WICKER PARK (2004)

Passion Never Dies

Take my picture.

I feel beautiful tonight.

~Lisa

Luke: I didn't realize you were that serious.

Matthew: Apparently I'm not.

Luke: That's how the universe works.

The minute you make a decision, you decide on anything, along comes temptation.

Matthew: What would you do?

Luke: Keep them both and hope they didn't find out about each other is what I would do.

Sometimes when you see someone from afar, you develop a fantasy.

Then when you see them up close, 9 times out of ten.

~Matthew

Matthew: What do you think, Alex? You know the whole story.

Alex: It's easy to stand back and judge. You don't know anything about this woman.

Matthew: I know that she has no conscience and no regard for anyone but herself.

Alex: You make yourself into such a victim.

Nobody made you be with her. You can't even see what a hypocrite you're being.

Matthew: I'm being hypocrite? How am I being a hypocrite?

I'd like you to explain me how I'm being a hypocrite.

Alex: Who's to say this woman hasn't been in love with you for a really long time?

And now that she found you again, she wasn't about to let you go twice.

Matthew: What?

Alex: Maybe, the first time she saw you, maybe she felt the way you did the first time you saw Lisa.

You remember that.

Love makes you do crazy things. Insane things.

Things in a million years you never thought you'd see yourself do.

There you are doing it. Can't help it.

I'm not going to apologize for what I've done.

This is for me to live with now.

Now you see me for who I am.

~Alex

Matthew: I can't marry you. It would be a huge mistake.

Rebecca: You're gonna have to help me out, baby. Did I do something wrong?

Matthew: No, you didn't do anything wrong.

I've been doing something wrong for the last 2 years.

I'm not this person. I can't go back with you. I can't do this.

When we met 2 years ago, I was in love with someone else.

And she just came back into my life.

She broke my heart... and I'm sorry.

I know that I'm still in love with her.

*****

NATIONAL TREASURE: BOOK OF SECRETS [2007]

The past is filled with incredible mysteries. 

The clues to solving them are all around, hidden in plain sight. 

But this story begins with the most famous assassination in history. 

Abraham Lincoln's killer, John Wilkes Booth, kept a diary. 

A diary that was found the night Booth was killed, with 18 pages missing. 

Concealed in those pages is the key to something much, much bigger. 

A conspiracy that crosses the globe, and a discovery that the world isn't ready to believe.

[Ben Gates]

We cannot have him remembered as a conspirator in the assassination of the man that brought this nation together.

[Ben Gates]

So let's recap: We've broken into Buckingham Palace, and the Oval Office, 

stolen a page from the President's super-secret book, 

and actually kidnapped the President of the United States. 

What are we gonna do next, short-sheet the Pope's bed?

[Riley Poole]

 

[Ben Gates]: Someone else is after the treasure.

[Riley Poole]: Of course someone else is after the treasure. 

It's the axiom of treasure hunting.

[Ben Gates]: Where's the phone?

[Patrick Gates]: I don't know son. I can't find anything in this mess.

[Ben Gates]: It's only temporary 'til I can find a new place.

[Patrick Gates]: Find the old one. I like her!

*****

NATIONAL TREASURE [2004]

In Order To Break The Code, 

One Man Will Have To Break All The Rules

 Grandpa: It was 1832, on a night much like this.
Charles Carroll was the last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence.
He was also a member of a secret society known as The Masons, and he knew he was dying.
He woke up his stable boy in the middle of the night
and ordered him to take him to The White House to see Andrew Jackson,
because it was urgent that he speak to the president.
Ben: Did he talk to him?
Grandpa: No. He never got the chance.
The president wasn't there that night.
But Charles Carroll had a secret.
So he took into his confidence the one person he could, my grandfather's grandfather, Thomas Gates.
Ben: What was the secret?
Grandpa: A treasure. A treasure beyond all imagining.
A treasure that had been fought over for centuries by tyrants, pharaohs. emperors, warlords.
And every time it changed hands it grew larger.
And then suddenly, it vanished.
It didn't reappear for more than a thousand years, 
when knights from the First Crusade discovered secret vaults beneath The Temple of Solomon.
You see, the knights who found the vaults believed that the treasure was too great for any one man, not even a king.
They brought the treasure back to Europe and took the name "The Knights Templar".
Over the next century they smuggled it out of Europe
and they formed a new brotherhood called The Freemasons, 
in honor of the builders of the great temple.
War followed.
By the time of The American Revolution, the treasure had been hidden again.
By then, The Mason included George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Paul Revere.
They knew they had to make sure the treasure would never fall into the hands of the British.
So they devised a series of clue and maps to its location.
Over time, the clues were lost or forgotten, until only one remained,
and that was the secret that Charles Carroll entrusted to young Thomas Gates.
"The Secret Lies With Charlotte".
Ben: Who's Charlotte?
Grandpa: Oh, not even Mr. Carroll knew that.
Now look here, Ben.
The Freemasons among our Founding Fathers left us clues.
Like these [showing him a one dollar bill]
The unfinished pyramid, the all-seeing eye, symbols of The Knights Templar, guardians of the treasure.
They're speaking to us through these.
Dad: You mean laughing at us.
You know what that dollar represents? The entire Gates family fortune.
6 generations of fools, chasing after fool's gold.
Grandpa: It's not about the money, Patrick. It's never been about the money.

