Karry Best movie of this year hands down!

BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Bessie Smyth Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Sabah Hensley This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

Leofwine_draca I've yet to see the story of the Trojan war done true justice on the screen; Wolfgang Petersen's TROY was the most recent and most lavish version of the tale, full of CGI-enhanced spectacle, and probably my favourite to date, but it was far from a perfect film. HELEN OF TROY, a Robert Wise-directed retelling of the story, isn't bad, but it's a film which has dated in the worst way with a lot of stagy Hollywood actors pacing around and delivering their lines in the most old-fashioned way imaginable.The story is one we all know by now: Paris kidnaps Helen from the Greeks and takes her back to Troy, leading King Agamemnon to set sail with a massive army to get her back. HELEN OF TROY focuses on character work over action, although there are a handful of stunning scenes of massive armies on the march and one or two decent battles to boot.Sadly, the script is sub par for the most part, lacking the fun of, say, a later Italian peplum picture. The cast is also undistinguished. Rossana Podesta is your typical Hollywood idea of beauty, with a face full of make up and little acting talent, and the other romantic leads are less than impressive. Stanley Baker's Achilles seems disdainful of the whole thing. Fans of this sort of thing might enjoy it more, but I never really got into HELEN OF TROY the way I wanted to.

Uriah43 As most people probably know from reading the Iliad by Homer, "Helen" (Rossana Podesta) was the most beautiful woman in the world and happened to be married to "King Menelaus" (Niall MacGinnis) of Sparta. "Paris" (Jacques Sernas) was a Trojan prince who got shipwrecked near Sparta and upon seeing Helen fell in love and then managed to take her back to Troy with him. Some accounts say that Helen was kidnapped by Paris but others say she left of her own choosing. In any case this abduction resulted in all of the Greek city-states joining forces to besiege the city of Troy in order to return Helen back to Sparta. Now, as I stated earlier, since most people are probably familiar with the story of the Trojan War I probably don't need to elaborate any further. That said although this movie isn't completely true to the Iliad it is an interesting interpretation of the Trojan War and since there are other Greek sources with slightly different variations I suppose this version is as acceptable as anything else. Be that as it may I thought the casting of both Helen and Paris were good choices and each of them played their parts quite well. I also liked the cinematography which was excellent for its time. Accordingly, I believe that viewers who appreciate epic adventures of this type will thoroughly enjoy this particular movie and I rate it as above average.

wes-connors In ancient Greece, handsome Trojan prince Jacques Sernas (as Paris) is shipwrecked in Sparta, where he meets beautifully-figured slave girl Rossana Podesta (as Helen). The two are mutually attracted, but she is really the Queen of Sparta. Naturally, this means WAR... This adulteration of Homer's "Iliad" is nicely costumed and decorated, but comes across as overblown and plodding. The direction from Robert Wise is pointed, helping make the production more obvious than engaging. Narration, dubbing, and the soundtrack music keep it distant, although looking good certainly counts for something... It is interesting to see future "sex kitten" Brigitte Bardot play a dark-haired handmaiden, and Niall MacGinnis (as Menelaus) does well in his supporting role.**** Helen of Troy (1/26/56) Robert Wise ~ Rossana Podesta, Jacques Sernas, Niall MacGinnis, Brigitte Bardot

Poseidon-3 Noted (and versatile) director Wise amassed a considerable team of behind the scenes personnel and an impressive array of actors for this large-scale epic rendition of the legendary story of the title character. Unfortunately, the production suffers somewhat from the casting of the leads, primarily stemming from the fact that neither one was able to use his or her own voice. Sernas plays a prince of Troy who journeys to Sparta to attempt to establish peace between them and his own people. Shipwrecked before he can even get there, he is greeted on the shore by Podesta, to him the most beautiful woman he has ever seen. After recovering from his close call, he heads to the palace to speak to king MacGinnis and is sorely mistreated and disbelieved. He then discovers that his object of affection is, in actuality, MacGinnis' queen! Circumstances lead him to spirit her back to Troy where she is skeptically received by his unhappy family. MacGinnis pulls together a massive army of men from various Greek states and proceeds to attack Troy. When things look almost impossible, one of his men oversees the construction of the famed Trojan Horse, which makes things look awfully bleak for Sernas and Podesta who are, by now, deeply in love. Podesta is curvaceous and attractive, but not necessarily what one might expect as the woman whose face launched a 1000 ships. Having learned her lines phonetically just to get through the shoot, she was then dubbed by an American actress. This, along with the fact that her platinum wigs don't really compliment her dark coloring, prevents her from really registering very heavily in the role. Sernas (who is caressed by the camera almost every bit as much as Podesta is, frequently shirtless) is likewise dubbed and, though he gives it a good shot, winds up not being able to craft a character that audiences could really care a great deal about. (Some of this stems from the fact that the character really wasn't written as heroic or particularly likable in the original Homer story to begin with!) Fortunately, a host of fine character actors is on hand to help out. Hardwicke plays Sernas' father, Swinburne is his mother, Andrews is his brother and a nearly unrecognizable Scott is his soothsaying sister. MacGinnis is strong in his part and is ably matched by Thatcher, Baker and Douglas as his associates. Reed appears briefly as the hulking Ajax, who takes on Sernas in a fairly savage grudge match. Also popping up to good effect is an ebullient Bardot in an early role as one of Podesta's servants. She, too, is dubbed by an English-speaking actress. There is a lot going for the film, including a splendid Max Steiner score, a vast collection of extras, impressive sets and moments of genuinely good drama. On the flip side, the costumes often lean towards the pedestrian, the script lacks zest and some of the model work is a tad poor. This film includes references to the Greek Gods, but eliminates them as actual characters and does not attribute any of their own actions to them directly. Rather, things take place as if they are occurring without the interference or direct influence or aid of the deities. Though it's certainly not blatant, there is the opportunity to read Baker and his chief aid Longdon's relationship as more than platonic. Fans of epic films ought to appreciate the pageantry and scope of it, but may find themselves wishing for a little more meat in the story and, perhaps, more significant acting from the leads.