They say You Can’t Go Homer again, but it’s no problem making a slam-bang fantasy Iliad tuned to the star chemistry of Brad Pitt and the new (in 2003) ability to fill the screen with thousands of Greeks battling with sword ‘n’ shield. David Benioff’s script is intelligent and the dialogue isn’t bad; Pitt swings a sword with style while being given a full glamour treatment. The supporting cast is up to the task: Brian Cox, Eric Bana, Sean Bean, Diane Kruger, Saffron Burrows, Rose Byrne, Olando Bloom, Brendan Gleeson and Peter O’Toole, with Julie Christie in for a bit of magic. The 4K is stunning and Wolfgang Petersen’s direction unfussy.

Troy
4K Ultra HD
Arrow Video
2004 / Color / 2:39 widescreen / 163 + 196 min. / Street Date August 18, 2026 / Available from Arrow Video
Starring: Brad Pitt, Eric Bana, Orlando Bloom, Julian Glover, Brian Cox, Brendan Gleeson, Diane Kruger, Sean Bean, Julie Christie, Peter O’Toole, Nigel Terry, Saffron Burrows, Rose Byrne.
Cinematography: Roger Pratt
Production Designer: Nigel Phelps
Art Directors: Julian Ashby, Jon Billington, Andy Nicholson, Marco Niro, Adam O’Neill
Film Editor: Peter Honess
Composer: James Horner
Screenplay Written by David Benioff from The Iliad by Homer
Produced by Wolfgang Petersen, Diana Rathbun, Colin Wilson
Directed by Wolfgang Petersen

When the Marvel people kicked their franchise properties into high gear with 2008’s  Iron Man, they could already reference a movie that had the kind of pulp action excitement they wanted. Seen in Wolfgang Petersen’s extended cut, 2004’s  Troy simplifies Homer’s classic into a streamlined comic book, with bigger-than-life heroes that we almost expect to be inspired by the gods. The Director’s Cut’s extra half-hour of character scenes are a big help … Brad Pitt’s Achilles no longer seems a totally narcissistic pretty boy, with a sword and shield.

Arrow Video has had a deal going with Warners for some time … one that has brought in plenty of desirable titles, like the upcoming 4K disc of  Forbidden Planet. It’s actually a good thing, as WB had previously been licensing only a few top-end titles to Criterion. We wondered years ago why the classic  The Roaring Twenties didn’t make the jump to Blu-ray with WB’s other top vintage gangster titles. Criterion had dibs on it, but took so much time to follow through that the final release ended up as a 4K disc. Is Criterion also sitting on 4Ks of Penn’s  Bonnie and Clyde and Boorman’s  Deliverance?  They did just announce a much-anticipated UHD of  The Right Stuff.

Troy may not be in the critical league of those pictures, but it’s plenty popular, generating a heap o’ what in the 21st century passes for star power. After his Tarantino movies, even we have become fans of Brad Pitt, and there’s plenty of name talent to enjoy here. A jump to 4K can’t help but be a better-than-decent seller. More power to all concerned.

Excellent timing, too … Arrow can bill this epic as ‘Odyssey Adjacent.’  The 4K edition may now be back-ordered, but the Blu-ray package is still available.

Is the theatrical cut of this show seen anywhere, any more?  The extended Director’s Cut of Troy helps bring balance and heft to Wolfgang Petersen’s epic, which at 163 minutes was judged by many reviewers as rushed and spotty. The additional half hour of scenes also adds action to the battles. Troy may be no classic but it’s a definite improvement over what we’ve come to expect from modern epic filmmaking.

A half-century before, Robert Wise helmed Warners’  first go at this tale, a European co-production that has its pleasures despite not being well remembered. The spectacle of thousands of real extras storming an enormous set of the city of Troy still impresses. Wolfgang Petersen’s show uses a great deal of computer-generated imagery but doesn’t abuse the privilege. The only disappointment is that the number of speaking roles has been reduced to a bare minimum. The filmmakers probably decided that audiences would prefer a Cliffs Notes distillation of the original sprawling epic.

Trojan princes Hector and Paris (Eric Bana of  Munich & Orlando Bloom of  Lord of the Rings) make a diplomatic visit to Greece, but the impetuous Paris steals away with Helen (Diane Kruger of  Inglourious Basterds), the wife of King Menelaus (Brendan Gleeson of  In Bruges). That gives the aggressive King Agamemnon (Brian Cox of  Zodiac) a pretext to unite the Greek city-states to cross the Aegean Sea and conquer Troy. Agamemnon hates the proud and independent Achilles (Brad Pitt) but knows that he’s too popular to be excluded from the campaign. The clever King Odysseus of Ithaca (Sean Bean of  Ronin) talks Achilles into going along, for the glory of his own legacy.

