I love a good sword & sandal epic as much as the next guy, and I’ve been looking forward to this one…but I dunno…
First – some of the dialog in the trailer sound pretty cheezy. “Immortality! It’s yours!” ?? “I love you…in this world or the next”??
And…If I was casting the part of Achilles: baddest bad-ass warrior in the world; demi-god, darned-near-invulnerable…I think Brad Pitt would be really, really far down the list. Who would be #1? Hmmm…The Rock?
The Rock woulda been cool.
It looks … well, it looks like a bad miniseries. Dunno why, but I just get that feeling. Brad Pitt isn’t a guy who presents an image of MANLY MAN ME BURN YOUR DOG kind of toughness.
Oh, and isn’t this the one with Orlando Bloom? He looks to be about 12 years old in the previews for it. He looks like a lost fawn.
Speculation?
The Greeks win. 
From what I’ve heard from the ladies on this board, they’ve done a good job in the male eye-candy department. But isn’t this story supposed to be about the most beautiful woman in the world? The most beautiful woman in the world does not need fifteen layers of makeup. And where in Ancient Troy did she manage to find all those cans of hairspray? Call me underwhelmed.
As an ancient history geek, I would be very apprehensive if it weren’t for the fact that I like the director. Wolfgang Peterson has directed several of my favorite movies, including the finest war movie ever made (Das Boot). So I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt.
About her? Nah, she’s certainly not the most important character in the story. Hector, Paris, Agamemnon, Achilles, and Odysseus are all much more important characters then Helen. While they didn’t have hairspray back then they certainly had ways of styling hair. These weren’t barbarians these were folks who lived in a sophisticated civilization.
Marc
Trepidation.
I agree Brad Pitt isn’t “bad ass” looking. Though Achiles I always saw as very vain… so he fits in well with that. He is also the least of the actors in the film… interpretation wise.
Even then I am expecting something akin to Gladiator… eye full… dramatic… and a bit light on story. 
I do love that first trailer… and the music.
I think Brad Pitt is an acceptable choice for Achilles. In the Iliad, Achilles is not just a killing machine. He’s frequently shown to be a whiny-baby crankypants: he goes crying to his mommy when King Agamemmnon takes his favorite new toy, he threatens to take his Myrmidons and go play somewhere else when councils don’t go his way etc.
And I can’t think of anyone more apt to play fey, nancy-boy archer Paris than Orlando Bloom.
Has anyone else noticed in the most recent preview that Helen is wearing a necklace and earrings that are exact replicas of the ones Schliemann found at his dig at Troy, and claimed were Helen’s? (Of course, the artifacts were actually from the completely wrong time period.)
In any case, I am quite rapt with anticipation, and not just because I dig ships with apotropaic eyes.
I’m a sucker for huge Greco-Roman epics. I’ll see it although I’ll probably kick myself for it later. That is why I will see it at the university’s theater so I don’t have to plunk down my hard-earned money at the door.
Ain’t just the ladies that are liking the masculine eye candy.
In addition this is based on a work of poetic fiction, so I wouldn’t stress much over the movie’s lack of fidelity to Mycenean-era costumes and decor.
I am a tad annoyed that the filmmakers left out the gods from the script because they play a huge role in instigating the action in the Iliad
I just checked the IMDB’s cast list, and noticed that Sean Bean is playing Odysseus (although he doesn’t appear in any of the trailers I’ve seen). I would’ve flip-flopped roles between him and Brad Pitt.
They also list a Patroclus; it’ll be interesting to see what they do with the Achilles-Patroclus relationship.
I think it will be a great date movie. My wife can drool over the hunks, and I can groove on the battles sequences and snipe at how it differs from the book. 
If the Trojans win, however, I’m gonna be pissed!
I’m not sure what to think of this. Outside of the trailers, I haven’t researched the movie much, but I asked some of my more film-searchy friends, and according to them, Achilles is supposed to be invincible like in the actual myth. If that’s so, I don’t know why’d they leave out the gods, like gobear says, but the fact niether issue’s been brought up in the trailers makes me a little curious if either subject is going to be touched on at all.
Aside from that, I don’t seem to like any of the actors chosen. Well, there’s a couple of the older guys, but Orlando Bloom just looks annoying on such a pathetic level in all the trailers. And Hellen ain’t that hot, I’m sorry.
Eh, I’ll probably check it out when it hits the discount cinema, unless the reviews are really good, but I kinda doubt it.
Provided they work from a sufficiently high-quality translation, the thing could have merit.
I’m just looking forward to being able to say “I liked ancient epics before it was cool.” 
I’m not saying that Helen’s the most important character, no, but her appearance is most important of any of the characters. And I accept that they had makeup and hairstyling in that period; I’m just saying that the famous Helen would either have not worn it, or worn it skillfully. The way to recognize a good makeup job is that it doesn’t look like makeup at all. And her hair doesn’t just look styled, it has that “so much hairspray that if you bent her hair it’d break” look. Just… no.
Now, if they’d included the gods, then there’d be some potential for real eye candy. Me, I’ve always had a crush on Athena.
And gobear, no offense intended. I knew when I wrote that that I wasn’t being strictly accurate, but unfortunately there’s no concise way to say “all of our fine posters who are sexually attracted to handsome males”, so I said “ladies” instead, that being about 90% correct.
Having read the Iliad, I expect it to be crappy
I’ve only seen one picture of the actress playing Helen and that was at the Troy website. Based on that photo I didn’t find anything wrong with the way she looked, her makeup didn’t look bad, and her hair looked just fine. Maybe you’ve seen some other photos or ads that were different. They could have cast any actress for Helen and there would have been plenty of people who thought someone else was much more beautiful.
Speaking of makeup, did ancient makeup artist subscribe to the same idea that a good makeup job didn’t look like makeup at all?
Marc
[History of the World]
Chemist! Chemist! Have you seen a pack of Trojans?
Just sold my last pack
[/History of the World]
I jus tknow I’m gonna think this all through the movie.