The Trojan Horse

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 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.

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 .

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.

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.