"300" - Merged Thread

[Story]

It's the manliest film ever! But I cannot wait for it!!

Ah, you jus' wanna see 300 guys with 5% body fat and leather g-strings.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

And Iran was once the heart of the Persian Empire. This film doesn't root for the ancient Persians. Yet if I had to choose between Cyrus the Great and the Spartans as rulers, I'd go with Cyrus.

.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Last Sunday's New York Times had an article wondering which side this movie claims for the Spartans vis a vis the current conflict (and how it will play with viewers):

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/05/movies/05spartans.html

 

[Hemingway Jones]

If I remember the story right from college...

300 Spartans and some Thebans stayed behind out of an united force of Grecian city states. Like some of the English forces at Dunkirk, they stayed behind, so that the rest of the army could escape and fight another day. Heroic, regardless of Spartan ruling policies.

 

[Lady Day]

300 Oh boy!

One, its based on a graphic novel version of the tale, so I dont think historical accuracy will play a huge role in the move. Its all about style, and since this story has been hiked up to ledgend status, whats wrong with style

Ever see Julie Taylor's Titus? One of my fave movies ever. I think it will have some of that flavor, the melding of traditional astetic with a modern presentation. Good good stuff.

300, Ill rent it.

LD

 

[Lancealot]

On a larger note, most novels are too long to make a good 2 hour movie, most short stories need a bit too much fleshing out. I wonder if the graphic novel, being written, in essence, as individual shots and scenes, may be the best type of literature to make the jump?

Your right there have been allot of graphic novels that have amde the jump well. The Road To Perdition, A History Of Violence, andSin City
all started out has graphic novels and in my opinion were truned into very good movies. I remeber seeing an interview with the director of A History Of Violence Where he was saying that the graphic novel form made it very easy to adapt because the novel acted has the storyboard sequence.

Has for has historical accuracy I remember reading Frank Miller based his story off of the original movie 300 Spartans.

Personally I can't wait to see it.

 

[carebear]

And Iran was once the heart of the Persian Empire. This film doesn't root for the ancient Persians. Yet if I had to choose between Cyrus the Great and the Spartans as rulers, I'd go with Cyrus.

.

As a slave? Maybe. Slave life in Persia wasn't all wine and roses either. As a citizen, I'd take the Athenians or Corinthians or Thebans, or even Spartans, over Xerxes any day of the week. Beats being a subject of a god-king.

And regardless of their treatment of the helots, the Spartan (and allied) stand gave time for the other city-states to organize and set up Salamis, which led to Xerxes withdrawal. Without the survival of Greek thought and identity, we'd be living in a very different, and probably worse (given the modern examples), world.

 

[Steve]

I don't mind CGI, and perhaps the full film gives off a better impression than the trailer, but this "comic book aesthetic" is what comic books are for. There's no real filmmaking when the actors stand in front of a green screen the whole time. They could have made the entire film with CGI and it would have melded better, in my humble opinion.

Also, it seems that the story almost overdoes the warrior aspect of the Spartan culture, if that's possible. That is to say, instead of a culture of honorable, singularly-focused fighters, they are made into screaming maniacs.

Personally, I'm a little disappointed in Gerard Butler. After the way he shone in Phantom of the Opera, he's degraded himself to plain testosterone this year. His body itself looks abnormally pumped up too, maybe that's what all the CGI is really for.

 

[Cacklewack]

I'm going to see it, but only after throwing out any thoughts of historical accuracy. It looks entertaining, and my roommate is probably prancing around in his skivvies this very moment pretending to be a Spartan. He's very excited about this film, but he liked Frank Miller even before news of 300 came out.

Matt

 

[carebear]

I'm going to see it, but only after throwing out any thoughts of historical accuracy. It looks entertaining, and my roommate is probably prancing around in his skivvies this very moment pretending to be a Spartan. He's very excited about this film, but he liked Frank Miller even before news of 300 came out.

Matt

I trust you make him confine such prancing to his room, or when you aren't there.

 

[Cacklewack]

I trust you make him confine such prancing to his room, or when you aren't there.

I wish! He's a large fellow, so he's hard to confine. I cannot wait until he sees the bloody movie and gets it out of his system. lol

Matt

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Look! A Spartan with a gun!

 

[MK]

?

I'm on the fence about seeing this one. Frankly, I'm afraid that it's too much visual overkill for me, and is clearly designed for the current generation raised on videogames, of which I'm definitely not a part. (I'm old-fashioned, I need substantial STORY and CHARACTER as well as just action.) Since I only made it about 15 minutes into "Sin City" on DVD before turning it off in disgust, I think I'll probably pass on seeing this in theaters.

Now mind you, I'm a lifelong fan of ancient history, and I loved the old "The 300 Spartans" film from the 60s when I was a kid - though I was pretty unimpressed with it after seeing it again recently. The Battle of Thermapylae is a wonderful story, and I'm usually up for any variation on it (e.g., the magnificent Samurai Jack episode "Jack and Spartans")... But I think the unending supersaturated images of this movie may simply be too intense for me.

I know: I'm a geezer.

Doc.....are you reading my mind? You might be gaining the super powers of your user name.....





.....or perhaps were just both geezers.

 

[Cacklewack]

Look! A Spartan with a gun!

I see that picture far too often on this forum!

Matt

 

[Lancealot]

I see that picture far too often on this forum!

Matt

That's what I was just thinking.

 

[carebear]

It probably needs a sticky in Gen. Attire to show how to wear suspenders.

 

[Doctor Strange]

MK - I think I probably speak for several folks around here, old-school filmgoers who require more than simply action and spectacle to enjoy a film.

Critic James Berardinelli, who I find that I usually trust, gives the film a good review:

http://www.reelviews.net/movies/t/300.html

But I'm still not sure if I want to see it in a theater...

 

[Feraud]

Doc Strange, you should try sitting through Sin City. I thought the visual style would detract from the story but it did not.
It turned out Sin City is one of the best modern takes on the Noir style.

 

[Doctor Strange]

You're right, I should probably give it another try sometime. But I generally have a very low style-over-substance threshold, and unfortunately, that's been the general direction that our society/media has moved for the last couple of decades...

Maybe I should give Miller's original graphic novels a look and see if they intrique me - I did enjoy THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS when I read it back in the late 80s - if I enjoy the book, I am usually more open-minded re the adaptation (e.g., V for Vendetta).

 

[Jack Scorpion]

Doc Strange, you should try sitting through Sin City. I thought the visual style would detract from the story but it did not.
It turned out Sin City is one of the best modern takes on the Noir style.

Sorry, but as someone who loves modern takes on noir style, Sin City is one of my least favorite movies of the last 10 years. Contentless at its best and 2 dimensional recreations of classic archtypes at its worst. No setups, no emotion (w/exception of Rourke) and just not cool enough looking to make up for it. I will not be seeing 300 thankyouverymuch.