The beach assault in Troy is a god damned fantastic scene. The entire scene of almost 10 minutes is a single (and later, a second) boat of soldiers against an entire beach fortified by Trojan soldiers. Really, it's just a chance for Achilles to show off how much of a badass he really is. When the second boat lands, there is a brief chance for Ajax to hit horses with hammers, as well, which is also fun.
The scene opens with Achilles' boat of Myrmidons pulling far ahead of an entire sea filled with Greek ships nearing the Trojan coastline. Achilles then responds to his commander's concerns (conscience and/or pain in Achilles' ass, Eudoros) by giving his men a rousing speech explaining why they should all hope they're as badass as him in about two minutes. Shortly thereafter, the boat pulls up onto the shore and right off the bat at least five men turn out not to be as badass as him (complete with a classy upskirt shot of the timeless “unnamed extra falling off ledge screaming”).
They form up an apparently impenetrable shell of shields a hundred or so feet from their boat – apparently concluding enough non-badass members had been weaned and it was time to get down to business. There is a brief lull in the action as we get to watch a bunch of manly legs march forward. Then the expected happens and they burst out and carve through the fodder stupidly waiting for them, including Achilles putting a spear through some guy's head (no, really).
After a heavy bout of shaky-cam (executed so-so, but it stinks of attempting to cover up the poor choreography of the extras), the scene switches to introduce hero #2: Ajax. His Badass sense is tingling as he looks on in awe at Achilles' boat assaulting the beach alone. He tosses one of his rowers out and starts rowing himself. I had always hoped that the boat would start moving in circles at this point, with Ajax just getting angrier and more confused.
As Achilles and his gang head to take a nearby temple, Ajax and his substantially less-badass crew just charge headlong into the waiting troops and a group of horsemen. Ajax is just fucking amazing. He's huge, has a beard and token scars on his face, yells incoherently a lot, and uses a gigantic hammer to great effect. The brief shots where hammers two horsemen (and their horses) to the ground then angrily snaps off an arrow embedded in his leg sums him fantastically.
The final scene, although brief, is the best part of the fight. Achilles attacks the temple steps himself. The camera shots and cuts speed up and we hear his panting breath as he seamlessly cuts a swath through the platoon of soldiers silly enough to stand in his way. This scene is great for two main reasons.
First, when he finishes his rampage up the steps, he is visibly panting and somehow, through camerawork, sound of only breathing and cutting, and through his non-stop movements, the viewer feels as though we breathlessly made our way to the top also. It’s a nice trick, one that more fights could do with. The quick shots and smooth movements seem more significant when they feel (in retrospect) like a frenzied burst of carnage, rather than the well-choreographed little dance that they truly are.
Second, there is (for me) one of the best shots in the entire fight scene. It lasts a second at most (probably less), and might be just another throwaway moment of heroics. After dispatching the first two guards at the steps, Achilles slings his shield onto his back as he charges forward. The instant he does so, an arrow that would have hit his back a brief second earlier hits his shield instead. It may be a subtle point (or even accidental), but it’s always stuck with me. It drives home that Achilles is either so completely aware of the battlefield around him that he dodges arrows casually from all directions, or that his battle prowess is the product of being touched by the gods, to the extent that even he is unaware of the protection he is afforded. I like to think of it as the latter. He could not have seen that arrow flying toward him, and given the portrayal of Achilles, the choice to move his shield to his back at that point was not mere luck or coincidence. Instead, he has been granted a special status or blessing—be it his parents, a quick dunk in the river Styx, or whatever (the gods are notably absent from Troy). The point is, it’s a great (albeit subtle) moment that raises the question of whether Achilles’ abilities in combat are more than just training, reflexes and strength.
Finally, Achilles kills the last soldier on the temple steps with a bloody flourish. He then gets a huge hard-on listening to the boats still at sea chanting his name.
Overall thoughts: Great scene with decent pacing and camerawork, even if really just focuses around one (and briefly, two) fighters. Given the context and characters, it is appropriate that the extras are just background fodder to give the feeling of a larger battle.
Troy (2004) - Brad Pitt, Tyler Mane
