Troy (Director's Cut) (DVD)

The consensus on Troy over at RottenTomatoes says, "A brawny, entertaining spectacle, but lacking emotional resonance." Well, based on that I can't help but wonder what the critics are going to think of the film now that Wolfgang Petersen has added what he calls more emotion, giving the characters more room to breathe and allowing us to get to know them better and learn more about their motivations and why they do what they do. Petersen contends this is the film he really envisioned in his introduction, and while that may be the case it doesn't necessarily mean it is a better vision.

I am a Troy fan. I gave it a B+ when it was released (review here) in theaters and that is a grade I hold firm to as the film certainly had its problems, but the good certainly outweighed the bad. The film is visually appealing and comes in at a satisfying length considering the massive scope of the story it is telling as it weaves the story of Homer's "Iliad" in with bits of Virgil's Latin epic poem "The Aeneid". I loved the action and still contend that the fight between Hector (Eric Bana) and Achilles (Brad Pitt) is one of the best fight scenes ever filmed as it combines brilliant choreography and the only seemingly unique piece of music provided by James Horner in the film. Unfortunately, everything I liked about the theatrical cut was thrown to the wind with this director's cut.

What you now get is a new opening sequence featuring a dog as it searches for its master only to find him dead and the approaching Greek army nearby. You get a new and unnecessary introduction to Odysseus and you get a lot more blood, gore and even a little Diane Kruger nudity. The blood and gore is very much in the fashion of Braveheart and the red really pops off the screen and adds a good deal of brutality that was lacking from the fights, but all the blood in the world doesn't make this a better cut of the film.

Two things really bothered me about this new cut. First, would be a new scene just after Paris has sex with Helen and he is confronted by Hector, who knows what has just happened. Hector is not so polite in addressing the issue with his little brother as he tells him, "Paris, you are my brother and I love you, but if you do anything to endanger Troy I will rip your pretty face from your pretty skull." He says this to him with a handful of Paris' face and a scowl. You believe what he is saying, it is effective. Where it goes all wrong is in the next scene where Paris tells Hector he has just smuggled Helen aboard their ship and then off to Troy they go. It makes no sense and there is no ripping of faces from skulls. I know he didn't necessarily mean it literally, but it is far to grand a statement and it ultimately weakens the original scene that follows it, a scene that worked well on its own without being muddied with newly found convictions.

The second and most important aspect of this new cut that convinced me I will never watch this version again, has to do with the new music that has been added. While the theme is the same, new music was added and even changed in several scenes. Unfortunately one of those scenes is the before mentioned fight between Hector and Achilles. Horner's score in the theatrical cut was subtle as the drums pounded and moved in time with the battle. Now, it is a grand and epic clash of strings and horns that is far more epic in scale, but takes everything I loved about the original version and tosses it aside. This, for me, was inexcusable. Along with the musical changes we also get a little bit of Gabriel Yared's original elements, which I am sure aficionados may be interested in hearing, but it isn't anything special.

Another scene ruined by the new musical stylings is Hector's funeral as the vocals of Tanja Tzarovksa have been added to the score, and it is the first time I can remember incoherent chanting actually being visualized as one woman is seen howling in pain. Distracting is the word I would choose here. The score for Troy was never anything great outside of "Hector's Death", but now it is just bland and repetitive and it hurts the overall production.

As for special features you aren't getting a Petersen audio commentary, or any commentary for that matter, but you are getting a new 11 piece featurette called "Troy in Focus" that talks about the making of the film and mixes in a lot of chatter about what has been added for this new cut. This feature is actually not that bad I am sorry to say since I won't be recommending you buy this disc. Outside of "Troy in Focus" and another short featurette called "Attacking Troy" which talks about the development of the battle scenes, the rest is all a rehash of what we already own. However, this disc isn't really about the features, in as much as it is about the new cut. Unfortunately the new cut fails so there isn't much more to say.

While 30 minutes of new footage has been added I have to disagree with Petersen when he tells us in his introduction that it adds more emotion. All it really adds is "more". In the blood and guts department we are satisfied, but as for the rest it is all folderol. Don't waste your money on this disc; especially if you are a fan of the theatrical cut, it isn't worth your time, especially at three hours and 12 minutes.