Wolfgang's Petersen's 2004 all-star historical epic struck gold at the Box Office, but Director Wolfgang Petersen was not happy with the original theatrical release. A perfect opportunity indeed for Warner Bros to allow Petersen to go back and 'restore' his directorial vision. This is pretty much a complete reboot, with much footage deleted, added, and re-arranged. WHV put out this Blu Ray edition much later than the competing formats, but in my opinion this delay makes the Blu Ray a winner as far as quality authoring goes (since more time makes for more content and better authoring). Keep in mind the original TROY was almost three hours long and this director's cut adds an additional 30 minutes to that. So if you love long, epic movie making (like the LORD OF THE RINGS extended cuts), you'll dig what TROY: DIRECTORS CUT has to offer. 

TROY is a retooling of Homer's THE ILIAD which is set in 1250 BC. A Trojan Prince named Paris (LORD OF THE RING'S Orlando Bloom) visits the Spartans and seduces their Queen Helen (Diane Kruger) and begs her to divorce husband Menelaus (Brendan Gleeson). The happy couple charts a ship and heads back to Troy. The jilted husband recruits his brother Agamemnom (Brian Cox) to go to Troy and rescue the Queen. Much internal turmoil and politics ensue. Finally the Spartans gather a thousand ships and sail toward Troy with the unavoidable battles soon to follow. The Spartan warrior Achilles (Brad Pitt) leads their armies against the unbeatable Trojans. What both sides did not account for, however, is the arrival of a power hungry third party Hector (Eric Bana) who seeks to usurp victory. 

Wolfgang Petersen certainly took some dramatic liberties in many cases; and the director intentionally left out some important revelations from THE ILIAD. Gone is the interactions of the gods and goddesses in the lives of mortals. In TROY, there is no Apollo to guide Paris and Achilles. Aphrodite is not around to manipulate the hand of Menelaus. Another big oversight is that the The Trojan War lasted ten years, and in Wolfgang Petersen's version, the war lasts two weeks. Another liberty is taken when Hector defies the warrior's code of honor and kills Menelaus. The Casandra character is completely removed from the narrative. The legends paint Paris as an unsympathetic and unsavory character, but Orlando Bloom's wimpy character is too far off the mark. Petersen kills off the character of Ajax way too early, when this character went mad and ultimately killed himself in THE ILIAD.

The acting by the principals was very good, with the exception of Orlando Bloom, who seemed to be stuck in his LORD OF RINGS mode, especially his use of the bow. His wimpy portrayal of Paris just doesn't seem believable to make Queen Helen fall for him. Sean Bean and Peter O'Toole as Odysseus and Priam, respectively, turn in superior performances. While I'm not a big fan of Eric Bana, this the best I've ever seen him perform. Ditto for Brad Pitt, although its a bit of a stretch to see him play the greatest warrior of their time. Actor/stuntman Tyler Mane (who probably should have got the Achilles role) turns in a surprising performance as Ajax, although Mane's character is cut short.

TROY features supporting roles by British acting legends and genre favorites alike, such as Julian Glover (EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, FOR YOUR EYES ONLY, HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS, and is best known by genre fans as Colonel Breen from QUATERMASS AND THE PIT), Saffron Burrows (DEEP BLUE SEA, WING COMMANDER, and KLIMPT), Nigel Terry (the Willam Dafoe lookalike who played King Author in EXCALIBUR,  HIGHLANDER, CHISTOPHER COLUMBUS: THE DISCOVERY), Brendan Gleeson (BEOWULF, HARRY POTTER AND GOBLET OF FIRE, KINGDOM OF HEAVEN), and Diane Kruger (NATIONAL TREASURE, THE PIANO PLAYER, and THE HUNTING PARTY). 

WHV releases TROY: DIRECTORS CUT on a BD-50, allotting plenty of space for first-rate picture and sound, and plenty of extras. This 1080p/MPEG-2 transfer overall is excellent, although perhaps a tad below reference quality. Though superior to the DVD and HD-DVD releases, there is still some uneven whites, which manifests itself as a peculiar 'brightness' noticeable in the sprawling exterior scenes. Anchoring this one weakness however, is near-perfect contrast and detail, and deep, solid blacks, that you don't expect from these desert-location productions. For instance, the close-ups of Achille's helmet, and the sight of Hector's crusty corpse really come through in the transfer. The sprawling combat sequences consist of real people, and are perfectly rendered in the image. Ditto for the period landscapes which are highlighted by walls of Troy and the endless flotilla of warships going to the sea. The color palette is first rate, which perfectly enhances TROY's natural tone. Visually, for a recent film, the visuals are very natural with the exception of the digital combat scenes. Subtitles include English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, and Korean. 

TROY: DIRECTORS CUT comes with a 640kbps English Dolby Digital 5.1 mix, an English uncompressed PCM 5.1 mix, a  Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 mix, , an a French Dolby Digital 5.1 mix. After careful comparison, the PCM 5.1 track comes up the big winner. This is cutting edge soundfield  imaging here, which offers killer effects during the many battle and adventure scenes. The interior scenes however feel more restrained, with little echo or reverb inside these giant temples. The bass will also overpower you where needed. The low end provides quite a platform for James Horner's majestic score. The dialog is sharp and clear and emanates cleanly from the center channel. 

The TROY: DIRECTORS CUT Blu Ray contains numerous extras to fully qualify it as the Special Edition it sells as. In the Thick of Battle is a documentary of the film's battle sequences. Troy: An Effects Odyssey is a doc that covers TROY's computerized special effects. From Ruin to Reality showcases the film's awesome production design. Troy in Focus gives a detailed evolution on the historical context of TROY: DIRECTORS CUT. Here Wolfgang Petersen and screenwriter David Benioff discuss the challenges of adapting Homer and the compromises they  made to determine the original theatrical cut. Attacking Troy is another doc that focuses on the battle scenes in a true historical context. Attacking Troy also covers all these super-violent moments. The last, final doc is called Greek Ship Towing and contains a quick look at some of the vessel effects sequences. The only other extra is the original Theatrical Trailer. Now for the bad news: all the supplements are presented presented here in 480p/MPEG-2 video only, and NOT in high-def. 

I've heard that TROY is perceived as a superficial historical battle-fest that places more value on its special effects than as a realistic interpretation of Homer's THE ILIAD. While this is true to some extent, it still falls under the umbrella of epic storytelling, and with a truly memorable cast, TROY: DIRECTORS CUT nearly reaches the same heights of the LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy. Wolfgang Petersen's new cut adds characterization, more linear storytelling, and more bloody violence to the forefront. However, the people who could barely sit through the original should probably avoid this version. Technically, the audio and video are high quality, but WHV needs to work on transferring their supplemental material to true high-definition. TROY: DIRECTORS CUT adds a lot of violence to the film, which is not for the kiddies. 

-  Brian Cleary