Ben, the treasure of The Knights Templar is the treasure of all treasures.
I understand your bitterness, I really do.
You've spent your entire life searching for this treasure,
only to have the respected historical community treat you and your family
with mockery and contempt.
You should be able to rub this treasure in their arrogant faces,
and I want you to have the chance to do that.
~Ian Howe

 Riley: Anyone that can do anything is gonna think we're crazy.
Anyone crazy enough to believe us isn't gonna want to help.
Ben: We don't need someone crazy. But one step short of crazy, what do you get?
Riley: Obsessed.
Ben: Passionate.

Ben: Someone's gonna steal The Declaration Of Independence.
Riley: It's true.
Abigail: I think I'd better put you gentlemen in touch with the FBI.
Ben: We've been to the FBI.
Abigail: And?
Riley: They assured us that the Declaration cannot possibly be stolen.
Abigail: They're right.
Ben: My friend and I are less certain.
However, if we were given the privilege of examining the document, we would be able to tell you for sertain if it were actually in any danger.
Abigail: What do you think you're gonna find?
Ben: We believe that there's an... encryption on the back.
Abigail: An encryption, like a code?
Ben: Yes, ma'am.
Abigail: Of what?
Ben: A... cartograph.
Abigail: A map.
Ben: Yes, ma'am.
Abigail: A map of what?
Ben: The location of... of hidden items of historic and intrinsic value.
Abigail: A treasure map?
Riley: That's where we lost the FBI.
Abigail: You're treasure hunters, aren't you?
Ben: We're more like treasure-protectors.
Abigail: Mr. Brown, I have personally seen the back of The Declaration Of Independence,
and I promise you, the only thing there is a notation that reads,
"Original Declaration of Independence, dated..."
Ben: "Four of July, 1776." Yes, ma'am.
Abigail: But no map.
Ben: It's invisible.
Riley: And that's where we lost The Department of Homeland Security.
Abigail: What led you to assume there's this invisible map?
Ben: We found an engraving on the stem of a 200-year-old pipe.
Riley: Owned by Freemasons.
Abigail: May I see the pipe?
Riley: We don't have it.
Abigail: Did Big Foot take it?

 

Ben: Ian's gonna try and steal it. And if he succeeds, he'll destroy the Declaration.The fact is, the only way to protect the Declaration is to steal it.
It's upside down.
I don't think there's a choice.
Riley: Ben, for God's sakes, it's like stealing a national monument, okay?
It's like stealing him. [point at Lincoln statue]
It can't be done. Not shouldn't be done. It can't be done.

Ben: You know, Thomas Edison tried and failed nearly 2,000 times
to develop the carbonized cotton-thread filament for the incandescent light bulb.
Riley: Edison?
Ben: When asked about it, he said, 
"I didn't fail, I found out 2,000 ways how not to make a light bulb.
I only need to find one way to make it work"

Dad: He dragged you 2 into this nonsense?
Abigail: Literally.
Riley: I volunteered.
Dad: Well, unvolunteer, before you waste your life.
Ben: Knock it off, Dad.
Dad: Sure, sure, I know, I'm the family kook.
I have a job, a house, health insurance.
At least I had your mother, for however brief a time. At least I had you.
What do you have? Him? [point to Riley]

Ben: I found Charlotte.
Dad: The Charlotte? You mean she was a ship?
Ben: Yes, she was beautiful. It was amazing, Dad.
Dad: And the treasure?
Ben: No, no, we found another clue that led us here.
Dad: Yeah, and that'll lead you to another clue.
And that's all you'll ever find, is another clue. Don't you get it, Ben? I finally figured it out.
The legend says that the treasure was buried to keep it from the British.
But what really happened was the legend was invented, 
to keep the British occupied searching for buried treasure.
The treasure is a myth.
Ben: I refuse to believe that.

Dad: You stole it?!
Ben: Dad, I can explain, but I don't have time. It was necessary, and you saw the cipher.
Dad: And that will lead to another clue, and that will lead to another clue!
There is no treasure.
I wasted 20 years of my life. And now you've destroyed yours.

Abigail: What do you see?
Riley: What is it? Is it a treasure map?
Ben: It says. "Heere at the wall", spelled with 2 E's
Riley: Why can't they just say, "Go to this place, and here's the treasure, spend it wisely"?

