CinemaScope was first seen by many directors as getting rid of the need for certain kinds of editing, since it allowed so much more of the action to be seen at once. Robert Wise ("Odds Against Tomorrow," "Star Trek: The Motion Picture", etc.) decided otherwise, and became perhaps the first director to edit a CinemaScope picture as if it were a regular Academy Ratio film. The results, primitive though they are by modern Steadicam and CGI standards, are more fluid than many early wide-screen epics, and, more importantly, remain quite enjoyable.
The screenplay is nothing to write about. Leads Rossana Podesta (Helen) and Jack Sernas (Paris) are never less than adequate, but their passion is less than convincingly written, and the result leaves something of a hole at the film's dramatic center. Cedric Hardwicke is appropriately dignified as Priam, Niall MacGinnis a standout as Menelaus, and there are good bits from other actors, but the most impressive parts of the film are concerned with the spectacle of the assaults on Troy.
Wise lets out all the stops for the battles, which achieve a genuine power, despite being rather tame by modern standards (though watch for a few surprising parallels with some of the assault on Minas Tirith in "Return of the King"). The matte and process work isn't perfect, but neither is it distracting enough to derail the flow of the action. The Trojan repulse of the Greeks develops a frenetic pace which is still exciting, and the Trojan revelries following the victory, though rather chaste by comparison with more recent on-screen orgies, are a highly effective foil to the subsequent silent Greek exit from the horse, and the ensuing destruction of Troy is tinged with at least a touch of Homeric tragedy. Throughout the main action sequences, Wise's direction is immeasurably aided by Max Steiner's music, which is positively operatic at times.
Anyone expecting fidelity to Homer had better look elsewhere than a big-budget Hollywood spectacle (the famous horse, for example, comes from Virgil, not Homer). Those wanting a generally well made adaptation with some good performances and at least a half hour's worth of exciting battles could do far worse than looking here. Robert Wise's films are never less than interesting, and here as always he demonstrates his ability to keep the audience's interest alive, even after almost fifty further years of sword and sandal epics.
The screenplay is nothing to write about. Leads Rossana Podesta (Helen) and Jack Sernas (Paris) are never less than adequate, but their passion is less than convincingly written, and the result leaves something of a hole at the film's dramatic center. Cedric Hardwicke is appropriately dignified as Priam, Niall MacGinnis a standout as Menelaus, and there are good bits from other actors, but the most impressive parts of the film are concerned with the spectacle of the assaults on Troy.
Wise lets out all the stops for the battles, which achieve a genuine power, despite being rather tame by modern standards (though watch for a few surprising parallels with some of the assault on Minas Tirith in "Return of the King"). The matte and process work isn't perfect, but neither is it distracting enough to derail the flow of the action. The Trojan repulse of the Greeks develops a frenetic pace which is still exciting, and the Trojan revelries following the victory, though rather chaste by comparison with more recent on-screen orgies, are a highly effective foil to the subsequent silent Greek exit from the horse, and the ensuing destruction of Troy is tinged with at least a touch of Homeric tragedy. Throughout the main action sequences, Wise's direction is immeasurably aided by Max Steiner's music, which is positively operatic at times.
Anyone expecting fidelity to Homer had better look elsewhere than a big-budget Hollywood spectacle (the famous horse, for example, comes from Virgil, not Homer). Those wanting a generally well made adaptation with some good performances and at least a half hour's worth of exciting battles could do far worse than looking here. Robert Wise's films are never less than interesting, and here as always he demonstrates his ability to keep the audience's interest alive, even after almost fifty further years of sword and sandal epics.