A box office-conquering historical epic made even better after the fact brings blood, dust, and death to streaming

The post-Gladiator boom for the historical epic may have quietened down over the last decade, but looking at the cast Ridley Scott is assembling for the upcoming sequel, don’t count out lightning striking twice. Only one spiritual successor managed to earn more money at the box office than Russell Crowe’s Maximus, though, and it was Wolfgang Petersen’s Troy.

While the sword-and-sandals spectacular managed to reign as the highest-grossing film of the short-lived phenomenon by hoovering up $497 million from theaters, it was also the single most expensive. In fact, at the time of its release, Troy was one of the most expensive productions Hollywood had ever mounted at the time with a price tag of $185 million.

Critics weren’t unanimously won over, but crowds couldn’t get enough of seeing a cavalcade of big names and rising stars plunged into the thick of the battle, ensuring that the legendary story would endure for decades to come. That being said, the Director’s Cut adds in an extra 30 minutes of footage, and it’s vastly superior to the original release – which is still highly entertaining on its own.

Almost 20 years later, and it’s the vanilla edition of Troy that’s been fighting towards the front lines on streaming, with FlixPatrol revealing it to be right on the cusp of breaking into HBO Max’s worldwide Top 10. At 163 minutes, you’ll need to clear plenty of time in your schedule if you want to get on board and strap in for the ride, but the continued popularity of Petersen’s sweeping spin on ancient history ensures that you won’t be the only one.