User reviews

If I remember well it was last year (1997) when I first saw this movie on the private Italian channel Rete 4 one Sunday afternoon. It was broadcasted in the series "Kolossal All'Italiana". At the same time, the Italian state TV RAI3 was showing "Helen of Troy" in the series "Colossi di Casa", both series implying that the movies were epics filmed in Italy. Before viewing this film I thought it was some sort of low-budget re-make of "Helen of Troy", but on watching it I was surprised to find out otherwise. Even though the storyline is basically similar in both films, this one offers a different kind of entertainment. While "Helen of Troy focuses more on the love affair between Helen and Paris, this movie is more concerned on the psychological situations of the principal characters, namely Aeneas. The final scene of "La Guerra di Troia", showing Aeneas escaping carrying his son in his arms after the death of Creusa is much more touching than the finale of the other movie showing Helen looking longingly at Troy where Paris had been killed. Even though I liked more "Helen of Troy" because of its better cinematography, better colour and better acting, still I have to admit that this one is of a higher level than many other Italian sword and sandal films of that era.

I had missed out on a chance to watch this on the big screen during the B-movie retrospective at the 2004 Venice Film Festival; with hindsight, I feel that it's a picture that should be viewed in theaters as the TV screen simply can't do justice to its spectacular widescreen photography! As a matter of fact, of all the peplums I've been watching of late, this has probably been afforded the highest budget; it's certainly the most handsome production of the lot...

I had watched two other films about the famous and lengthy Trojan War - Robert Wise's HELEN OF TROY (1955) and Wolfgang Petersen's TROY (2004), a Maltese co-production that was filmed (for the most part) over here - but this Italian version more than holds its own when set up against them! Steve Reeves has perhaps his most substantial role (apart from that of Hercules, which made his name) and, despite his notable physique (which is put to the test against legendary Greek hero Achilles), his character is a peace-loving man and certainly more thoughtful than usual for him. His wife (Paris' sister, whom he married in secret) is played by lovely French actress Juliette Mayniel - who had earlier movingly played one of the victims in Georges Franju's seminal horror masterpiece EYES WITHOUT A FACE (1959); interestingly, director Giorgio Ferroni had just made a good variant on that film called MILL OF THE STONE WOMEN (1960)!

Understandably, the narrative only tackles the last year of the war, so that Hector (perhaps the strongest figure in TROY) is already dead when the film opens; similarly, the relationship between Paris (actually presented as the villain of the piece, if still basically wimpish) and Helen (whose role is pretty much left in the background) has deteriorated considerably - which only serves to give the senselessness of the unending carnage added poignancy! At the forefront of the plot are two other historical figures: in fact, Achilles is so impressively personified by Euro-Cult regular Arturo Dominici (best known as Javutich, Barbara Steele's powerful and devoted acolyte in Mario Bava's BLACK Sunday [1960]) that the film loses some steam once he is famously dispatched by an arrow in his heel; similarly, John Drew Barrymore (as Ulysses) is a dominant personality during the film's first half but, once the Trojan Horse is constructed (conveniently off-screen), he pretty much disappears from the narrative! The same fate, alas, befalls the characters of Priam, Menelaus and Agamemnon; all of these roles would receive a lot more stature in TROY, and also the luxury of such stalwart performers as Peter O'Toole, Brendan Gleeson and Brian Cox respectively! Another regrettable element in the film is the fact that every soldier that is felled bursts out into exaggerated wailings and screams, which renders the otherwise efficiently-handled battle scenes unintentionally amusing!

So, while the film does sag a bit during its last lap, the scenes depicting the destruction of Troy by the wily Greeks and the subsequent flight of the survivors (including Reeves and his new-born child, Mayniel's character having died giving birth to it!) are certainly worth waiting for - though obviously done on a lesser scale than would be the case in TROY - and the film, as a whole, still emerges as one of the best peplums out there...

The film starts with Achiles(Arturo Dominici)dragging body of Hector, Priam's son. Later Aeneas (Steve Reeves) and Priam, king of Troy, go to the enemy camp asking his body. There, Aeneas will have to combat hunk men (Mimmo Palmara, Nello Pazzafini). Later on, at Troy takes place the famous episodes of the prophecy of Cassandra (Lidia Alfonsi) and the ¨Trojan Horse¨ . The movie deals about war of Troy as adaptation from classic poem of Homero. Helena( Hedy Vessel)wife of Menelao of Sparta( Nando Tamberlani),escapes with Paris( Warner). The Greek Army and ships go to Troya with Achiles(Arturo Domicini), the king of Micenas Agamenon(Nerio Bernardi) and the Spartans. They fight against the king of Troya (Carlo Tamberlani) and his son Paris and of course Aeneas.

