Troy (2004)
Goofs
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Anachronisms (13) |
Audio/visual unsynchronised (1) |
Character error (3) |
Continuity (19) |
Crew or equipment visible (3) |
Errors in geography (5) |
Factual errors (4) |
Incorrectly regarded as goofs (3) |
Revealing mistakes (11) |
Spoilers (5)
Anachronisms
Coins are placed on dead characters' eyes before their bodies are burnt. Ancient Greeks placed a coin in the corpse's mouth, not on the eyes. However, the Trojan War occurred before coined money was invented (in the 7th century BC), so they wouldn't have had coins at all.
Most equipment used by the Greeks, such as the large round shields and Achilles' helmet, is from the Classical Period (5-4th centuries BC). At the time when the epic is set, the Greeks used small bowl-shaped helmets and light leather shields shaped like the number 8.
When Briseis asks Achilles if she is still his captive, her bikini tan line is very visible.
When Hector's infant son sticks the lion in his mouth and pulls it away, the end of a modern pacifier is in the baby's hand.
When the Greek leaders are lining up to offer gifts to Agamemnon, one of them carries a red-figure vase shaped like a submarine. Red-figure pottery (made of red clay with a black glaze, from which lines and shapes are removed to make red images) was not made until the fifth century BC.
The umbrella used to shelter Paris and Helen during the parade in Troy is obviously modern, with metal spokes like modern umbrellas.
The necklaces have modern clasps, and the earrings have French hooks.
Achilles has a vaccination mark on his left arm.
During the celebration after the wooden horse is brought into the city, a girl does back flips and is clearly seen wearing modern style underwear.
The logs making up the funeral pyres for the Greeks killed in the first day's battle look like neatly cut fence posts, perfectly straight and cut square across the end.
Achilles is shown many times wearing a blue robe while resting. Blue is considered to have been an unknown color to the ancient Greeks, who instead saw the sky as "yellow" and the sea as "wine-colored".
Trojan priests are dressed like orthodox monks.
Priam, speaking about Briseis' choice, said she had "entered the clergy." "Clergy" did not enter as a term until the thirteenth century.
Audio/visual unsynchronised
Throughout the film, whenever Hector, Paris, Achilles, and Menelaus all draw their swords, metal scraping can be heard as they are pulled from their shields. However, the interior of the shields are lined with cloth, and the loops that hold the swords are leather, not metal.
Character error
When the boy goes to find Achilles to fight the warrior, he says "the Thessalonian is huge". He should have said "Thessalian". A "Thessalonian" is someone from Thessaloniki, a city that was founded centuries later (4th century BC) by Cassander, who became the king of Greece after Alexander's death. Cassander married Thessalonike, Alexander's sister, and named the city after her.
When the Greeks are sacking Troy towards the end of the film, you can hear a soldier (played by one of the the Mexican extras) yell "Aqui! Aqui!" (Here! Here!) twice.
When Paris goes to retrieve his sword after the death of Agamemnon's brother slain by Hector, you can see one of the soldiers fall down during the charge.
Continuity
During Hector and Achilles' battle, Hector swipes his sword at Achilles's chest, leaving a big scratch on his armor. When Achilles kills Hector, his armor has no marks.
While Paris fights Menelaus for Helen's hand, their shadows are opposite, which means the sunlight was on both of their lefts as they faced each other. They do not match up; the scenes must have been shot at different times of the day.
When Hector lifts the helmet off the dying Patroclus, Patroclus' nose is bleeding. Five seconds later, when Patroclus is dead, he shows no sign of a nosebleed.
When Paris first shoots Achilles, half of the arrow goes clear through his heel. Later, when Achilles is dying, the entire arrow protrudes out of one side of his heel.
When Helen tells Hector she is going back to the ships, her hair style changes between shots.
When Patroclus is fighting Hector in Achilles' armor, Hector stabs him hard in the chest, which would make a hole or a least a cut in the armor. When Achilles goes to fight Hector in the same armor, no marks are visible.
