Not everyone loves this film....
Quote:May the gods take mercy on the people who greenlighted $175 million for this gilded glob of Hollywoodenness
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Travesty in a breastplate
Quote:Orlando Bloom's earnest Paris, fragrant and fetching in a floaty, chest-baring blouse (but then, Paris is always lovely this time of year).
Wooden horse, wooden acting
Quote:Pompous, bland and instantly forgettable, Troy is a blockbuster with scarcely a saving grace....a genuine Hollywood disaster
The Age (Melb)
Ancient Anatolia..... that's sort of like Turkey, isn't it?
Troy was located in what is now Turkey according to Henrich Schliemann who discovered and excavated the site. The layer that would have corresponded to the time period revealed that a battle likely took place but the city was mostly one story mud huts with a wall about half the height of the one depicted in the film. The filmmakers knew the historic Troy would not impress so took some artistic license in making it grander.
Ebert was thumbs down but Roeper was thumbs up (basically saying he enjoyed it for the grand battle scenes and the characterizations).
EBERT'S REVIEW LINK
The Rotten Tomatoes ratio is 63% favorable reviews from the major critics which is not so bad -- the movie took in 45.5M over the weekend.
ROTTEN TOMATOES LINK
Troy seems to be taking a beating all the way around. Jumped into 1st place in box office sales over the weekend but so far seems to be "more fluff than stuff".
I guess I'll wait until it comes out on DVD.
A. O. Scott, the NYT pretty much gives the summation of the major critics:
Excerpt quote:
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NEW YORK TIMES A.O. SCOTT FULL REVIEW LINK
Saw the flick. Had fun with the early XXI Century equivalent of a shiny 1950s MaxFactor-Eastmancolor "peplum" movie. Some scenes were cool.
A blond Achilles with a hairless chest and a blonde Helen with make-up to date is on the line of ridicule almost everywhere.
Only I think Rossana Podestá made a better Helen of Troy back in 1956.
Rossana looked more like the part but a pedestal could turn over a better performance than Podesta.
The score by Max Steiner is really classic in the 1956 film with a love theme that is indelible. The critics who liked the film did characterize it as a throwback. Do the battle scenes really top those in "The Return of the King?" That seems to be a tall order.
Rossana couldn't act, sure.
Peplum actors weren't famous for their good acting skills (remember Victor Mature).
What I meant is that most of the film's aesthetics have that fake 50s long red nail feeling (I did like the costumes of the Troyans, though).
As for the battle scenes, while watching the film, a thought came to my mind: "I have seen this, done much better, in Henry V". No comparison with LOTR, in my humble opinion.
As bad (well, so bad, they're good) as Maria Montez Bagdhad epics?
Actually Victor Immature wasn't bad in "The Robe," or in "I Wake of Screaming." I never thought he got much of a break other than being cast in B flicks.
"Henry V" has classic battle scenes.
Lightwizard wrote:As bad (well, so bad, they're good) as Maria Montez Bagdhad epics?
I haven't seen any, but my guess is that the Troy battle scenes are much better (only I would have loved some Troyan soldiers not to open their guards when they faced Brad Pitt).
I did like the costumes and the escenography. I think the make up was terrible (Brad Pitt wasn't even tanned).
hmm, i thought he looked pretty tan.
for brad pitt.
I loved Troy. Finally, an action flick for straight girls! Brad Pitt has one hot sweet ass!
My sons, aged 27 and 31, saw the film and both enjoyed for the fluff, not giving it any serious thought.
The younger son said that he was relieved it wasn't made while he was still in high school because he would have written a paper on it thinking it was true to the real story. For high schoolrs, it isn't nearly as good as Cliff Notes.
