Troy (2004)
Review by Dindrane
Film:
DVD:

Narrated by Liam Dale

Released by: Delta Entertainment
Region: 1
Rating: NR, safe for all ages
Anamorphic: N/A; appears in its original 1.33:1 format.

My Advice: Worth a view for everyone.

The furor over the release of the newest Hollywood blockbuster, Troy has created a similar feeding frenzy of documentary releases and television specials related to the "real story" of the epic poem that inspired the film: Homer's Iliad. Classicists and other academics can only hope that seeing Brad Pitt buffed and half naked on the screen will somehow lead to a curiosity about history and literature.

This Troy, as produced by Delta Entertainment, is one of these documentaries now being released to capitalize on the popularity of the film by the same name. It begins with a look at Homer and what we know or do not know about him and then progresses to a brief overview of the Iliad, with, I might add, a rather sporadic synopsis of the tale. It is as if the writers of the program were trying to avoid "giving anything away," when frankly, if a viewer has not yet read the Iliad or at least lived in a Western nation long enough to absorb the story, then he or she bloody well deserves to get the ending spoiled...ah, but that's another rant. A personal grumble is that there was no mention of Cassandra.

Troy then progresses to cover the archaeology of Troy, concentrating primarily on the history between Schliemann and Calvert in a rather more sensationalistic way than might be strictly necessary; while historians might appreciate the attempt to show viewers how sexy archaeology can be, it's also interesting enough on its own to not need the "help" of a Robin Leach-sounding narrator to demonstrate how fascinating history and the search for knowledge can inherently be. The show's writing also seems to be tilted towards believing the entire tale is mostly imaginary, and therefore scientists who search for Troy are regarded skeptically.

From the modern fields of Hissarlik, viewers travel back in time again to look at Alexander the Great, another historical, epic hero. I'm not clear what the producer's point was here, but at least Al is interesting.

There are no features on this release, but then there isn't much the producers could have added, either, except perhaps for maps or a PDF file of the Iliad. Try to overlook the rather silly rhetorical questions on the back of the disc case, such as "was the lovely Helen of Troy...really as beautiful as everybody claimed?"

The audio and video quality are both commensurate with a contemporary television documentary. The images are clear, and the narration is nicely balanced in volume with other sounds. There is some nice camera-work when the show visits the hills of Hassarlik, but the bits with the Greek drama masks are a bit heavy-handed.

If you are a classicist or relatively well-read in literature or history, then there will be nothing new for you here, but if you are just beginning to fulfill an interest in the classics, then you should pick this one up. Middle school or high school teachers might like to add this one to their units on classical history; the movie tie-in can't hurt when it comes to generating student interest, and the tone of the narration might appeal to them. Parents will like knowing that there is not a great deal of explicit violence.