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Troy: Director's Cut (HD DVD) (2004)
Starring: Brad Pitt, Eric Bana Director: Wolfgang Petersen Rating: R
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In 1193 B.C., Prince Paris (Orlando Bloom) of Troy stole the beautiful Greek woman, Helen (Diane Kruger), away from her husband, Menelaus, the king of Sparta, setting the two nations at war with each other, as the Greeks began a bloody siege of Troy using their entire armada, led by Achilles (Brad Pitt), that lasted over a decade.
There is an irony to Brad Pitt. He is a star of Troy because of his extraordinary beauty, but he's at his best as an actor when his looks are obscured (Twelve Monkeys, Fight Club). In Troy, Brad Pitt is shapely, bronzed and be-tressed, and all wrong for the role.
As Achilles, the all-but-invincible ancient Greek warrior of Homer's Iliad, Brad Pitt performs physical feats with aplomb.
Brad Pitt seems not to have any handle at all on this problematic character in Troy - a selfish, sulky killer given a gloss of sympathy with a contrived romance. When the fighting stops, Brad Pitt's performance, like the distracting not-quite-British accent he feigns, is simply awkward.
In contrast, consider co-star Eric Bana playing Achilles' enemy, the Trojan prince Hector. He is convincing both as a war hero in Troy and a man emotionally connected to his land and family. The best acting here comes from the veterans - Peter O'Toole as Hector's father Priam; Brian Cox as Achilles' hated king Agamemnon; and Brendan Gleeson as Menelaus, the husband of Helen of Troy, whose affair with Hector's brother Paris (Orlando Bloom) touches off the war. Despite limited screen time, Sean Bean makes a fine impression as Odysseus.
The females do not fare as well; Diane Kruger is particularly disappointing in a bland, generic performance as Helen of Troy. Directed by Wolfgang Petersen and written by David Benioff, the story of Troy is not as Homer wrote it 3,000 years ago, much less as it really happened. But it does offer plenty of engaging, old-style action, amplified with skillful special effects to make this movie adaptation of Troy worthwhile veiwing. |
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| Cast & Crew: |
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Starring:
Brad Pitt | Eric Bana | Orlando Bloom | Brian Cox | Diane Kruger | Nathan Jones | Adoni Maropis | Jacob Smith | ...more
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Directed By:
Wolfgang Petersen
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| Technical Information: |
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Genre:
Action/Adventure, Drama, Epic, Romantic, True Story
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DVD Release Date:
September 18, 2007
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Format: Region 1
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Rating:
R
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Year:
2004
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Regional Coding:
This Title originates from North America
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Number of Discs:
2
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Subtitles:
English, French, Spanish
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Screen Ratio:
Anamorphic (16:9), Widescreen Edition - 2.35:1 (1080p)
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English (Dolby Digital Plus 5.1)
English (Dolby True HD 5.1)
French (Dolby Digital Plus 5.1)
Spanish (Dolby Digital Plus 2.0 Surround) | |
Running Time:
192 minutes
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Studio:
Warner Brothers
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UPC/Barcode Number:
085391173762
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Closed-Captioned: Yes
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Color: Yes
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| DVD Features: |
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- Introduction by director Wolfgang Petersen
- Troy in Focus featurette
- In The Thick of the Battle featurette - how the battle sequences were created
- From Ruins to Reality featurette - the production design
- Troy: An Effects Odyssey featurette - the stunning visual effects
- Attacking Troy featurette
- Greek Ship Towing feature
- Theatrical trailer
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