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Quotes

Menelaus: May the gods keep the wolves in the hills and the women in our beds.

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Trivia

According to the commentary on Disc 2, most of Troy's wall and gate set was destroyed by Hurricane Marty in September 2003, just before filming was set to begin for the Achilles vs Hector fight scene. The crew decided to rebuild the whole thing and coincidentally this is about the same time that Brad injured himself. See more...

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Troy (2004) - 27 major mistakes

Directed by Wolfgang Petersen, starring Brad Pitt, Brendan Gleeson, Brian Cox, Eric Bana, Orlando Bloom, Peter O'Toole, Saffron Burrows, Sean Bean (add more)

Genres: Action, Drama, History, Romance, War

This film is loosely based on the Iliad, not a direct copy. As such, any book/film differences aren't valid. If you're interested in the "facts" of the story, such as they are, check them at the Wikipedia.

Mistakes
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Continuity: When Achilles is hit with the fourth arrow in the close-up, he now has two arrows in his torso (the first in his ankle, the second he pulled out). Yet in the next wide shot of Briseis, as she runs toward Paris yelling, "Paris! Don't!" there is only ONE arrow in Achilles' chest, but when Paris hits him with the fifth arrow, no doubt the missing arrow is back again.

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Revealing: During their fight in front of Troy's wall, Ajax shoves his weapon into Hector's face, causing Hector to fall back. In the next shot looking up, as Hector hits the ground, part of the wall is amusingly gone! There is even a bit of the crew's scaffold, visible behind the edge of the 'stone'. This particular piece of wall was never built as part of the actual set, so when it appears onscreen it is always CG, though in this shot the composite people did not complete it and at this precise angle it should be there. When the bodies are being collected (at the end of this battle), there is a good view of the wall intact.

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Revealing: When the spear handle is protruding from Hector's shoulder, the area of the armor around the circular wound is clearly visible and it is in perfect condition. There is no tear in the armor whatsoever, around the wood, which would have been necessary to allow the wide spear tip to penetrate the armor and actually enter Hector's body as it did.

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Visible crew/equipment: As Achilles' ship nears the Trojan shores, Agamemnon snidely asks, "What's the fool doing? He's going to take the beach of Troy with fifty men?" At the start of the next shot, as the camera begins to pan down, on the far right, just beside a person's (who is dressed in blue) head is a metal bullhorn (ie. used to give instructions to cast/crew, and which definitely doesn't belong in this time period).

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Visible crew/equipment: After Achilles, Odysseus and the rest exit the 'Trojan' horse, Odysseus signals the soldier at the top of the city's wall. When this soldier waves the torch in the wide shot, crane equipment leans over the interior wall, above the huge doors. It is obviously gone in the next wide shot of the wall, as the soldier continues to wave the torch. (Only visible on widescreen version.)

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Continuity: While Ajax and Hector fight, Hector head butts Ajax, and three shots later in a wide shot, half of the hammer end of his unusual spear actually breaks and falls to the ground behind him to his left. But lo and behold, in the next close-up the bloody hammer end (bloodier than the previous shot) of his spear is whole and intact.

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Visible crew/equipment: As the Trojans let loose their arrows on the Myrmidons, there is a close-up of a fiery arrow in a man's thigh. Two shots later, in a close-up of a Myrmidon stuntguy when he slams onto the sand, he clutches in his right hand a wired remote with a white trigger button, presumably to set off the little dramatic sand explosions as he lands.

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Continuity: While Menelaus and Paris duel, Menelaus punches Paris in the face (the first time) and as he spins around spitting blood, the red bruise on Paris' right cheek is perfectly visible, yet in the very next close-up his face is quite pristine - the bruise and blood are actually gone. But of course in the next close-up Paris' cheek bruise is back with blood on his chin as well, and in the following shots the amount of blood goes back and forth.

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Visible crew/equipment: As the 'Trojan' horse is being pulled into the city of Troy, in the cable-cam shot, just after the camera passes over the last of the riders on horseback, it passes a wood structure on the left, beside the large columns. Inside is a man in a black tee shirt, standing beside another man who holds an HT (handie-talkie - a two-way radio) up to his mouth with his right hand, as he points with his left hand. Then when the cable-cam spins around, they and a white tee shirt guy are visible down below. As a side note, there are some in the crowd that make eye contact with the camera and follow it as it passes (the cable-cam is not the POV of anyone - it sails over people's heads in the opposite direction than the 'Trojan' horse is being brought). Before it nears the wood structure, a woman on the ground below raises both her arms to wave and smile directly at the camera as it passes over.