This is an overwhelming and breathtaking film with impressive battles, as thousands of extras take part and mostly are staged on Yugoslavia.The picture packs colorful cinematography and evocative musical score by Giovanni Fusco. The flick is finely directed by Giorgo Ferroni , an expert on Peplum. It's followed by ¨La Leggenda di Enea¨ or ¨The avenger¨ directed by Giorgo Rivalta and Albert Band and again with Steve Reeves as Aeneas.

The picture is well starred by Steve Reeves who made lots of roman-epic-Italian films also called ¨Musclemen movies¨ or ¨Sword and sandals¨. Luck's Reeves changed when Italian director Pietro Francisci persuaded him to go overseas to star ¨Hercules¨ and sequel ¨Hercules and queen of Lydia¨ also titled ¨Hercules unchained ¨, and later on, he followed with ¨Goliath and the Barbarians¨, ¨The giant of Marathon¨, ¨The son of Spartacus¨ ,¨The Avenger¨ and several others . Steve was an American bouncing who emigrated towards Italy and created a true star-system based on pumped-up heroes. He paved the way for others actors to seek their fame and fortune in Italy playing stocky adventurers . Other stars by the time on this type of movies are Mark Forest, Gordon Mitchell, Dan Vadis, Brad Harris, Ken Wood who is usually Reeves's double and appears in very secondary role at ¨War of Troy¨ ; furthermore 'Gordon Scott' who made him more important competence. Nobody, nevertheless, topped Steve in popularity.

The story is partially based on ¨Iliad¨ that is an epic poem in dactylic hexameters, traditionally attributed to Homer and the screenwriters, Hugo Liberatore and Giorgo Stegani take parts here and there. Set in the Trojan War, the ten-year siege of Ilium by a coalition of Greek states, it tells of the battles and events during the weeks of a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles. Although the story covers only a few weeks in the final year of the war, the Iliad mentions or alludes to many of the Greek legends about the siege.Along with the Odyssey, also attributed to Homer, the Iliad is among the oldest extant works of Western literature, and its written version is usually dated to around the eighth century BC. The Iliad contains approximately 15,700 lines, and is written in a literary amalgam of several Greek dialects. The authorship of the poem is disputed .

As the movie begins, a small group of Trojans (or is it the Greeks) on horseback stand facing towards their beloved Troy (or maybe its Athens). As the epic story is introduced in a voiceover, I watched curiously as one of the horses raised his tail in an arc and then casually "took a dump" one might say. A comment on the upcoming tale or performance? Actually, the horse was rather too severe in his prejudgements. As "sword and sandal" epics go, this one was not too bad. Steve Reeves looked chiseled and handsome, most of the sets and costumes were convincing, and there were some beautiful horses and chariots, although way too many battle scenes, shot long range so it was mostly a blur and a lot of shouting in Italian or something. Not a bad way to brush up on your Homeric history though, with the whole cast of characters from Helen to Casandra, Ulysees to Archilles (who got killed by an arrow shot in the "you know where").

I usually begin my reviews with a brief description of how the movie starts out. However, since this is about the Trojan War, beginning with the deaths of Hector & Patroclus, through to the Trojan Horse - you might be able to guess that from the titles in Italian and English - I'm going to suggest that you might read the ILIAD. There are some nice translations available.

Anyway, it's a pretty good Swords-and-Sandala flick, starring the inevitable Steve areeves as Aeneas, the pretty Juliette Mayniel as Helen and the unable-get-work John Drew Barrymore as Ulysses. Barrymore, the son of the better known John Barrymore, seems to have been a difficult man to work with, when he wasn't in jail for drugs or living in the desert.

Mostly one looks at these movies for the costuming, the sets and the homoerotic content, and they're all well represented here. I'd like to comment on the acting here, but there's always a big disconnect in the Italian peplum flicks, since they were shot in Italian, and later had voice-over artists loop their dialogue for the American releases. The English voice work is pretty good.

