achilles. Stories abound about how Pitt worked six months to get in shape for this film, gave up smoking, and ended up hurting his Achilles tendon in one of those profound ironies that indicates that maybe the gods were not pleased with what was happening in this film. Pitt certainly looks good, not just in terms of taking several opportunities to display the line of his nude body, but in how he carries himself as Achilles. The whole idea is that this guy is the greatest warrior on the face of the planet and Pitt exudes that with the way he strides across the sands of Troy. Even more impressive is the choreography for the fights, because Pitt's movements are so smooth and powerful, especially compared with that of Eric Bana's Hector, that you do not doubt that this guy is in a league by himself as a warrior. I also like the way he uses the distinctive form of his shield when fighting. They thought this part out quite a bit. The fight choreography was worked out by Simon Crane, the film's stunt coordinator and second unit director, who describes Achilles as fighting with a boxing style but with the velocity of a speed skater and the agility of a panther. They also come up with a nice touch in that Achilles looks slightly to the side at his opponent until he is ready to come in for the kill. The best fight sequences of "Troy" are when Achilles is fighting. The giant battle sequences of computerized soldiers are not as impressive, mainly because the camera is always in motion and the cutting is so fast that we are left with an impression of the battle rather than always being able to tell what is going on (which has become my constant complaint with most movies with large battle sequences). Bana does a good job of capturing Hector's nobility without turning him into a marble statue, while Peter O'Toole fills the role of Priam naturally. On the Trojan side the problematic character is Paris (Orlando Bloom), again because of the writing more than the performance. Priam has negotiated peace between Troy and the Sparta of King Menelaus (Brendan Gleeson), but that is destroyed when Paris persuades Helen (Diane Kruger) to run away with him. Both Hector and Priam know that Paris is wrong and their reasons for supporting him and thereby dooming Troy ring hollow (the less than stellar "Helen of Troy" television miniseries did a nice job of providing a solid motivation for the Trojans to protect Helen). It you want to draw a clear distinction between Homer's story of Achilles and that of Benioff it is that the former is about the rage of Achilles (see the first line of the "Iliad") and the latter adds an equally strong love element. The one character whose role is most inflated in this version is that of Briseis (Rose Byrne), the Trojan slave girl who comes between Achilles and Agamemnon (Brian Cox), the king of kings for the Greeks. This change becomes the reasoning behind how the film rewrites the end game of the Trojan War, although I still do not understand why some of the key characters get to live happily ever after. But since Pitt's performance dominates the film and he is clearly the horse that director Wolfgang Petersen is riding to make the whole thing work, it makes sense that he has to be around until the very end. The good news is that when I teach mythology after this DVD comes out my students will probably enjoy attacking Benioff's changes in the original stories of Greek mythology in their papers. I think this will definitely help them understand why the writings of Homer and the other ancients are considered classics.

We found it a good movie! It certainly held our interest for the entire two hours.

great movie

Like this movie and wanted it in blue ray version. Happy with purchase.

What can I add to reviews so far? Homer's Illiad it certainly isn't; I am not even going to begin, as some reviewers have done, to compare the two and list the deviations and omissions, a waste of time and energy. It is "Hollywood" at its best/worst (choose according to viewpoint and preferences). From fight scene one before the two assembled armies, my heart sank. Many people have obviously enjoyed it so I "don't want to rain on the parade". I found it unconvincing but, that's probably more to do with me than the film. I like to have my "historical films" approximating to the truth as we know it (after all its been good enough for generations!) and I wonder what future generations will know of some of our legendary characters, e.g Robin Hood, William Wallace and so on. Typical Hollywood "epic".

史実と神話が融合した娯楽作です。 19世紀には、トルコ西部の発掘調査で、紀元前12世紀頃の地層から大火災の痕跡が見つかり、実際にトロイア戦争が有ったのではないかと言われています。 歴史物語は、前もって歴史の勉強を済ませて観ると面白いですよ!

Inutile dire che il Film è un capolavoro, è un Colossal da vedere e rivedere. In questa versione Directors Cut estesa è ancora meglio, ci sono oltre 45 minuti di scene che sulla versione cinema non c'erano.