Sadusky: Here's your option.
Door number one, you go to prison for a very long time.
Door number 2, we are going to get back The Declaration Of Independence, 
you help us find it, and you still go to prison for a very long time, but you feel better inside.
Ben: Is there a door that doesn't lead to prison?
Sadusky: Someone's got to go to prison, Ben.

Riley: Looks like someone got here first.
Abigail: I'm sorry, Ben.
Ben: It's gone. It may have even been gone before Charles Carroll told the story to Thomas Gates.
Dad: It doesn't matter.
Ben: I know, coz you were right.
Dad: No, I wasn't right.
This room is real, Ben. And that means the treasure is real.
We're in the company of some of the most brilliant minds in history,
because you found what they left behind for us to find and understood the meaning of it.
You did it, Ben. For all of us.
Your grandfather, and all of us.
And I've never been so happy to be proven wrong.
Ben: I just really thought I was going to find the treasure.

Sadusky: I take it you found the treasure?
Ben: It's about 5 stories beneath your shoes.
Sadusky: You know, The Templars and The Freemasons believed, 
that the treasure was too great for any one man to have, not even a king.
That's why they went to such lengths to keep it hidden.
Ben: That's right.
The Founding Fathers believed the same thing about government.
I figure their solution will work for the treasure too.
Sadusky: Give it to the people.
Ben: Divide it amongst Smithsonian, The Louvre, The Cairo Museum...
There's thousands of years of world history down there.
And it belongs to the world, and everybody in it.
Sadusky: You really don't understand the concept of a bargaining chip.
Ben: Okay, here's what I want.
Dr. Chase gets off completely clean, not even a little Post-It on her service record.
I want the credit for the find to go to the entire Gates family, 
with the assistance of Mr. Riley Poole.
Sadusky: And what about you?
Ben: I'd really love not to go prison.
I can't even begin to describe how much I would love not to go to prison.
Sadusky: Someone's got to go to prison, Ben.

*****

TROY [2004]

For Troy

 After decades of warfare
Agamemnon, King of Mycenae, has forced the kingdoms of Greece into a loose alliance.
Only Thessaly remains unconquered.
Agamemnon's brother, Menelaus, King of Sparta, is weary of battle.
He seeks to make peace with Troy, the most powerful rival to the emerging Greek nation.
Achilles, considered the greatest warrior ever born, fights for the Greek army.
But his disdain for Agamemnon's rule threatens to break the fragile alliance apart. 

 Men are haunted from the vastness of eternity.
And so we ask ourselves, will our actions echo across the centuries?
 Will stranger hear our names long after we're gone and wonder who we were, 
how bravely we fought, how fiercely we loved?

 Agamemnon: Good day for the crows.
Triopas: I told you yesterday and I'll tell you again today. 
Remove your army from my land. 
Agamemnon: I like your land. I think we'll stay. 
I like your soldiers too. They fought bravely yesterday. Not well, but bravely.
Triopas: They won't fight for you.
Agamemnon: That's what the Messenians said. And the Arcadians and the Epeians.
Now, they all fight for me.
Triopas: You can't have the whole world, Agamemnon. It's too big, even for you.
Agamemnon: I don't want to watch another massacre.
Let's settle this war in the old manner. Your best fighter against my best.
Triopas: And if my man wins?
Agamemnon: We'll leave Thessaly for good. I'm a generous man.
If mine wins, you can keep your throne, 
but Thessaly falls under my command to fight with me whenever I call.

Messenger Boy: Are the stories about you true?
They say your mother is an immortal goddess. They say you can't be killed.
Achilles: I wouldn't be bothering with the shield then, would I?
Messenger Boy: The Thessalonian you're fighting, he's the biggest man I've ever seen.
I wouldn't want to fight him.
Achilles: That's why no one will remember your name.

Agamemnon: Perhaps we should have our war tomorrow, when you're better rested.
I should have you whipped for your impudence!
Achilles: Perhaps you should fight him.
[walk back from the fight zone]
Nestor: Achilles, look at the men's faces. You can save hundreds of them.
You can end this war with a swing of your sword.
Think how many songs they'll sing in your honor.
Let them go home to their wives.
Achilles, to Agamemnon: Imagine a king who fights his own battles. 
Wouldn't that be a sight.
[walks to fight zone]
Agamemnon: Of all the warlords loved by the gods, I hate him the most.
Nestor: We need him, my king.
Agamemnon: For now.

[after defeating Boagrius]
Is there no one else? ... Is there no one else?
~Achilles

Triopas: Who are you, soldier?
Achilles: Achilles, son of Peleus.
Triopas: Achilles? I'll remember the name.
The ruler of Thessaly carries this scepter. Give it to your king.
Achilles: He's not my king.

May the gods keep the wolves in the hills and the women in our beds.
~Menelaus

Menelaus, point at a woman: See that one over there? I picked her special for you.
She's a little lioness.
Hector: Thank you. My wife waits for me in Troy.
Menelaus: My wife waits for me right there.
Wives are for breeding, you understand, for making little princes.
Come enjoy yourself tonight.