As Patroclus enters Achilles' tent to ask if he will join the Greeks to fight the Trojans, Achilles is seated while eating and drinking. In disgust at Patroclus, Achilles dashes the contents of his cup on the fire. Moments later, he drinks from the empty cup.
When Achilles' ship hits the beach, several men are hit by arrows and fall into the surf. When the warriors move onto the beach and use their shields as cover, the ship is behind them, but there are no bodies in the water or on the beach.
When Paris goes forward to talk to Hector on the ship to Troy, his cloak is wide open at the top. For the rest of the scene, the top closes up without him touching it.
When Priam meets Achilles in his tent after the battle with Hector, Priam's cloak on his left shoulder repeatedly changes from folded over to smooth throughout the scene.
When Achilles hits Hector with a broken spear, the end of the spear sticking out of Hector's chest is sawed-off, not broken, like it would be after Hector and Achilles broke each other's spears.
When Achilles burns Patroclus' body, the moonlight reflects slightly off his arms. When ancient Greeks burned bodies, a person with a torch was always beside the one who placed the coins, so the firelight should've reflected off Achilles' arms as well. It doesn't, indicating that the scene was not shot continuously.
Achilles talks to the men right before Achilles and the Myrmidons take the Trojan beach. As the shots go between Achilles and the Myrmidons, the hundreds of ships that should be behind them suddenly disappear; only a bare ocean can be seen.
After the battle in front of the gate of Troy, the field is clean, including every scrap of flesh, every drop of blood, and every footprint. When Achilles rides up on his chariot to challenge Hector, it appears that some grass has been replaced.
When the soldiers go into formation on the Trojan Beach, a flaming arrow is stuck to Achilles' shield. In the shot from Achilles' point of view, the arrow is nowhere to be seen. As Achilles and his army move out of formation to attack, the arrow is directly in Achilles' line of sight.
When Hector is dressing for his final battle with Achilles, slippers are on the floor next to the foot of the bed. During this scene, the slippers change position.
During Hector and Achilles' battle, Achilles kicks Hector to the ground, and Hector crawls towards a piece of broken spear. In one shot Achilles throws away his shield and talks to Hector. During this speech, Hector reaches the spear. After the shot of Achilles walking towards the camera, Hector just reaches the spear and gets up with it.
When Hector and Achilles have their final showdown, a string or hair strand extends from just below Hector's helmet on his left. When Hector removes his helmet, the string is gone.
When Paris enters Helen's room after dinner, he gently pulls her hair so it all lies on her back, behind her shoulders, exposing her neck. When she gets up, it is around and in front of her shoulders. It could have happened while she got up, but after a quick shot to Paris, Helen's hair is once again tucked back behind her shoulders.
Crew or equipment visible
In the Director's Cut, during the burning of Troy, a temple burns just after a statue falls forward and breaks. A crew member in a motorcycle helmet is on the roof, running across the top right-hand corner.
When Hector and Achilles fight, an obvious camera shadow appears on the ground.
During the final battle in the city when a white horse is running down a corridor towards the screen a camera can be seen moving in from the left of the frame and then out again. Though it could be confused with a soldier's helmet, a green light is clearly visible.
Errors in geography
(at around 17 mins) The caption "Mycenae" appears with a sea inlet in the background. Mycenae is inland and the sea cannot be seen from any vantage point near the city (ruins).
(at around 9 mins) Ships are shown under the caption of "Port of Sparta". Sparta is inland and near the center of the Peloponnesus; Sparta has no port.
After the Achaean fleet is spotted, villagers from the countryside begin pouring into the city. Among the animals being lead away is a pair of llamas. Llamas are originally from South America, and did not exist in Troy.
In the scene with Hector and Andromache right before the Greek ships arrive the sun is shown to rise above the ocean. Troy is on the west coast of Turkey so that sun should be setting.
