SnoReptilePlenty Memorable, crazy movie

Console best movie i've ever seen.

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Allison Davies The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

bkoganbing Fury Of Achilles takes the story of Achilles and highlights it from Homer's Iliad as opposed to telling the whole story of the Trojan War. It's a cut above the usual peplum pictures mainly because of the source.Gordon Mitchell who unlike Brad Pitt did not have to bulk up to play Achilles he was pretty buff stuff already as that was his trade. Playing Hector is another expatriate actor Jacques Bergerac who was fresh from his divorce from Dorothy Malone and no doubt needed the money for alimony and child support. Fury Of Achilles is hardly in the class of the recent Troy or the Fifties film Helen Of Troy. It was made with a fraction of the budget of either. Yet it told the story in a simple and straightforward manner and Mitchell was actually a creditable Achilles.The Iliad and its characters are almost as well known as the Bible so the movie-going public knows what it expects from players who portray these characters. Achilles and Hector are larger than life and Mitchell and Bergerac show them as such.Lovers of the classics might nitpick, but the public shouldn't complain.

liderc This Italian epic movie really was a surprise for me. Except of the very clever way they changed the ending, it's quite true to the spirit of Homer's work (the relationship between Achilles and Patroclus is changed into a friendship, of course, and a female love interest for Patroclus is introduced). The lead is a little bit stiff, but on the other hand that's maybe just the way they wanted Achilles to be! The direction is fantastic, giving the battle scenes at night a very theatrical feeling through the uncommon use of the lightning. Editing is surprisingly good, too, as are all the other actors. Carlo Savina's score is also a gem. It's really funny that this 60s movie beats Petersen's version in every category! A must-see! There is a German widescreen DVD, but image quality is not that good, possibly because of the shoddy company that gave the license. I hope a good English DVD will be available sometime!

steven-222 I've watched a number of Trojan War movies recently, and this may be the very best.Like Homer's Iliad, it begins toward the end of the war and ends before the episode of the Trojan Horse; the focus is strictly on one man, Achilles, and his fate. A knowledge of the dramatis personae and the basic circumstances is presumed of the viewer, just as Homer expected his listeners to know who Paris was, or how Iphigenia died.Unlike any other Trojan War film I've seen, this one, like Homer, includes the gods and their divine intervention in human affairs. Achilles' near-invincibility is a supernatural fact, as demonstrated in a scene when he's stabbed and the blade is destroyed as if blasted by lightning. Yet the film doesn't feel like a fantasy, as do similar films about Jason, Hercules, or Ulysses; it's a psychological drama in which the psyche of the main character is driven by his understanding of his divine destiny. An oracle has revealed that Troy cannot fall until its champion, Hector, dies; Hector cannot die until Achilles slays him; and once that happens, Achilles must die. This is the burden of greatness — and doom — that lies upon Achilles.Even dubbed, Gordon Mitchell gives a powerful and convincing portrayal of the warrior who is both hero and monster. His physical presence is perfect: his physique is statuesque but his features are so rugged as to be ugly (think of Charles Bronson or Jack Palance); he is sexually alluring, physically intimidating, and frightening to look at.The script is surprisingly, sometimes amazingly, literate, verging on the poetic. Especially memorable are Achilles' explanation of his invulnerability to the captured Briseis, which ironically reveals his vulnerability and wins her pity and affection; Patroclus' plea to Hector to kill him after he's been wounded; and Hector's farewell speech to his wife and the people of Troy before he goes out to battle Achilles. The climactic duel between the two warriors is very well-staged and utterly riveting.I wonder if the makers of TROY saw this movie? If so, they learned nothing from it. If they had simply done a remake of this film, reproducing its insights into the tragedy of Achilles and Hector, Brad Pitt would be the possessor of an Oscar today!Here's the rub: this movie is very hard to locate on DVD, at least in the US. The only copy I've found, on a compilation DVD called RETURN TO TROY, is from a very degraded full-screen print, hardly watchable by most viewer's standards. If this movie could be seen in a well-preserved widescreen print, it would be truly spectacular.

Johnny B One has to admit that this movie is found in a class of its own when compared to other Italian productions of the same genre. The plot is very true to Homer's epic and the film editing is very good. The only drawback is that the hero, portrayed by Mitchell is quite stiff - unfortunately acting is not his forte. However, fortunately, he is overshadowed by the acting of the other stars and so the result is entertaining in every respect.