Helen: You shouldn't be here.
Paris: That's what you've said last night.
Helen: Last night was a mistake.
Paris: And the night before?
Helen: I've made many mistakes this week.

Helen: Menelaus would kill us both.
Paris: Don't be afraid of him.
Helen: I'm not afraid of dying. I'm afraid of tomorrow.
I'm afraid of watching you sail away and knowing you'll never come back.
Before you came to Sparta, I was a ghost.
I walked, and I ate, and I swam in the sea, but I was just a ghost.
Paris: You don't have to fear tomorrow.
Come with me.
Helen: Don't play with me. Don't play.
Paris: If you come, we'll never be safe.
Men will hunt us, the gods will curse us. But I'll love you.
Till the day they burn my body, I will love you.

Hector: Who sang lullabies to you tonight?
Paris: Tonight? Tonight was the fisherman's wife. A lovely creature.
Hector: I hope you didn't let the fisherman catch you.
Paris: He was more concerned with the fish.
Hector: You do understand why we're in Sparta.
Paris: For peace.
Hector: And you understand that Menelaus, the King of Sparta, is a very powerful man.
And that his brother, Agamemnon, the King of Mycenae, commands all the Greek forces.
Paris: What does this have to do with the fisherman's wife?
Hector: Paris, you're my brother and I love you.
But if you do anything to endanger Troy, I will rip your pretty face from your pretty skull.

[on the ship]
Paris: Do you love me, brother? Would you protect me against any enemy?
Hector: The last time you spoke to me like this, you were 10 years old
and you'd just stolen Father's horse.
What have you done now?

Hector: Do you know what you've done?
Do you know how many years our father worked for peace?
Paris: I love her.
Hector: Urghh... It's all a game to you, isn't it?
You roam from town to town, bedding merchants' wives and temple mates,
and you think you know something about love? 
What about your father's love?
You spat on him when you brought her on this ship!
What about the love for your country? You'd let Troy burn for this woman?
I won't let you start a war for her.
Paris: May I speak?
What you're saying is true. I've wronged you, I've wronged our father.
If you want to take Helen back to Sparta, so be it. But I go with her.
Hector: To Sparta? They'll kill you!
Paris: Then I'll die fighting.
Hector: Oh, and that sounds heroic to you, doesn't it? To die fighting.
Tell me, little brother, have you ever killed a man?
Paris: No.
Hector: Ever seen a man die in combat?
Paris: No.
Hector: I've killed men, and I've heard them dying, and I've watched them dying,
and there's nothing glorious about it. Nothing poetic.
You say you want to die for love, 
but you know nothing about dying and you know nothing about love!
Paris: All the same. I go with her. I won't ask you to fight my war.
Hector: You already have!

Menelaus: I want her back.
Agamemnon: Of course you do. She's a beautiful woman.
Menelaus: I want her back so I can kill her with my own 2 hands.
I won't rest till I've burned Troy to the ground.
Agamemnon: I thought you wanted peace with Troy.
Menelaus: I should listened to you.
Agamemnon: Peace is for the women and the weak. Empires are forged by war.
Menelaus: All my life I've stood by your side, fought your enemies.
You're the elder, you reap the glory. This is the way of the world.
But have I ever complained? Have I ever asked you for anything?
Agamemnon: Never. You're a man of honor. Everyone in Greece knows this.
Menelaus: The Trojans spat on my honor. An insult to me is an insult to you.
Agamemnon: And an insult to me is an insult to all Greeks.

Nestor: The Trojans have never been conquered. Some say they can't be conquered.
Agamemnon: Old King Priam thinks he's untouchable behind his high walls.
He thinks the sun god will protect him. But the gods protect only the strong.

Nestor: We need Achilles and his Myrmidons.
Agememnon: Achilles.
He can't be controlled. He's as likely to fight us as the Trojans.
Nestor: We don't need to control him, we need to unleash him. 
That man was born to end lives.
Agememnon: Yes, he's a gifted killer, but he threatens everything I've built.
Before me, Greece was nothing.  I brought all the Greek kingdoms together.
I created a nation out of fir worshipers and snake eaters!
I build the future, Nestor. Me!
Achilles is the past.
A man who fights for no flag. A man loyal to no country.
Nestor: How many battles have we won off the edge of his sword?
This will be the greatest war the world has ever seen.
We need the greatest warrior.
Agamemnon: There's only one man he'll listen to.

Achilles: I will not fight for him.
Odysseus: I'm not asking you to fight for him. I'm asking you to fight for Greece.
Achilles: Have the Greeks tired of fighting each other?
Odysseus: For now.
Achilles: The Trojans never harmed me.
Odysseus: They insulted Greece.
Achilles: They insulted a man who couldn't hold on to his wife. Is that my business?
Odysseus: Your business is war, my friend.
Achilles: Is it? Am I the whore of the battlefield? 
The man has no honor. I won't be remembered as a tyrant's mercenary.
Odysseus: Let Achilles fight for honor. Let Agamemnon fight for power.
And let the gods decide which man to glorify.
Forget Agamemnon. Fight for me.
My wife will feel much better if she knows you're by my side.
I'll feel much better.

