The story of Troy and the warrior Achilles is the stuff of legends now brought to life by Wolfgang Peterson. With an ensemble cast including Brad Pitt, Eric Bana, Peter O’Toole, Brian Cox, Brendan Gleeson and Sean Bean there are only two things that can happen, magic or mediocrity. In this case I think we end up somewhere in between. Some scenes like the battle between Achilles and Hector is incredible while the storming of the beach at Troy is almost downright laughable. Overall though the film works I just wish it …as a little longer to flesh out more of the subplots, because the long run that’s what holds this film back.
Video
Brought to life as a 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer the film looks very sharp. The images are bright and well detailed, colors pop off the screen and stick out well in a sea of earth tones. Delineation of shadow details is very good, the only real issue I could find is that the image seemed a little too bright and this caused things to become slightly washed out.
Audio
With a number of very intense and incredibly huge battle sequences the 5.1 Dolby Digital audio on the disc is superb. Dialogue is intense and detailed with excellent intelligibility. The rears are put to very good effect whether it is during one of the chaotic battle scenes or in the dark still of night waiting for the soldiers of Greece to exit the Trojan horse. The only issue is there just is not enough bass.
Special Features
Being a two disc release I really expected there too be more for extras but alas this is not the case. We get three featurettes, the first called In the Thick of the Battle which looks at the battle sequences. The next one is From Ruins to Reality which looks at the production design used to bring the ruins of Troy to life. Lastly we have Troy: An Effects Odyssey which of course looks at the special effects used in the film. We also get Gallery of the Gods: 3-D-animated guide to Greek myths which looks at the Greek gods and the roles they played in the battle for Troy. Lastly we get the theatrical trailer for the film. The menus for the discs are all animated and scored. Overall a pretty decent extras package I was just expecting a little more I guess.
Final Thoughts
When I first saw the trailer for this film it really did nothing for me, now having seen the film I have to admit that I enjoyed the ride. The film is not perfect as there are far too many holes in the story that if fleshed out would have taken a decent film and made it a classic with the likes of Bravheart and Gladiator. In my view though still worth a look.
Special Features List
- “In The Thick of the Battle” (battle sequences)
- “From Ruins to Reality” (historical perspective)
- “Troy: An Effects Odyssey”
- Gallery of the Gods (3-D tour of Mount Olympus and Gods of Ancient Greece)
- Easter Eggs
