I HATE 'Troy'

just sayin'...

The movie you mean? Beccause yeah, that was an abomination.

Or are you perhaps related to Agamemnon in any way?

"Or are you perhaps related to Agamemnon in any way?"

i certainly hope not!

no, this topic was being discussed over at my coin forum, so it's been on my mind again, and all the old frustrations are returning.

The one thing I liked about the movie was the scene where it showed "the thousand ships"; actually seeing it reminds one what a massive undertaking such an invasion would have been for Bronze Age man even if historically speaking the force(s) were much smaller.

That said, I hated everything else about the movie. It suffered from the same thing all these modern re-takes on ancient stories have, where the film makers seem torn between wanting the characters to be "believable" to modern audiences, and yet still keep the essence of a story in which it was originally taken for granted that the gods took an active role in the lives of humanity. "Troy" failed in this regard, since it completely cut the gods out of the picture. I suppose they were trying to make it "more historical" but I don't think you have the same story anymore when you do that.

I actually take the opposite view: I'm glad that these movies exist. If someone is going to make a big popular movie, they might as well base it on an ancient story. Maybe it will make people interested in the ancient world. I don't have to watch it myself, but if I do, I'm not going to complain that it isn't "right". It's intended for people who are looking for a couple of hours of light entertainment, not for people with a serious interest in the Iliad.

my brother-in-law takes the same view, but i've never bought into the idea of dumbing down the classics to expose them to those who probably couldn't care less anyway.
better by far to raise the awareness of the audience instead, which isn't usually done by such methods as portraying Achilles as Batman, or altering the story in a way that guts Greek mythology for the sake of box office receipts (ie; Agamemnon's death).

imo.

I would like to see Peter Jackson do "the Iliad" with all the gods and goddesses (I'm thinking Cate Blanchett as Hera, Uma Thurman as Athena, Gwyneth Paltrow as Aphrodite) as well as the mortals. I don't mind a certain popularizing as long as it captures the essence.

i would actually like to see a Ken Burns style version of The Iliad. :)

it does seem strange though, that the greatest story ever told has never been done well. i mean, wtf?

I think the biggest problem is that we have a ton of different (often conflicting) stories for how the war began, and we sort of know how it ended, but even the ancients seemed to have no consensus on the first 9 years of the war itself. I don't know how a modern movie-maker could just skip 9 years like that and make it work.

well, The Iliad never went very deeply into those years either, so a production that was faithful to the book wouldn't have to deal with it very deeply.

'Troy' didn't deal with the first 9 years at all. in fact i believe the opening showed the ships arriving, as if the war only lasted a few weeks. i don't really recall very well though, as i have spent most of the time between when i saw it and now trying to erase the memory of those 2+ hours i will never have back.

and now if you will excuse me i must go rinse my mouth out... ycccch!

I agree Enodia -- on all counts. I don't need to see an entire epic on the Trojan War (altho a three part trilogy a la Lord of the Rings that encompassed the Iliad & the Odyssey & related Homeric tales would be great) but a single well done treatment of The Iliad would be so welcome. It would not be easy to do, but it is do-able.

This has been a while but I just saw it on tv again. I thought Brad Pitt was terribly miscast.

the movie was a disgrace ... I thought Brad might have been good in the role with a great script and a great director - instead he just wandered through the role, perplexed; his acting talents were never even in play

Brad Pitt was distracted by anachronisms.

HAHAHAHA