Odysseus, to Patroclus: Even if your cousin doesn't come, I hope you'll join us.
We could use a strong arm like yours.
Achilles, to Odysseus: Play your tricks on me, but not my cousin.
Odysseus, to Achilles: You have your swords, I have my tricks.
We play with the toys the gods give us.

This war will never be forgotten, nor will the heroes who fight in it.
~Odysseus

Thetis: If you stay in Larisa, you will find peace.
You will find a wonderful woman.
You have sons and daughters, and they will have children. And they will love you.
When you are gone, they will remember you.
But when your children are dead and their children after them, your name will be lost.
If you go to Troy, glory will be yours.
They will write stories about your victories for thousands of years.
The world will remember your name.
But if you go to Troy, you will never come home.
For your glory walks hand in hand with your doom. And I shall never see you again.
Achilles: You know this to be true, Mother?
Thetis: I know this.

Priam: Women have always loved Paris, and he has loved them back. 
But this is different. Something has changed in him.
If we send her home to Menelaus, he will follow her.
Hector: This is my country, and these are my countrymen.
I don't want to see them suffer so my brother can have his prize.
It's not just the Spartans coming after her.
By now Menelaus has gone to Agamemnon, and Agamemnon has wanted to destroy us for years.
Once we're out of the way, he controls the seas.
Priam: Enemies have been attacking us for centuries. Our walls still stand.
Hector: Father, we can't win this war.
Priam: Apollo watches over us. Even Agamemnon is no match for the gods.
Hector: And how many battalions does the sun god command?
Priam: Do not mock the gods.

Priam: When you were very young, you came down with scarlet fever.
Your little hand was so hot.
The healer said you would not last the night.
I went down to Apollo's temple and I prayed until the sun came up.
That walk back to the palace was the longest of my life.
But I went into your mother's room and you were sleeping in her arms. The fever had broken.
I promised that day to dedicate my life to the gods. I will not break my promise.
For 30 years I have worked for peace. 30 years.
Paris is a fool sometimes, I know that.
But I will fight 1000 wars before letting him die.
Hector: Forgive me, Father, but you won't be the one fighting.

Paris: If we're not here, what's the need for war?
Helen: Menelaus won't give up. He'll track us to the end of the world.
Paris: He doesn't know these lands. I do. We can lose ourselves in a day.
Helen: You don't know Menelaus. You don't know his brother.
They'll burn every house in Troy to find us.
They'll never believe we've left.
And even if they do, they'll burn it for spite.
Paris: Then I'll make it easy for him to find me.
I'll walk right up to him and tell him you're mine.
Helen: You're very young, my love.
Paris: We're the same age.
Helen: You're younger than I ever was.

Trojans!
All my life, I've lived by a code.
And the code is simple; honor the gods, love your woman, and defend your country.
Troy is mother to us all.
Fight for her!
~Hector

Myrmodans, my brother of the sword.
I'd rather fight beside you than any army of thousands.
Let no man forget how menacing we are.
We are lions!
Do you know what's there, waiting, beyond that beach?
Immortality!
Take it! It's yours!
~Achilles

Nestor: Give him the battle, we'll take the war.
Agamemnon: Give him too many battles and the men will forget who's king.

Eudorus: Apollo sees everything. Perhaps it is not wise to offend him.
[Achilles cut off Apollo's statue head]

Achilles: You are very brave or very stupid to come after me alone.
You must be Hector.
Do you know who I am?
Hector: These priests weren't armed.
Achilles: Yes. There's no honor in cutting old men's throats.
Hector: Only children and fools fight for honor. I fight for my country.
Fight me!
Achilles: Why kill you now, Prince of Troy, with no one here to see you fall?

Hector: Why did you come here?
Achilles: They'll be talking about this war for 1000 years.
Hector: In 1000 years, the dust from our bones will be gone.
Achilles: Yes, Prince. But our names will remain.

Achilles: Go home, Prince.
Drink some wine, make love to your wife. Tomorrow, we'll have our war.
Hector: You speak of war as if it's a game.
How many wives wait at Troy's gates for husbands they'll never see again?
Achilles: Perhaps your brother can comfort them.
I hear he's good at charming other men's wives.

Briseis: You killed Apollo's priests.
Achilles: I've killed men in 5 countries, never a priest.
Briseis: Then your men did. The sun god will have his vengeance.
Achilles: What's he waiting for?
Briseis: The right time to strike.
Achilles: His priests are dead, and his acolyte's a captive.
I think your god is afraid of me.
Briseis: Afraid? Apollo is master of the sun. He fears nothing.
Achilles: Where is he?
Briseis: You're nothing but a killer! You wouldn't know anything about the gods!
Achilles: I know more about the gods than your priests. I've seen them.

