This period adventure attempts to retell the first half of Homer's epic poem The Iliad in gory Gladiator style and, for the most part, succeeds handsomely. The Trojan War was fought for the love of a woman, the legendary beauty Helen, Queen of Sparta (played by Diane Kruger), who was seduced away from her much older husband, Menelaus (Brendan Gleeson), by the impulsive Paris, Prince of Troy (Orlando Bloom). Here the aggrieved Greek forces demanding her return are led by Brian Cox's Agamemnon, who numbers the near-invulnerable Achilles (a physically imposing if rather uncomfortable-looking Brad Pitt) among his allies. On the Trojan side, Eric Bana excels as noble Hector, the older brother of Paris. Having proven he can do claustrophobic chills with Das Boot, director Wolfgang Petersen shows tremendous command of wide-open spaces, with the battle scenes being particularly stupendous. Purists may complain about the amount of dumbing down - the dialogue is occasionally more Hollywood corn than Greek tragedy - and the performances are uneven, but overall this is a visceral and exciting epic.

In year 1250 B.C. during the late Bronze age, two emerging nations begin to clash. Paris, the Trojan prince, convinces Helen, Queen of Sparta, to leave her husband Menelaus, and sail with him back to Troy. After Menelaus finds out that his wife was taken by the Trojans, he asks his brother Agamemnon to help him get her back. Agamemnon sees this as an opportunity for power. They set off with 1,000 ships holding 50,000 Greeks to Troy.