Troy is a 2004 epic historical war film directed by Wolfgang Petersen and written by David Benioff.

Produced by units in Malta, Mexico and Britain's Shepperton Studios, the film features an ensemble cast led by Brad Pitt, Eric Bana, Sean Bean, Diane Kruger, Brian Cox, Brendan Gleeson, Rose Byrne, Saffron Burrows and Orlando Bloom.

It is loosely based[3] on Homer's Iliad in its narration of the entire story of the decade-long Trojan War—condensed into little more than a couple of weeks, rather than just the quarrel between Achilles and Agamemnon in the ninth year.

Initially reluctant, Achilles’ seeks out his mother Thetis who tells him that if he goes to Troy, he will achieve eternal glory, but he will never return home.

In Troy, King Priam welcomes Helen when Hector and Paris return home, and decides to prepare for war.

General Glaucus puts his confidence in Troy's army and the strength of their walls while others argue for diplomacy, prompting Paris to declare he will challenge Menelaus for the right to Helen.

Ashamed of his actions, Achilles agrees and allows Briseis to return to Troy with Priam, promising a twelve day truce so that Hector's funeral rites may be held in peace.

Concerned, Odysseus concocts a plan to infiltrate the city: he has the Greeks build a gigantic wooden horse as a peace offering and abandon the Trojan beach, hiding their ships in a nearby cove.

While the lower city is being sacked, Andromache and Helen guide survivors to safety through the tunnel, with Paris giving the Sword of Troy to Aeneas, instructing him to protect the Trojans and find them a new home.

As the Greek army penetrates the palace walls, Glaucus leads the remaining Trojan soldiers in a brave last stand.

[13] The role of Briseis was initially offered to Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai, but she turned it down because she was not comfortable doing the lovemaking scenes that were included.

[14][15] Composer Gabriel Yared originally worked on the score for Troy for over a year, having been hired by the director, Wolfgang Petersen.

Tanja Carovska provided vocals on various portions of the music, as she later would on composer James Horner's version of the soundtrack.

However, the reactions at test screenings which used an incomplete version of the score were negative, and in less than a day Yared was off the project without a chance to fix or change his music.

Horner also collaborated with American singer-songwriter Josh Groban and lyricist Cynthia Weil to write an original song for the film's end credits.

Troy: Director's Cut, also known as the "2007 Version" (according to the end credits), was screened at the 57th Berlin International Film Festival on February 17, 2007, and received a limited release in Germany in April 2007.

An addition to the music is the use of Danny Elfman's theme for Planet of the Apes during the pivotal fight between Hector and Achilles in front of the Gates of Troy.

The battle scenes were also extended, depicting more violence and gore, including much more of Ajax's bloody rampage on the Trojans during the initial attack by the Greek army and his duel with Hector.

Lastly, bookend scenes were added: the beginning being a soldier's dog finding its dead master and the end including a sequence where the few surviving Trojans escape to Mount Ida.

There are frequent differences between the Iliad and Troy, most notably relating to the final fates of Paris, Helen, Agamemnon, Achilles and Menelaus.

[23] Roger Ebert rated the film two out of four stars, saying: "Pitt is modern, nuanced, introspective; he brings complexity to a role where it is not required.

"[4] IGN critics Christopher Monfette and Cindy White praised the director's cut as superior to the early version, evaluating it with eight stars out of ten.

"[26] Some have criticized screenwriter David Benioff, who later became one of the creators of the fantasy TV series Game of Thrones, for taking on too much material by covering the complete and lengthy chronology of the Trojan War, but he said he was aware of this challenge.

He is quoted addressing this rather bluntly in an article by actor David Goldsmith in the journal Creative Screenwriting: "The script covers the Trojan War in its entirety, whereas Iliad is only one fragment of it.