I just watched 300

[jeff30997]

Good movie,entertaining and a lot of action.

Based on a Frank Miller's comic.

But it have nothing to do with historical

records of the real Battle of Thermopylae.

I really enjoyed the movie but Miller

is completely off base with Greek History.

All the "Lord of the Ring" stuff is cool but

again I would have preferred a more accurate

story.

If you saw that movie,please give your opinion.

(Oh gee ,I hope...Darn! I don't know what to type... )

Sorry for the lousy English,I'm French-Canadian.

[MercutioATC]

1. Of the graphic novels made into movies, I think this one is the best so far.

Great cinematography and CGI. Nice, simple, macho plot.

...and there's nothing wrong with your English...had you not said anything, I'd have never known it wasn't your first language.

[jeff30997]

8. Well...

Thanks MercutioATC.You're very nice. :)

PS:I use the Spell checker a lot. :)

[dysfunctional press]

46. personally, i enjoyed sin city more than 300.

:shrug:

[OwnedByFerrets]

2. It was lacking on

content, but great on looks and sound. I enjoyed Sin City more.

[jeff30997]

9. Yes!

Sin City was sooooooooooooooo great!!!

I can't wait for the sequel!

[BearSquirrel2]

3. Graphic Novels are ideal for adaptation...

When you think about it, there is little difference between a graphic novel and a story board. Theres just enough there to add to. A print novel by contrast must be trimmed like crazy.

[jeff30997]

10. True !

So fuckin' true !

300 and Sin City are graphic novels = story board = Movies!

And it was well made for once.

[BearSquirrel2]

30. I think this in general is a good template ...

In general, I think the movie guys should become graphic novel publishers as well. Pitch a movie concept. Then make a graphic novel. If no one likes the graphic novel, there is no reason to use up any film.

Ultimately, any movie must have the basics of any story. Strong character in interesting situations using good dialogue. If you can't get that into page format, there is no reason to make your dumb/stupid story into a movie.

[TreasonousBastard]

4. If I heard that yahoo screaming....

"SPAAAARRRTTAAANNS" one more time I was going to trash the TV. And the Pierced Persian was just too wierd.

Otherwise, it was kinda fun. Just glad I got it from Netflix instead of paying 15 bucks at the local theater.

[jeff30997]

11. Bwaaahahahaaa!

Yeah,I agree with you!!!!:rofl:

[The Straight Story]

5. Sometimes movies are made just to entertain

I think this was one of them :)

[jeff30997]

12. You are absolutely...

Right my Lady.:patriot:

[The Straight Story]

14. uhh, I am a guy :)

The lady in my sig is my wife, that is me in the avatar :)

[jeff30997]

18. OMG! Sorry...

You,sir,are a lucky man! :)

[Lorien]

36. Not this one. See post #35. n/t

[Quantess]

6. Now you need to see Meet The Spartans

...a spoof, mostly of 300. It was pretty funny, I thought.

[Greyhound]

7. meh, visually entertaining, but dialog and especially continuity were atrocious.

I liked Sin City much better...

[jeff30997]

15. I couldn't agree more.

I was a bit disappointed whit that movie...

And like I said the movie has nothing to do with

the historic facts.

It's more like a "Conan the Barbarian" kind of film...

with better special effects.

[RaleighNCDUer]

13. I really enjoyed "300"

but mostly because I had just read "Gates of Fire" by Stephen Pressfield (I think the name is). A fictionalization of the battle told from the POV of a Helot slave. Fascinating story, well researched.

[Posteritatis]

16. I was *pissed* that the plans to make a movie based on GoF were scuppered by 300. (nt)

[ozu]

37. yeah

Very disappointing seeing as I love the book and Michael Mann was attached to direct it.

Instead we get a pretty 'meh' action movie geared towards 14 years olds.

[jeff30997]

19. Really?

I didn't read Gates of Fire (But I would love to read it)

Er...about 3-4 years ago I read a novel about this battle

I don't remember the title of the book but it was very

well documented.

[Posteritatis]

43. If you liked 300 I'd highly recommend GoF

All of Steven Pressfield's books, actually (he's currently working on a series about Alexander's campaigns; one of the books is from Alexander's point of view and the other from a common soldier under him in Afghanistan), but that one in particular.

[Posteritatis]

17. I'm TAing a military history class

The number of students who signed up for it because of 300 was both amusing and horrifying.

[jeff30997]

21. "amusing and horrifying"

Well,sadly it's the best definition of war...

