{"id":54653,"date":"2026-08-29T15:00:54","date_gmt":"2026-08-29T19:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=54653"},"modified":"2026-08-27T19:55:46","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T23:55:46","slug":"troy-2004-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2026\/08\/29\/troy-2004-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Troy [2004] [Arrow Video 4kUHD & Blu-ray LE]"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The story of the Trojan War is given the epic treatment by Wolfgang Petersen in TROY. Both cuts of the 2004 film are presented in 4k UHD & Blu-ray by Arrow Video.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The Film<\/strong><\/p>\n

All the talk of Christopher Nolan<\/a>\u2019s The Odyssey<\/a> as one of the success stories of the summer, along with Spider-Man<\/a> and Obsession<\/a>, has stirred up public discourse about the last major film to cover the fall of Troy at the hands of an Agamemnon-led Greek force. Within the post-Gladiator & Lord of the Rings \u201clet\u2019s try big budget 50s\/60s epics again\u201d trend, Wolfgang Petersen<\/a>\u2019s 2004 film Troy,<\/a> written by Game of Thrones<\/a>\u2019 David Benioff, tells the oft-told tale of the Greek siege and destruction of the now-Turkish city of Troy.<\/span><\/p>\n

And of the short-lived 2000s epic rebirth, Troy is the best of them in both cuts. Ridley Scott\u2019s Kingdom of Heaven<\/a> is fantastic in the director\u2019s cut, but a jumbled mess theatrically. Oliver Stone<\/a>\u2019s Alexander<\/a> is a bloated monster theatrically, and more so in the extended. If you count Pirates of the Caribbean<\/a> as an epic, it sank by the end (plus two more sequels, but LOTR<\/a> had The Hobbit<\/a> so they\u2019re even). But Troy is solid in both the 2h40m theatrical cut and the 30-minute-longer director\u2019s cut. It has solid takes on the characters, intrigue between them, big action sequences (with the director\u2019s cut having barrels more blood\u2026 and some bewbs if we\u2019re on that\u2026 and, I guess, some more character bits if we\u2019re not being 12), and a great sense of pathos.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, in some ways it’s a bit too big for its britches. But yet, I think it makes it work. Go big or go home (to Greece; might take longer for others). It\u2019s big. It\u2019s brash. Everyone\u2019s playing for the fences. And I mean Everyone. That old school pulls as many big names as one can. Brad Pitt<\/a> for Achilles, glowering but making it work. Two Scotsmen, Brian Cox<\/a> and Brendan Gleeson<\/a>, as Greek brothers Agamemnon and Menelaus (constantly mispronounced). Sean Bean<\/a> as Odysseus. Epic Movie Favorite Boy Orlando Bloom<\/a> (with LotR, Pirates, and Kingdom of Heaven) as Paris. A really freakin\u2019 good Eric Bana as the conflicted and heroic Hector (the real hero of this story). Peter O\u2019Toole<\/a>, Lawrence of Arabia himself, as their dad Priam. Even some up-and-comers like Rose Byrne<\/a> and Diane Kruger<\/a> (a German as Helen of Troy\u2026 BLASPHEMY\u2026there, that\u2019s what you sound like that stupid corner of the internet).\u00a0 It\u2019s all big, and everything is playing to the back row. But to Peterson\u2019s credit, he reins them in just enough to keep from sliding into camp. Some readings of the lines are a bit overdramatic (looking at your Bloom and Kruger, but it fits their characters), but it mostly lands.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s a great deal of CG, as it was very much on the up and up, and used well in LotR to take something big and make it bigger, and Peterson takes the same approach with a sense of costuming and space, with as many big, practical sets. Hundreds of people piled onto beaches (and sometimes, obviously, repeated). Maybe a little overly designed, but that\u2019s teh style. It\u2019s for the screen, and that\u2019s what\u2019s wanted. And just the same as the epics it refers back to.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Interesting rewatching it (3 times with the package as it is) and seeing that my thought process on the film had shifted. Perhaps framing it around Achilles (like The Iliad) reinforced the idea that \u201cGreeks are presented as the good guys,\u201d which stuck in my head and never sat well. That and Paris\u2019s cowardice. But this was far more even-handed than I remembered, with, yes, Agamemnon being very much the aggressor. As with Nolan\u2019s The Odyssey, if one focuses on the shifts in storytelling that stray from the poems (plural, as it freely draws from the Aeneid and the story’s cultural feel), one might get upset. My biggest peeve: (here I note I once wrote a 15-page paper on the discovery of the original site during college) a 10-year story seems to be about a week here. So weird. Does it take Odysseus the same amount of time to get home? Not quite the same journey.<\/span><\/p>\n

Troy is a solidly made, grand epic. Not without a few foibles, but it goes big in ways I appreciate. Wolfgang Peterson does well balancing all the drama and action, with the help of a Who\u2019s Who cast. When following up Nolan\u2019s Odyssey, a visit to a different version of the tale that precedes it with Troy can\u2019t go wrong.<\/span><\/p>\n

