Rating: 
Summary: A promising start with a revolting ending
Review: This story does a lot of things correctly (which shocked me, because it was USA original production). With their modest budget, the producers/writers were able to convey a lot of the important points in the Helen myth: Helen is kidnapped by Theseus and rescued by her brothers (although in the original she has another brother named Castor, and that isn't how they or Theseus die); Helen's suitors come to an agreement to protect the man who wins her (although it was Odysseus who suggested the idea to Tyndareus and then received Penelope's hand in marriage); Clytemnaestra is married to the powerful, ruthless Agamemnon and becomes a devoted mother (but they leave out that 1) she was married and a mother before and 2) he killed the first husband and child); Paris is left to die in a field at the urging of a prophecy to Priam (but Cassandra was not the prophet, she was his twin, and Priam also had about 20 children aside from Hector, Cassandra and Paris). They also hit some of the subtle points that the myth implies but doesn't state- Helen is a trophy bride and was justified in her desire to leave a loveless marriage. Also, I rather liked the treatment of Achilles- he was a vicious, vengeful, larger than life brute in the Iliad, and I think it was fitting that they chose to portray him with an actor that looked very much like a professional wrestler. While the movie skipped a lot of the material leading up to Agamemnon's death at Clytemnaestra's hands, they included enough to make it clear and even sympathetic. In addition, the movie makes very little use or mention of the gods- something which might alienate viewers. Finally, the implication that the war was not actually about Helen but about domination of Troy makes the movie more relevant to today's cynical audiences who aren't looking for a fairytale. Unfortunately, some of the licenses they took really didn't work. Agamemnon's quest is for power, and he has a huge ego that makes at times a liability to the war, notably with Achilles. In this movie, Agamemnon comes off as a reasonably respected leader who is motivated as much by his lust for Helen (more below) as he is his desire for power. And while Agamemnon is not supposed to be a hero, having him be the primary antagonist (he kills Paris?!?) makes him almost cartoonish. Paris and Menelaus are far too sympathetic. In the literature, Menelaus is angry and motivated by revenge. Here, he is his brother's wimpy underling. Paris is also almost always portrayed as the spineless coward, more suited to the world of goddesses, comfort and beauty than battles and war. Here, he is noble and brave, protective of Helen (vs. protective of his ownership of her). Finally, what really sickened me was the way Helen (and the actress who played her) were so objectified in the movie. Yes, Helen was supposed to be desired because of her beauty, but NOWHERE in any literary treatment I have seen is she made to parade around naked in front of the kings of Greece. The Agamemnon/Helen dynamic is another "development" entirely new to this version of the story, and as the denouement is the rape of Helen as Troy falls (while Menelaus powerlessly looks on), it adds nothing of value to the story. I'm all for artistic license, but only when it propels the story, not when it feeds into juvenile fantasies.
Rating:
Summary: Helen of Troy was interesting but gruesome
Review: This movie started slow but picked up later on. Agammemnon was a huge jerk, and there was waaay too much stabbing and bloody gore. The charactor Cassandra was very well done she was sooo realistic and my favorite person. Paris was totally hot!!! However in the book Achilles is a hero but in this movie he is just barbaric! it WAS a really exciting though even though everyone got stabbed and they show Helen getting raped which was totally un-called for. we really didn't need to see that
Rating:
Summary: Helen of Troy ( the comparison )
Review: I thought the movie was good for what it was. If you did not read the book you would of have liked the movie alot better. There was many differences between the book and the movie. I didn't like the character Agamemmon in the first then watching the movie made me really dislike him and his ways. I do believe Paris was played differently in the reading he was a coward, the movie portrayed him to be mighty and strong when we all know Hector is overall a better warrior. As far as Meneleus and his brother Agamemmon goes their relantionship is played to Agamemmon's favor when Agamemmon plays his brother as a fool. Helen plays more of a Juliet than a wife of submission. Then she was a beautiful lady, maybe not as beautiful to launch " a thousand ships." In my opinion Cassandra was one of the best roles played it was so good and intense. It just sucked she was never believed. I think that was very poor of the producer to use an inocent little girl as the sarcfice, just to have the viewers put more emotions into the movie. I believe they could have went another route. Achilles was done poorly they could of played him to be less anger evil.Overall the movie was good.
