Some of the wrong people die, some of the wrong people live. Some of the events happen out of sequence, Paris does a Legolas, Achilles' death scene looked hauntingly like Boromir's (at least Sean Bean was Odysseus, not Achilles - that would have been too much...). Paris was a total wuss, Helen a spoiled princess. I wanted both of them to die. I didn't care who did the deed: Menelaus, Agamemnon, Hector, Priam, Brieses... someone needed to do them in. Actually, the whole love story might have worked if the two were 16 years old, instead of the twenty-something that Paris looked, and she might have had 10 years on him...
Sean Bean actually portrayed a thoughtful Odysseus, pleasantly surprising for me (Since he is so much the Action type).
I give it higher marks than, say, Braveheart, and it's not "Wolfgang Peterson's Homer's Illiad" (with the butchery that "Francis Ford Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula" did to *that* story, it is a joke at our house that "[Director's name]'s [Author's name]'s [Title]" is sure to be nothing like [Title].)
Ellen flipped out when she spotted llamas in Troy (I didn't manage to catch them, I think I was reaching for my popcorn), and the soundtrack sounded like 2 1/2 hours of Xena wailing, followed by the now-obligatory gratuitous pop ballad. I usually like Horner's scores, but this one sucked.
I'd have preferred a less uniform look among the various contingents - All the Myrmidons are in Black with cut-out shields, all the City Guard have fancy armor, etc. I'd have preferred less armor over-all: give the heroes resplendant gear, and have the followers in leather or just tunics. And have the heroes fight from their chariots, But that's just me...
ObGlorantha
Achilles shows several masteries in Sword and Shield - I'd give him a
couple-three masteries over a normal warrior, and maybe 10 points over
Hector - enough that the fight between Achilles and Hector looked like it
*might* be posssible for Hector to win, given luck (and if he wasn't so sure
of his own doom). Achilles also has some combat feats - his Leaping Neck Jab
is a signature move!
RR
It is by my order and for the good of the state that the bearer of this has
done what he has done.
- Richelieu
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