Steve Reeves was never a good actor, at best he makes a naïve impression, but usually, like in all his later films, he was just a completely expressionless muscular dummy. In comparison with Robert Wise's "Helen of Troy" a few years earlier, this is like a miniature gipsum copy of a magnificent marble statue. It tries to be monumental, though, and there is some stylishness over the set-up, but the acting is stilted, and even the best actors, like Ulysses, (John Drew Barrymore), are merely types. The best actors are the women, especially Cassandra och Creussa.

There is a lot of fighting outside Troy before the horse is taken in, which never was mentioned by Homer, and here Diomedes is actually killed by Aeneas (Steve Reeves), who is the hero of this film. Creussa dies in childbirth, and Paris is pathetic, more so than in Homer. Ajax has an important part, he has many fights and some of them quite spectacular. Ulysses is very controversial in sly insidiousness.

The action starts where Homer's Iliad ends, with the desecration of Hector's body and moves up to the fall of Troy with mammoth scenes impressive enough of the apocalyptic destruction of the city, so it's not a disappointing film, although rather stale and stereotypical, like so many Peplum fims.

Although we got to see very little of Steve Reeves's impressive physique in The Trojan Horse, we also didn't hear that impressively dubbed bass in the two Hercules movies.

The twist here is an interesting one. Reeves plays Aeneas a Trojan warrior who seems to have more in common with the Greek invaders. He regard Paris played here by Warner Bentivegna as a real punk which he certainly acts like. The irony of hundreds of people being killed on both sides including a lot of good men is not lost on him.

In that computer graphic driven spectacle Troy the roles of Paris and Helen were played by Orlando Bloom and Diane Kruger and they were just two crazy kids in love her trying to escape an enforced marriage. Here Helen is played by Edy Vessel and she's quite the scheming vixen.

As Peplum pictures go in that era when two or three seemed to be coming out every week the classic tale gets a different and unique version. Ulysses is played by John Drew Barrymore the only other American in the cast.

There is a sequel about the further adventures of Aeneas which I'm also interested in. This is all based on Aeneid which is the Trojan version of the events of the fall of Troy and the aftermath by Virgil.

The Great Steeve Reeves stars in this lavishly produced peplum film as Aeneas, a great hero of the Trojan war who would go on to establish the site of Rome (yet one who has curiously little media dedicated to him).

This is an entertaining movie, made with hundreds of extras and big sets, and although I can't seem to find much about its making (it was thought lost for many years), it is obvious that this had a massive budget for the time.

There are some good battle scenes, and some decent one-on-one fights featuring Reeves defending his honour and his city.

The story is a loose adaptation of the epic, with Helen being a scheming, evil witch in this one, and Paris being much the same. A sad little coward of man that wants glory but is too much of a wimp to fight for it.

There's a touch of love story. A touch of tragedy. And some political arguments. All in all, a decent peplum film, well directed and acted and staged.

But at its heart - still just a peplum in a sea of them.

I will say, however, that I prefer this to the awful Hollywood version of the tale, which was huge and overblown and just downright bad.

Funny how an old Italian film made to cash in on a trend was more entertaining to me than a multi-million dollar epic made with the latest tech, which bored the tits off me. Make of that what you will.

This was followed by a direct sequel, also starring Reeves, that followed him as he fought to set up a site for the dispossessed Trojans.

A site that would later become the Immortal Rome.

That is also worth watching.

Although produced on a higher scale (and budget) than most of these "epics", "The Trojan Horse" soon becomes a tedious blur of battles in which it is even tough to tell who is who. If you're looking for quality Steve Reeves content, he has one great, albeit way too brief, fight scene early on versus the mighty warrior (and not the Dutch soccer team) Ajax, but you can 100% safely skip the rest of the movie, where he is barely visible. ** out of 4.

THE WOODEN HORSE OF TROY is an expansively made peplum movie, made at the peak of the genre when the films still had big enough budgets to do their subject matter justice. Certainly this is an authentic-feeling version of the Trojan War story, full of brightly armoured soldiers shining in the sunshine, attractive women at the mercy of their husbands and rulers, and the requisite amount of chariot races and battle sequences.

The narrative begins towards the end of the famous war, after the death of Hector. Troy continues to be besieged by King Agamemnon and the Greeks, including John Drew Barrymore's Ulysses and Arturo Dominici as possibly the weediest Achilles ever put on screen. The Trojans are depicted as the heroes here, managing to win victory against the Greeks time and again thanks to the efforts of the shoehorned-in Steve Reeves, playing Aeneas.

