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300 (2007)
Director: Zack Snyder
Synopsis
Adaptation of the graphic novel by Frank Miller about the battle fought between two ancient enemies.
Movie review
From Time Out New York
Military historians, armchair generals and dudes who airbrush murals on Chevy vans have a soft spot for the Battle of Thermopylae, in which King Leonidas (Butler) led 300 Spartans against the entire Persian army in 480 B.C. For comic-book writer-artist Frank Miller, the legendary suicide mission served as a starting point for an ambitious story about the notion of empire; for director Zack Snyder (2004’s Dawn of the Dead), it was apparently the chance to choreograph gold-tinted scenes of buff men lopping off limbs in slow motion. Snyder’s hyperstylized adaptation of Miller’s graphic novel does successfully portray Leonidas’ last stand as an epic case of sword-and-sandal ’roid rage. As to this pumped-up spectacle’s other aims, it’s anybody’s guess: selling gladiatorial chest-beating as beefcake erotica? Combining a movie and its own video-game spin-off into one package? Being both a dessert topping and a floor wax?One thing this swollen, eye-rolling beast isn’t, alas, is an interesting interpretation of Miller’s work. Like Robert Rodriguez’s Sin City, Snyder’s film scrupulously replicates the artist’s baroque, kinetic drawings but drains them of their power; dialogue that’s barely passable on the page (“Only Spartan women give birth to real men!”) becomes bona fide Gouda onscreen. Worse, the historical event comes on like a Hannity & Colmes argument, squeaking out a muffled antiwar comment while a neocon fantasia of military might roars with volume and fury. A fun-sapped maelstrom without meaning, 300 simply pummels you with endless loops of battle-porn. While you couldn’t classify the movie as entertainment, it might have a long, prosperous future as a Clockwork Orange–style Ludovico Technique.Author: David Fear
Time Out New York Time Out New York / Issue 597: March 8–14, 2007
User reviews of this film
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- Will Rothery said...
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Posted on Sep 17 2008 08:30
600 nipples, men nipples, does not make a good film. The poor acting did nothing to arouse my... senses, yes, my senses. Beforehead I continue I want you to know I hate life and men; and this film had both - but luckily the death side appealed to my teenage angst. I am an emo; but one with style. Luckily the film appealed to my teenage cynicism, but on that note.
I love you all equally, especially the guys.
Will Rothery - Max Cartwright.
"DEATH TO CALLUM" - Report as inappropriate
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- Will said...
- Posted on Dec 13 2007 08:33 good film
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- sean hill said...
- Posted on Oct 11 2007 10:45 it is the best battle film i have ever seen
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- F.M. Hynds said...
- Posted on Sep 29 2007 22:18 Watching this film on DVD at home quite honestly leaves a lot to be desired, the quality of scene is poor, the matrix effect is over-done and the script most-times is lacking. Since Lord of the Rings just about everyone has attempted historical fiction, fact or a combination of the two and in many cases the have failed miserably. The comparisons of scene with 'Gladiator' and the 'Matrix' is often hard to bear. It appears to be a movie for those both historical uninterested and dramatically challenged. Personally I thought it was not to the standard of recent attempts of the same.
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- drew_ti said...
- Posted on Aug 27 2007 00:05 Awsome movie, just got my Spartan Bust Roman Statue from www.neo-mfg.com hope they do more movies of this style in the future.
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Cast & crew
Director: Zack Snyder
Producer: Gianni Nunnari, Mark Canton, Bernie Goldmann, Jeffrey Silver
Cast: Gerard Butler, Lena Heady, Dominic West, David Wenham, Vincent Regan, Michael Fassbender, Tom Wisdom, Andrew Pleavin, Andrew Tiernan, Rodrigo Santoro full cast
Genre(s): Action/Adventure, War
Duration: 117 mins
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