[nadinbrzezinski]

20. There are a couple elements in there that are based on Greek Myth and History

but you can count them with the fingers of one hand... and Miller never claimed he was a historian

The only major element that is truly real in the whole thing is the fact that the battle was that critical.

And yes, you missed the virtual war over that one back then

[jeff30997]

22. Can you be more specific nadinbrzezinski please?

I am not..er...I mean...I really want you

to tell me more,seriously.I love History

with a big H so if you could tell me more

about that, feel free to do so.

"There are a couple elements in there that are based on Greek Myth and History"

Very true.I've read a great novel 4-5 years ago and the author was well

documented about that battles and the customs or ways of life of the

Spartans.

[nadinbrzezinski]

23. Ok here you go

1.- The Spartans did let kids die if they did not pass the check from the city elders. That first scene in both the novel and the movie are real...

2.- They kind of covered the intense training the Warriors had. They took some liberties with it, but it was very intense

3.- Now the scene where they show the mother giving the warrior his shield and telling him that he'd better come carrying it or on it, is very real

and the last point... the battle persee was that critical for the survival of western civ

Now that is in the whole movie... things they should have mentioned and didn't was that not only 300 died, but they were joined by about 1000 thespian warriors... would have been nice to see OTHER Greek City States. though I guess they sort of covered that with the damaged ships after the storm... their in passing reference to the naval battle that happened side by side.

But as I said, the three points that I mentioned are the only ones that can be matched with history. The rest... did you have fun? We watched it in the theater since we like special effects on the big screen and that was a feast for the eyes.

[jeff30997]

39. "1000 thespian warriors...not only 300 died, but they were joined by about 1000 thespian warriors"

Those facts I already knew but the rest of what you're saying is new to me.

Thanks for the infos.I'll go to bed tonight less ignorant. :hi:

[Norrin Radd]

24. Now watch it with RiffTrax:

http://shop.rifftrax.com/rifftrax/300

The commentary vastly improves this film.

[JCMach1]

25. Also, the blatant and ugly racism... just ask any Iranian/Persian

what they think of their depiction...

[Recursion]

31. There were very few persians shown

It gets back to Thucydides; the army Xerxes brought was mostly auxiliaries from the provinces.

[Recursion]

38. gah. Herodotus

How I mixed up my ancient Greek historians I'll never know.

[tomreedtoon]

26. Frank Miller tends towards right-wing stuff.

His graphic novel Batman: The Dark Knight Returns says stuff against Reagan...but in the end has Batman becoming a vigilante leading gangs of youths against the government AND crime. His Sin City promoted the Spillane-style violent-thug detective as an ideal.

He isn't a Bush man, and he hated Reagan, but his heroes promote authoritarianism and the belief that a strong man must rule. I haven't seen 300 and I don't intend to. A bunch of sweaty naked men killing each other is either a promotion of Republican rule...or gay S&M porn.

[BadgerLaw2010]

34. 300 rather reeks of fascism.

If you aren't a strong, militaristic, ideal white man, you are a traitor/homosexual/deformed/missing teeth/rapist/all of the above.

Some of that is innate to the Spartans but most of it is neither historically accurate nor necessary.

[readmoreoften]

71. I was horrified by it. The West fights Iran.

Only Iran is an enormous body-pierced drag queen who conducts orgies complete with lesbians. Oh, and if you didn't get the memo: the diasbled are both physically AND morally inferior.

[trusty elf]

27. I won't watch it.

Movies like that tend to pale in comparison to reading Herodotus and Thucydides. ;)

I didn't watch "Troy" either. I can't bear the thought of Brad Pitt's being Achilles!

Leave the Iliad alone! :D

[OwnedByFerrets]

32. Troy was a freaking joke......

no comparison whatsoever.

[CRF450]

28. 300 fucking rocks!!

I'm looking forward to this year with the movies. Last year, Transformers owned, I have never watched a single movie in the theaters more than once. I watched Transformers 6 TIMES in the theaters!!!

I loved it that much lol.

[MadHound]

29. Frankly I thought it sucked

Heavy handed directing, acting that sucks, special effects that were trite, and a weak, historically inaccurate plot. As far as Miller goes, he did his best work twenty plus years ago with the Dark Knight series, and has gone downhill ever since. Even then I thought that Miller was ripping off Neal Adams in a major way.

300 is simply two hours of my life I'll never get back.

[The Stranger]

33. Wouldn't waste my time and money. Besides, didn't it demonize Persians/Iranians with caricature?

REALLY wouldn't support that Neocon npropanganda shit with my time and money.