With Reeves as the protagonist there's a definite HERCULES feel to the production, with some extra strongman tasks that I don't remember from the original story. A bit where he goes up against Ajax (played by fellow strongman Mimmo Palmara) is a highlight here, but there's much to enjoy if you ignore the plodding dubbed dialogue. Incredibly enough, it doesn't end too badly for the Trojans, as a sequel (THE LAST GLORY OF TROY) was to follow.

Having watched a spate of Trojan War movies recently, I have to say this is among the best. It's not as epic as Robert Wise's excellent HELEN OF TROY from 1956, but far superior to the lame 2003 TV movie of that title and also to the Brad Pitt vehicle TROY.

The story begins at the very end of the war, with events in full swing. The focus is on the Trojan noble Aeneas (Steve Reeves), a man of peace forced by circumstance to become a great warrior. Paris and Helen are portrayed as burned-out, bitter lovers; Paris's death scene is quite dramatic. The various Greek besiegers (Achilles, Ajax, etc.) are sharply drawn.

The sets are wonderful. The CGI monstrosities of TROY and even the imposing sets for Wise's HELEN OF TROY were far too overblown to be historically credible; here we see a much more likely representation of the Bronze Age city, with a low wall, small but exquisite temples, dirt streets, and a populace weary of siege and infighting. The camp of the Greeks is built on an equally convincing scale.

Anchoring the whole film is Reeves' portrayal of Aeneas. Playing Hercules made him world famous, but this is the role he was born for. His heroic stature is truly impressive. Happily, he reprised the role in a sequel, LAST GLORY OF TROY (LA LEGGENDA DI ENEA), which picks up the story of Aeneas after his flight from Troy and his arrival in Italy, where once again the warrior must make take up arms to achieve the peace he desires. In both movies, the filmmakers' use of elements from The Iliad of Homer and The Aeneid of Virgil is intelligent and laudable. Together these films deliver a truly impressive vision of the earliest legends of ancient Rome.

Above Average "Sword and Sandal" from Italy with the Sculpted Steve Reeves and Beautiful Women, Costumes and Sets.

Lively Battle Action with Enormous Extras.

Emotional Mythology Adds Heart-Felt Ancient Romantic Inclusions Giving Humanity the YIN...

to the YANG of Contrasting. Brutality...

that Existed in Clinging to Such Never-Ending, Narrow-Minded Characteristics of the Human-Condition that Still Exists Today.

A Mirror that Reflects the Past as Present.

Clinging to National Tribe Bonding and Unwavering Patriotism Resulting in Endless Warfare.

As Profound as This Kind of Entertainment Can Be as Historical Insight into Tragic Reality.

A Glossy Kid-Like View of Warring Soldiers Loyal Sacrificial Story-Telling that is Always Melodramatically Irresistible to the Population.

Watching the Colorful Folly Displaying the Entertainment with Applauding "Gods" and Mortals.

It's All so Tragic.

It Cuts to the Bone of What We Were and Still Are..

Nothing but "Actors" on the " Life-Stage",,, Where We All Must "Play a Part". So of Course it's All...

Worth a Watch.

I grew up with all the Steve Reeves Hercules movies and every time I see them memories live again. Acting, script, photography are not the best, but intentions make it for any shortcomings. In the 60's Steve Reeves was always the best choice for this kind of movies which rescue for the common viewer Greek Mythology in images, since reading these days on those topics is something of a dead matter for most people. Haven't heard lately anyone opining on Homer's books. Let's not forget that history is strongly involved and though historical events are quite distorted there's epic action along with mythological figures (Achilles) and real people (Ulyses). Although it can't be compared to the recent 2004 Brad Pitt Troy, it is more close to some real facts such as the death of Paris in situ and fact is that Paris never made it. At least, not alive. A must see for anyone who wants digested Greek Mythology and History, but why on earth ALL THE HERCULES MOVIES ARE RELEASED ON DVD IN 1.33:1 (pan and scan) AND NOT IN THEIR 2.35:1 ORIGINAL FORMAT? The magnitude of the battles and other details are unfortunately lost. It is an unfair mutilation which studios should and must avoid and repair in new DVD editions. Can one imagine Ben-Hur in 1.33:1 format? English dubbing is alright but having the option of Italian audio along with subtitles won't do any harm. I wonder if studios bother to read what their DVD buying customers have to say about the quality of their products.