War is young men dying and old men talking. You know this.
Ignore the politics.
~Odysseus

Agamemnon: You came here because you want your name to last through the ages.
A great victory was won today. But that victory is not yours.
Kings did not kneel to Achilles. Kings did not pay homage to Achilles.
Achilles: Perhaps the kings were too far behind to see. Soldiers won the battle.
Agamemnon: History remembers kings! Not soldiers!
Tomorrow, we'll batter down the gates of Troy.
I'll build monuments on every island of Greece.
I'll carve 'Agamemnon' in the stone. My name will last through the ages.
Your name is written in sand for the waves to wash away.
Achilles: Be careful, king of kings. First, you need the victory.

Too many people have died today.
If killing is your only talent, that's your curse.
I don't want anyone dying for me.
~Briseis

Priam: Glaucus, you have fought with me 40 years. Can we win this war?
Glaucus: Our walls have never been breached.
We have the finest archer in the world.
And we have Hector whose men would fight the shades of Tartarus if he commanded.
Yes, we can win.
Archeptolemus: I spoke with 2 farmers today.
They saw an eagle flying with a serpent clutched in its talons.
This is a sign from Apollo. We will win a great victory tomorrow.
Hector: Bird signs. You want to plan a strategy based on bird signs.
Priam: Hector, show respect.
When Archeptolemus prophesied 4 years of drought we dug deeper wells.
The drought came and we had water to drink.
The high priest is a servant of the gods.
Hector: And I am a servant of Troy.
I've always honored the gods, Father, you know that.
But today I fought a Greek who desecrated the statue of Apollo.
Apollo didn't strike the man down. The gods won't fight this war for us.

Paris: Father, I'm sorry for the pain I've caused you.
Priam: Do you love her?
Paris: You are a great king because you love your country so much.
Every blade of grass. Every grain of sand. Every rock in the river. You love all of Troy.
That is the way I love Helen.
Priam: I've fought many wars in my time.
Some were fought for land, some for power, some for glory.
I suppose fighting for love makes more sense than all the rest.

Andromache: Don't go tomorrow. Please, don't go.
Hector: Paris fights tomorrow, not me.
Andromache: 50,000 Greek didn't cross the sea to watch your brother fight, you know this.

I've lost 7 brothers in the Spartan wars. You think I'd be good at losing by now?
I can't lose you. I won't survive.
~Andromache

Helen: I saw them burn. I saw them burning on the pyres. That's my fault.
All those widows. I still hear them screaming. Their husbands died because I'm here. 
 I'm giving myself back to Menelaus.
He can do what he wants. Kill me, make me his slave, I don't care.
Anything is better than this.
Hector: It's too late for that.
Do you think Agamemnon cares about his brother's marriage?
This is about power. Not love.
Helen: Paris is going to fight in the morning.
Hector: Yes.
Helen: Menelaus will kill him. I won't let that happen.
Hector: It's his decision.
Helen: No. I can't ask anyone to fight for me. I'm no longer Queen of Sparta.
Hector: You're a Princess of Troy now, and my brother needs you tonight.

Achilles: I taught you how to fight, but I never taught you why to fight.
Patroclus: I fight for you.
Achilles: Who will you fight for when I'm gone?
Soldiers, they fight for kings they've never even met.
They do what they're told, die when they're told to die.
Patroclus: Soldiers obey.
Achilles: Don't waste your life following some fool's orders.

Helen: Forgive me, Father, for bringing this.
Priam: I blame you for nothing. Everything is in the hands of the gods.
Besides, how could I blame anyone for falling in love with Paris?

Hector: You come here uninvited. Go back to your ships and go home.
Agamemnon: We've come too far, Prince Hector.
Menelaus: Prince? What prince?
What son of a king would accept a man's hospitality
eat his food, drink his wine, embrace his friendship then steal his wife in the middle of the night?
Paris: The sun was shining when your wife left you.
Menelaus, thrust his sword to Paris: She's up there, watching, isn't she?
Good. I want her to watch you die.

Agamemnon: Look around you, Hector. I brought all the warriors of Greece to your shores.
Nestor: You can still save Troy, young prince.
Agamemnon: I have 2 wishes. If you grant them, no more of your people need die.
First, you must give Helen back to my brother.
Second, Troy must submit to my command, to fight for me whenever I call.
Hector: You want me look upon your army and tremble?
Well, I see them. I see 50,000 men brought here to fight for one man's greed.
Agamemnon: Careful, boy. My mercy has limits.
Hector: And I've seen the limits of your mercy.
And I tell you now, no son of Troy will ever submit to a foreign ruler.
Agamemnon: Then every son of Troy shall die.

