While director Wolfgang Petersen and photographer Roger Pratt stage spectacular, brutal battle sequences, screenwriter David Benioff sticks with cliché themes of honor and dishonor within brotherly relationships: Paris and Hector, Menelaus and Agamemnon, Achilles and his cousin Patroclus. Problem is: They've discarded the psychological influence of the Greek gods, a dubious move since the tragic tale revolves around fate and destiny. As a result, Hector emerges as the only credible, sympathetic hero. Paris is an insipid weakling and petulant Achilles is just out for immortal glory, prophesying, "They'll be talking about this war for a thousand years."

Brad Pitt prances and preens with his buffed body-builder's physique, in contrast to Eric Bana's more subtle nobility. Yet it's dignified Peter O'Toole, as Troy's aged King Priam, who claims the most tragic, memorable dramatic moments: watching his city under siege and begging Achilles for his son's body. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, "Troy" is an uneven, underwhelming 7. It has the sword-and-sandals historical scope of "Gladiator" - but not the heart.