Rating: 
Summary: little character development
Review: I have to admit, I gave up on this movie about halfway through. I love Greek mythology and history, particularly the story of the Trojan war and the legendary beauty of Helen of Troy, but this made for TV movie was really quite awful. While the sets, costumes and special effects were interesting and some of the casting was promising (notably Priam and Agamemnon), there was very little character development of the main characters and the pace was slow and plodding. The acress playing Helen was particularly bad. Her characterization consisted of stomping around acting like a spoiled child. On a couple of occasions she was referred to as a child which was a real problem for me as she looked like she was around 35. My other major problem about this movie is that Helen is supposed to be amazingly beautiful - the daughter of a god - and she was only so-so looking in my opinion. Now I know that beauty is extremely subjective, but I think many would agree that there are many more women in the world that have beauty and acting skills. This was a particularly poor piece of casting. I am not usually one to give up on a movie halfway through, but this was just too much to take. If you are interested in the story of the Trojan war, I recommend going back to the source and reading Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. For a good adaptation, I recommend reading Marion Zimmer Bradley's "The Firebrand" which is a retelling of the story from Kassandra's point of view. Hopefully the big screen adaptation due this summer will be more interesting.
Rating: 
Summary: "The Face that Launched a Thousand Ships"
Review: Homer's "Iliad" is perhaps the most famous piece of epic poetry in the world, chronicling the ten year siege of Troy and the actions taken by the brothers Menelaus and Agamemnon to win back Menelaus' wife Helen, stolen from her home by Paris, a prince of Troy. In recreating the tale, the people at Hallmark have taken some liberties in presenting the story, some small and understandable, some large and baffling. Basically, if you're hoping for a loyal representation to Homer's text, this is not the movie to watch: despite the four hour running time a lot of material is omitted, the personalities of some characters are utterly changed, and fabricated events seem to have no real importance. The story actually begins with Paris - his birth and his abandonment, leading up to the famous choice between the three goddesses: with Aphrodite promising the love of the most beautiful woman in the world, and to his reinstating as prince in Troy. In fact, he is given so much attention, that its a little confusing when his character drops somewhat from the action later on. Helen at this time is a reasonably young child (at least that's what everyone around her says - she looks pretty old to me), and is kidnapped by King Theseus, which eventually leads to his and her brother's death. Deemed cursed by her father, she is offered to the kings of neighbouring lands. Through a game of chance, she is given to Menelaus, though the timing could not be worse: soon after arrives a delegation from Troy, bearing with them Prince Paris... In recreating the citadel of Troy and the landscapes of Greece, the film-makers triumph wonderfully: most of the special effects are just as good as one would expect on the big screen, and the scale of the movie is as huge as one would expect. Nifty camera movements, such as the vertical circling of the Trojan Horse to present its collosal size, are amazing, as are the shots of the armies and fleets moving toward Troy. Characterisation suffers a bit, however. Out of everyone, Agamemnon goes from what could potentially be the most sympathetic hero out of everyone, to a mere brute. Through him, the siege does not become a war of pride to retrieve Helen, but to conquer for power and spoils. I love Rufus Sewell, and his grief in sacrificing his daughter is portrayed excellently by the actor (he admits to Helen that she and the city are not worth what he had to do), but the rape of Helen in front of the burning city took things a little too far. Scholars will be disguisted. Paris also, goes from a rather cowardly youth, to every girl's dream: loving, romantic, protective of Helen, and so on. Achilles, Odysseus and Hector's roles are too short to be interesting. Menelaus is perhaps a bit young, rather than an imposing king in his own right, but his character is an intriging one, who is perhaps genuinely in love with Helen, but unable to show it. Two excellently portrayed characters are King Priam (John Rhys-Davis - could you expect anything less from him?) and Cassandra (who "Pride and Prejudice" fans will recognise as Georgiana) - her hysteria and terror are perfectly portrayed, as are her horrific visions. But as the title suggests, it is Helen that the movie centres on, and I actually thought a rather good attempt was made to untangle her motivations and character. Tired of being a trophy bride, she seeks out true love, she tries to put an end to the war, she suffers guilt at the deaths of those around her, and seems reasonably perseptive. However, a more accomplished actress was needed to pull off this difficult role, something that new-comer Sienna Guillroy just can't do. Instead the director takes every oppurtunity he can to show off her bare bottom, even if its to the extreme of parading naked in front of an entire room full of soldiers. It almost comes across as a preview to Wolfgang Peterson's epic movie "Troy", and so it would have been nice to have included some of the more mystical aspects of the god's involvement in the war, as "Troy" is also apparently stripped of their presence. All in all, a good production, but I have no wish to see it a second time.
Rating: 
Summary: As good as a tv movie can get, read the books
Review: As a tv movie Helen of Troy was above the average. It was good for what they could have done. This movie was not as deep in mythology but was created to bring out the way man behaves for, during and after war. This was not based on Homer's version of the Trojan war rather a mixture of other versions. There is barely any supernatural forces involved compared to most mythology stories of Trojan war. If you read Edith Hamilton's "Mythology" that version and the movie are almost identical in the story except for the fact the greek gods are not involved with the exception of Aphrodite. As a tv movie, i give it a 4. To Homer's master piece i give it a one, i suggest anyone to read the book.
