Reply With QuoteI enjoyed it. Sword armed fatty was a little weird and felt out of place, though.
I want to add:Originally Posted by Case
Oracle's nipples have the ability to poke your eyes out!
Always build a bottomless abyss in the middle of your city. Never know when they come in handy.
When aiming for the enemy king; don't aim to kill.
Executioners should have blades grafted into their forearms.
BATTLE RHINO!!!!
What free men do is to have hot steamy sex in slow motion.
That was 2 hours of pure homoerotic awesomeness. Would watch again!!!
I enjoyed it. Sword armed fatty was a little weird and felt out of place, though.
MST 3000 could have had a lot of fun with this movie…
“You there, what is your profession?”
“I am a blacksmith”
“A…a what? Remind me what that is again.”
“We make armor, sire”
“Armor, yes. That could have some intriguing possibilities. I will keep that in mind if we return to Sparta…”
Saw it last night. Overall, I enjoyed it.. cheesy, but fun to watch. As a visual treat and adaptation of the comic it did a passable job, but I can't help but be dissapointed of the depiction of the battle and the combatants.
First off, I don't really know much of actual tactics used by the Spartans and the battle itself historically, but it did not feel like three days of fighting. If the Persians had upwards of a million troops, there should *never* have been a lull in the fighting. There's no reason to let up the pressure unless it's to clear the pass of retreating/dead men for the next wave. The Spartans ought to have been in their phalanx formation the entire time, making an immovable wall and rotating tired/wounded men from the the front to rest and keep fresh. Any dialogue ought to have been made with battle in the background, any rest to the din of metal on metal. The sudden abandonment of tactics at the Immortals fight was just silly, an obvious decision that it was time for flashy fighting. The 'flank' by the Athenians or thespians or whatever was completely useless as it only hit the front of the Immortal's formation and did nothing to encircle, (as well as make known the use of some secret passage?!). It would've been better to have them chuck rocks down from the cliffs, or split the force with some naptha or what have you.
Then there were the beasts.. if anything, those ought to have been the only thing capable of punching holes in the Spartan line, where the opportunity for flashy close combat would have been possible by capitalizing on the choas of the lines.
It was also disappointing that after such a cruel and bitter childhood, the Spartans were so.. normal, rather than being cruel antiheroes whose 'freedoms' meant simple superiority over lesser men than to some ambiguous ideal. I wanted badass mofos, not wise tempered carefree Abercrombie models. Where was the merciless treatment of their fellows who stumble and fall on the march like in the comic? The disdain for all weakness? it would have been more interesting to me had the King been a complete heartless ass to his wife until the final moment.
Speaking of final moments, the realization they were surrounded and having them slowly picked off by surrounding arrow fire could have been drawn out for something more tragic-- that after all that successful opposition, they die ignominously to the same arrow rain they had previously laughed off. As it was they all die in the blink of an eye and I felt nothing.
That said, I suppose it was never supposed to have been anything more than action fluff, and I enjoyed it as such.
Just came back. I thought it was absolutely fantastic, both from a photographic/production standpoint and in how faithful they managed to remain to the original comics while also making it feel like a cinematic work in its own right (in contrast, SIN CITY felt more to me like a slavish painting-by-numbers job than a piece of original cinema).
If I had to find a criticism, it's that the Spartan political intrigue sub-plot that was added on (it's not in the comic version) felt a bit redundant and by cutting back to it on several occasions it detracted from the power of the relentless battle sequences. Maybe the film-makers felt the opposite and that the audience needed a break from the carnage every now again, but for me it just fragmented the movie in a way that didn't add anything.
But yeah, brilliant. Next up, IMAX.
I thought it was great. Just a ton of fun if you're not looking for historical acuracy or anything. The look of the film combined with the narration gave it a great original fee to me. Just a lot of fun.
Most... Amazingly beautiful movie I've had the pleasure of seeing in a long time.
Honestly, its horribly inaccurate historically, but its not meant to be historical. Its based on Frank Wells' graphic novel, and it makes good use of this background to add in its artistic touches...
Like the enemies... Its just all very well done. I won't spoil anything for anyone, but there is no real good reason not to see it. Its worth the 7-10 dollars it costs for admission.
Just saw it. Came away disappointed. Cool visuals ultimately resulting in comic book masturbation. Good if you don't have too many expectations.
Erik J.
Dude, it's half naked man stabbing each other with long pointy sticks. DUH!!!
Miller?
Not anywhere near as good as Sin City, but it's hard to make an entire film about roid rage.
I was mildly amused when there was a spattering of applause from the audience when I saw it yesterday. It wasn't that good!
Still, it was a fine movie for its style. I agree with the whole Queen/political angle as making the movie a tad lopsided. There was no emotional depth to it and you didn't become attached to these characters in any way, so best just to leave it be and keep on with the men losing body parts part.
The tactics portrayed were accurate, although they didn't break out of formation unless they had to; otherwise, they were a wall of shields.
As for why they didn't fight 24/7, they simply stopped when it got dark.
