[First image is Achilles, second image shows Helen-of-Troy & Paris. And the third image is Theseus]
The Troy movie actually captures the essence of the scripted legend, although the director & writer deviated from the original tale in various segments, just so that the movie would flow more smoothly. You can read up on the legend of Achilles over HERE, in the Wikipedia archive.
My main desire in this article is to compare themes and presentations between the Troy 2004 movie and The Immortals 2011 movie. Both of these action films were Rated R for sexuality and violence. And they have their peculiar similarities.
In Troy, the ideology of valor and personal pride are intertwined. Achilles felt that he was disrespected by the Achaean King Agamemnon. Thus he refused to lead the army of the King into battle against the formidable Trojan soldiers guarded by the walls of the Trojan City. And in The Immortals, the main hero, Theseus, initially refuses to join the Greeks to go into battle against the evil hordes of King Hyperion. Theseus is played by Henry Cavill [the guy who will play Superman in the forthcoming Man of Steel 2013 movie] and he did an excellent job on his part.
Like Achilles, Theseus later undergoes what can best be called an epiphany or a change of heart. And he opts to become a soldier for justice, encouraging his people to fight for their freedom an their immortality. And out of sheer coincidence, in the Troy movie, there is a scene in which Achilles points at the shores of the Trojan landscape from his ship and he encourages his warriors [the legendary Myrmidons] to charge forward, as he tells them that their immortality lies beyond the walls of the city and they must charge forward and "take it; its yours".
It can be debated that the action scenes in The Immortals were far more intense than the battle scenes in Troy. After all, the gods of Olympus in the aforementioned film had super-speed and super-strength, thus they appeared to move more than 10-times quicker than their mortal foes. Without having any of those advanced abilities, the warriors in Troy appeared to battle with all their might, amidst well choreographed clashes that can currently be viewed as sword-fight classics. I will try and upload the outstanding clash between Achilles and Hector [played by Brad Pitt and Eric Bana respectively] in this blog. If it doesn't work, then just search for that clip on YouTube.com and I'm sure you'll find it.
Bear in mind that a strong well-paced plot with properly developed lead characters will always be the driving force that pushes a mighty movie ship to the harbor of abundant success, just as favorable winds in ancient times assisted in accelerating the movements of classic seafaring vessels with giant sails and erect masts. I did see both of the films in this discussion. And although they are both entertaining and they both have good actors, one of them is still better than the other in terms of overall quality.
So far The Immortals has grossed about 134 million dollars world-wide; and that amount will probably increase throughout the holiday season. But I honestly don't think it will surpass Troy's benchmark....
The Blog Article with the review on The Immortals 2011 Movie, including tons of production pics, was posted HERE