Troy is Wolfgang Petersen's 2004 epic film adaptation of material drawn primarily from Homer's Iliad and the wider tradition surrounding the Trojan War. Released in the United States on May 14, 2004, the film stars Brad Pitt as Achilles, Eric Bana as Hector, Orlando Bloom as Paris, Diane Kruger as Helen, Brian Cox as Agamemnon, Brendan Gleeson as Menelaus, Sean Bean as Odysseus, and Peter O'Toole as King Priam. David Benioff wrote the screenplay, while Petersen directed the production for Warner Bros. The story centers on the conflict that follows Paris's departure from Sparta with Helen, an act that gives Agamemnon the opportunity to unite the Greek forces against Troy. From there, the film moves between the Greek camp, the walls of Troy, the royal household of Priam, and the battlefield where Achilles and Hector become the story's defining opponents. Unlike many adaptations of Greek mythology, Troy deliberately presents its legendary characters in a relatively grounded world. The Olympian gods are not active characters in the film, and supernatural explanations are largely removed in favor of human ambition, warfare, political calculation, pride, and personal relationships. That choice makes Troy feel more like a historical-style war epic than a conventional fantasy film, even though its foundation is one of the most famous bodies of mythology in Western literature. The result is a movie built around recognizable names and events from the Trojan tradition while making substantial changes to the source material in order to create a focused cinematic narrative.

The conflict in Troy begins with a personal decision that quickly becomes a political crisis. Paris, the younger son of King Priam, travels to Sparta and leaves with Helen, the wife of King Menelaus. The film treats this relationship as the immediate cause of the Greek assault, while Agamemnon sees the situation as an opportunity to expand his influence. Menelaus wants revenge and the return of Helen, but Agamemnon's ambitions extend beyond a single personal grievance. He intends to use the campaign to bring the Greek forces together and ultimately bring Troy under his control. Achilles is more complicated. He is widely regarded as the greatest warrior in the Greek forces, but he has little admiration for Agamemnon and does not fight simply because a king orders him to. His motivation is closely tied to the desire for lasting fame and the belief that a short life with extraordinary glory is preferable to an ordinary life that is quickly forgotten. This difference separates Achilles from Hector, who fights primarily because Troy, his family, and his people depend on him. Hector understands the danger created by Paris's actions but remains loyal to his brother and his city. Their eventual confrontation is therefore more than a spectacular duel. It places two different ideas of heroism against each other: Achilles seeks personal immortality through reputation, while Hector accepts the burdens of duty and responsibility. The Greek siege also allows the movie to establish figures such as Odysseus, Menelaus, Nestor, Patroclus, and Briseis within the larger conflict. As the armies gather outside Troy, the film repeatedly shifts between military strategy and the personal consequences of decisions made by its leading characters. That structure keeps the war connected to the people who caused it and the people who are ultimately forced to pay its price.

The cast of Troy combines major stars with characters drawn from the central figures of the Trojan legend. Brad Pitt plays Achilles, whose extraordinary fighting ability and refusal to submit easily to authority make him the dominant warrior of the Greek camp. Eric Bana plays Hector, the Trojan prince who becomes Achilles' principal opponent and one of the film's most important representations of duty and restraint. Orlando Bloom portrays Paris, whose relationship with Helen sets the war in motion and whose limitations as a warrior are repeatedly contrasted with Hector's discipline and Achilles' skill. Diane Kruger plays Helen, while Peter O'Toole gives King Priam a quieter role that becomes increasingly important as Troy approaches destruction. Brian Cox plays Agamemnon, the Greek ruler whose ambitions extend beyond the immediate dispute over Helen. Sean Bean's Odysseus provides the Greek side with a more practical and strategic personality, while Brendan Gleeson plays Menelaus, the husband whose confrontation with Paris helps establish the stakes of the opening conflict. Garrett Hedlund plays Patroclus, Achilles' younger companion and cousin, and Rose Byrne plays Briseis, whose relationship with Achilles adds a personal dimension to the larger war. Saffron Burrows portrays Andromache, Hector's wife, connecting the military conflict directly to the family inside Troy. The ensemble is important because the film does not divide its characters into simple heroes and villains. Achilles can be arrogant and unpredictable while still commanding extraordinary loyalty; Hector can be compassionate while still participating in war; Priam can be dignified but powerless to prevent his city's destruction; and Agamemnon can be politically effective while being driven by ambition. Those contradictions give the film much of its dramatic weight and make the characters more useful to remember than simply knowing which actor played which role.

One of the most significant choices in Troy is its treatment of the original mythology. Homer's Iliad is a poem in which gods actively intervene in human affairs, but Petersen's film removes the Greek gods from the story and instead treats the Trojan War as a conflict driven by human beings. BFI specifically describes the film as a grounded historical epic that strips away the gods, leaving ambition, politics, love, and military force to determine the course of events. This changes several famous parts of the mythology. In the ancient tradition, divine figures such as Aphrodite and Apollo play important roles, whereas the film gives the human characters responsibility for the events that would otherwise have supernatural explanations. Achilles is also presented differently. The film emphasizes his reputation, emotions, relationships, and physical ability rather than making him an almost superhuman mythological figure. The same process affects Paris, Hector, Priam, and Helen, who are presented as people living through an enormous historical crisis rather than as distant figures controlled by a pantheon of gods. The movie also condenses material from the wider Trojan tradition. The Iliad itself does not tell the complete story of the Trojan Horse or the final destruction of Troy; those events belong to later parts of the broader mythic cycle. Petersen's film incorporates them because they are essential to the popular understanding of the Trojan War and allow the movie to construct a complete beginning-to-end narrative. This means Troy should be understood as an adaptation rather than a literal reproduction of Homer's poem. Its value lies partly in how clearly it translates familiar mythological names and conflicts into the language of a modern war epic.

The final movement of Troy turns the film from a story of individual warriors into a story about the destruction of an entire city. After Hector's death, the balance inside and outside Troy changes dramatically. Achilles has won the duel that defines much of the film, but the victory does not bring him peace, and Troy remains under siege. The Greeks eventually resort to deception rather than defeating the city's defenses through a direct assault. The wooden Trojan Horse becomes the crucial element of the plan, allowing Greek soldiers to enter Troy while the city's defenders believe the siege has ended. The resulting destruction completes the film's central contrast between military glory and human loss. Priam's role becomes particularly moving because his royal authority cannot protect his family or his city from the consequences of the war. The film also emphasizes Achilles' eventual recognition that fame cannot protect him from death. His relationship with Patroclus, Briseis, Hector, and Priam gradually strips away the simpler version of the warrior identity he held at the beginning. Troy's production reinforces that scale through enormous sets, battle sequences, period-inspired costumes, and a 163-minute theatrical runtime. The film was released with an R rating and became a substantial global commercial success, earning roughly $497 million worldwide against an estimated $175 million budget. Its continuing appeal comes from the combination of familiar mythology and accessible blockbuster storytelling. Even viewers who know the Trojan legend can approach it as a distinct interpretation because the film makes clear choices about what to keep, what to remove, and how to turn an ancient epic into a modern war drama. The result is a visually expansive adaptation whose most memorable ideas remain grounded in the tension between Achilles' pursuit of glory, Hector's sense of duty, Paris's recklessness, Priam's devotion to Troy, and the enormous human cost of the war.