In Troy, Hector is unconvinced that his armies can withstand the Greek assault, but King Priam (Peter O’Toole) takes the spiritual avice of his soothsayers, who remain convinced that the city walls will hold. On landing, Achilles ignores Agamemnon’s command and storms the beach, advancing right to the gate of Troy and seizing the beautiful Briseis (Rose Byrne of Bridesmaids), a Trojan virgin pledged to the gods. The Greeks and Trojans trade blows and struggle to gain the upper hand, while everyone waits for an expected showdown between champions Hector and Achilles. Hector can’t get his father to listen to practical strategies. His devoted wife Andromache (Saffron Burrows) is horrified when he says that he doesn’t believe Troy will prevail.

As classic poems turned into epic movies go, Troy is not at all bad. It isn’t all cartoon action; the strategies are clear and we have strong characters to root for. Screenwriter David Benioff would go on, of course, to create the big success Game of Thrones. He gives Homer’s players credible personality conflicts, which is more than can be said for the half-dimensional figures in the Robert Wise version.

The Iliad is as much about the Gods sparring through their mortal representatives as it is one nation destroying another in a cruel war. Viewers looking for fidelity to Homer will note that the Gods have mostly been removed from the equation; this is now a story of power-mad Greeks and complacent Trojans. Both Fate and clairvoyance are downplayed as well, as Homer’s key character Cassandra has been eliminated. In her place is Briseis, a feisty vestal virgin for Brad Pitt’s Achilles to despoil. Troy treats its hero Achilles as a superstar warrior akin to a modern media ‘god.’  Brad Pitt is a genuine superstar, and his presence is probably what got the movie made in the first place.

Director Wolfgang Petersen delivers the thrill ride that the audience craves. After 45 minutes of warm-up, giant battle scenes are either in progress or imminent at every moment. Screenwriter David Benioff makes Eric Bana’s Hector the closest thing the film has to a man with modern problems. He sees a tough battle ahead but can’t fight it properly because his dolt of a father makes decisions based on clerical inspirationss. Hector’s own brother Paris ends hope for peace with an act that can’t be corrected. It has already given Agammemnon an excuse to launch his Thousand Ships.

The director’s cut keeps the dramatic components in balance. If the movie belongs to an actor other than Pitt, it’s Brian Cox, who fleshes out the leader of the Greeks in fine fashion. This king is really on the warpath, and Cox knows how to bellow like a volcano.

Brad Pitt’s Achilles is of course the ideal action hero, a perfect killing machine with moves so smooth he practically dances in battle. Like one of the The Magnificent Seven gunslingers, Achilles is both a hero and a style statement. Shots of him sleeping are filmed like glamour coverage for a nude female model. He’s introduced sleeping with a couple of gorgeous women, we suspect to make clear his status as a hetero stud. So pay no attention to all those fire-lit shots of Pitt muscles against fur blankets.

When Brad Pitt tightens his jaw he starts to look like Marlon Brando. Achilles’ main motivation is to become immortal, by being such a legend that his name will live after he dies. Character complications are all Big Strokes — Achilles thinks the war is waste of time and effort until it becomes personal, and he wants direct revenge for the death of a relative. A scene is invented in which Peter O’Toole’s enemy kind drops by Achilles’ tent for a chat … probably because the actor demanded to play a scene with the legendary star.

The production plays smart with all the commercial variables, so as not to offend anybody. In the several warmly lit lovemaking scenes, careful framing keeps erogenous zones carefully covered. No hairy thugs in this lineup of warriors: the male combatants are all shaved or waxed or whatever, making Pitt and Bana look like entrants in an Adonis contest.

Contemporary politics is kept at arms’ length as well. The opportunistic Greek plan to conquer their Trojan neighbors is never offered as a parallel to the ongoing Forever War, at the time just beginning Chapter Iraq. The battle scenes have plenty of gore (and more in the Director’s version) but with the exception of a couple of grisly wound effects, most of the carnage looks like somebody chopping a salad, with an occasional spray of cocktail sauce. The mass action is excellent but eventually becomes repetitive. The film’s ‘duel’ combats are excellent. The showdown between Hector and Achilles is an exciting highlight. The Trojan Horse business isn’t overstated, and the storytelling downplays Odysseus’s brilliant strategies and shrewd judgment. I’ve not been a fan of Sean Bean in some action films but his Odysseus is a keeper, a nicely sketched personality.

The finale has more violence than we needed, but probably the right amount for the slice ‘n’ dice action fans. Trojan women are raped and their babies killed, all in brief montage asides, minus undue exploitation relish. The old rules apply — important characters still die slowly, giving thoughtful speeches even if grievously wounded.