There is nothing much to say...this is the best movie by Steve Reeves, not Hercules definitely!! I've watched this 10 years ago on TV, and ,only after 10 years i get a chance to buy this movie in VCD. I just couldn't find any DVD copy available, it's a rare movie in Malaysia, huhuhu..

The acting and performance from most of the actors are surprisingly good, the plot movie is great where it is about the wooden horse, and yet the dialog and the dubbing in English version are not really too bad. definitely the best Steve Reeves movie ever.

i also recommend The Avenger and Morgan The Pirate...u can also check out A Long Ride From Hell, it's really a good western movie.

10/10 stars

"The Trojan Horse" is one of the best Sword & Sandal films ever made. The story of Troy and Helen has been made several times and up to now, none of them have surpassed it, including the bloated Brad Pitt version. The Robert Wise version, HELEN OF TROY, is in many aspects, superior to this one but the actors weren't that impressive, the script was bad with making a love story out of Paris and Helen but the worst aspect of the Wise version was the ending. There was no ending! After the Trojan horse attack, the film ended then and there. Had the Robert Wise film had a better script and a better ending with more appealing actors, it would have surpassed this one but it doesn't because the script in "The Trojan Horse" is excellent: surprisingly smart, detailed and with some sharp dialogue. The score is excellent. The cast is strong. But best of all, this version has a great climax. It ties up the characters' fates, including Paris who's portrayed here as a villain (which is the complete opposite of Wise's HELEN OF TROY). Helen is also shown to being basically a vain woman who doesn't care much about anyone but herself.

Steve Reeves gives his finest performance as Aeneas and it's one of the best portrayals of a heroic figure ever captured on screen. It reminds you why these stories of mythical heroes still resonate up to this day. Reeves is also in top shape. The man was physical perfection.

My only complaints about "The Trojan Horse": first, the battles. There are a lot of battles, more than were needed. They seem to go on forever. A little editing here and there would have helped a bit. And the production values were good but nothing compared to Wise's HELEN OF TROY. The City of Troy looks good from the outside but within the walls, those houses look like sets. In fact, the castle in the sequel, "War of the Trojans", was more realistic and visually appealing than anything in this film. The Trojan horse itself was good though. Better than the ugly one in TROY. But those are minor complaints. Everything else is top notch.

If you like Sword & Sandal films, make sure to watch this one and it excellent sequel. They make a great double bill.

In the tenth year of the Trojan War: Peplum superstar Steve Reeves as Aeneas

Just like in Homer's Iliad, the story begins with the gruesome death of the Trojan Hector at the hands of the Achaean Achilles (Arturo Dominici). In general, very careful attention was paid to the script and equipment in this film, produced by Giampaolo Bigazzi. It was shot in Belgrade. It was directed by Giorgio Ferroni, who is also responsible for the wonderful spanking film "Who Breaks...Pays" (1975) with Brad Harris and Giancarlo Prete.

The plot of Homer's Iliad is well known, so the great actors can be praised here. Steve Reeves (1926-2000) as Aeneas is great, as in all of his heroic roles. Of course, it is primarily set for the action-packed scenes. He has great fights with his muscle friends Mimmo Palmara (as Ajax) and Giovanni Cianfriglia (as Diomedes, who wants to kidnap Aeneas' wife Creusa). This Creusa is played by Juliette Mayniel, born in 1936, who had been awarded the Silver Bear the year before for her role in the West German Wolfgang Staudte classic "Kirmes" (1960). A great actress who is also the mother of Alessandro Gassman, who we know from one of the "Transporter" films with Jason Statham. John Drew Barrymore (1932-2004), who is the father of "Scream" star Drew Barrymore, is convincing as the cunning Odysseus. Other roles include the beautiful Edy Vessel as Helena, Warner Bentivegna as Paris, Carlo Tamberlani as Priam, Nerio Bernardi as Agamemnon and Lidia Alfonsi as Kassandra.

In West German cinemas, 971,000 viewers wanted to see Steve Reeves fight in the Trojan War. Good decision! A year later there was the sequel: Steve Reeves again as "La leggenda di Enea", directed by Giorgio Venturini. But now according to Virgil's Aeneid, from the Greek epic to the Latin epic! Rome could come!

A highlight in the eventful history of the Italian sandal film!