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Visible crew/equipment: After the Trojans let loose their arrows on the Myrmidons who have just reached their shores, there is a close-up of a Myrmidon stuntguy as he slams onto the sand, beside the ship. At the start of this shot a crew member (who is stooping) is visible on deck, at the bow of the ship. (Use slo-mo if necessary.)

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Revealing: When Hector and Paris return to Troy with Helen, in the last wide shot as they ride in the chariot the camera pans toward the palace, high up in the distance over particular buildings. Later, just after Odysseus sets fire to the pyre with Achilles' body, when Odysseus' voiceover says, "...I walked with giants. Men rise and fall like the winter wheat," the entire palace is actually GONE in this shot, though it should be visible over the very same buildings as the earlier shot, since the angle of the camera is similar. Composite people simply neglected to add the palace in this pyre shot.

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Revealing: During the duel between Menelaus and Paris, the blade tip on Menelaus' sword actually breaks. It is perfectly visible when he and Paris slam their two swords together, at the start of the same shot just before Menelaus grabs hold of Paris' shield and pushes him away. Of course it's nice and pointy in the following shots.

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Continuity: When the Trojan rider finds the Greek fleet that are hidden below, in the wide shots this rider has very long curly black hair and his helmet has its decorative hair formed into a thin long twist as it hangs down from the top of the helmet. However, in the close-ups of the rider, he has very short brown hair and all the helmet's decorative hair hangs down thick and loose.

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Continuity: Achilles walks on the left side of the large grassy area when he is hit with the third and fourth arrows in the close-ups and since the statue to the left and back edge of the grass are visible, the dead soldier's position is apparent. Then after a facial close-up of stationary Achilles, in the next wide shot Achilles is now on the right side of the grassy area.

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Revealing: When Ajax slams the hammer end of his spear into a man, he has his shield at his back. The top arrow in the shield is bent at a 90° angle and as Ajax moves the top (plastic) arrow droops down and the bottom arrow actually flops around. While still in the same location, when he sticks his spear into the sand and pulls the arrow out of his thigh, the arrows on his shield are gone.

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Continuity: Priam walks toward the edge of the balcony to see fire ravaging his city. In the shot prior to that one, Troy's center square (with the temple of Poseidon) is shown and behind the two large columns, the left and right tall doors at the top of the stairs are engulfed in flames, the center door is not. When Briseis runs from the galloping horse, in the very next shot of the square with the 'Trojan' horse, only the left door at the top of the stairs is engulfed in flames and the right and center doors are both perfectly intact, then of course as Agamemnon shouts, "Burn Troy!" the left and right are completely engulfed again.

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Continuity: After Agamemnon's death, the first soldier that Achilles kills when rescuing Briseis, lies on the grassy area directly in front of the large center statue. The dead soldier repeatedly changes position. For example, when Briseis runs and shouts, "Paris! Don't!" the body is about 3-4 feet away from the edge, yet when Achilles drops to his knees, the body is right at the edge. In the last aerial shot of Achilles' body, the dead soldier is actually gone from the front of the statue.

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Visible crew/equipment: When Achilles and the Myrmidons are being hit with the Trojan's fiery arrows on the beach, there is a close-up of Achilles falling onto his knees on the sand. Three shots later, there is a particularly enjoyable close-up of a Myrmidon extra being hit by a fiery arrow in the chest, as his helmet with the long curly black wig falls off his head, to reveal his short light brown hair underneath.

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Factual error: More than once the sun is seen rising over the sea. But that would be impossible, since the sun rises in the east and the sea around Troy is in the north and west, not in the east.

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Visible crew/equipment: As Hector and Achilles duel, Achilles slices Hector's spear with his shield. Two shots later, just as Hector throws the remaining spear to the ground, the large distinctive shadow of equipment, which leans or stands beside the wall, is visible on the gate behind Hector.

Edit Submitted by lmao Time