History YMMV / Troy

* DesignatedVillain: Menelaus, arguably. He's the [[SacredHospitality moral victor]] in his dispute with Paris, and so the film gives him a number of KickTheDog moments (as well as having heroic characters slander him as a warmongering BloodKnight... when his very first scene has him [[InformedFlaw making peace with his enemies because he's tired of war]]) to try and tip back the scales. AdaptationalVillainy is also working against him here.

** "Imagine a king who [[BadassInCharge fights his own battles]]. Wouldn't that be a sight." (Insert name of warrior king here.)

** The film expects us to empathize with Paris at least to an extent, (he is admittedly a much more mature person by the end of the film instead of the petulant child he was at the start of it) but the whole Trojan War being somewhat his fault (he gave Agamemnon the pretext he needed to launch an invasion), his extremely petty and infantile reasons for doing so (which involve stealing another man’s wife, albeit a trophy wife who bore no love for him, which is especially bad when you consider, as a handsome and charming young prince of Troy, he can presumably have just about any woman he wants), and his DirtyCoward behavior, both in the duel with Menelaus (he makes a big deal about how he’s going to settle it just between the two of them, only to pussy out and ''beg'' his brother to save him when he begins to lose after he explicitly said that he wouldn’t do that, leading to the truce being broken and more bloodshed on both sides) and his treacherous killing of Achilles (shooting him with an arrow whilst his backed turned and he's standing literally ''right next to Paris's own cousin'') in revenge for his killing of Hector (which you can of course easily argue is just as much Paris's fault, perhaps even ''more'' so), plus the fact that [[SparedByTheAdaptation he apparently gets to survive]] [[KarmaHoudini completely unscathed despite all the ruined lives he is partially responsible for by the end of the film]], make him '''very''' hard to sympathize with.

* HoYay: When Achilles gives his RousingSpeech, Eudoras is seen looking at him in a way that's clearly meant to show how much he respects Achilles - but ends up looking like he's gazing lovingly at a crush. Understandable, because-- again--Creator/BradPitt in a skirt.
* HoYay: Achilles's RousingSpeech before taking the beach of Troy has several shots of Eudoras looking at him proudly, not unlike that of a lover. His devotion to Achilles likewise seems romantic at times, and they even part with Achilles kissing him on the forehead.

* BetterOnDVD: The Director's Cut is widely considered to be superior. It includes more sex and violence, more CharacterDevelopment (especially for Odysseus and Priam) and there's more of the actual Sacking of Troy.

* WTHCastingAgency: Creator/BradPitt as Achilles [[BrokenBase was quite a stretch]] among audiences. Creator/GarrettHedlund as Patroclus is a close second.

** With Achilles' trademark finisher resembling a certain leaping assassination technique from a certain video game series and at least three of the Greco-Roman gods comprising the [[{{Precursors}} First Civilization]], maybe Achilles was really [[Franchise/AssassinsCreed an Assassin]].
*** Amusingly, there really ''is'' [[VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII an Assassin named Achilles]].

* TookTheBadFilmSeriously: As seen above, this film and its qualities are a matter of great debate. What is not, however, even among trained Classicists, is the quality of Creator/PeterOToole in his turn as Priam during his scene in Achilles' tent. That is the original Iliad, with all of Priam's pain and loss, realised.

* VanillaProtagonist: With so many interesting characters such as Hector, Agamemnon, Menelaus, Briseis and the numerous {{One Scene Wonder}}s, it's shocking that Helen is quite bland. Despite being the catalyst for the war in the first place, she disappears into the background in the second act. This does make sense when you consider the original vision to have her as an offscreen character - and she only ended up being featured due to ExecutiveMeddling. So in the finished film, she's a LivingProp and MsFanservice - with the wit and charisma she had in mythology going to Briseis.

** Achilles stands outside Troy and screams "HECTOR!" at the top of his lungs over and over for about five straight minutes, while Hector inside the city gradually says his goodbyes to his father, brother, wife, fellow soldiers, etc, all while the audience can hear Achilles still yelling outside the walls. It's a wonder Achilles hadn't lost his voice by the time Hector finally emerged for their duel.[[note]]To be fair, this part is accurate to the myth.[[/note]]

** Achilles vs. Hector seems to be the one thing ''everyone'' remembers from this movie due to the excellent cinematography, aided by Pitt and Bana [[NoStuntDouble doing it themselves]] and impressive but realistic fighting style.

** Achilles vs. Hector seems to be the one thing ''everyone'' remembers from this movie.

** The film stars William Stryker, Vanisher and Moira McTaggart from the X-Men films[note]Bryan Cox was Styker in X-Men 2, Byrne played McTaggart in two films and Pitt had a brief appearance as Vanisher in Deadpool 2.[/note].

* VanillaProtagonist: With so many interesting characters such as Hector, Agamemnon, Menelaus, Briseis and the numerous {{One Scene Wonder}}s, it's shocking that Helen is quite bland. Despite being the catalyst for the war in the first place, she disappears into the background in the second act. This does make sense when you consider the original vision to have her as an offscreen character - and she only ended up being featured due to ExecutiveMeddling. So in the finished film she's pretty much a LivingProp and MsFanservice - with the wit and charisma she had in mythology going to Briseis.