Troy followed close on the heels of Lord of the Rings with its eye-opening digital effects. The CGI spectacles here are done with some restraint. When we see hundreds of ancient ships under sail and vast armies that cover a square mile of battlefield, we know darn well that them proliferatin’ pixels are at it again. Many master shots of commoner crowds welcoming royals are quite beautifully designed. The camera has a fondness for swooping over crowded battlefields but ‘impossible’ crane shots are kept to a minimum. I don’t remember any infantile, show-off shots. We never, for instance, zoom across ten miles of ocean to end up staring into one of Helen’s eyes.

Saffron Burrows is an impassioned Andromache. As Helen and Paris, Diane Kruger and Orlando Bloom are never reviled for being incredibly selfish. The weirdest part of this version, is that Paris never suffers a comeuppance for so thoughtlessly bringing down an entire civilization. Greek hotheads Brian Cox and Brendan Gleeson fume and fulminate nicely, while Peter O’Toole’s Priam is a properly annoying fuddy-duddy who chooses the advice of a soothsayer over Hector’s good strategic sense. Sean Bean’s devious Odysseus provides needed irony, and Julie Christie contributes a short bit as Achilles’ earth-mother beach mom.

Many of Brad Pitt’s quotes have him dissing the movie because he thought it too simplistic, with Achilles at all times front & center waxing heroic. In other words, Pitt didn’t want to play a superhero worshipped by the camera in every scene. Pitt is too-cool-for-Corinth and gets to show off the best sword moves in history. Maybe he should be grateful that the script didn’t have Achilles conversing with the gods in every other scene, looking for guidance. I hope the millions he earned softened the pain a little.

Nobody complains about the major changes to the story: no modern ADD audience is going to put up with the original’s ten-year siege. Academics would hope that students might see this film and than go check out the original, an insightul account of nobles, Gods, and human weakness in war — written centuries and centuries ago. Fans that follow up will discover that the fates of many characters are quite different. As nobody would like a complete downer or accept a film that has Brad Pitt make an exit before the third act, we understand all the changes. It’s all entertaining enough, that’s for sure.

Arrow Video’s 4K Ultra HD of Troy is quite a dazzler, a handsome epic with a good overall look and well-used digital video effects. Seven years after  Titanic, the digital programmers were finally coming up with ocean and water effects that looked reasonably realistic. The picture is perfect in all the ways that matter — swooning fans of Brad Pitt will be heartened by sex scenes that billboard Achilles’ body as much as the bodies of his lovers.

Arrow commissioned a new 4K scan and remaster of Troy from original film elements. The theatrical and director’s cuts each have their own disc. The extra half hour really helps the show for this viewer, as it seems less like an unbroken string of battle scenes.

The 4K package may have been sold out as Arrow already marks it as unavailable on its main page.

The extras content all appears to be ‘Archival’ and probably hail back to the first Blu-ray. Even Wolfgang Petersen’s introduction is an older piece. The main commentary is from the DVD era, that puts selected bites from the makers and the stars in a picture-in-picture overlay.

The other EPK-style featurettes offer a thoughtful examination of the filming process. Director Petersen talks about reading The Iliad for school in the original Greek, and screenwriter Benioff explains his rationale for carving Homer’s tale into terms suitable for a 2004 audience.

In the behind-the-scenes material we see the preparations for what was surely an expensive shoot, both in Malta and in Mexico. Although only a two full ships were built, a big piece of the Trojan wall is real. It is fun to see what parts of scenes are ‘real’ and what are animated pixel-people.The actors had to learn to ride horses without stirrups for their feet. It seems that wealthy Greek combatants commuted to battle but then dismounted when it came time to actually fight.

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

Troy
4K Ultra HD rates:
Movie: Very Good / Excellent
Video: Excellent
Sound: Excellent Original lossless DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround audio plus stereo audio
Director’s Cut Supplements:
Troy Revisited introduction by director Wolfgang Petersen
Blu-ray disc Supplements:
In Movie Experience picture-in-picture commentary
Archival Troy in Focus featurettes:
In the Thick of Battle
From Ruins to Reality
Troy: An Effects Odyssey (video and audio)
Attacking Troy
Gallery of the Gods
Easter egg
Trailer
Image galleries
Illustrated booklet with writing by Priscilla Page and Laurie Maguire and some original production notes.
Deaf and Hearing-impaired Friendly? YES; Subtitles: English (feature only)
Packaging: Three 4K Ultra HD disc and one Blu-ray disc in Keep case in card sleeve
Reviewed: August 8, 2026
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