BruiseLee
Enlightened
All I can say is this film was awesome! I throughly enjoyed it. I found the story very involving and easy to follow, even though it is quite complex and takes place 3000 years ago.
I'd say this film is on the level of Lord of the Rings. It looks beautiful, and lots of special effects bring the ancient world to life. There is also the spectacle of seeing the thousand ships of the Greek invasion fleet, and the huge Greek and Trojan armies engaging in melee combat to enjoy.
Speaking of combat, the fight scenes featuring Achilles are great. Especially exciting is his match against this giant warrior at the beginning, and his climactic battle against Hector towards the end. Oddly, I found the fight scene between Achilles and his younger cousin to be a little weak - Brad Pitt is definitely no Jett Li!
The only part about the film I seriously question is the casting of Brad Pitt as Achilles. First of all, he seems to be performing a clone performance of Russell Crowe in Gladiator. Secondly, and this may just be me, he is just so buff in this film it is disturbing. I mean the guy looks like Arnold der Governator in Conan. He is just so muscular in this film I kept wondering was if it was some kind of special effect or make-up. Of course, I'm a guy - I'm sure the ladies will enjoy the pumped up Mr. Pitt.
Again, maybe it's just me, but I thought Orlando Bloom who plays Paris looks disturbingly like Frodo in Lord of the Rings. People also laughed at a couple of places in the film where they weren't supposed to during his scenes.
I doubt this will bother anyone, but the film does take a fair amount of liberties from Homer's Iliad. I've never been able to finish reading the Iliad despite two attempts, but I can tell you it differs from Homer in significantly. The most obvious difference to me is that in the Iliad the Gods play an active part in story, whereas in movie they are mentioned and workshiped a lot, but don't take an active part in the story. But, probably not 1 moviegoer in 1000 has read the Iliad, so this is definitely not a big deal.
To sum up: see this movie! Wolfgang Petersen is a great director. Guys will love the action. The ladies will love Brad. The German actress who plays Helen of Troy ain't no slouch, either. The story is excellent and well told. Well worth the price of admission, highly recommended!
I'd say this film is on the level of Lord of the Rings. It looks beautiful, and lots of special effects bring the ancient world to life. There is also the spectacle of seeing the thousand ships of the Greek invasion fleet, and the huge Greek and Trojan armies engaging in melee combat to enjoy.
Speaking of combat, the fight scenes featuring Achilles are great. Especially exciting is his match against this giant warrior at the beginning, and his climactic battle against Hector towards the end. Oddly, I found the fight scene between Achilles and his younger cousin to be a little weak - Brad Pitt is definitely no Jett Li!
The only part about the film I seriously question is the casting of Brad Pitt as Achilles. First of all, he seems to be performing a clone performance of Russell Crowe in Gladiator. Secondly, and this may just be me, he is just so buff in this film it is disturbing. I mean the guy looks like Arnold der Governator in Conan. He is just so muscular in this film I kept wondering was if it was some kind of special effect or make-up. Of course, I'm a guy - I'm sure the ladies will enjoy the pumped up Mr. Pitt.
Again, maybe it's just me, but I thought Orlando Bloom who plays Paris looks disturbingly like Frodo in Lord of the Rings. People also laughed at a couple of places in the film where they weren't supposed to during his scenes.
I doubt this will bother anyone, but the film does take a fair amount of liberties from Homer's Iliad. I've never been able to finish reading the Iliad despite two attempts, but I can tell you it differs from Homer in significantly. The most obvious difference to me is that in the Iliad the Gods play an active part in story, whereas in movie they are mentioned and workshiped a lot, but don't take an active part in the story. But, probably not 1 moviegoer in 1000 has read the Iliad, so this is definitely not a big deal.
To sum up: see this movie! Wolfgang Petersen is a great director. Guys will love the action. The ladies will love Brad. The German actress who plays Helen of Troy ain't no slouch, either. The story is excellent and well told. Well worth the price of admission, highly recommended!