Troy

[Jade Jaguar]

I haven't seen the film, and probably won't see it in the theater. I did run across an article about it on an archeology web site I visit that I found to be rather interesting. It isn't dry and professorial. The first paragraph is about the film from an archeological perspective - did they get it right? Well, for one thing, they show coins being placed on the eyes of the dead, but coins won't be invented for another 500-600 years. There are more interesting details about the ships and jewelry. The second paragraph is about the story, as compared to Homer's Illiad, and the changes they made. It does include spoilers for the film. Check it out:
http://www.archaeology.org/online/reviews/troy/index.html

 

[kin_of_zathras]

Saw Troy yesterday. It was Bleh.
I have even more appreciation for LOTR now. Its really hard to pull off an epic.

Its the little things that pull you out of the story sometimes-too many Hollywood contrivances. I really didn't feel much at the death of Achilles. On the other hand I thought Eric Bana was great. Of course I'd love to see the Odyssey with Sean Bean- he's always fantastic. I did like the focus on the futility and waste of war.

If they can get away with a few screens at the start to explain the backstory-I'm sure JMS can too with TMOS. Or a Katsulas voice-over.

 

[Ninja_Squirrel]

Saw Troy yesterday. It was Bleh.

Me too. "Bleh" sums it up fairly well.

Nothing necessarily wrong with it (okay, maybe a few things, but nothing worth mentioning), but not spectacular either. Just kind of there. Fairly well done but felt like it lasted forever.

 

[Vonbloodbath]

Well< I loved it, but you know what: based on the VH thread, I'm not even going to get into it.



VB

 

[A_Ranger]

I loved the first 2 hours or so of it. It's nice to see a film that actually takes time to build characters and situations. But the climax/resolution was so abrupt and awkward. The film never came together in the end.

 

[Demon]

Well< I loved it, but you know what: based on the VH thread, I'm not even going to get into it.



VB

Actually, this time I agree with you I think Troy is a much better example of a good action movie, with variations in pacing and emotion, creating characters I cared about.

And from a female point of view, there are some great male bodies to ogle And unlike in VH I didn't have to wait for the whole movie to pass before I saw them stripped down

 

[Nukemall]

I haven't seen the film, and probably won't see it in the theater. I did run across an article about it on an archeology web site I visit that I found to be rather interesting. It isn't dry and professorial. The first paragraph is about the film from an archeological perspective - did they get it right?

Apparently the Iliad isn't historically correct since it was written a fair few years after the events and brought 'up to date' so to speak. Though I guess there's going to be a few changes even from the Iliad, especially when it comes to Achilles' love interest

 

[admiraldave]

On the other hand I thought Eric Bana was great. Of course I'd love to see the Odyssey with Sean Bean- he's always fantastic. I did like the focus on the futility and waste of war.

Eric Bana owned this movie. Spoiler-guarded, just in case, [spoiler]I thought the movie should have ended with the death of Hector.[/spoiler]

I thought Troy was an alright movie. Worth the price of a matinee.

 

[GaribaldisHair]

Apparently the Iliad isn't historically correct since it was written a fair few years after the events and brought 'up to date' so to speak. Though I guess there's going to be a few changes even from the Iliad, especially when it comes to Achilles' love interest

As was traditional among the ancient story-tellers/historians, the story of The Iliad was handed down generation-by-generation by word of mouth, until it eventually fell to Homer to write it down for posterity.

I think we can safely say that a sizeable element of "Chinese Whispers", not to mention the more mythic stuff like Achilles being invulnerable apart from his heel, is likely to creep in over a period of 400 years or more.

However, the major events of the Trojan War - such as how long it took, where it was, when it took place, who the main protagonists were, and who won - are more than likely recorded in The Iliad with a degree of accuracy.

I have to agree with the archeologists here - surely it was possible to adhere to those major elements as recorded by Homer and still make a blockbuster movie with all the associated, and apparently well-received, "male bods" to ogle.

 

[Vonbloodbath]

As was traditional among the ancient story-tellers/historians, the story of The Iliad was handed down generation-by-generation by word of mouth, until it eventually fell to Homer to write it down for posterity.

Actually, there's more distance than that...Homer was an Oral poet: he composed the Iliad centuries after the supposed War: hence all the details which are contemporary to homer, not the Mycenean period.

Then, the Iliad existed orally for another 2-300 years, before being written down for the first time in 5th C BCE Athens.

So there's two large periods for discrepancies to creep in.

 

[GKarsEye]

Also, I highly doubt the gods actually participated. Yep, not historically accurate.

 

[hypatia]

They show gods in the movie "Troy"?

I was under the impression it was more of an ancient-war kind of movie.

Any Ray Harryhousen monsters in it?

 

[GKarsEye]

No no no, I meant the Illiad isn't historically accurate, because it has gods in the story.

 

[Demon]

If you didn't like Troy, you'll probably enjoy this.

Watch out for the spoilers for the movie

 

[hypatia]

Damn! I was hoping for some Claymation monsters.

Seriously, I'm sorry to hear Troy did so badly. Hmm. We seem to have a picky audience these days. The latest christ flick did great, despite many people objecting about many things. The Lord of the Rings trilogy did fantastically. And now it seems the Troy movie might not measure up to LOTR.

I wonder what this summer's trends will mean to the future of the cinema in the USA.

I, for one, want to see Shrek II.

 

[AntonyF]

Well of course Troy won't do as well as LOTR.

LOTR had a massive, already built fan base. I saw the queues to see the first trailer at Comic Con, it was mad.

But Troy has no such luck. It's an R film, of almost three hours, with no established fan base.

 

[GKarsEye]

Well, the Illiad kinda has a fanbase. Hee.

OUR LADY OF SOUNDTRACK SORROW

 

[GeoKuutio]

Saw Troy yesterday. It was Bleh.

Me too. "Bleh" sums it up fairly well.

Nothing necessarily wrong with it (okay, maybe a few things, but nothing worth mentioning), but not spectacular either. Just kind of there. Fairly well done but felt like it lasted forever.

It was bleh and it was also boring. I mean, they had this 200 million budget, great cast, good theme and everything... But the movie was too boring, frustrating and not very exciting. It was bleh. I would give it a 6 out of 1-10 ranking.

 

[admiraldave]

I, for one, want to see Shrek II.

I, for one, am working for a company that has some cross promotional stuff with Shrek, and became heartily sick of that ogre weeks ago.

 

[colonyearth]

Saw Troy yesterday. It was Bleh.

Me too. "Bleh" sums it up fairly well.

Nothing necessarily wrong with it (okay, maybe a few things, but nothing worth mentioning), but not spectacular either. Just kind of there. Fairly well done but felt like it lasted forever.

It was bleh and it was also boring. I mean, they had this 200 million budget, great cast, good theme and everything... But the movie was too boring, frustrating and not very exciting. It was bleh. I would give it a 6 out of 1-10 ranking.

AHHHH, what I could do with $200 million dollars. Do you have any idea of how many films I could make on that? How many great stories I could tell?