Troy: I haven't been closely checking, so don't want to beat a dead Trojan Horse, but I enjoyed the movie despite Brad Pitt's face. The action sequences were outstanding, as was the sword play. It didn't mess with the Iliad all that much either.
I did catch a few booboos: 1) As Achilles went up to the citadel at Troy to challenge Hector, he crossed a pristine field, sandy and waiting for any number of sunbathers by all appearances. He failed to remember that a tremendous battle had been fought there only recently. Not even a bloodstain remained of it. 2) Hector's helmet, supposedly made of bronze or brass or some period metal, revealed that it was made of plastic. When he took it off to face Achilles, the nose bridge armor piece flexed like rubber.
The movie was a good portrayal of The Iliad adventures and I shall acquire a DVD of it in due time. It pales against "The Gladiator," which I reran after seeing Troy. The Gladiator period is ancient to us, but I enjoyed noticing that Hector and the heroes of Troy were portrayed as ancient history to the Romans in Gladiator. As it was indeed. Add only a few hundred years -- well maybe 800 or so, and The Iliad was as ancient to the Romans as they are to us. The Gladiator toyed with history only a bit more than Troy, but both films contained real characters from history or mythology.
One complaint about Troy: I would have enjoyed seeing Achilles getting his baptism in the Styx as an infant. His mother appeared to him as an adult, played gorgeously by Julie Christie who is even older than I am. I will have to see the movie again to catch the detail on whether her prophesy that Achilles' death would come soon after that of Hector. It would have been sweet to track Achilles' conundrum in slaying Hector, since according to the prophesy it would mean his own death.
Perhaps I prefer The Gladiator because it portrays a more respectable character in Maximus than was Achilles. He defended principles, whereas Achilles killed only because he was better at it than anyone.
My favorite scene: The first sequences wherein Achilles leaps upon the giant like spiderman and stabs him in the back without a fight.
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