** Other changes from the source material like the gods not having onscreen roles, what or who else gets left out, and which people die instead of survive and vice versa help make this film divisive but at least ripe for interesting discussion among fans of the source material. For instance, those who wish the gods had a more visible presence would essentially prefer the film be in a different subgenre, from just "historical-style" sword and sandal to more overt "fantasy" sword and sandal like ''Film/JasonAndTheArgonauts'' and ''[[Film/ClashOfTheTitans1981 Clash of the Titans]]'', the latter of which was remade six years after ''Troy''. Those who are fine with no visible gods are often interested in the inherent {{Demythification}} approach the film takes.

** The film expects us to empathize with Paris at least to an extent, (he is admittedly a much more mature person by the end of the film instead of the petulant child he was at the start of it) but the whole Trojan War being somewhat his fault (he gave Agamemnon the pretext he needed to launch an invasion), his extremely petty and infantile reasons for doing so (which involve stealing another man’s wife, albeit a trophy wife who bore no love for him, which is especially bad when you consider, as a handsome and charming young prince of Troy, he can presumably have just about any woman he wants), and his DirtyCoward behavior, both in the duel with Menelaus (he makes a big deal about how he’s going to settle it just between the two of them, only to pussy out and ''beg'' his brother to save him when he begins to lose after he explicitly said that he wouldn’t do that, leading to the truce being broken and more bloodshed on both sides) and his treacherous killing of Achilles (shooting him with an arrow whilst his backed turned and he's standing literally ''right next to Paris's own cousin'') in revenge for his killing of Hector (which you can of course easily argue is just as much Paris's fault, perhaps even ''more'' so), plus the fact that [[KarmaHoudini he apparently gets to survive completely unscathed despite all the ruined lives he is partially responsible for by the end of the film]], make him '''very''' hard to sympathize with.

!All spoilers will be [[Administrivia/SpoilersOff unmarked]] ahead. Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned!

!All spoilers will be unmarked ahead. Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned!

--->'''Ajax''': I AM AJAX, BREAKER OF STONES! LOOK UPON ME AND [[LargeHam DESPAAAAIR!]]

** And for the reverse, Creator/DianeKruger walks around with beautiful golden RapunzelHair, occasionally nude (and you see much more in the extended cut) and the camera is all too happy to show off her beauty. She was immediately included on People magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People in the World" list that year - at Number 44.

** A major plot point is Achilles getting sick of being at Agamemnon's beck and call. Which happens every week in the first season of ''VideoGame/DanballSenki''.

** In the director's cut, there's the Trojans' hilariously over-the-top behavior at the funerals after the first battle. A OneWomanWail plays as several widows are dramatically MilkingTheGiantCow.[[note]]Actually TruthInTelevision. Ancient cultures had professional "mourners" who were hired to perform at funerals.[[/note]]

* NarmCharm: Achilles vs. Hector is clearly very heavily choreographed that it looks more like a dance in places than a fight. But is it still a kickass fight scene? Absolutely.

** Achilles stands outside Troy and screams "HECTOR!" at the top of his lungs over and over for about five straight minutes, while Hector inside the city gradually says his goodbyes to his father, brother, wife, fellow soldiers, etc, all while the audience can hear Achilles still yelling outside the walls. It's a wonder Achilles hadn't lost his voice by the time Hector finally emerged for their duel. To be fair, this part is accurate to the myth.
** In the director's cut, there's the Trojans' hilariously over-the-top behavior at the funerals after the first battle. The OneWomanWail plays as several widows are dramatically MilkingTheGiantCow.
*** Actually TruthInTelevision. Ancient cultures had professional "mourners" who were hired to perform at funerals.
** Ajax's BadassBoast to the Trojans comes across as unintentionally hilarious, as they're all too busy fighting for their lives to hear him.

** Agamemnon's war cry after watching Hector kill Menelaus is hilarious.

** In the director's cut, there's the Troyans' hilariously over-the-top behavior at the funerals after the first battle. The OneWomanWail plays as several widows are dramatically MilkingTheGiantCow.

*** Actually TruthInTelevision. Ancient cultures has professional "mourners" who were hired to perform at funerals.

** Agamemnon's war cry after watching the death of his brother, Menelaus, is hilarious.

** In the director's cut, there's the hilariously over-the-top behavior at the funerals after the first battle. The OneWomanWail plays as several widows are dramatically MilkingTheGiantCow.

* HoYay: When Achilles gives his RousingSpeech, Eudoras is seen looking at him in a way that's clearly meant to show how much he respects Achilles - but ends up looking like he's gazing lovingly at a crush. Understandable, because-- again--Brad Pitt in a skirt.

** "[[https://m15m.livejournal.com/1487.html COUSIN. TOTALLY COUSIN. IN CONCLUSION: COUSIN.]]" A running gag in [[Creator/CleolindaJones Cleolinda Jones's]] "Troy in Fifteen Minutes" parody, mocking the movie's [[HaveIMentionedIAmHeterosexualToday heavy emphasis on Achilles and Patroclus having a solely familial relationship,]] even though the portrayal of them as lovers is Post-Homeric meaning having them as friends and kinsmen is more accurate.

** Creator/BradPitt's accent seems a likely place. [[NarmCharm This is primarily for the sake of balance]] but the film does have a kind of ''Film/RobinHoodPrinceOfThieves'' silliness to it.

** Patroclus's "anguished" rant about why they should stay in the war. Mostly because Creator/GarrettHedlund is the only one in the cast NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent and the resulting speech sounds ridiculous with his Minnesota accent.

* TookTheBadFilmSeriously: As seen above, this film and its qualities are a matter of great debate. What is not, however, even among trained Classicists, is the quality of Creator/PeterOToole in his turn as Priam during his scene in Achilles' tent. That is the original Iliad, with all of Priam's pain and loss, realised.