When it came out in 2004, Wolfgang Petersen’s Troy was met with a bit of a shrug from moviegoers, at least in North America. Heavily hyped, it was among the most expensive movies of its era and starred Brad Pitt in a rare action-heavy role, at a time when he seemed to be avoiding such fare (in fact, he was essentially forced to star in the film due to contract issues). Yet, it only performed decently in North America, making $133 million. Overseas, it was a huge blockbuster, earning close to $500 million when all was said and done worldwide. But its reputation in North America was always middling.
Yet, with The Odyssey now a gigantic hit, Arrow Video’s 4K UHD release of Troy is particularly well-timed, with the film worth another look. I hadn’t seen it since its release in 2004, so I was keen to pop it into my 4K player. Watching it alongside The Odyssey, it’s fascinating to see the differences (and similarities) between the two. For one thing, Petersen’s adaptation of The Iliad is reality-based, with the gods wholly absent — the opposite approach Nolan took. It’s also more action-driven, inspired by the types of historical action movies that became briefly popular following Gladiator. Yet, there are similarities, with the sacking of Troy presented as barbaric in both versions — and, if anything, Troy, at least if you watch the director’s cut, is even more explicit in how horrific it was.
Troy comes to 4K UHD in two versions, with Arrow presenting both the theatrical cut and the much longer director’s cut, which is a far different version of the film. The theatrical version was essentially a Brad Pitt action movie, but the director’s cut is more of a war film, with it being significantly more violent, especially during the fall of Troy. There are shots of Trojan soldiers throwing babies from the walls of Troy and brutalizing the women — footage I don’t remember seeing in the theatrical cut. Petersen prepared this version a few years following the theatrical release, with him even changing the movie’s musical score by James Horner in a significant way, re-editing it, taking away the vocal aspects, and even rescoring sequences with music from other movies.
Interestingly, it’s almost as radical a recut as what Ridley Scott did a year later with his own critically maligned historical drama, Kingdom of Heaven, with both ironically starring Orlando Bloom. While the director’s cut of Kingdom of Heaven makes it a masterpiece, I wouldn’t say the same about Troy. It’s a good film, but it falls short of being a great one.
If Troy has a huge failing, it’s that the screenplay by David Benioff is two-dimensional, and the performances are often campy. Brian Cox, in particular, chews the scenery mercilessly as Agamemnon, while Brad Pitt, with his sculpted bod, often pouts and looks like he’s posing for a Playgirl centrefold. If anything, the film is stolen by Eric Bana as Hector, who gives the movie’s most grounded performance, with his fight with Achilles still being the film’s highlight.
The 4K UHD disc from Arrow presents the two cuts of the movie in a gorgeous 4K transfer, with all the legacy extras from the original special edition DVD ported over. My only issue here is that the movie is now twenty-two years old, and it would have been interesting to see a retrospective that delves into its reception, including what it got right and what it got wrong. Perhaps that’s unlikely, though, as many of the cast members are still very much in demand, with the film also offering early roles to a few people who went on to later stardom, including Rose Byrne.
While Troy remains a deeply flawed film, it’s still fun and worth revisiting, especially in the director’s cut. If you’re a fan, the Arrow Video release presents it in an impeccable way. It’s never looked better (buy it HERE).