Paris: I love Helen. I won't give her up and neither will you.
So let us fight our own battle.
The winner takes Helen home, and let that be the end of it.
Agamemnon: A brave offer, but not enough.
Menelaus, whisper to Agamemnon: Let me kill this little peacock.
Agamemnon: I didn't come here for your pretty wife. I came here for Troy.
Menelaus: I came for my honor. His every breath insults me.
Let me kill him. When he's lying in the dust, give me signal to attack.
You'll have your city, I'll have my revenge.
Agamemnon: So be it.

[Paris cowardly bows out of a duel with Menelaus, 
leaving everyone aghast, especially Menelaus]
Menelaus, shouts to Helen: Is this what you left me for? 
[to Paris] Fight! Fight me! You coward! Fight me!
We have a pact! Fight!
This is not honor! This is not worthy of royalty!
If he doesn't fight, Troy is doomed.
Hector: Paris.
Paris won't get up: No... No...
Hector, to Menelaus: Fight is over.
Menelaus: The fight is not over.
Stand back, Prince Hector. I'll kill him at your feet, I don't care.
Hector: He is my brother.
[Menelaus step forward to kill Paris, but then Hector pierce his sword to him]

Odysseus: We need to retreat!
Agamemnon: My army's never lost a battle yet!
Odysseus: You won't have an army if you don't fall back!

Agamemnon: They think I'll sail home at first light.
Odysseus: Maybe we should.
Agamemnon: Flee? Like a whipped dog?
Odysseus: The men believe we came here for Menelaus' wife. Won't be needing her anymore.
Agamemnon: My brother's blood still wets the sand, and you insult him!
Odysseus: It's no insult to say a dead man is dead.
Nestor: If we leave now, we lose all credibility.
The Trojans can beat us so easily. How long before The Hittites invade?
Odysseus: If we stay, we stay here for the right reasons, to protect the Greece, not your pride.
Your private battle with Achilles is destroying us.
Agamemnon: Achilles is one man.
Odysseus: Hector is one man. Look what he did to us today.
Agamemnon: Hector fights for his country! Achilles fights only for himself!
Odysseus: I don't care about the man's allegiance. I care about his ability to win battles.
Nestor: He's right. The men's morale is weak.
Odysseus: Weak? They're ready to swim home.
Agamemnon: Even if I could make peace with Achilles, the man won't listen to me!
He's as likely to spear me as speak to me!

Briseis: I've known men like you my whole life.
Achilles: No, you haven't.
Briseis: You think you're so different from 1000 others?
Soldiers understand nothing but war. Peace confuses them.
Achilles: And you hate these soldiers.
Briseis: I pity them.
Achilles: Trojan soldiers died trying to protect you. Perhaps they deserve more than your pity.

Briseis: Why did you choose this life?
Achilles: What life?
Briseis: To be a great warrior.
Achilles: I chose nothing. I was born, and this is what I am.
And you? Why did you choose to love a god? I think you'll find the romance one-sided.
Briseis: Do you enjoy provoking me?
Achilles: You've dedicated your life to the gods.
Zeus, god of thunder. Athena, goddess of wisdom. You serve them.
Briseis: Yes, of course.
Achilles: And Ares, god of war? Who blankets his bed with the skin of men he's killed?
Briseis: All the gods are to be feared and respected.
Achilles: I'll tell you secret, something they don't teach you in your temple.
The gods envy us. They envy us because we're mortal.
Because any moment might be our last.
Everything's more beautiful because we're doomed.
You will never be lovelier than you are now.
We will never be here again.
Briseis: I thought you were a dumb brute.
I could have forgiven a dumb brute.

Briseis: You'll kill more men if I don't kill you.
Achilles: Many.

Achilles: What are you doing enthralled to that pig of a king?
Odysseus: The world seems simple to you, my friend, 
but when you're a king, very few choices are simple.
Ithaca cannot afford an enemy like Agamemnon.
Achilles: Are we supposed to fear him?
Odysseus: You don't fear anyone, that's your problem. Fear is useful.

Achilles: Of all the kings of Greece, I respect you the most.
But in this war, you're a servant.
Odysseus: Sometimes you have to serve in order to lead.
I hope you understand that one day.

Achilles: You violated my command.
Eudorus: No, my lord, there was a mistake.
Achilles: I ordered the Myrmidons to stand down. You led them into combat.
Eudorus: I didn't lead them, my lord. We thought you did.
Achilles: Where's Patroclus?
Patroclus!
Eudorus: We thought he was you, my lord.
He wore your armor, your shield, your greaves, your helmet. He even moved like you.
Achilles, slaps him to the ground: Where is he?! Where?!
Eudorus: He's dead, my lord. Hector cuts his throat.