Want even more tales around this world? I recently covered Iphigenia<\/a> for Radiance, a story of Agamemnon forced to sacrifice his daughter for the winds to take his fleet to Troy. It\u2019s briefly noted in The Odyssey and ignored here. And of course, the recent proshot release of one of my favorite musicals, Hadestown, is also yet another retelling of a Greek myth. It\u2019s an old song, from way back when. And we\u2019re going to sing it again. Troy, Odysseus, Orpheus & Euridice. Greek Myth still makes great storytelling.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Packaging<\/span><\/p>\n

Arrow<\/a> puts Troy on 3 discs. Discs 1 & 2 are the two cuts of the film in 4k UHD or Blu-ray (your choice). Disc 3 contains the picture-in-picture and other special features and is on Blu-ray in both editions. All three discs are housed in a black 4K case with a booklet. The sleeve is reversible, with the original Brad Pitt vs Eric Bana poster on one side and handsome, striking Trojan Horse-based art on the other. The Horse art is on the outer cover as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Presenation<\/strong><\/p>\n

Both cuts look astounding. This was a big movie, and all the money was thrown at it to look great in 2004 (and was an Show Off Blu-Ray), and it still does with the new 35mm transfers. It\u2019s a film of largesse and detail, putting it all on the screen, and damned it doesn’t look great. Those sweaty, sandy movies best show the upgrades, and this is true here. I really appreciated the darkness and the way the light moved. The sound, with original 5.1 and stereo available, is similarly great. Big, loud, epic, with all sorts of noise at all times (note the weird sound here and here in the longer cut; it has always been there). In English with English subtitles.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Features<\/strong><\/p>\n

Arrow<\/a> doesn\u2019t provide any new extras to Troy. But what they do here is gather up the spread-out cuts and features from the handful of other releases. Before, I had the Blu-Ray double feature with Alexander. It only had the director\u2019s cut and some featurettes, no theatrical cut, picture-in-picture, and a few of the featurettes. Weirdly, it only had the first disc of Alexander (director\u2019s cut), so only half of that pile of trash.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Thus, this edition puts both cuts and the spread-out features in one place. And it\u2019s no issue to have nothing new, as there is quite the volume: remember this is when studios loaded up discs after LotR and their appendices. The only thing from my Blu-ray I don\u2019t see here is the effects bloopers, but maybe that\u2019s the easter egg I forgot to look for.<\/span><\/p>\n

Disc 2:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Introduction by Wolfgang Petersen;<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Talks about why he returned to it – less \u201cgotta do this, gotta do that,\u201d and wanted to return with less pressure and time constraints (3m)<\/span><\/p>\n

Disc 3<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In Movie Experience<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

This Picture-in-picture track serves as commentary. Just about everyone involved, both in front and behind the camera, pops in and gives their bit of the creation. For films like this, I love the sheer creation. Arrow apparently reconstructed it and fixed it up a bit. I wish there were a few more interjections, but it\u2019s a long movie, so that\u2019s fine.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Troy in Focus\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0In 11 small parts, with lots of Peterson giving his reasons for many of the choices mixed in with some groundwork for the later features and the film\u2019s needs. (23m)<\/span><\/p>\n

From Ruins to Reality<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Six parts: I wish this had more to do with actual ruins, but I get it. What this is mostly about is the production design: where they sourced from, what they chose to keep from actual Greek\/Turkish history, and what shifted for a more cinematic look. (14m)<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>In the Thick of Battle<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

In five parts, this looks at, as the title shows, the combat. That is plentiful, and I loved seeing it. (17m)<\/span><\/p>\n

Troy: An Effects Odyssey\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Seven parts about crafting what was physically there to extended make grand or make out of whole cloth. (11m)<\/span><\/p>\n

Attacking Troy\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Three parts on adaptation: both in the Iliad itself and in how fighting was altered for the character and modern needs. (15m)<\/span><\/p>\n

Gallery of the Gods\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

A look at the Greek Pantheon (11m)<\/span><\/p>\n

Trailer (2m)<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

The image gallery\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Stills and behind-the-scenes. I forgot to write down how many of each.<\/span><\/p>\n

Booklet<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

The bound 40-page book has the norms plus extras, both archival and new. A Personal Message from Wolfgang Peterson (2004) introduces the director\u2019s cut.\u00a0 A Letter to Wolfgang Peterson from Brad Pitt (2004) gets into his head a bit for Achilles. The Immortality of Troy by Priscilla Page chronicles Peterson\u2019s passion for the project and the care that went into Troy. Casting: An Excerpt from the Original Production Notes is the basic studio notes for who\u2019s who. Representing Helen of Troy by Laurie Maguire is an excellent breakdown of how Helen has been adapted, all the more so in light of the discourse around The Odyssey on this topic.<\/span><\/p>\n

Final Thoughts<\/strong><\/p>\n

Troy is a good film to revisit after The Odyssey. Not nearly as good a film, very much of its time and style, but still holds up well. Arrow finally gives those of us who like features a reason not to have several copies by collecting them. And the heroes’ treatment is given to the print, making a striking visual treat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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