Rating:
Summary: What a croc of cra@P
Review: This is one of the longest and worst movies I Hhave EVER seen! The writer should be shot!! The special effect people should be hanged!! BRING BACK THE DEATH PENALTY!!!
Rating:
Summary: Not to close, but good
Review: "Helen of Troy" is the story of how most of the armies in Greece gose to war with Troy in order to get Helen back. You see, Prince Paris, King Priam of Troy's son, went to see King Menelaus, but took Helen, Menelaus's wife, and took her back to Troy. Menelaus asked that all of the princes and kings, including his less than honorable brother King Agamemnon, take up a force and go to Troy, and take her back. First of all, "Helen of Troy" is a little confused. It tries to be a fantasy myth movie (the godesses asks Paris who is the most beautiful), but then completly abandons that concept. It then focuses on a more mortal reason the war was fought (Agamemnon wants the treasure of Troy), and forgets the divine intervention that was all over the book, "The Iliad". Now, that aside, the movie in and of itself was very good. I thought it was well acted (Rufus Swell as Agamemnon was excellent), the sets was nice, and story was just very interesting. Still, I would have liked to see more of the mystical.
Rating:
Summary: Visually Impressive, Mythologically Inaccurate
Review: I'll start be explaining the 1 star I awarded this movie, half was for the visual effects which were pretty good for a TV-mini series, but not ground breaking, the other half was for the acting which was commendable. It lost the other 4 stars for the story, which by the end of the movie had me shaking my head in disgust. I'm not going to go into detail about the inaccuracies because that would far exceed the 1000 word limit, so I will simply say that if you have ever read the Iliad or for that matter know anything about the Trojan war don't watch this movie, also note that at this point if you're asking yourself: "What the heck is the Iliad?" than don't bother reading the rest of this review and enjoy the movie. There were 3 main parts of the story that bothered me the most:
- the first was the over emphasis on Paris and Helen's love affair. The timeline is all out of sync. The fact is that at the time of the fall of Troy Paris was long dead and Helen was already re-married to Deiphobus and Odysseus and Menelaus killed him, Helen then went willingly back to Sparta. - the second point were the deaths of Hector, Achilles, and Paris all of which were done wrong - the last point is the character assassination of Agamemnon, they turned him into this typical Hollywood bad guy which is nothing like the character portrayed in the Iliad, then they have him kill Paris and in the end rape Helen, two scenes that almost made me turn off the TV. I would write more but I'm to upset at wasting 4 hours of my life on this movie. I am looking forward to the theatrical release of Troy next year and I have full confidence in Wolfgang Petersen to do honour to the legend of the Trojan War.
Rating:
Summary: Read the Iliad and forget this movie
Review: I had just finished reading The Iliad by Homer when I casually caught this movie on cable TV. After a while I just couldn't stand it and turned off the TV. Movies who don't do justice to the book on which they are inspired are legions, but this one reaches new heights in stupidity and bad taste. From the Vin Diesel-style, abrupt, one-sided, acting of Achilles to the meaningless and ridiculous twists to the original story, this movie manages the difficult task of turning the Greek masterpiece into a ridiculous piece of junk. None of the actors are credible, the influence of the Gods is reduced to a bare minimum, CGI's are awful, weapons and armours would not look out of place at a "bal masque" - overall, this movie is definitely worth avoiding!
Rating:
Summary: I'm 17 and I'M offended....
Review: It shows her bare ... while strutting around naked in front of a bunch of kings (never happened in real life) and then she gets raped and it shows that as well....all I wanted to see was a historical movie, not a new version of Playboy.
Rating:
Summary: Read Below...
Review: This movie is horrible. Mainly because of the story of Helen. Helen lives a stupid life in the hands of these writers. They also chose the wrong girl to play her. Helen's sister is better looking than her. C'mon! They show Helen in stupid nude scenes that are a waste of time. Paris and Helen don't make you feel like there is any love between them. The only reason I gave this movie 4 stars is because of Rufus Sewell who plays Agamemnon. What a superb actor. He gets through so much with just a look. He actually steals the show. I felt that I was watching a movie about Agamemnon not Helen.
Rating:
Summary: Helen of Troy
Review: Helen of Troy was amazing for a TV movie. The notion that the winners write history was challenged in this movie, which almost directly portrayed the victorious Greeks as bloodthirsty waraholics. The character of Agamemnon was unforgivingly brutal, and excellently portrayed by Rufus Sewell. My favorite character was Menelaus. Lots of people say he was wimpy, but he was actually the coolest person in the movie (But that's just my opinion and the opinion of every straight girl I know). Just because Menelaus didn't go around raping helpless women and continuously jabbing swords though people's guts doesn't make him wimpy. It makes him a peacemaker. The Trojan horse was badass, as well. It was pretty unbelievable for a tv movie.
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