Movies 300

I went and saw 300 last weekend, and I have to say, I loved it. I mean, sometimes I need a movie with plot and other times, I'm content with blood spray. ;3

The movie was absolutely beautiful in the way it was made, and the contrast being set as high as it was made it so etherworldly. I can't say I've seen better this year. :3

So, what'd you guys think of 300?

 

I love this movie. It was absolutely phenomenal. For many a reason.

For one, every scene looked like a direct cut from the book. That's how it was filmed, like a graphic novel turned into a movie. Most people would think this sounds like a bad thing, but it's TOTALLY done the right way in this movie.

Second, the truth of (most of) the script and movie was stupendous. The time scale between each battle, the Council meeting, the scale of the Persian army against the Grecian one, even the direct line from the histories, "Our arrows will block out the sun/Then we will fight in the shade." It was all very true and very well-screened.

Third, a little noticed portion, I love that every time they refer to Thermopylae, they say the "Hot Gates", the English translation. It reinforced the illusion that we were Greeks, that we spoke the same language, and that it was not simply translated.

Fourth, the relationships built between the characters, mainly the Spartan army and the Leonidas/Xerxes relations, felt very true to the personalities of those involved. As far as we know about these peoples.

Fifth, the inclusion of elephants, rhinoceroses, and other exotic things from the far reaches of what was the Persian Empire. It gave a sense of scale, of just how far this power reached and how powerful they were.

It was a generally all-around good movie. However, I had 2 fairly major problems with it.

1) The gratuitous and pointless nudity/sex scenes. The Oracle's undulations, half-exposed, were TOTALLY NOT NEEDED and indeed probably only existed to incite the bloodlust of the viewers, which was a prelude to the vigor felt during the battle. Also, the scene between Leonidas and the queen. Sure, it showed the relationship between them. But it didn't need to be filmed the way it was, with nudity and obvious thrusts into her.

2) The ogres and monsters, and, to a lesser extent, the lengths of Ephialtes' malformities. I don't think those actually existed... The inclusion of them only served to break the otherwise-flawless illusion of story and history the movie had. And I understand, Ephialtes was malformed. That was why he was cast out of Sparta as a baby, and why he betrayed them later. But it was not to the extent they showed, at all.

Other than these 2 problems, and minor things (Xerxes was DEFINITELY not 7'5"), it was by far one of the best movies I've seen in some time. 3.5 stars out of 4.

 

I loved the sex scene for the intensity it gave their relationship. I might have even shown more given the chance, since in that time, sex was more intimate and special then it could ever be to us. And the Queen with the councilman.. His words made me tremble. It broke my heart to hear her say what she said and have him retort that way.

As for the monsters.. This was a frank miller piece and as we all know from his comics, he loves to draw deformities. Made the movie seem just as grotesque as the book and I didn't mind it one bit.

And to add to what I liked about the movie.. The magic using persians. I have no idea why, but they happened to be one of the highlights of my film watching experience.

 

... I totally disagree with you, Chance. I think everything was good EXCEPT the monsters, and the pointless sex scenes. Sure, you can show sex, but you don't have to film it the way they did. I mean, all they showed was thrusting. They could have showed kissing, or something. And did you really need the Oracle dancing naked? No. It was just to get male blood pumping. Not my cup of tea.

As well, I feel the monsters and ogres took away from the realism of the movie. Like, the movie felt so real, so intense, and then they brought out that giant in the chains, and the realistic vision of the movie just shattered. It brought me so OUT of the movie.

Otherwise, it was a work of art, no question.

 

Whoa now, take a step back.

I have to side with Chance on this issue with the nudity. The oracle was smokin' (bonus points) and the sinuous dance was partially a self induced trance set upon by herself and the overseers who "looked" over her. As far as Leonidas and his wife, it was an over the top intimate moment. It brought forward a very real and graphic imagery detailing the depth of thier relationship. It also sets us up for a startling contrast to what happened later with everyone's favorite councilman. Sure it might have been a little excessive, but you can say that about any other part of the film (combat, blood, stunts, arrows, ect...)

...Ok, so that was a really weak retort. You still have to keep several things in mind-

#1: the culture back then was a different monster than culture now-a-days. Sex was much more prevailent and held a much larger significance in thier lives than now-a-days. P.C. didn't exist and it wasn't uncommon for a woman to be topless. Don't believe me? Check out Pompeii at it's hieght. They were some randy fellows.

#2: As far as Xerxes harem, if you want to keep reality consitent throughout the picture bear in the mind the the ruler of the world wouldn't keep his dancers covered simply because of P.C. reasons. Besides, they weren't ALL women. Three of them were crossdressers (it's true, check the credits).

#3: All the girls got a shinnig view of Leonidas' bum bum, AND for the sake of argument, the Spartans wore a little more than a cape and loincloth when they actually fought the battle. Yes Virginia, they did have armor.

So it does swing both ways.

Besides the oracle's dance wasn't about her showing off the goods. It was a sinuous and graceful weave as her body became like her robes, dancing through the smoke as she divined the answer. It bears true witness to the mysticism that gripped thier culture during that age.

I felt that the monsters took a wee bit away from the realism of the story, but that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy them. Like most movies there are some slight exaggerations, and I can forgive a few (i.e. Xerxes standing taller than Shaq on stilts).

While 300 was alot of fun to watch I didn't think it was as good as all the hype made it out to be. It was a good movie, don't get me wrong, I just don't think it was everything and bag of chips.

Kk,

~W

 

My only REAL complaint was the preachy-ness at the end. The Spartans weren't fighting for liberty and freedom, they were fighting for pride (at least as they showed it in the movie)! The forced parallels to the war in Iraq were just a bit much for me.

Oh, and just about every line of dialogue was meant to be a quote.

 

I know the culture was different, Wert. And I understand what the Oracle's Dance was supposed to be doing. But it's not like they even focused on that part of it. Just the naked-ness of her.

The harem girls I would have been fine with seeing naked, because that would have been very real, because they're paid to just hang around naked. I would have been fine with that. But the oracle dancing wasn't supposed to be about sex. It was supposed to be an intricate trance-dance. I just think it was overly much.

Anyways. Yea, the fact that they were bare-chested in battle was stupid too. They actually had on nearly 100 pounds of armor in battle. And the fact that some of the guys just hefted their helmets and like they were sheet-metal was dumb too. Those things weighed a lot more than they made it out to look.