Troy (HD DVD)

Ah ha, one of the HD DVDs I have really been waiting for has finally come home to roost. Warner's 2004 epic Troy was not exactly well-received, and why not I am not quite sure. This movie only seems to get better and better to me each time I watch it and in HD the bar continues to rise. The film managed $144 million at the box-office but was panned by a lot of critics. Suffice to say I wasn't one of them and if I had it all to do over again I would raise that "B+" grade to an "A".

Troy is an adaptation of Homer's "Iliad" with a bit of "The Odyssey" thrown in for good measure and while the film doesn't stick specifically to the text it is a rousing epic that spans a massive scope. War becomes the word of the day across Greece as Helen (Kruger) leaves her husband Menelaus (Gleeson) and Sparta, inspired by her love for prince Paris of Troy (Bloom). This, of course, doesn't sit well with Menelaus who employs his war-mongering brother Agamemnon (Cox) to lead a massive campaign against the city of Troy and a war for land and love begins.

The features on this HD DVD are exactly the same as the DVD release, except for the Warner Home Video In Movie Experience (IME), which really is the only special feature worth watching once you compare it to the rest.

When I reviewed the 2-Disc DVD version of Troy I estimated there was more to come in the way of special features, but it appears they were pretty much tapped out as not a lot is added to this release. The IME does a good job of summing up the entire list of special features except there is not a lot of talk of the hurricane that ravaged the massive set of Troy. Luckily, however, the IME offers up enough reason not to dive back into the special features again even though they do hold some good stuff. Aside from the featurettes, there is also a direct link to the Easter Eggs that were hidden on the DVD and since I don't waste my time looking for those things it was nice to know, after watching the "Previsualizations" featurette, that I haven't been missing out on anything. That is unless you consider CG characters using the urinal, skiing behind a Greek ship and hitting each other with 2x4 pieces of wood funny. I don't.

Everything said, I now consider Troy to be the best addition to my fast-growing HD DVD collection. The golden visuals are fantastic and seeing the fight between Hector (Bana) and Achilles (Pitt) in high-def is simply amazing as it is easily one of, if not the, best one-on-one fight scenes ever.

"Get up Prince of Troy. Get up. I won't let a stone take my glory," a quote from Achilles I will not forget.