Perhaps pre-empting the release of the new Brad Pitt epic TROY coming to cinemas in May 2004, this apparent mini-series deals with, of course, that titular woman whose face launched a thousand ships.

Beginning with seeming ease, the story soon becomes a little clumsy with characters arriving thick and fast with little to help us remember them and their loyalties. Period pieces of this sort can be difficult in that regard, particularly when there are so many mythological and historical characters living and interacting side by side. However, the film (running a gamut of 168 minutes in length) mixes both fictional accounts with mythology and historical events to create an overall piece that, while quite watchable, does begin to drag a bit by the end. This is forgivable in that the original intent was to view it as a two-parter, and the division between film halves is well orchestrated. It doesn’t help the ending speed-up though, unfortunately. A bit of careful further editing would have done wonders here.

It’s a complex story with many interchangeable parts that I shan’t go into length about, but the basic story follows the birth of Paris, who is foreseen to bring about the fall of Troy. Ordered he be destroyed, he is taken to a mountain and abandoned. He is found by a caring sheepherder and grows up never knowing he is actually of the Troy royal family, until one day he visits and is recognised. Moving into the royal palace, he soon meets Helen, a gorgeous woman from across the sea in Sparta and they fall in love. Unfortunately, they met at her wedding. When she decides to flee back to Troy with Paris, the Spartan army follows and a bloody war lasting ten years begins in earnest.

As a TV mini-series it works okay and is worth a look, but the cheapness of effects and titillation may grate on you a little. It’s told well enough, if a little padded out and while a little grisly at times, is still mostly entertaining.

The picture is delivered here in the aspect ratio of 1.78:1 with 16:9 enhancement and for the most part looks pretty good. There are no real artefacts of note, although there is occasional faint grain about in both daylight and nighttime shots. It doesn’t detract too much, anyway.

Some of the computer animation is a little cheapish looking, particularly in some long boat scenes and with the Trojan horse, but TV is on a budget. There are occasional moments of catching bike shorts beneath togas or leather skirts which is worth a laugh as well. Some fairly cool modern camera techniques have been employed gracefully here as well and these add visual interest.

Dialogue is okay and easy enough to comprehend, and while some writing is a little clumsy here, it is delivered earnestly enough. Sound effects get a little stockish at times, particularly in the ringing of swords and chariots driving, but that is usually to be expected with made-for-TV productions.

Music is the most awesome part of this sound package though, with Joel Goldsmith composing a rich orchestral score suitable to the epic nature of the story. Plenty of booming and triumphant depths here really add volume to the visuals. Naturally made for TV we’re granted a nice Dolby Digital stereo package and it works just fine for our purposes here, with all levels being fairly even.

There are no extras included as I suppose they all took off for adventures in foreign lands.

This is worth a look if you’re into this sort of thing. While not the best mini-series I’ve ever seen, it’s by no means the worst and I did enjoy it for the most part. It just dragged on a little toward the end. Happily the interior credits (end Pt 1, start Pt 2) have been removed and the two episodes have been neatly glued together to create the illusion of one complete film.

As I say, this one’s worth a look for anyone into mythology and such, or perhaps anyone wishing to get a little idea of the historical story of the upcoming Brad Pitt epic.