movie review troy

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Common Sense Says
Parents Say 19 Reviews
Kids Say 33 Reviews

Common Sense Media Review

By Nell Minow , based on child development research. How do we rate?

Violent, watered-down version of The Iliad.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know the movie has almost-constant battle violence with graphic and brutal injuries. The weapons include knives, swords, spears, arrows, and fire. Many characters are killed. The movie also has sexual references and situations and brief nudity. A virgin priestess is made available to the soldiers for…

Why Age 16+?

Extreme, intense, and graphic battle violence with swords, knives, spears, and f

Sexual references and situations including threesome, reference to rape, nudity.

Characters drink wine.

Any Positive Content?

The movie, which is based on The Illiad , should be about love, honor, bet

Not a lot of positive role models.

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Violence & Scariness

Extreme, intense, and graphic battle violence with swords, knives, spears, and fire; many characters brutally killed.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Positive Messages

The movie, which is based on The Illiad , should be about love, honor, betrayal, fate, ambition, and of course, hubris, but it is really more about fighting.

Positive Role Models

Where to watch, videos and photos.

Parent and Kid Reviews

Parents say (19)
Kids say (33)

Based on 19 parent reviews

Too much for under 18. A reviewer says Pitt made Trojan error, but untrue

What's the story.

Prince Paris ( Orlando Bloom ), son of King Priam ( Peter O'Toole ) of Troy, steals the wife of King Menelaus (Brendan Gleeson) of Sparta: Helen ( Diane Kruger ), the most beautiful woman in the world. Menelaus and his brother, Agamemnon (Brian Cox) take the Greeks (including Brad Pitt as Achilles) to war against Troy, partly because of Helen, but more because it is an excuse to conquer the Trojans.

Is It Any Good?

Aside from two key scenes centering on Achilles, TROY is uneven and unsatisfying. The dialogue is as inconsistent as the accents, with modern pronouncements like "we need to talk" and "do it!" alternating with ponderous approximations of classical meter. In an attempt to make one of history's greatest epic sagas manageable on screen, the movie tells us both too much and too little about what is going on and keeps reminding us about everyone's passion for a place in history but does not show us enough about who the characters are and why their destinies are so entangled.

The Iliad is a story about love, honor, betrayal, fate, ambition, and of course, hubris -- the adventure of the best warrior there ever was or will be. This movie is the watered-down, greatest hits, Classic Comics version. It's mostly about the fighting. And Achilles doesn't rage so much as pout and glower.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about how this story has continued to be vital and meaningful for generations throughout the centuries. Which elements of the story are relevant to contemporary conflicts? The treatment of prisoners? The role of advisors?

Achilles was given the choice between a happy life and eternal fame. Why did he decide in favor of glory? What did he mean by saying that the gods envy us because we are mortal?

Movie Details

In theaters : May 14, 2004
On DVD or streaming : January 4, 2005
Cast : Brad Pitt , Eric Bana , Orlando Bloom
Director : Wolfgang Petersen
Studio : Warner Bros.
Genre : Drama
Run time : 163 minutes
MPAA rating : R
MPAA explanation : graphic violence and some sexuality/nudity
Last updated : August 18, 2024

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What to watch next.

The Last Samurai

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Martial arts movies for kids.

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Cast & crew
User reviews

Brad Pitt, Sean Bean, Saffron Burrows, Eric Bana, Orlando Bloom, Rose Byrne, Diane Kruger, and Garrett Hedlund in Troy (2004)

An adaptation of Homer's great epic, the film follows the assault on Troy by the united Greek forces. An adaptation of Homer's great epic, the film follows the assault on Troy by the united Greek forces. An adaptation of Homer's great epic, the film follows the assault on Troy by the united Greek forces.

Wolfgang Petersen
David Benioff
Orlando Bloom
1.9K User reviews
211 Critic reviews
56 Metascore
5 wins & 23 nominations total

Top cast 37

Agamemnon's Officer

Messenger Boy

Helen's Handmaiden

Old Spartan Fisherman

All cast & crew
Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

More like this

Did you know

Trivia Brad Pitt and Eric Bana did not use stunt doubles for their epic duel. They made a gentlemen's agreement to pay for every accidental hit; $50 for each light blow and $100 for each hard blow. Pitt ended up paying Bana $750, and Bana didn't owe Pitt anything.
Goofs Coins are placed on dead characters' eyes before their bodies are burnt. Ancient Greeks placed a coin in the corpse's mouth, not on the eyes. However, the Trojan War occurred before coined money was invented (in the 7th century BC), so they wouldn't have had coins at all.

Achilles : I'll tell you a secret. Something they don't teach you in your temple. The Gods envy us. They envy us because we're mortal, because any moment might be our last. Everything is more beautiful because we're doomed. You will never be lovelier than you are now. We will never be here again.

