Good post! Let me break it down for ya here on what I thought of EVERYONE involved.
Please note: The only standout performances I cared for in "Helen of Troy" were Rufus Sewell, and James Callis. I'm not gonna bother with the rest and do a side by side comparison, it isn't worth it. But now on to "Troy"
First off, I think Brad Pitt's performance as Achilles was the standout performance or performer as you asked. I'm not the biggest Brad Pitt fan you're ever going to find and even I balked when I heard he was cast as a immortal figure such as Achilles, but I gotta admit I think he pulled it off beautifully. He did such a good job that I like to think that Achilles himself was really like the way Brad played him.
The Achilles in Helen of Troy was a joke. Achilles was way more complex, had more than meets the eye than the dude who played him as cold blooded killer in this movie. Worse he was boring, had no screen presence at all, unlike Pitt who brought a commanding presence (yes even I am suprised I'm saying this) to the role.
The great Mr. O'Toole makes any movie he's in, even that much better and I can't think of anyone I'd rather see play Troy's King Priam. Whoever thought of casting Peter O'Toole for that role is a genius. Not a knock against John Rhys-Davies whose interpertation has to be appreciated in it's own merit.
Eric Bana showed he can overcome his HULK"ing" embarassment by proving he can act and indeed carry on, and he was a great Hector, even though at first I had reservations about his being cast at that role also.
Diane Kruger, a very lovely lady, was decent as Helen. As was Ms. Guillory, but I have to give the nod to Ms. Kruger here. Call me unromantic but I have to admit I wouldn't have gone to war over any one of them, but hey that's the story. But all that hassle kinda makes you think, Christ! Didn't these people ever hear of lawyers?
Orlando Bloom as boy toy Paris, was one dimensional and was mostly there for eye candy and the advancement of the story, but he didn't muck things up that badly so I can't really complain.
Sean Bean is a actor I really like, and his Odysseus was really good. It's a shame we really don't see all that much of Odysseus in Troy, but if you know anything about Homers two epics,you know Odysseus's own chapter "The Odyssey" opens up just when "Troy" ends. Liked his performance so much that if they ever do a theatrical movie soley on "The Odyssey" I hope Sean Bean returns to play him. Don't get me wrong I really liked the tv version with Armand Assante, but I'd like to see another one made with Sean.
Brian Cox IS THE MAN! I love this guy, he plays all kinds of different roles and types, and he was REALLY good as the "King of all Kings" (No, not Jesus)
Brendan Gleeson is also my main man, although I'd admit he's not my ideal Menelaus. He seems more brutish than I thought Menelaus actually was, as the story depicts him, but he did just fine. But by the same token even though I like James Callis, he wasn't my ideal Menelaus either although his peformance was good. Mr. Callis has found his calling in playing the new Baltar in the new Battlestar Galactica series on Sci Fi. Now THIS is suited for him! Not King Menelaus.
But still I'd have to give Brad Pitt his props for the standout performance of Troy. Peace.
As far as who I was pulling for, it has to be the Greeks. I know I'm not going to come off as a romantic to the ladies, but what's wrong is wrong, and that's it. What Paris did by stealing another dude's wife, no matter if he was a king or a everyman was wrong. True it's wrong to get an entire country involved in something like that, but that's the story. Plus I was sympathetic to Pitt's Achilles who didn't want to serve a corrupt and ruthless king, but he understood he had to go, it was his destiny for his name to live on for all time by going and he knew he was going to die.
Also I was sorry for Odysseus, who wisely understood that the welfare of his kingdom of Ithaca,mainly the peace and protection thereof was contingent on joining Agamemnon to go to war with Troy. Or else Agamemnon and his army at his command would have turned on Odysseus in a instant had he elected not to sail and fight with the Greeks at Troy. So he did what he had to do.
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