[I work for workers]

42. LOL @ people who try to inject poltics into everything.

Especially those who haven't even seen the move in question.

300 was the best action movie I have seen in years. I can't think of anything remotely comparable besides Commando. It's just nearly nonstop, awesomely directed violence designed to leave you pumped up after seeing it. The plot sets up the action, then takes a back seat so the fun can happen.

If you don't like action movies, then say "I don't like action movies". Don't call upon dumb politics to justify your baseless judgment. All the political 300 haters remind me of the people claiming the bad guys in Episode 1 were supposed to be Chinese. It said more about the viewers that saw Asian characters in green frog men then it did about the source material.

[The Stranger]

45. It isn't about "politics." Take any film class and you will learn that film makers put together

their works in certain ways, and they often seek to convey meanings beyond the horribly mundane -- which is, unfortunately, all you really seem to appreciate.

In other words, there are reasons they use certain effects, stories, is to convey a message, a point of view, a set of ideas.

Try to expand your views and review these films with the sophistication they deserve.

[I work for workers]

48. Try to expand you views and actually SEE the film you're bashing.

You can't review a film you haven't seen yet. Calling 300 a neocon propaganda piece is only slightly more intelligent then the DU members who said they wouldn't let their kids see Horton Hears a Who for fear it would make them become pro-life.

[The Stranger]

51. You seem to agree then that the movie has meaning beyond sword fights and "action."

Now, then, we can begin to talk about the images portrayed in the movie, particularly images of the Persians and the Persian leader, juxtaposed against the protagonist heroes, and begin to see some of the meanings beyond the mundane.

This movie was written, directed, filmed, edited, produced, financed and exhibited in a certain historical context, in a certain period of time with contemporaneous current events. We may also begin to see the relation between elements of the film and these events.

Now we are on our way!

[I work for workers]

52. I'll admit the movie played to my preconceived stereotypes

that middle eastern dictators are ten foot tall Rocky Horror fans who want to invade western gyms with their armies of monsters and ninjas. Give me a break. I find that people who find deep social and political messages hidden in a popcorn flick with the thinest veneer of philosophy (self rule, CrossFit and body waxing are good) are looking for something to get worked up about. 300 was only anti-Persian/gay/ugly people if you think that Iranians still long to invade Greece, gays all wear gold speedos and face rings, and silly beards are attractive.

Here is another historical context for the films production. Sin City was a big success, and a studio wanted to cash in on another Frank Miller work. Batman and Dare Devil have been done, and so someone dug up 300, which was written before most Americans knew what a neocon was, and made a kick ass action movie out of it.

[The Stranger]

68. Yeah, that's cute.

But I'm worried about the workers.

[readmoreoften]

72. So making the leader of Iran a 9 foot tall body-pierced drag queen who conducts orgies...

All that was just a coincidence. Readin' too much into it, huh?

300 has zero sophistication and deserves no particular high-minded attitude on approach. Miller ain't no Fassbinder, bro.

[lumberjack_jeff]

53. I like action movies, I saw most of 300, and I found it visually entertaining.

But I have to agree with the previous poster. The entire movie was designed to be a metaphor for current events.

I couldn't get past that.

[I work for workers]

57. Was the Chippendales HQ invaded by the Ringling Bros?!?

I guess I just missed that headline...

[Snarkturian Clone]

58. LOL

:rofl:

[BearSquirrel2]

60. You mean to say ...

You mean to say the movie stereotyped Persians as 400# monsters with blades for arms? (On edit: I think I plagiarized this from Jon Stewart).

The only poor depiction I saw was the use of the cripple as sellout stoogie. I know it's a literary device, but it reinforces that literary (and religious) stereotype that deformity equates to evil.

[Lorien]

35. Not seen it. But a good friend of mine was a good buddy of Frank Miller's

My friend is also a famous comic book creator, and he and Frank used to spend a lot of time together. My buddy is liberal, but Frank always called himself "mildly libertarian" and said that he loathed Reagan-but otherwise was pretty unpolitical. 9/11 changed all that. Frank was COMPLETELY freaked out by it, and started seeing "evil Muslims" lurking under every bed. His move to the right continued when he made a tidy profit from "Sin City" and his wife decided that they were part of the whole Hollywood scene. Now my friend can't stomach much time with his old pal anymore.Frank has become very pro-war, pro-torture, etc.-and from what I hear "300" reflects that. Originally he had written the comic as "the battle between man and forces within himself", but now it really is his own allegory for the battle between America and the "Islamo-fascists".