Alternate versions Director's Cut runs 196 minutes and features extended and deleted scenes, enhancing plot and character development, as well as featuring more sex and violence.
Connections Featured in HBO First Look: Troy (2004)
Soundtracks Remember Music by James Horner Lyric by Cynthia Weil Produced by David Foster Recorded by Jochem Van Der Saag (uncredited) and Alejandro Rodriguez (uncredited) Mixed by Humberto Gatica (uncredited) Performed by Josh Groban with Tanja Tzarovska Josh Groban appears courtesy of 143 Records/Reprise Records

User reviews 1.9K

It's just a movie.

Nov 17, 2012
How long is Troy? Powered by Alexa
What are the differences between the Theatrical Version and the Director's Cut?
What are some of the differences between the events in this movie and in The Iliad?
May 14, 2004 (United States)
United States
United Kingdom
Official Facebook
Warner Brothers
Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, Mexico (location)
Warner Bros.
Helena Productions
Radiant Productions
See more company credits at IMDbPro
$175,000,000 (estimated)
$133,378,256
$46,865,412
May 16, 2004
$497,409,852
Runtime 2 hours 43 minutes
Dolby Digital

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Troy Reviews

Troy puts immense care into every single beat of its action, and as a result these sequences drive its emotions in a way the script often fails to achieve

Full Review | Original Score: 7.5/10 | May 15, 2024

In terms of historical accuracy, Troy is probably on par with Van Helsing. But for balancing intimate stories with spectacular battles in an old-school-sized epic, it's closer to Gladiator.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | May 7, 2023

... it’s hard to take the cataclysmic events of this ancient war seriously, as it is entirely predicated on an unconvincing romantic gesture of a prince with the impulse control of a spoiled brat and the political consideration of a cat in heat.

Full Review | Jul 5, 2022

Petersen puts an effects-generated, action-film spin on the Trojan War, focusing on spectacle rather than emotional nuance. While this undermines acting opportunities by downplaying personalities, it works on a popcorn entertainment level.

Full Review | Aug 11, 2021

With all the over-the-top costumes and sets, it looks more like a television movie of the week than a big summer event flick.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Jun 5, 2019

The real problem with Petersen and Benioff's reductive ideological updating of the epic story they tell is organic, not pedantic: the "realism" they've opted for goes against the grain of the genre they're working in.

Full Review | Aug 20, 2018

Brad is worth the ticket price alone and others turned in creditable performances, particularly Eric Bana as an upright family man who just happens to be the prince of a warlike city-state, and Sean Bean as Odysseus the Ironic.

Full Review | Jan 9, 2018

overblown historical epic

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Jan 17, 2016

An adaptation of The Iliad that would have had to work much harder to miss the point of The Iliad any more thoroughly.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/10 | Dec 4, 2014

Violent, watered-down version of The Iliad.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 29, 2010

While an achievement in visuals, Troy fails in every other aspect including its writing and storytelling.

Full Review | Apr 29, 2009

Despite its shortcomings, Troy is a visual smorgasbord.

Full Review | Oct 18, 2008

The face-off between Achilles and Hector is beautifully realized, all the more wounding because we can precisely read each man's emotions going into the fight.

Full Review | Original Score: B+ | Aug 5, 2007

It's coherent at least. But only barely. Its special effects are pretty, and it has a cool soundtrack (though it's over-used). But boy is the writing terrible. I mean, terrible.

Full Review | Original Score: 1/4 | Jul 14, 2007

All the cast members, even Mr. Pitt, adopt the obligatory British accent, sans contractions, employed by the historical drama genre, even though the action takes place in Ancient Greece.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | May 2, 2007

A numbingly reliable tick-tock of expository set pieces alternating with vast CGI-aided battle scenes.

Full Review | Jun 24, 2006

Troy condenses Homer's ten-year war into a couple of months.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Jul 25, 2005

The battle of Troy takes the jump from history books to film with little consideration, disregarding the story's historical accuracy and failing to entertain audiences with the kind of flashy battle sequences the summer season demands.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 5, 2005

Aside from being the first Hair Movie of the year, Troy also claims the prize of being the first Get Your Fat Butt to the Gym Movie of the year.

Full Review | Original Score: 6/10 | Apr 1, 2005

'A valiant but doomed affair, as carefully constructed -- and ultimately as hollow -- as the Trojan Horse itself.'

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 22, 2005

IMAGES

Troy movie review & film summary (2004)
Troy (2004) Review
REVIEW
Troy (2004) Review
Troy Movie Starring Brad Pitt Review
MOVIE REVIEW

VIDEO

Troy (2004) Movie Review || Brad Pitt,Eric Bana, Orlando Bloom, Diane || Review & Facts
Troy (2004)
7 Shocking Facts About the Movie Troy You Didn't Know!
Troy (2004): DVD Review
Troy
Troy (2004) Movie || Brad Pitt, Eric Bana, Orlando Bloom || Review And Facts