Troy

Beatnik on 2004-05-21T23:10:14

So I went to see the movie everybody is whining aboot. In high school I've always been fascinated by greek and roman history and later on, both Greece and Italy became my favorite countries for cultural visits.

Now, the movie... They made it perfectly clear the movie is more about storyline than it is about history. There were a few things that I noticed... For instance, when I visited Mycene, I didnt remember seeing some sea or river nearby. Sparta is only near a river and not even close to any sea. It also struck me rather odd that the trojans had Llamas... If I recall correctly, llamas originate from South America. Did some traveler discover the americas and bring llamas to Troy around 1500 BC? Aeneas was only mentioned briefly at the end, although he also played a rather important role in the whole war and later on, in the founding of Rome. There is no mention of any of the towns outside Troy the Greek conquered before actually making it to Troy. They did, however, show how Trojans supposedly built temples on the beach, where Briseis is (according to the movie) captured. Achilles dragged Hector's body after his chariot 3 times around Troy... apparently only in the Illiad. Ajax was killed by Hector in the movie.. but he went on a killing rampage after the war ended, in the Illiad. And apparently, the trojan war lasted less than a month (counting the nights and days) and not 10 years or so.

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Troy, llama, accents

ybiC on 2004-05-22T12:41:03

Yeah, I spotted the llama too, and took it as a tribute to Our Favorite Programming Language. ;^)

Another point of humor is how Hollywood film makers very often employ British accents to indicate an exotic foreign locale.

But I found the movie to be a fun watch nontheless, having entered the theater with deliberately low expectations for reality and (pre)historical accuracy.

regarding spoilers...

cog on 2004-05-24T12:44:52

...they should be identified :-)

Re:regarding spoilers...

Beatnik on 2004-05-24T14:04:05

Spoilers?? Where??

Ok.. It ends when they decide to build a large wooden bunny... uhm horse and the Trojans drag it in the city. At night, 20 men crawl out of the bunny.. urgh horse and the open the gate for the 100 extras and 50,000 computer generated men, who raid, burn and plunder the city :)

But then again, you should've learned all about it in high school.

Re:regarding spoilers...

cog on 2004-05-24T18:50:30

Spoilers?? Where??

Llamas, Aeneas, temples on the beach, Briseis being captured there, Achilles, Ajax killing Hector...

It all depends on what you consider to be a spoiler, of course :-) Anyway, being as tired as I am, I'll probably forget all this by the time I go see the movie (tonight)... or not :-)

Re:regarding spoilers...

pudge on 2004-05-25T21:11:54

Frodo succeeds in destroying the ring!

Re:regarding spoilers...

cog on 2004-05-26T08:53:01

Argh!!! I hadn't seen that movie yet :-)

This is worst than when they told me Jesus would die by the end of the The Passion of The Christ :-)