BACK COVER SYNOPSIS: Unseen in theatres. Unrivaled in spectacle. Bigger. Braver. Bolder. Director Wolfgang Petersen enlarges his exciting epic with over 30 minutes of previously unseen footage drawing you deeper into the heat of battle and the heated lives of his complex characters. With a stellar cast (Brad Pitt [Achilles], Eric Bana [Hector], Orlando Bloom [Paris], Diane Kruger [Helen] and Peter O’Toole [Priam]), Troy Director’s Cut completes the intense saga of one of history’s greatest confrontations, recreated through the passion of one of today’s best filmmakers.

FILM REVIEW: “Troy” has everything you would come to expect from the mega budget Hollywood epic: grand visuals, big action, movie stars, stirring music and archetypal themes. The original theatrical cut suffered from studio interference, with changes made to make it more like “Gladiator”. Subsequently, the film did not work well on its original release despite eventually recouping its whopping $200 million budget (some estimates at the time put it $285 million). This new director’s cut from Wolfgang Petersen is an improvement on the original version, however there is still something underwhelming about the narrative, least of which is its reliance on clichés, uninspired performances and the penchant for the filmmakers to deviate from the original source material whenever it impeded their ability to rely on said clichés (which is quite often). The film does satisfy on the level of the spectacle, and Eric Bana puts in an endearing performance as Hector. However, Peterson’s direction, despite the improvements he has made with this Director’s Cut, lacks the kind of depth and richness that a story such as Homer’s The Illiad deserves.

The mythical story opens with King Agamemnon (a delightful Brian Cox) leading his army in to a battle against the Thessalonian King Triopas (Julian Glover). They settle the fight by having the best fighter from each side battle each other with the winner claiming victory for the entire battle. Agamemnon relies on Achilles (a very bored looking Brad Pitt) to win the battle, which he does, but without much enthusiasm, acting more out of spite than anything else. The opening scene establishes the grand visual style of the film, but it also highlights the films inherent two-dimensional quality as exemplified by Brad Pitt. Here, as with the rest of the film, he never changes the look on his face; sure his character is meant to be ambivalent but Pitt delivers nothing in terms of his performance apart from some impressive acrobatics in the fight scenes.

Things move forward to Sparta where Princes Hector (Eric Bana) and Paris (Orlando Bloom) of Troy are at the festivities hosted by Sparta as part of a new truce between Sparta and Troy. Paris is in love with King Menelaus’ (Brendan Gleeson) wife Helen (Diane Kruger). Paris takes her back to Troy, much to Hector’s anger who knows this will bring about a war between Sparta and potentially the rest of Greece under Agamemnon. Outraged, Menelaus contacts his brother Agamemnon to exact revenge, which leads to the big battles between the Greeks and the Trojans at the steps of Troy, culminating with the sacking of Troy through a clever ploy by the Greeks, namely the use of the Trojan Horse.

As most of this film is basically the war between the Greeks and the Trojans interspersed with supposed character moments, the film manages to deliver some huge action set pieces, with the first battle at Troy being the most impressive. The sweeping helicopter shot of the Greek army advancing on the stoically defiant Trojans is breathtaking, and the film succeeds on every level when it delivers these big visuals and action. The epic shot of the Greek fleet sailing towards the beaches of Troy is likewise an impressive moment to behold.

Unfortunately, the film suffers from the fact that its story is not executed with any depth, nor are the supposed larger than life characters worth watching, with the notable exceptions of Eric Bana and Brian Cox. The former was something of a surprise simply because Brad Pitt was the acting drawcard in this film and Bana manages to hold the screen much more than what Pitt does. Brian Cox is likewise excellent as King Agamemnon, portraying him with the right amount of ruthlessness and greed that make him the perfect antagonist. All the other characters lack any depth and are uninspiring. Brad Pitt looks like this film was just a big pay cheque for him, not looking interested in anything that he is doing. Watching the Trojans led by an unfortunate Peter O’Toole as King Priam can be agonisingly boring as they have entire scenes where they discuss how the Gods are smiling on them and how as such, they will beat the Greeks. O’Toole comes across as a fool more than anything else and can be embarrassing to watch at times as opposed to the tragedy his character is supposed to be. Diane Kruger is nice to look at, but it is hard to believe that two civilisations would go to war over such a woman.

Story-wise, the film is flat and cliché ridden. Ancient civilisations apparently always speak with proper English accents to denote their civility. No Greek men were apparently gay (a no-no for a Hollywood spectacular) but were in fact very red-blooded heterosexuals. There’s always a seven-foot henchmen for the bad guys that gives the good guys a run for their money. All of this leads to a bland interpretation of Homer’s The Iliad. There is no sense at any point during “Troy” that you are taken in to this ancient world, despite the excellent production design and costumes. The film criss-crosses between big battles and contrived character moments, least of which being any moments involving the character of Paris who in essence should have been held accountable for starting the whole thing in the first place and is ultimately responsible for the downfall of Troy.

At 196 minutes, this director’s cut could still have been appreciably shorter and still gotten the point across, despite director Petersen’s insistence in the DVD featurettes that the film needed to be longer for the world to be more accessible. This Director’s Cut of “Troy” is okay; a better version to the original release, but is still light years away from being a grand entertainment worth remembering.

TECHNICAL REVIEW: The film looks spectacular on DVD. The vibrant visuals are something to behold, particularly with the use of colour and detail. Any images of the crystal blue waters surrounding Troy to the furious battle sequences are faithfully represented in astonishing clarity. The audio transfer is near perfect, making full use of the surrounds, and at times, makes you feel as if you are in the middle of the battle. The only downside to the technical aspect of the DVD is that the film is split over two discs. Having to change discs in the middle of viewing the film is a pain and although this yields in a far better transfer, the fact that you have to do it is an inconvenience. Overall, the film has been given an excellent transfer on this DVD.

EXTRAS REVIEW: The extras package on this DVD amount to a series of featurettes focusing on different aspects of the production, all narrated through interviews by director Wolfgang Peterson. The featurettes are in total thirty minutes in length and do offer some interesting tidbits including Pitt’s discovery of paparazzi in the remote location they were filming, to the changes made for the Director’s Cut, to the elaborate staging of the film’s big set pieces. Peterson certainly has a passion for the material which is reflected in the interviews, however, a more detailed documentary with cast interviews and more on-set footage would have been welcome given the scale of this production. Overall, the extras package is okay but it could have been better.

BOTTOM LINE: Rent it.