8th Feb 2005
Revealing mistake: When Ajax first arrives on Troy's shores an arrow penetrates his right thigh. The darker skinned latex material surrounding his thigh is perfectly distinguishable from his own light skin in the wide shots. Then after he breaks off part of the arrow, the rest which remains in his thigh disappears in consecutive shots. (00:42:35)
8th Feb 2005
Revealing mistake: In Achilles' tent, while Achilles tells Briseis that she is his guest and not his captive, the distinctive tan lines of the actress' bikini top are clearly visible as Achilles holds her. (01:37:15)
8th Feb 2005
Revealing mistake: Throughout the entire film, when soldiers are stabbing others it is blatantly obvious in numerous shots that the swords' blades or spear tips don't come anywhere near the armor or skin of the stabbing victim, and the 'victim' usually has either a delayed reaction to their wounds, or react before the weapons ever 'touch' them. (02:20:50)
8th Feb 2005
Revealing mistake: The long distinctive scar on Glaucus' left cheek drastically changes severity, shape, length, etc., in all of his close-ups. (00:57:20 - 01:54:45)
3rd Feb 2005
Revealing mistake: When the body of Achilles lies on the pyre in the close-up, although the fake body has a similar appearance to the real Achilles, some things are different, such as the body does not have the distinctive circular scar on the left upper arm as Achilles did. (02:31:40)
3rd Feb 2005
Revealing mistake: When the Trojans and Greeks first clash, after Menelaus' death, soldiers wearing kneepads are visible as they fight in the melee. (01:18:25)
3rd Feb 2005
Revealing mistake: When Hector and Paris return to Troy with Helen, in the first shot they pass through the gate and head down the long path through the city. Then later, when the soldiers head for the armory and when Hector walks through the gate for the face off with Achilles, the path is substantially different. The statue and actual buildings' positions, the curve of the road, etc., are completely different. (This has nothing to do with camera angle.) (00:27:40 - 01:57:00)
3rd Feb 2005
Revealing mistake: Odysseus normally has wavy/curly hair that reaches the base of his neck, yet just before Hector cuts Patroclus' throat, when Odysseus' helmet slips forward as he fights and the white cap is visible, his hair is very short and straight in back. It's also apparent earlier, when he visits Achilles in Phtia. (00:22:05 - 01:42:25)
30th Jan 2005
Revealing mistake: When Agamemnon finds Briseis kneeling, while Troy burns, he pulls her up by her hair. As she lifts her left arm up, the beige undergarment she wears is visible under her arm. From the moment we see Briseis kneeling, throughout this entire scene, the set lighting and shadows change quite dramatically in consecutive shots. (02:27:05)
30th Jan 2005
Revealing mistake: As Hector holds his son, the first warning gong is rung. In the next shot, when Hector hands the baby to Andromache, its small shiny bald head is quite a giveaway that it's really a doll in this shot (not visible on widescreen DVD). Later, Andromache holds her son, Scamandrius, when she finds Helen and Paris, as Troy burns. Aside from the fact that the door hits the back of the baby's head, he now has a bald shiny head, whereas he had hair in previous shots, so it's quite obvious in this shot that the baby is a doll once again. (02:23:05)
28th Jan 2005
Revealing mistake: After they arrive on Troy’s shore, a particular Myrmidon is hit and falls overboard into the water. After a few shots another Myrmidon is hit with two arrows and he too promptly falls overboard into the water, and then loses his wig in the water (after the helmet). (00:39:55)
27th Jan 2005
Revealing mistake: At the start of the shot facing Patroclus (dressed as Achilles), as Hector's blade is up against his throat, then slices it, the ridged bottom of the fake latex throat that Garrett Hedlund (Patroclus) wears is visible, when he arches his head back. (01:43:25)
26th Jan 2005
Revealing mistake: After Hector pulls his sword from his shield, Achilles spins around and pulls his own from the underside of his shield. The sword is unsecured above his hand, not where it should have been, below his left hand on the handle of the shield, which was obviously done deliberately to ready the sword for the shot. (01:59:25)
26th Jan 2005
Revealing mistake: Just after Achilles slices Hector's spear, Achilles spins his shield then positions himself behind it. In the next shot facing Achilles, as he starts to walk toward Hector, he does not hold the usual handle on the underside of his shield, instead he holds a small solid handle (used for spinning shield) which is beside the normal handle. Also notice the hilt of the sword is the wrong direction near his elbow, whereas in the following shot when he holds the normal shield handle, the hilt of the sword is properly positioned. (01:59:20)
26th Jan 2005
Revealing mistake: Hector's sword is secured to the underside, from hilt to point, entirely under the shield, perpendicular to the handle he always holds. While Achilles and Hector duel, Hector snaps Achilles' spear with his leg. At the start of the next shot, Hector holds the grip of his sword and pulls it from the shield, above and parallel to the handle, not from where it should have been, obviously deliberately done to ready the sword for the shot. (01:59:25)
26th Jan 2005
Revealing mistake: When Priam kisses Hector's face as the body lies on the pyre, the right side of Hector's face is visible and among the wounds that it sustained while being dragged, the cut under his right eye, which he had while still alive, is conspicuously missing. When the body is viewed from his left, as the flames flicker, the cut above the corner of his left eyebrow, which he also had while still alive, has gone astray as well. (02:14:50)
26th Jan 2005
Revealing mistake: After Menelaus is killed the two armies clash. In the second close-up of the men fighting, when a Trojan slams a large club-like weapon into a Greek's face, the club end bends when blood spurts everywhere. (01:18:20)
26th Jan 2005
Revealing mistake: Many of the spear tips and swords bend like rubber, some at almost a 90° angle and are fine in the following shots! Such as when Achilles' spear tip bends as it makes contact with Hector's shield, once when Achilles does his leap into the air at the start of the duel and then just after slicing Hector's spear with his shield. (Although weapons were made of bronze in those days, and were likely to bend, the fact that the weapons in the film bend to such a degree and then right themselves is impossible.) (01:59:10)
26th Jan 2005
Revealing mistake: When Achilles slices Hector's spear the two wood ends are jagged and the broken spear end that Hector later carries shows a jagged end on the wood. However when Achilles stabs Hector, as the spear protrudes from Hector's shoulder the wood end is perfectly even. (01:59:15 - 02:01:30)
25th Jan 2005
Revealing mistake: When the spear handle is protruding from Hector's shoulder, the area of the armor around the circular wound is clearly visible and it is in perfect condition. There is no tear in the armor whatsoever, around the wood, which would have been necessary to allow the wide spear tip to penetrate the armor and actually enter Hector's body as it did. (02:01:20)
Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.