An ancient poem and a motion picture are two entirely different mediums, and should be judged accordingly. We as viewers (well, most of us) cut Peter Jackson some slack with his deviations from Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings," and we ought to give the same consideration to Wolfgang Petersen, who brings Homer's classic to vivid, sweaty life. And not only does Petersen pull off a cinematic coup, he makes watching TROY an outright fun and thrilling experience.The film centers around two characters--and they are not Helen and Paris. A beefed-up Brad Pitt plays Achilles, a fierce Greek warrior who is literally unbeatable. Yet Achilles is anything but a nice person: he is self-centered and pretentious, and he fights on his terms, often to the detriment of his countrymen. Achilles has but one quest: to be immortalized through history, and the Greek siege of Troy provides him the perfect opportunity. For such a shallow, narcissistic character, Pitt is perfectly suited for the role.Eric Bana, on the other hand, steals the show as Hector, Prince of Troy. Hector is a good, kind, and decent man who loves his family and his country. Faced with having to clean up the mess after his brother Paris (Orlando Bloom) brings Helen of Sparta (Diane Kruger) to his beloved land, Hector leads the Trojan army against the Greek invaders; his showdown with Achilles is inevitable, and is also the film's defining moment.Yet TROY is bursting at its wooden horse seams with other memorable performances, including a frail Peter O'Toole as Trojan King Priam, and his scene-chewing counterpart Brian Cox, who plays greedy King Agamemnon. Brendan Gleeson and Sean Bean are superb, too, as Greek kings Menelaus and Odysseus, while Bloom is less than stellar as a peach-fuzzed, pusillanimitic Paris.Director Petersen delivers a grand epic complete with stunning cinematography, fierce action, imaginative special effects, and a spellbinding story. His film does not detract, but instead enhances, Homer's classic. In the words of King Menelaus of Sparta: "May the gods keep the wolves in the hills and the women in our beds." How can an epic go wrong with a line like that?--D. Mikels