For decades Greece has been torn apart by war as Agamemnon tries to conquer all the nations of Greece and write his name in the history books. With the help of Achilles the greatest warrior to ever live, that dream of his has almost come true. Almost all of Greece fights and dies for Agamemnon, all except of course Troy. Tired of war and death Agamemnon’s brother Menelaus the king of the Spartans has decided to make a truce with the Trojans rather than go to war with them much to the displeasure of his brother. That is until in the year 1193 B.C., Paris, a prince of Troy who is visiting Sparta to sign the truce steals Helen, Queen of Sparta, and the wife of Menelaus. Menelaus vows to have Helen back even if he has to burn all of Troy to accomplish the feat. So the kingdoms of Mycenaean Greece send a thousand ships across the Adriatic Sea to lay war on and siege on Troy. Hector, Paris’s brother while in disagreement to the actions of his brother that has lead to war will not back down from the Greeks as it appears Paris may truly be in love with Helen. Once there the Greeks lay siege to the great fortress that has always protected Troy and has never been conquered and also begin the stories of the woman who was so beautiful that she launched a thousand ships and began one of the greatest wars and sieges of all time.

This movie is one of the most amazing movies I have seen in quite some time. It is more epic than Lord of the Rings ever dreamed of being without having to take nine hours to accomplish the feat, and makes Gladiator look like child’s play. The movie captures more emotions more perfectly than you will usually see in any one movie, from love, to war, to the very meaning of what it is to be a hero. I know there will be some purists out there that will cry foul because the movie did not follow Homer’s Illiad to the letter, but some changes always need to be made to adapt a great story to film. If any of the changes actually distracted from the story and changed its essence than I might think they have some grievance, but they didn’t so there should be no reason to complain. I really liked how they dealt with the Gods as they were needed but would have not worked had they actually cast actors to play them. I understand the Gods are an important part of the story and just because they were not on screen does not mean they did not play their roles. In a movie with so many great moments one will always stand out for me and that is the battle between Achilles and Hector. The battle has to be the single greatest battle I have ever seen on screen, it was nothing less than stunning and amazing and set the whole tempo for the film. Few movies are so incredible that when you walk away from them you can’t wait to see them over and over again, this movie captures that from the epic battles to the amazing drama that the characters brought to life. If you don’t see this movie in the theatres you are doing yourself a great injustice.
5 stars out of 5