[nadinbrzezinski]

61. Silly me, I completely missed the allegory

now 300 (the original graphic novel) was produced WELL BEFORE 9.11

And the movie basically used the novel as the story board.

Not to doubt you.. but if that was the allegory Miller wanted to present, since he followed the original book, we missed it by a mile

By the way, he is not the only popular culture producer to be freaked by 9.11. This is a common story, especially among Paper and Pencil Role Playing Games. I think I'm one of the exceptions.

[Lorien]

65. As I noted: He ORIGINALLY wrote it as and allegory for man's internal

battle with himself (ego vs. id, dark vs. light, take your pick). He was involved in making the film and because HE changed since he had written the comic, the subtext of the story changed as well

[LanternWaste]

40. I think the major problem I had with it...

I think the major problem I had with it is that it's a two-act story stretched into three acts for the sake of film continuity, and the seams became rather obvious.

However, I do enjoy this new style the cinematographers and directors are using-- as CGI has progressed to the point where anything can be put on the big screen and appear reasonably realistic, some cutting-edgers are moving away from the realism-only canard (e.g., Spider Man, Lord of the Rings, etc) and simply using the CGI to enhance a preconceived artistic style with much less emphasis on realism. And I think both 300 and Sin City are quite illustrative of this.

A film cell (and its digital equivalent) becomes an actual frame of still art, to be enjoyed in and of itself before morphing into the next. An almost new (but still MTV-inspired-- damn them all to hell) use of the montage.

[MrSlayer]

41. I liked it quite a bit. 1776 was better though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OghuLejDoVY&feature=related


SPARTANS! PREPARE FOR GLORY!

[Jed Dilligan]

44. Some classic moments:

-When the Persian general gets his arm hacked off and shouts, "My arm!"

-When the Persian horsemen get speared and launch out of their saddles like pilots ejecting from jets.

-When the Persian rhino-cavalry attack, looking like the biggest badasses of all time, and then are turned back easily by guys on foot with spears.

-When the first ten minutes of a movie describe a society governed by strict military discipline and systematic infanticide, and then the rest of the movie is spent showing members of this society fighting for "their freedom."

I wouldn't give those moments back for the world, but the movie is BAD. I agree that a realistic movie about Thermopylae would kick serious ass.

[slampoet]

47. I walked out of the movie after it's 50th historical lie or inacuracy. That was 20 minutes in.

The film is such a lying piece of turd meat. Completely feeds into America Racism of the moment.

[Wizard777]

56. Not really. There is a big difference between Persians and Iranians.

Persians were Mazdians or Zoroastrians. That religion is very tollerant of other religions. Iranians are Muslims whichs isn't very tollerant of other religions. The Sha was the last ember of Persia. They are just two totally different cultures.

[Javaman]

49. Screaming men in their underwear. nt

[slampoet]

50. Being watched by men in baseball hats.

[Javaman]

55. ...in their underwear. nt

[slampoet]

67. ...cuddling?

[Javaman]

69. ...

:spray:

[Strawman]

54. I liked it

But I may be a little biased ;)

[Orsino]

59. Less nudity than most gay porn.

Ludicrous and war-glorifying as it was, it still managed to be stylish and inspiring, though it deliberately hid the huge, gaping hole in the Greek concept of "democracy" that included slaves and helots.

[Sheets of Easter]

62. I like history. I like fiction.

Not too crazy about historical fiction, though; especially when so many liberties are taken.

Visually, though, it's a stunning film. As for the supposed political subtext, it's only there if you make it.

[readmoreoften]

73. It's only there if you make it, except that it's really there.

Read the book War and Cinema. The Pentagon has been invested in Hollywood since WWII

[I work for workers]

74. Wait, I thought the Soviets were the ones investing in Hollywood?!

[Catherine Vincent]

63. Those men had great bods!

Hubba hubba!

[Connie_Corleone]

64. Half-naked, beefcake with some headbanging music.

Yeah, I liked it. :9

[qb]

66. I wondered where they found so many buff guys who could act...

then I found out their chests were digitally enhanced! No matter... they looked great. Stills from this movie could be mistaken for a Titan Men DVD box cover.

The action was good, but I was distracted by the two-dimensional blood spatters. It's not that I crave blood in movies, but when it's there it should at least look real.

Overall I found it very entertaining.

[cynatnite]

70. Beautifully made, IMO. Movies are the last place I expect any kind of realism n/t