Shame!!!

[Prune]

Troy is the biggest disappointment in cinema this far for 2004. How the hell does a good director like Petersen, with the biggest production budget ever of $200 million, create a merely mediocre movie out of something that had the potential to be an epic on the level of Lawrence of Arabia?

As usual, Ebert hits the bullseye in his review at the Chicago Suntimes website:

"Troy" is based on the epic poem The Iliad by Homer, according to the credits. Homer's estate should sue. The movie sidesteps the existence of the Greek gods, turns its heroes into action movie cliches and demonstrates that we're getting tired of computer-generated armies.

I heard on TV that the gods were taken out as it would not sit well with todays audiences. WTF kind of nonsense is this?! If anyone remembers the successful TV miniseries like Merlin and The Odyssey, pagan gods did not offend the masses.

But the biggest problem was, as Ebert wrote:

By treating Achilles and the other characters as if they were human, instead of the larger-than-life creations of Greek myth, director Wolfgang Petersen miscalculates. What happens in Greek myth cannot happen between psychologically plausible characters. That's the whole point of myth.
...
Pitt is modern, nuanced, introspective; he brings complexity to a role where it is not required.

Damn right. Then again, Petersen must have assumed that since the masses would not be familiar with the nature of Greek mythology, a movie intended to be a blockbuster needs to aim for the lowest common denominator. That's the kind of logic that begets crappy movies.

And lines like "I want a man I can grow old with" and "Last night was a mistake" are so out of place in ancient Greece that it's not even funny.

Hats off to Peter O'Toole for still refusing to retire; his performance is the only reason I don't feel I completely wasted my time seeing this movie.

[Sweetrobot]

Calm down there movie buff. You're like Ebert's lilttle *****. I'm sure if ppl were interested in a review, they'd find a credible critic and read one.

[Prune]

It's not just Ebert. Check rottentomatoes for all reviews. 59% is a dismal score for a movie that was supposed to be king of the hill. Even the positive reviews are quite restrained.

[planet10]

Originally posted by Prune
with the biggest production budget ever of $200 million, create a merely mediocre movie out of something that had the potential to be an epic on the level of Lawrence of Arabia?

Adjusted for inflation lawrence of arabia had a much larger budget -- and it was shot in 70 mm....

i'll wait to see Troy when it comes out on DVD... the popcorn (and the sound) is better at my place.

dave

[kelticwizard]

Okay, so now we know that as a cinema adaptation of one of the cornerstones of Western literature, "Troy" is a sacrilege.

But how does it work as just a gladiator flick?

[Prune]

But how does it work as just a gladiator flick?

For that it's OK I suppose, though Gladiator makes a better gladiator flick. At least it's OK if, as another critic said, you don't mind getting to "know Brad's oiled flanks like the back of your hand".

BTW, Sweetrobot is actually my brother, and I know him well enough to say that one can safely ignore his comment in this thread (or any other for that matter).

[Gregm]

Originally posted by Prune
a movie intended to be a blockbuster needs to aim for the lowest common denominator

Maybe it needs to redefine the lowest common denominator -- even lower

[EC8010]

Originally posted by planet10
-- and it was shot in 70 mm....

(In best Michael Caine voice), not a lot of poeple know this, but 70mm projection film is actually shot on 65mm. The extra 5mm on replay is required to accommodate that funny audio stuff...

[dhaen]

The audio used to be magnetic. The magnetic coating was just dribbled onto the film as it passed, and dried using warm air. I saw this crude process in action at a major film processor less than 10 years ago.

[EC8010]

Originally posted by dhaen
The magnetic coating was just dribbled onto the film as it passed, and dried using warm air.

That's frightening. But it explains the poor sound quality and 1/f noise of commag [COMmon (on the same medium as pictures) MAGnetic film].