Troy

It is for love that Paris, Prince of Troy (Bloom) sparks a war when he spirits Helen, the Queen of Sparta (Kruger) - allegedly the most beautiful woman in the world - from her husband and back to Troy. For Spartan King Menelaus, this insult cannot be tolerated and he calls upon his brother Agamemnon, King of the Mycenaeans to steal her back. Agamemnon's imperial yearnings provide the motivation for him to join forces with Menelaus. Crushing Troy will give him control of the Aegean and secure his domination of Greece. The walled city, ruled by King Priam (O'Toole) and defended by his son, Hektor (Bana) has never been breached, but then they've never faced Achilles (Pitt); half immortal, favourite of the Greek gods and Greece's greatest warrior. He is arrogant, and swears no allegiance except to achieving glory in death. Throw in that wooden horse, the showdown between Achilles and Hektor, the face that launched a thousand ships...the sight of those thousand ships coming to siege Troy... and for the sake of love a nation will be destroyed.

Peterson has an all-star cast; Peter O'Toole, Brian Cox and Brendan Gleeson are all very impressive. Brad Pitt, infamous for the sculpted muscles he developed for this film does the job but suffers the somewhat wooden script. However, his wrestler-esque finishing move in combat is awesome and he performed many of his own stunts. Heartthrob Bloom is appropriately wimpish as Paris and with his big blue eyes and declarations of love, won't disappoint his fans. The eclipsing star however, is Bana, playing reluctant hero Hektor perfectly, a man torn between love and protection of his younger brother and the knowledge Paris has stupidly brought devastation on their home.

Based on Homer's Iliad, this is not an entirely faithful adaptation but captures the essence of the ancient epic - a society where gods are real and control the fate of battle and warriors strive to gain immortality in the songs of others. From this comes the awareness that the whole thing seems quite pointless; thousands dying for what? Honour? To us more than ever now, it seems all the more tragic.

Hannah Upton