When Helen of Sparta, though married, elopes with the Trojan Prince, Paris and flees to Troy, they are followed by war of unimaginable proportions. Helen’s husband Menelaus summons a united army of Greeks led by the arrogant Agamemnon and driven forward by the bold and courageous Achilles. As the armies of Greece and Troy clash, so too do their greatest champions- Achilles and Hector in a conflict that brings devastation to both kingdoms. Directors Cut is absolutely spectacular, a masterpiece in 4K. Truly a remarkable movie.

本作は一見すると大味な娯楽作品だが、何故か記憶に残ってしまう珍しい作品だろう。 2000年代のハリウッド映画の革新はＣＧに間違いない。「スターウォーズⅠ・ファントムメナス」「ロード・オブ・ザリング」等の大量な軍団兵士映像は、それまでのエキストラ動員では限界があり、宣伝では“万の”と謳っても画面を切り取った精々“数百～千”が関の山だった。 だからスターウォーズもエピソードⅣから始めざるを得なかったのだが、ＣＧ進化が動員数リミッターを突破させたのだ。 本作もその新技術の旨味を前面に押し出した派手な造りだし、しかも「イーリアス」をモチーフにしつつも史実と関係ない創作ストーリー、主演ブラピのナルシズムな肉体美と来れば、どうしても批評家ウケしそうもないバタ臭い作品に映ってしまう。 しかし監督は「Ｕ・ボート」「ザ・シークレット・サービス」「アウトブレイク」の名匠ウォルフガング・ペーターゼンなので、テーマにはちゃんと芯がある。 それは同じ剣士でも、忠誠心や自分の名を残す為だけに闘う戦士と、本当に護るべき物への責任で立つ勇者の違いだ。ブラピ演じるギリシャのアキレスと、エリック・バナ演じるトロイのヘクトルの対比が正にそれだが、二人を取り囲む数多くの登場人物が実はかなり特徴的なのだ。 誰もがその身勝手さに苛立ち覚えるパリス王子とその新妻ヘレン、高い城壁を過信し王国を危険に晒しても彼らを溺愛するトロイ王のプリアモス、覇王アガメムノンと体育会系メネラオスのイケイケ兄弟、そのギリシャ王一族に知恵で遣えながら我が儘社員アキレスを手懐ける企画役員オデュッセウス、敵将と会って本当の愛を知るアポロ神殿の巫女ブリセイス、戦功を立てたくて血気に逸るパトロクロス、そしてトロイの作戦会議で好き勝手に主戦論を展開する群臣達や呪い師らは、確かに脇役に過ぎないが、時間を割いてまで見せる彼らの存在がブラピを単純なヒーローに見せない鍵だ。 それは彼らが、実はとても我々と同じ一般人に近く、愛や欲望や煩悩に流され、権威に慢心し、軽率な妥協で判断を誤るからだ。 観客はイライラするが、それが人間の本質であり、名作はそこを省略したり誤魔化さない。対する主人公アキレスは完璧に見えて所詮は戦闘マシーンとするカタルシスにいつの間にか嵌まってしまう仕掛けだ。 この豊富な人間臭いキャラ達の立て方は戦史モノでは屈指。勧善懲悪ストーリーとは異なり後味が様々で複雑なので一概にスッキリはしないが、個の選択がリアルで間違いなく記憶に残る。 勇者やリーダーとは、これら人間の稚拙さや醜さの全てを“護るべき不完全な愛らしさ”として受け入れた人間なのだろう。トロイ国民の業を双肩に背負ったヘクトルを映画途中に退出させる演出こそ、本作の真骨頂だと思う。 死ぬことで人の行動に反省と変革を促すことも多い勇者の宿命とは、革新的政治家のユリウス・カエサル、リンカーンやＪＦＫ、キング牧師らの暗殺と象徴化してきた歴史を考えれば普遍性がある。 本作は人間の現実に忠実なるが故に、ちゃんと心に刻まれるＣＧだけで語れない傑作です。