# I nearly shot popcorn out my nose, and it's "Troy"'s fault **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 22, 2004, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-nearly-shot-popcorn-out-my-nose-and-its-troy-s-fault/235762 "2004-03-22T20:17:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-nearly-shot-popcorn-out-my-nose-and-its-troy-s-fault/235762/1 "2004-03-22T20:17:34Z")
So, we were in the theater and the trailers came on. My train of thought went something like this: 1. Oh, look, Orlando Bloom talking to Peter O’Toole. 2. They’re talking about someone named “Helen.” 3. Oh, this must be a trailer for “Troy.” I had heard there was to be a movie, but didn’t know anything about the casting. 4. Oh, that looked like Brian Cox. 5. Hey, the voiceover just mentioned the “greatest hero.” I wonder who’s playing Achilles. 6. Omigod. 7. _snorksnorksnork_ 8. Ow! Hee! Ow! Hee! Ow! 9. Brad Pitt? As Achilles? BRAD PITT? 10. Hee. 11. Ow. 12. Hee. So, I realize I’ve been living under a rock, but really. Brad Pitt? That just ain’t right. Julie ---
**Author:** ![Natroga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/85f322/32.png) [@Natroga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Natroga)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-nearly-shot-popcorn-out-my-nose-and-its-troy-s-fault/235762/2 "2004-03-22T20:44:45Z")
… Whereas Orlando Bloom as Paris (useless prettyboy) is an utterly, utterly brilliant piece of casting. 😉😃 Note to all Orlando Bloom and Paris fans out there: I don’t mean to offend you people. I just had to get it out of my system. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-nearly-shot-popcorn-out-my-nose-and-its-troy-s-fault/235762/3 "2004-03-22T21:14:32Z")
> [@Natroga](#): > > … Whereas Orlando Bloom as Paris (useless prettyboy) is an utterly, utterly brilliant piece of casting. It actually took me a second to recognize him in that Lil Orphan Annie wig, but still… ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-nearly-shot-popcorn-out-my-nose-and-its-troy-s-fault/235762/4 "2004-03-22T21:29:17Z")
Yea, I saw the trailers and my net reaction was…“Hey, this must be that Troy mov…BAHAHAHABRADPITT?..OH HAHAHAHA! Look what they did to BLOOM! HAHAHA!” ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-nearly-shot-popcorn-out-my-nose-and-its-troy-s-fault/235762/5 "2004-03-22T21:53:54Z")
I think it started going downhill as soon as the studio decided to call it _Troy_ instead of the proper but apparently market-unfriendly _The Iliad_. But what the hell, I’ll probably watch it anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Silentgoldfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-nearly-shot-popcorn-out-my-nose-and-its-troy-s-fault/235762/6 "2004-03-22T21:57:20Z")
If the trailer’s any indication I already saw the “epic” battle scenes in the first 10 minutes of Fellowship of the Ring, so I’m not entirely sure if I’m going to see it in the theatre or not. Music sounds pretty good though. ---
**Author:** ![Jurhael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/cab0a1/32.png) [@Jurhael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jurhael)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-nearly-shot-popcorn-out-my-nose-and-its-troy-s-fault/235762/7 "2004-03-22T21:59:02Z")
I’d like to see Troy and I have no problem with Brad Pitt playing Achilles. OKay, maybe I’m a little biased. Heh. ---
**Author:** ![Wumpus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8c91f0/32.png) [@Wumpus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wumpus)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-nearly-shot-popcorn-out-my-nose-and-its-troy-s-fault/235762/8 "2004-03-22T22:05:41Z")
Well it’s not the Illiad, since the movie covers a bunch of stuff the Illiad didn’t-- e.g. the Trojan horse and the fall of Troy. Who would be better as Achilles than Brad Pitt? Would you prefer Vin Diesel? ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-nearly-shot-popcorn-out-my-nose-and-its-troy-s-fault/235762/9 "2004-03-22T22:23:46Z")
Brad Pitt is an okay choice in my mind. He may be a pretty boy but anyone that denies his acting ability either hasn’t seen \*12 Monkeys \* or _Fight Club_ or is just in denial. He’ll never be Ian McKellan, obviously, but he’s still one of the better actors of the past decade. And also, _Troy_, sadly, is not _The Illiad_. Not only does it cover aspects of the war that Homer did not, it takes out most of the gods’ interactions. It’s a pretty loose adaptation overall. ---