Andromache: Why are you telling me this?
Hector: If I die...
Andromache: No.
Hector: If I die, I don't know how long this city will stand.
Andromache: Don't say that.
Hector: If the Greeks inside the walls, it's over.
They'll kill all the men, throw the babies from the city walls.
Andromache: Please...
Hector: The women, they'll take as slaves. That, for you, will be worse than dying.
Andromache: Why are you saying such things?
Hector: Because I want you to be ready.

Hector: I'll make a pact with you, with the gods as our witnesses,
let us pledge that the winner will allow the loser all the proper funeral rituals.
Achilles: There are no pacts between lions and men.
[take off his helmet] Now you know who you're fighting.
Hector: I thought it was you who I was fighting yesterday. And I wish it had been you.
But I gave the dead boy the honor he deserved.
Achilles: You gave him the honor of your sword.
You won't have eyes tonight. You won't have ears or a tongue.
You'll wander the underworld, blind, deaf, and dumb, and the dead will know,
this is Hector, the fool who thought he killed Achilles.

Briseis: You lost your cousin. Now you've taken mine.
When does it end?
Achilles: It never ends.

[Priam kisses Achilles' knuckles]
Achilles: Who are you?
Priam: I have endured what no one on earth has endured before.
I kissed the hands of the man who killed my son.
Achilles: Priam? [Priam nods] How do you get in here?
Priam: I know my own country better than the Greeks, I think.
Achilles: You're a brave man.
I could have your head on a spit in the blink of an eye.
Priam: Do you really think death frightens me now?
I watched my eldest son die, watched you drag his body behind your chariot.
Give him back to me.
He deserves the honor of a proper burial, you know that.
Give him to me.
Achilles: He killed my cousin.
Priam: He thought it was you.
How many cousins have you killed?
How many sons, and fathers, and brothers, and husbands? How many, brave Achilles?
I knew your father. He died before his time.
But he was lucky not to live long enough to see his son fall.
You have taken everything from me. My eldest son, heir to my throne, defender of my kingdom.
I cannot change what happened. It is the will of the gods.
But give me this small mercy.
I loved my boy from the moment he opened his eyes, till the moment you closed them.
Let me wash his body. Let me say the prayers.
Let me place 2 coins on his eyes for the boatman.
Achilles: If I let you walk out of here, if I let you take him, it doesn't change anything.
You're still my enemy in the morning.
Priam: You're still my enemy tonight. But even enemies can show respect.

We'll meet again soon, my brother.
~Achilles, to Hector's body

 Your son was the best I've fought.
~Achilles, to Priam

Achilles: In my country, the funeral games last for 12 days.
Priam: It is the same in my country.
Achilles: Then the prince will have that honor. No Greek will attack Troy for 12 days.

You're a far better king than the one leading this army.
~Achilles, to Priam

Agamemnon: Achilles makes a secret pact, and I have to honor it? What treason is this?
Consorting with the enemy king.
Giving him 12 days of peace. Peace! Peace!
Their prince is dead. Their army is leaderless. This is the time to attack!
Nestor: Even with Hector gone, we have no way to breach their walls.
They can wait 10 years for us to leave.
Agamemnon: I will smash their walls to the ground if it costs me 40,000 Greeks.
Hear me, Zeus, I will smash their walls to the ground.

Fighting for you has been my life's honor, my lord.
~Eudorus, to Achilles

Priam, about the horse statue: What is this?
Archeptolemus: An offering to Poseiodon. The Greeks are praying for a safe return home.
Glaucus: I hope the sea god spits in their offering.
Lets them all drown at the bottom of the sea.
Archeptolemus: This is a gift. We should take it to the temple of Poseidon.
Paris: I think we should burn it.
Velior: Burn it? My prince, it's a gift to the gods.
Glaucus: The prince is right.
I would burn the whole of Greece if I had a big enough torch.
Archeptolemus: I warn you, good man, be careful what you insult.
Our beloved Prince Hector had sharp words for the gods,
and a day later Achilles' sword cut him down.
Paris: Father, burn it.
Archeptolemus: Forgive me, my king, I mean no disrespect,
but I don't want to see any more sons of Troy incur the god's wrath.
Priam: I will not watch another son die.

Paris: I stay. My father will never abandon the city. I can't leave him.
Helen: The city is dead. They're burning it to the ground.

Paris: What's your name?
Aeneas: Aeneas.
Paris: Do you know how to use a sword?
Aeneas: Yes.
Paris, handed him a sword: The sword of Troy.
As long as it's in the hands of a Trojan, our people have a future.
Protect them. Aeneas. Find them a new home.
Aeneas: I will.

Helen: Please don't leave me.
Paris: How could you love me if I ran now?
Helen: Please...
Paris: We will be together again, in this world or the next. We will be together.

Soldiers of Troy, you men are warriors!
To lead you has been my honor!
The boatman waits for us. I say we make him wait a little longer!
~Glaucus

 I almost lost this war because of your little romance.
~Agamemnon, to Briseis

You gave me peace in a lifetime of war.
~Achilles, to Briseis

*****