Lucid
The Caligula comment classic!
I am dying to see this movie after reading all of the conflicting reviews on this thread! I wonder if I will be entertained or feel like walking out of the theater?
Ha! That was funny, Lucid.
Kenman, don’t get me wrong, he looked good. Just not as great as all the hype led me to expect.
it was a decent movie, not a spectacular epic the hype makes it out to be. I enjoyed it, it was entertaining so I guess that’s good even if it was historically inaccurate…
… like how Agamenmon dies in Troy, or how Sparta is a coastal city (that was sad). Bunch of other things too, but I didn’t really get too offended by that since it is a movie, not a documentary on the history channel.
If I remember my classical literature didn’t Achilles owe his invulnerability to the fact that his mother dipped him in a pool of magical water when he was born to protect him. She held him by the heel thus this was the area not protected by the water therefore Achilles was only vulnerable in the heel. (the term Achilles heel). The weasel Paris had to wound him first in the heel before going for the chest shots to kill him.
Also let’s keep in mind if you had enough to eat everyday back in those times you were a lucky man. Workouts, large muscles, etc. were the product of a society that had a lot of free time on it’s hands. PostIndustrial!
hedo
Yes, your memory serves you right. Except in the mythology story isn’t it a poison arrow in the Proverbial Achilles heel that drops him?
Elk
May be right! My college memories are fading faster then my hair.
Just a side note on Pitt. On the radio they conducted a survey of actors in Hollywood and to find out who the smelliest star was, male or female, in music, sports, or entertainment. Guess who was voted number one!
I’m sure there are not many women who would mind getting his stank on them.
Achilles really should have been played by Brock Lessnar.
Now THAT would kick ass.
As I remember, Achilles mom was a sea nymph named Theitis who dipped him in the River Styx to ensure his immortality. Paris hit him with a poison arrow. There were lots of ways in which the movie didn’t follow the Illiad. The Illiad ends with the battle of Hector and Achilles and doesn’t mention the Trojan horse. In the movie Ajax is killed by Hector, while in the Illiad he goes nuts and kills himself. Didn’t bug me. The fight scenes were why I went. And they were worth it.
I also read “Gates of Fire”, which was a pretty good book, but I doubt it was accrete in some of its details. Now on to the topic, I thought the movie was pretty good, Hector was also supposed to be big and bad. But what we got character wise is more of a reflection of our present society then it was of there?s. Also Remember that we can not go back in time to actually see these people all we have of that time are reflections by people long dead.
Maybe I’ll take flak for this, but personally I think Pitt was cast perfectly.
-
Greece was a society that prided symmetry over size. They didnt go after enormous muscles.
-
Achilles was a warrior known for strength, yes, but more than that, gracefulness and speed. He wasn’t some lumbering ronnie coleman with 25 inch arms.
-
Greeks were marginally obsessed with the male form - not just symmetry (see above), but the “perfect male body” in all its athleticism, and yes, that includes abs. Achilles, as the perfect invincible warrior, should look like a “Greek God,” not Arnold.
Thus, I think Pitt was a good cast, and frankly, I think he looked great in the movie.
I just want to know, how many blond haired, blue-eyed greeks have there been.
I saw an interview with Brad Pitt on the FOX network a week or so ago, talking about his weight gain since Fight Club. He said he used steroids. I was surprised.