When the Trojan prince Paris persuades Helen, queen of Sparta, to abandon her husband Menelaus and flee with him, he unleashes a war that will pit two civilizations against each other. The ambitious Agamemnon seizes on the affront to launch a thousand ships against the walls of Troy, with the demigod Achilles as his most fearsome and unruly weapon. Wolfgang Petersen offers a spectacular retelling of Homer's 'Iliad', an epic fresco of honor, pride and destiny, with grand battles and the legendary duel between Achilles and Hector at its tragic heart.