The one thing that bugged me is the death of Leonidas and its aftermath. Historically, he fell and the remaining Spartans secured his body and protected it from the Persians. That was their last stand. I think that's much more dramatic than what happened in 300.
The strange thing about the movie was that everything it took from the comic, it did better than the comic did. All the action scenes that were incoherent on the page are simply awesome on the screen. But all the fresh material that the movie added--a subplot back in Sparta involving politics and the Queen--was terrible, and should have been left on the cutting room floor.
I liked that we at least got to see some phalanx tactics, though they were quickly ditched in favor of more-exciting individual melee.
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My GF got into a bit of a road rage incident today and even though she didn't confront the woman, she said she wanted to yell "THIS IS SPARTA" and lay the smackdown.
The movie was ok. I wanted more historicity and less BS, my GF just liked the overall look.
$70m weekend, yowza.
Saw it today. Really hope more movies like this aren't made. Camp-wise, it's arguably fun. But on its merits, I only thought it was visually arresting - and grating in every other way.
Go jump in a volcano, Jake. You suck.
I hope every action film ever gets made like this. Obsessively homoerotic, porny, gallons of blood spraying everywhere, lopped off body parts, gore and violence and testosterone and loincloths and boobs and WALLS MADE OUT OF CORPSES and larger-than-life bullshit slapping you in your twerpy little face nonstop.
Yeah, some of the dialogue was a little cheesy. And you guys whining about the tacked-on political part are being a little hyperbolic. It was maybe 10-15 minutes of screen time and ended with that stupid motherfucker getting gutted. YAY. It also made me sort of laugh, because Frank Miller is so godamned transparent. Jesus, of course the only strong female character lets herself be raped. And the other women are all concubines or some form of sex slave or other. Of course. You suck, Frank.
My favorite scene is early on, when the Spartans begin their first attack. Leonidas throws his spear and he throws it so awesomely, it doesn't just kill the dude it hits, it kills the dude standing next to the dude it hits. I watched, and that dude never stood back up. How badass is that?
"300 made me gay, and I didn't care!"
--Bill
Last edited by Bill Dungsroman; 03-11-2007 at 08:36 PM.
At least she also HAD HER WAY with him, spitting his own venom back at him with "you will not enjoy this..," as she gutted him like a limp fish.
You may be gay for the King, Bill, but I am gay for the Spartan Queen.
Man, the part with the "magic" bombs was awesome looking. Also, I think it was the scene with the two Spartans that were sort of flirting with--I mean, picking on each other, that one guy does a somersault and it just looked so cool with the cape and the shield.
To be fair, that scene wasn't in the original Miller comic.
Obviously this movie was a fantasy, so I do not know why anyone is ragging on its historical accuracy in any context, such as what exactly happened at that battle or the culture of Sparta.
Anyway, if you just want to have fun with some good sword porn, this is a great movie. If you like looking at hot, muscular guys, it is even better.
Regardless of the historical (in)accuracy, I am still not sure why you all are getting your panties wet over this movie. Granted, I am not a huge comic book guy, but I still appreciate them. But Sin City and 300 have just felt really "meh". It's not even good enough that there is blood, gore, and action, because there is no central figure for that to revolve around. Atleast when Arnold was doing it, we could all get behind the guy. Both of Miller's movies have been violent for the sake of being violent, with shitty roles for ze womenz. This movie is a step backward, not a step forward. Ok, if you like it as bubblegum, fine, I can see that, but don't be telling me this is good cinema by any stretch of the imagination.
Erik J.
Agreed. I'm glad I'm not the only person who feels like this. The other day, a co-worker told me that I had "no soul" because I thought this movie was mediocre.
Why are the Persians all so dark skinned?
Because they're evil, duh.
I got an omlette at the diner this morning and had to fight the urge to scream "THIS IS BREAKFAST!"
Amen. Which is exactly why I lamented that this film is doing well. I don't want more offerings like this. I again can see why some people because it was novel or campy. But a good movie this was not. Jokes aside, does anyone here really want to see movies that lifts "ideas" from 300? Just imagine:
"THIS... IS... BROOKLYN!"
A lifeless narrator intones: "He grew up in a tough neighborhood. It was tough. So he had to be tough. He ate tough things. And those tough things added to his toughness. Until he became tough-squared. And you think I'm done talking about how tough he is because god knows I've driven that point home ad naseum by now and I'm sure you and everyone else in the audience gets it, but I'm not done. Because not knowing when to stop is a sign of toughness. Not having subtlety at all is a sign of toughness. And I'm just the narrator here but I'm a tough one because this is a tough movie. About tough men. Look at those pecs on screen. Lick them. Gently. But toughly."
More battle scenes where steroid infused action heroes are running around in slow motion with heavy metal music blaring in the background... supposedly adding to the ambiance of it all.
More key lines delivered by SCREAMING!
Die Hard was a great popcorn action flick. So too was Road Warrior. Speed was okay.
I'd watch any of those again.
But 300? Only if paid or if MST3K gets a hold of it.
Last edited by Jake Plane; 03-12-2007 at 10:21 AM.
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