**Author:** ![N.Sane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f19dbf/32.png) [@N.Sane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N.Sane)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-nearly-shot-popcorn-out-my-nose-and-its-troy-s-fault/235762/10 "2004-03-22T22:53:19Z")
Please, please, please tell me that it’s going to be better at least than that USA channel movie _Helen of Troy_. I tried to watch it, honest I did, but when it got to where people were believing Cassandra, I had to turn it off. ---
**Author:** ![Melandry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Melandry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melandry)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-nearly-shot-popcorn-out-my-nose-and-its-troy-s-fault/235762/11 "2004-03-22T23:03:22Z")
Vin Diesel? He’s too busy playing Hannibal… ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-nearly-shot-popcorn-out-my-nose-and-its-troy-s-fault/235762/12 "2004-03-22T23:29:24Z")
Well, at least there’s no DiCaprio. ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-nearly-shot-popcorn-out-my-nose-and-its-troy-s-fault/235762/13 "2004-03-22T23:38:08Z")
I haven’t seen the trailer yet, but I have a couple questions. (as I don’t know what the “look” of the film is) 1 Is Pitt really that poor a choice for the role? Or is it you just don’t like him overall? 1. Now I’m curious whom you would prefer to see in the role? Please allow the OP only to respond, as I don’t want to hijack this into a poll thread. Thanks ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-nearly-shot-popcorn-out-my-nose-and-its-troy-s-fault/235762/14 "2004-03-22T23:42:18Z")
> [@Melandry](#): > > Vin Diesel? He’s too busy playing Hannibal… Geez, for a second there, I thought you meant Hannibal _Lecter_… Okay, I’m calm now… ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-nearly-shot-popcorn-out-my-nose-and-its-troy-s-fault/235762/15 "2004-03-22T23:46:11Z")
Two epics on the fall of Troy (the _Illiad_ AND the _Aeneid_) and they couldn’t just follow the story of either one? Hollywood :mad: ---
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-nearly-shot-popcorn-out-my-nose-and-its-troy-s-fault/235762/16 "2004-03-22T23:50:02Z")
My only comment was, after hearing Pitt speak: “Achilles was American?” ---
**Author:** ![Tarrsk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/97f17d/32.png) [@Tarrsk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tarrsk)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-nearly-shot-popcorn-out-my-nose-and-its-troy-s-fault/235762/17 "2004-03-22T23:56:01Z")
On the other hand, early reviews have been excellent, and Eric Bana (who plays Hector) is supposed to be fantastic. I don’t doubt that it will be the “big budget blockbuster” interpretation of Homer, but that worked fine for LOTR, and Petersen is a solid director who is most at home making R-rating flicks, so I’m cautiously optimistic. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2004, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-nearly-shot-popcorn-out-my-nose-and-its-troy-s-fault/235762/18 "2004-03-23T00:19:25Z")
> [@duffer](#): > > 1 Is Pitt really that poor a choice for the role? Or is it you just don’t like him overall? > > 1. Now I’m curious whom you would prefer to see in the role? Please allow the OP only to respond, as I don’t want to hijack this into a poll thread. Hijack away! Pitt is just not someone I would consider even remotely warrior-like. He’s just, well, not my idea of an epic hero. He’s too small, or too pretty, or something. Though I think he could do the “Achilles sulking in his tent” scenes pretty well. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2004, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-nearly-shot-popcorn-out-my-nose-and-its-troy-s-fault/235762/19 "2004-03-23T00:32:26Z")
Am I the only one here who sees Orlando Bloom sliding down a staircase on an aspis and shooting an arrow into Brad Pitt’s foot? ACHILLES: Is there no one else?.. IS THERE NO ONE ELSE?! PARIS: (TWANG!) ACHILLES: AAUUGH!!! (DIES) ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2004, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-nearly-shot-popcorn-out-my-nose-and-its-troy-s-fault/235762/20 "2004-03-23T00:57:30Z")
That’s right before he and Helen go hunting Greeks and keep shouting out their score. I don’t hate Brad Pitt, I think he’s done some great work, but I think he’s totally wrong for this role. Something about the movie just looks terrible. Like in the trailer, there’s this huge fleet of ships, and I want to think “Oh, cool!”…but it just looks lame. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-nearly-shot-popcorn-out-my-nose-and-its-troy-s-fault/235762.md?page=2)