After Achilles rescues Briseis from the Greeks' branding iron in the dark, they spend the night together. The next shot shows the sun rising over the sea, to the west.
Factual errors
The Trojan War was a 10-year siege, but according to the movie, it's over relatively quickly.
Achilles' ship was not the first to reach the Trojan shores, but Protesilaos'.
Achilles drives Hector's body straight away from the battlefield. In the Iliad he drags Hector's body right round the walls of Troy.
The name of the King of Sparta is pronounced 'Men-uh-LAY-us', not 'Men-uh-LOUSE'.
Incorrectly regarded as goofs
Achilles throws his sword at a Trojan; it lodges into his opponent's head. Afterward, he uses a sword to behead the golden statue. Just before Achilles threw the sword into the Trojan's head, he had one sword in each hand, and he only threw one.
Achilles kills Hector with a spear. When Achilles drags Hector back to camp, the spear sticks out of him. In the next shot, when Achilles is back at camp, the spear in Hector is gone. Hector was dragged for many miles, so it's very likely that the spear either snapped off or fell out by the time he reached camp.
When Paris fights Menelaus, the view from Paris' eyes makes it appear that Paris' helmet has no nose protection. Paris' nose protection, a slim piece of metal placed directly between the eyes, would not be visible by the wearer.
Revealing mistakes
When the Greek soldiers collect wood for the Trojan horse, bits come off the wood, revealing the white Styrofoam underneath.
When Achilles introduces Patroclus to Odysseus, his wooden training sword is in the foreground. The tip and edges are worn, revealing that the sword is painted plastic.
When the Greeks first charge Troy, soldiers run toward the city walls carrying spears. Some soldiers' spear tips are wiggling, indicating soft rubber props.
Just before Achilles says "You gave me peace in a lifetime of war", the camera focuses on Briseis' hair, and the netting from her wig/extensions is clearly visible.
When Hector removes his helmet right after Achilles does (during their fight scene), the nose bridge and flanks of his helmet move like rubber.
During the battle in front of the gate of Troy, the dead are in a line where the two armies clashed. The dead are obviously rubber dummies based on how they move when stepped on. Also, no dead are seen towards the rear of the field, where victims of the archers would be expected.
During the raid of Troy, several soldiers are clearly pretending to stab people.
During the opening scene where the dog strolls past dead bodies, you can see the "dead" horse's ears move.
When the sun rises over the sea, it casts shadows. The shot was clearly filmed at magic hour, and the sun was superimposed later.
After the Trojans are ordered to push forward after the Greeks' first attack, blood suddenly appears on a few of the Greeks' shields.
When Paris fights with Glaucus before the gate of Troy, Paris' view of Glaucus is partially obscured by the shape of his helmet in front of his eyes. When Paris is shown from Glaucus's viewpoint, Paris's eyes are not covered by the material of his helmet.
Spoilers
Audio/visual unsynchronised
About 59 minutes into The Director's Cut, Achilles and his men kill priests and soldiers, protecting them. They also sack the treasures, and Achilles chops off the head of the golden statue of Apollo. Immediately afterwards, Hector and his men are racing on horseback towards them. Achilles throws what is supposed to be an iron javelin. It is from an extremely long distance; it kills one of the men next to Hector, who is stunned by the distance Achilles threw it. However, when Achilles first took the javelin from one of his men to throw it, you can clearly hear the sound of his hand clutching wood; not metal. This sound is clearly a mistake.
Character error
When Paris goes to retrieve his sword after the death of Menelaus, you can see one of the soldiers fall down during the charge.
Incorrectly regarded as goofs
Helen sutures Paris' wounds after his duel with King Menelaus. The earliest reports of surgical suture date back to 3000 BC in ancient Egypt. The oldest known suture is in a mummy from 1100 BC.
Revealing mistakes
Obvious dummies used for the bodies of the main characters that are burned, such as Hector, Achilles, Menelaus and Patroclus.
