Arriving just at the moment in which Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey was dominating the box office, Wolfgang Petersen’s popular and polarizing adaptation of Homer’s first epic poem arrives in a jam-packed special edition, courtesy of Arrow Films. Loosely based on The Iliad and most of the Trojan War, Troy (2004) retells a classic story of love, war and devastation. Troy is a 2000s epic with a complicated legacy. With all of its sweeping battle sequences and glistening shiny bodies, Troy was a box office hit that wasn’t too well regarded by both critics and some of its stars, including Brad Pitt (Fight Club) and Peter O’Toole (Lawrence of Arabia). However, the legacy of the film was put back intact with Peterson’s much-improved 2007 director’s cut which added much needed depth to the film. With Arrow Video’s release on both 4K UHD and Blu-ray, fans have a choice to see either version with a beautiful 4K remastering from the original 35 mm camera negative.
When Trojan prince Paris (Orlando Bloom) sweeps Helen of Sparta (Diane Kruger) off her feet and takes her back home to Troy, an unforgettable war ensues. Much to the chagrin of his brother, Hector (Eric Bana), and father, Priam (O’Toole), Paris initiates the rage of Helen’s husband, Menelaus (Brendan Gleeson), who summons the large army of his arrogant brother, Agamemnon (Brian Cox), led by the bold and undefeated warrior Achilles (Pitt). As the war between Trojans and Greeks escalates, the perils and consequences of combat and forbidden love play out in the center, all building up to the unforgettable and tragic “Trojan Horse” event.
Packshot for the Arrow Video Blu-ray of TROY. Photo courtesy of Arrow Video/MVD Entertainment Group.
One of the things Troy does well, especially in its director’s cut, is that it knows how to establish character when we’re meeting key players for the first time. When we first meet Pitt’s Achilles, he wakes up in bed next to naked women, drunk off his undefeated glory and not conducting himself as a humble, noble warrior. As he mounts his horse, the young man sent to fetch him lets him know with worry that a massive brute awaits to fight him. Instead of inspiring the young man with wise words of combat, he belittles him and states “that’s why no one will remember your name.” In the next scene, he begrudgingly follows King Agamemnon’s order and defeats the large brute with almost zero effort. Within those first two scenes, we have a character who is flawless in his fighting skills but flawed within his humanity — an ideal antihero. Pitt brings nuance to a role which, in the hands of a lesser actor, would be nothing other than glorified, glistening (there’s a lot of glistening, y’all) eye candy. Eric Bana (Memoir of a Snail) delivers a magnetic supporting performance as Hector, the antithesis to Achilles — a noble prince who believes in fighting (and killing) with dignity. Pitt and Bana bounce off his each other well in their confrontations and their climactic fight is one for the ages, still holding up as a great battle scene so many years later. The downside of the cast includes Orlando Bloom (The Lord of the Rings films) and Diane Kruger (National Treasure films) as Paris and Helen — the doomed romance is not as compelling as it should be due to the underplayed (or rather, underused) performances of the two actors. Bloom tries his best as the cowardly Paris and Kruger is alluring eye candy as Helen of Troy, but it’s not enough to carry the film. Peter O’Toole, also underused, has a great scene towards the climax of the film where he confronts Achilles about not giving his deceased son dignity and letting him bury his dead, as respected by rules of war. It’s a notable scene in which Pitt brings emotional depth to his character and Toole shines as a grieving father speaking to the soul of his enemy.
The director’s cut is a shining example among retooled classics like Kingdom of Heaven (2005) and Blade Runner (1982) in which cut scenes can enhance a film’s power rather than diminish it. Even within its alternate opening where a dog walks among dead soldiers in a field, there is empirical evidence of an epic vision that Petersen did not get to present to his audience the first time around. The film’s writer, David Benioff, showcases within his script a talent of adapting beloved stories and making them palatable for general audiences, a talent that would later lead to him becoming one half of the creative team behind hit series like Game of Thrones (2011-2019) and 3 Body Problem (2024 – present). This Blu-ray release of Troy comes with three discs: the first disc showcasing the theatrical cut, the second disc showcasing the director’s cut, and the third disc with a lot of archival featurettes, adapted from the earlier releases of the film. Two archival featurettes include a picture-in-picture commentary of the film and “Troy in Focus,” a featurette tracking Peterson’s progress on bringing the director’s cut to life.
For any lovers of films like Gladiator (2000) or 300 (2006), this jam-packed special edition is a no-brainer buy.
Troy Special Features:
LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY CONTENTS
- *NEW* Brand new 4K remasters of both the Director’s Cut and Theatrical Cut of the film from the original 35mm camera negative by Arrow Films
- Collectors’ booklet featuring new writing on the film by Priscilla Page and Laurie Maguire and an excerpt from the original production notes
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Peter Strain
DISC 1: THEATRICAL CUT
* High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation of the Theatrical Cut
* Original lossless DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround audio plus stereo audio
* Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
DISC 2: DIRECTOR’S CUT
* High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation of the Director’s Cut
* Original lossless DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround audio plus stereo audio
* Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
* Troy Revisited, an archival introduction by director Wolfgang Petersen
DISC 3: EXTRAS
* In Movie Experience, an archive picture-in-picture commentary of the film
* Troy in Focus, a series of archival behind-the scenes featurettes
* In the Thick of Battle, an archival behind-the-scenes featurette
* From Ruins to Reality, an archival behind-the-scenes featurette
* Troy: An Effects Odyssey, an archival behind-the-scenes featurette
* Attacking Troy, an archival behind-the-scenes featurette
* Gallery of the Gods, an archival introduction to the Greek Gods
* Easter egg
* Trailer
* Image galleries
Available on 4K UHD and Blu-ray August 18th, 2026.
For more information, head to the official Arrow Video Troy webpage.
To purchase, head to the official MVD Entertainment Troy webpage.
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Categories: Home Release, Home Video, Recommendation, Reviews
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