Rating:
Summary: My Review by Joel
Review: The movie was good overall. The actors performed good on portraying their characters. The movie includes some fighting and romantic scenes. The actor portraying Cassandra was really good. Some characters in the movie did have the same characteristics compared to "The Illiad," written by a Greek poet, Homer. The movie didn't go all out on the special effects, like "The Matrix," but the way the portrayed the Trojan Horse was cool. Even though Homer's Trojan Horse did not have metal material, in the movie it did. The movie was altered from the original story. For example, in the movie Hector doesn't seem all that marvelous. In "The Illiad," they describe Hector as a great and muscular warrior. Another flaw was the way Paris killed Achilles was totally different. In the movie, Paris kills Achilles from a close distance. Overall the "Helen of Troy" was good. If I had to rate it on how it portrayed the original story, I would give it 1 star. If you haven't read "The Illiad" don't see this movie.
Rating:
Summary: Helen Of Troy
Review: I thought that this movie was pretty good, only if you haven't read the book pior to seeing the movie. See now what i obviously did was read the book first, so the movie was completely different. The story was different in many ways, for example the main thing that confused me was the fact that in the book when Hector was killed they were alone and the Hector told Achilles to not dishonor his body, and then after-wards Achilles dragged the body all through Troy which was when King Priam and his wife nearly went crazy. Then King Priam went to Achilles and asked frothe body of Hector. But in the movie Hector and Achilles was not alone in fact he was killed in front of everyone. Then Hector didn't even have a chance to ask Achilles to return the body to troy and to not dishonor it. After all that King Priam did not even ask for the body back. Helen then went to Agamemnon and tried to serender, give her self up to stop the war and to save the life of her ture love, Parris. It did not work.
This movie made it seem like Parris was the main character and it didn't seem like the death of Hector was a problem at all. The acting of Cassandra was done well. Helen was nto pretty enough to launch 1,000 ships, Parris looked alittle weak for his role of being one to be powerful.
Over all i would recommend this movie to one who hasn't read teh book otherwise you'd be as confused as i was.
Rating: 
Summary: Captures the Greek idea of lust
Review: The acting in this movie (I did not get the chance to watch the miniseries) ranges from the very believable (Menelaus, Priam) to the ridiculous (Helen). And, of course, anyone who is looking for a faithful reproduction of the Iliad need look elsewhere. Nonetheless, I highly recommend this movie because (despite the ending which was obviously meant to appeal to our own, modern age) Helen of Troy captures the Greek concept of love and lust better than I have yet seen done in any other production. The Greeks did not think that sexual passion was a harmless passtime. To them sexual passion was a destructive natural force that, if indulged in to excess, could destroy worlds. In this case, it destroyed Troy and all but destroyed Mycenea. And that is why all feel dishonored in the end; for the ability to control one's appetite is the sign of a truly virtuous man--and none of the men in this movie can be so described.
Rating: 
Summary: very disappointed
Review: i am a big fan of greek myth and was very VERY excited to learn that there was a mini series on helen of troy. but, sadly, i was extremely disappointed. the person who played helen was somewhat of a good actress but wasn't convincing to be the person who 'launched a thousand ships' (and her dress seemed to be falling off at some parts of the film). and the visuals were TERRIBLE. It was annoying to watch a few hundred FAKE ships sailing the seas. cassandra was annoying as well. the story wasn't really that great either. the guy played agamemnon fit the role and john rhy-davies played a good King Priam (it was nice to see him as someone rather that Gimli from LOTR).
Overall - C-
Acting - B
Special Affects - C
Story - B-
Costumes - B
I sincerely hope the new 'Troy' movie will be better.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent!
Review: My wife and I watched this movie last night, and we were absolutely spellbound through the entire 3 hour length. What a great and exciting movie - keep more like this coming!
