With The Odyssey doing stellar business it’s worth looking back to 2004’s ‘Troy’ another big budget blockbuster based on classic Greek text and in this case it was loosely (in fact very loosely) based, on The Illiad.
Troy the movie!
When Helen of Sparta (Diane Kruger), though married, elopes with the Trojan prince Paris (Orlando Bloom) and flees to Troy, they’re followed by war of unimaginable proportions. Helen’s husband Menelaus (Brendan Gleeson) summons a united army of Greece led by the arrogant Agamemnon (Brian Cox) and driven forward by the bold and courageous Achilles (Brad Pitt). As the armies of Greece and Troy clash, so too do their greatest champions – Achilles and Hector (Eric Bana) in a conflict that brings devastation to both kingdoms.
The most starry of casts!
Troy had the most starry of cast all of which were at the top of their game, on the ascent or hot off previous blockbusters. Led by a frequent buttock baring Brad Pitt he played opposite Eric Bana whose previous films had been that other ensemble epic Black Hawk Down and also superhero movie ‘Hulk’, Orlando Bloom as still hot off the Lord of the Ring trilogy and the first Pirates of the Caribbean film and support came from acting royalty Peter O’ Toole, Brian Cox and a cameo from Julie Christie with a supporting cast of familiar faces that included Brendan Gleeson, James Cosmo Trevor Eve, Julian Glover and Sean Bean and introduced audiences to the then unknown Diane Kruger as a truly stunning Helen of Troy. Orchestrating all this would be the late Wolfgang Petersen a German director who had had huge critical success with WWII drama ‘Das Boot’ before going to Hollywood where he had back to back success with Clint Eastwood starrer ‘In the line of fire’, Dustin Hoffman actioner ‘Outbreak’, Harrison Ford blockbuster ‘Air Force One’, and George Clooney starter ‘The Perfect Storm’ – all massive hits and he was the perfect choice for what would be a $175m summer blockbuster in a huge shoot that moved from to Mexico due to the Iraq War going on near to the original intended locations. For the saml reason Locations in Morocco were binned due to a threat from. Al –Qaeda, And yet there was carnage in Mexico when the massive Troy set was wrecked by a hurricane in the last week of production.
Bonus features….
Released in the US on 14th May Troy earned a huge $497m making it the 6th biggest film of the year (Shrek 2 was the biggest!) and with the huge success of ‘The Odyssey’ the time is right to release Troy out now on 4K UHD with a whole load of bonus features which includes a director’s cut too.
4K ULTRA HD LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS
• Brand new 4K remasters of both the Director’s Cut and Theatrical Cut of the film from the original 35mm camera negative by Arrow Films
• Collectors’ booklet featuring new writing on the film by Priscilla Page and Laurie Maguire and an excerpt from the original production notes
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Peter Strain
DISC 1: THEATRICAL CUT (4K ULTRA HD)
• 4K (2160p) Ultra HD Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible) of the Theatrical Cut
• Original lossless DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround audio plus stereo audio
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
DISC 2: DIRECTOR’S CUT (4K ULTRA HD)
• 4K (2160p) Ultra HD Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible) of the Director’s Cut
• Original lossless DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround audio plus stereo audio
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Troy Revisited, an archival introduction by director Wolfgang Petersen
DISC 3: EXTRAS (BLU-RAY)
• In Movie Experience, an archive picture-in-picture commentary of the film
• Troy in Focus, a series of archival behind-the scenes featurettes
• In the Thick of Battle, an archival behind-the-scenes featurette
• From Ruins to Reality, an archival behind-the-scenes featurette
• Troy: An Effects Odyssey, an archival behind-the-scenes featurette
• Attacking Troy, an archival behind-the-scenes featurette
• Gallery of the Gods, an archival introduction to the Greek Gods
• Easter egg
• Trailer
• Image galleries
The extras, though archival, are worth a look and the director’s cut running at an epic 193 minutes – (the original release was 163 minutes) is pretty good with a new opening that sees a dog wander through a corpse strewn battlefield which includes a dead horse which blinks and flicks its ears! But it’s a far bloodier version than that seen in cinemas with more nudity too since which Brad Pitt has shied away from baring his arse on screen ever since.
It’s not a perfect film and purists will baulk at the liberties it takes with such a classic text – the ten year Trojan war is reduced to a few weeks, the plundering of Troy is not in The Illiad which actually ends with the death of Eric Bana’s character and is funeral being just a couple of the liberties taken.
But there’s something of the old school Hollywood spectacle about the proceedings and for fans of all star epics this 4kUHD release of Troy is a worthwhile addition.
related feature : Wolfgang Petersen – OBITUARY
related feature : Behind the scenes of ‘Zulu Daw’n with actor/producer James Faulkner & actor David Bradley
Here’s the trailer….
