Troy – The Director’s Cut

Posted by Jessica 5 comments


Description
Brad Pitt picks up a sword and brings a muscular, brooding presence to the role of Greek warrior Achilles in this spectacular retelling of The Iliad. Orlando Bloom and Diane Kruger play the legendary lovers who plunge the world into war, Eric Bana portrays the prince who dares to confront Achilles, and Peter O’Toole rules Troy as King Priam. Director Wolfgang Petersen recreates a long-ago world of bireme warships, clashing armies, the massive fortress city and the towering Trojan Horse.Amazon.com
No doubt about it, the 196-minute unrated director’s cut of Troy represents a significant improvement over the film’s original 162-minute theatrical release–and not just because it has more sex and violence. As director Wolfgang Petersen notes in his new “Troy Revisited” video introduction to this 2-disc special edition, he didn’t have the time or directorial discretion (prior to Troy’s release in 2004) to present a cut that more closely matched his vision for the film. Three years later, Petersen approached the film with a more relaxed perspective, and the result is a well-crafted expansion on a film that was previously underrated, with 30 minutes of previously unseen material. Character dynamics have been improved and intensified; the epic-scale narrative is now easier to follow, with greater emphasis on the inner turmoil of Achilles (well played by Brad Pitt) and his rivalry with Hector (Eric Bana); and viewers will feel a more satisfying escalation of tension and suspense from battle to battle. The film’s enormous battle scenes (impressively enhanced with CGI) are bloodier and gorier, but they’re also more effectively integrated into the political story, which goes beyond Homer’s The Iliad and the death of Hector to incorporate elements of Virgil and a more revealing study of the differences between Trojan king Priam (Peter O’Toole) and his megalomanical Greek rival, king Agamemnon (Brian Cox), whose lust for revenge is now one of the film’s most powerful ingredients. Some of Troy’s original weaknesses remain (such as Orlando Bloom’s wimpy performance as Paris), but overall, this director’s cut easily justifies its existence, regardless of the film’s overblown and historically inaccurate depiction of Troy as a gigantic city of massive columns and statuary. The good parts are better, and the not-so-good parts are more easily forgiven. And no matter how you cut it, Troy is a lavish feast for the eyes. –Jeff Shannon
Troy – The Director’s Cut

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Feb 9, 2010
5:15 am
#1 R. Guentner :

I have not seen this movie but I checked the specs. The turkeys that made the Blu-Ray version must think that we will buy anything on Blu-Ray. This, and several other, Blu-Ray movies are nothing but “PAN AND SCAN”! The same lousy trick that was used to put widescreen movies on a narrow TV screen. I would buy the widescreen DVD before I would waste the big bucks for this “PAN AND SCAN” Blu-Ray version! One Star for NOT being the Widescreen version!
Rating: 1 / 5

Feb 9, 2010
6:48 am
#2 MightyMad :

Tell me something: were there really a group of hardcore die-hards of “Troy”, somewhere in the world, asking Wolfgang Peterson and/or Warner Bros. for a definite edition of this lukewarm toga-fest?

I don’t know, maybe it’s just me, but even rabid Brad Pitt fans don’t seem to really care about this flick – not that it’s really a bad film per say. It’s just… irrelevant. The best scene in the movie, hands down, is that fight between Pitt and Eric Bana; everything else has been DONE TO DEATH in MUCH BETTER pictures.

So the idea of another 2-disc edition completely puzzle me… or not – let’s face: execs at Warner Bros. would sell out their own mothers to make a buck!
Rating: 1 / 5

Feb 9, 2010
7:14 am
#3 Ken Bailey :

You’ll love this movie. It is the story of the Quarterback that led Dallas to win back to back Super Bowls. It is also the story of a Quarterback who had his career cut short by concussions. It’s not quite to the dramatic level of Brian’s Song, but it will do.
Rating: 5 / 5

Feb 9, 2010
7:41 am
#4 Michael Babcock :

My girlfriend and I eagerly awaited this release on Blu-ray, since she liked the movie originally, but UGGH–this is so disappointing. For starters, the look on high def is not much different than the DVD release, not enough to be noted anyways. The original theatrical cut of the film was OK, but this directors’ cut is so campy–the additions of flowery, CHEESY dialogue did this already poorly rated film NO favors. If you have Netflix and want to support Blu-Ray and encourage Warner Bros. to get off their fence, then add it to your Queue. DON’T WASTE YOUR MONEY BUYING THIS ON BLU-RAY!!
Rating: 1 / 5

Feb 9, 2010
8:11 am
#5 C. Colt :

I just saw Troy last night and I’ve got to say that it was more gay than “Gladiator”. Yes, both films show scantily-clad, muscle men sweating, getting dirty, duking it out and professing love of one thing or another.

In “Gladiator”, the homo-erotic components is a little more subtle. Maximus is totally hot and Commodus is not. Commodus’ dad, Marcus Aurelius has sublimated home-or-sect-chew-all attraction for Maximus and of course Maximus responds to it positively by going out onto the battle field with nothing more than a jock strap and some armor in order to cut off some German heads. Commodus is jealous and so he kills his dad, but then he wants to assume his father’s role by consumating his (and his father’s) attraction to Maximus. At first this takes the form of a loyalty enticement but when Maximus rebuffs this, Commodus unleashes a chain of murderous events that result in Maxiums performing in the Colloseum with a jock strap and some armor, a lot of tight, sweaty muscle men and even a few animals. Go Maximus! Anyway, Commodus transforms himself from observer to participant by doing a little disabling S&M routine on Maximus and then playing with him in the arena which is both scripted homo-erotic behavior and flagrant exhibitionism. So much for “Gay-ladiator”.

“Troy” ambitiously sets out to out-gay “Gladiator”. From the beginning the eye of the homo-erotic hurricane is Achilles played by Brad Pitt. My what a bad boy Achilles is. He’s late for battle with Thesaly because he’s sleeping in late (nood) with a couple of Ancient Greek chicks who look like a couple of Ancient Greek boys. This movie is clever about that because it gives the chicks the same hair style as the little servant boy and fails to show their distinctive feminine traits such as their love tunnels, fun seats, and chest-o-plenty.

Achilles shows up at the battle field where he performs homo erotic combat with a total leather man from Thesaly. Then he goes home and plays with his cute little cousin, whacking wooden swords around and giggling while wearing cute blue dresses and having his hair sort of braided in blue.

Then it’s off to Troy which might as well be a gay disco spread out on the beach at day light. BOM PID DEEEEE, BOM PID DEEEE, BOM BOM BOM will you just look at all those scantily clad muscle men charging around on the beach and jumping on and stabbing each other!

Ever the narcisist, it isn’t enough for Achilles merely to do Hector. He also has to drag his body around the city wall behind his chariot boasting in a sort of modern prison movie manner, “Yeah, Hector: I DID him!” Achilles also shows as much of his nude body as he can get away with AND…

he shows his sweet sensitve side not to mention his pouty bad boy nature.

Oh and that combat scene between delicate little Paris and husky, aggressive Meneleus–c’mon. Gay! Gay! Gay! It’s soooooooo gay!

Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Rating: 5 / 5

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