Who’d have thought Russell Crowe would shape Brad Pitt’s future? With Gladiator’s revitalisation of the sword and sandal epic, he made room for Lord of the Rings and every slice of sword-wielding savagery since; films like The Last Samurai and even Van Helsing to some degree. Thus it comes to pass that two films are being made about Alexander the Great and, while we wait, the siege of Troy. Curiously, director Wolfgang Petersen turned down Gladiator because he felt that it was too ‘retro’. The year is 1193 BC and Paris (Orlando Bloom) has stolen Helen of Sparta. Revenge leads Achilles (Brad Pitt) and Greece on a vicious rampage as Hector (Eric Bana) defends Paris and the city of Troy. Homer’s great yarn has had the kind of Hollywood makeover you might expect from the director of A Perfect Storm. Rendered on a massive canvas of digital trickery, Troy takes no prisoners in retelling the siege that decimated a nation. Despite many appropriated scenes to guide modern audiences (the film is awash in echoes of LOTR, Braveheart, Saving Private Ryan and even Gone with the Wind), Petersen strives to be as authentic as anyone can be 3000 years after the fact. The result is far closer to the authenticity of Elizabeth Taylor at 20^th Century Fox circa 1963, albeit with more mud and blood. His ability to keep the focus shifting between carnage, grand scenes and personal detail gives some characters a chance to discuss pressing issues of the day: love, war, honour, immortality. The film is better for it – a true Hollywood epic and a rollicking, thrill-packed ride of adventure and romance. Just don’t expect to find much of Homer in Troy. // COLIN FRASER