Rating:
Summary: GOOD, BUT NOT GREAT
Review: I thought this movie could have been better. I understand that Hollywood is going to take a few licenses with certain movies in order to make them appeal to all genders and age groups, but I don't think a story as old as the Iliad needs any tampering. First, let me outline the good points of the movie. The actors protraying Cassandra and Agamemmon put in incredible performances, I believe, although Agamemmon was made far more bloodthirsty and ruthless then he should have been. I think it was especially cheesy to have a little child protray his doomed daughter, Iphgenia, instead of an older girl, like in the Iliad. His daughter was brought to the altar on the premise of marrying Achilles, only to be sacrificed. In this movie, the incredible young age of the girl only serves one purpose and that is to create a loathing for Agamemmon in the viewer. I for one do not like being manipulated in my emotions in this way. I thought the characters of Helen and Paris were also incredibly stupid. Both actors tried entirely too hard and what it came off as was a second rate Romeo and Juliet story. I found the actress who played Helen (fantastic body aside) to be quite unattractive myself, certainly not suitable to portray a woman thought to be the most beautiful in the world. Paris was the worst character in the movie. An arrogant, self-centered coward in the Iliad, he is instead made out to be this great and honorable man in the movie. It was he (along with Aphrodite's assistance) that cheated in the battle against Meneleus. Not to mention I found the scene where he defeated Hector in the games to be completely monoric, as Hector was supposed to be the greatest warrior of his age. It certainly diminished his later battle against Achilles. Oh, big deal. Achilles killed Hector. Hell, Paris beat him earlier in the movie. Achilles was another character that was done horribly. Achilles fought for the glory of battle, but he wasn't evil and shifty. He dragged Hector's corpse as revenge for Hector killing his friend, Patroclus, not because he was ruthless and cruel. Also, Achilles death at the hands of Paris was another travesty. Paris murdered Achilles from afar, like a coward, in the story, unlike the semi-heroic fashion he dispatched Achilles in the movie. Moving back to Helen again, the only reason she ever loved Paris was because Aphrodite forced her to. Meneleus was a good husband and a good king. He did not abuse Helen in any way and SHE chose HIM as her husband, after her father made all of the kings swear an oath that none would seek revenge against the man who won her hand. All in all, this movie would have been a truly great film, if the Iliad had never existed at all, but because of the great differences between the film and the story (the changes make the film almost completely different then the story) this movie falls well below expectations. If you are looking for a truly great epic film to watch, I suggest Merlin, Braveheart, or Gladiator. Do NOT watch this film if you have read, and enjoy, the Iliad, because you will not be pleased.
Rating: 
Summary: Appallingly inept
Review: Having first been so excited by the mini-series of The Odyssey I cannot believe that Hollywood has dropped back into the comic '50's versions of historical classics! Having endured the full two discs I feel totally depressed. What's wrong with it? Everything almost!!. Anyone who has any acquaintance with the original tale should be out torching this version. Others have pointed out the obvious distortions of the facts, but even given that it should have looked good! It ain't, it's as cheesey and less interesting to look at than Xenia. Visually it is disgraceful - rayon ribbons on tunics, obvious sewing machine lines, and colors that should earn the designer a B Minus for knowledge. Doesn't the costume designer know that emerald greens and blue purples didn't exist before the 1860's? And the sets are just as poor. Terrible CGI (those thousand boats!!) and not one iota of a sense of a real and vivid city. There appeared to be only one staircase in Troy and everyone, but everyone ran up and down it. Hollywood did it better with the silly version with Rossana Podesta as Helen in the '50's. The only saving grace was the actress playing Cassandra - she, at least had a sense of the drama she was in and convinced as one who could see and dreaded the future. The acting was fairly poor - but who could expect more from this travesty of a script - and all I can say (being in shock as I am) is that Helen's nipples looked quite tempting in her one good costume of chiffon.I might have accepted this if it was a dream-sequence from The Young and the Restless, but for serious viewing this is a crock. Let us all go on our knees and pray that the Wolfgang Peterson movie of "Troy" will give us the sense of that fabulous city Homer sings of.
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