Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageMeet the Spartans (2008)
Director: Jason Friedberg, Aaron Seltzer
Synopsis
‘Scary Movie’ duo Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer return with this spoof, filmed supposedly on the set of ‘300’, which parodies, amongst other notable productions, ‘The Matrix’, ‘Ugly Betty’, ‘The Departed’, ‘Anchorman’, ‘Deal or No Deal’, ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’, and unsurprisingly, ‘300’ itself. Watch out for humorous ‘appearances’ from Britney Spears and President Bush.
Movie review
From Time Out London
After the deeply disposable genre send-ups ‘Date Movie’ and ‘Epic Movie’, double-threat comedy duo Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer turn their attention to a single movie, the digitally buffed-up historical slugfest ‘300’, for this virtually unendurable feature-length skit. One might have thought the original’s absurd chest-rippling machismo and cartoonish villainy funny enough in itself, an assessment this pitifully laughter-free farrago does little to alter. The Thermopylae-inspired plot remains the same in outline but the would-be humorous embellishment has little to offer beyond infantile obviousness.So, the Spartans in their leather briefs look a bit gay? Let’s have them prancing around to ‘I Will Survive’! Reckon the Spartan educational regime looks a bit tough? Let’s have some poor child beaten to a pulp for fun! And since the ‘300’-themed gags run dry pretty quickly, let’s fill the rest out with projectile vomiting, defecating giant penguins and lookalike japes involving Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan and ‘American Idol’. Its relative brevity is a humanitarian gesture.
Author: Trevor Johnston
Time Out London Issue 1961 March 20-26 2008
User reviews of this film
-
- Nathalie said...
- Posted on Mar 24 2008 15:57 It had a few funny bits in it, but it is not something I would watch again. It wasn't made to win awards and that it won't.
- Report as inappropriate
-
- haribo said...
- Posted on Mar 24 2008 14:03 aww man this film is the shiz , innit BRUV!
- Report as inappropriate
-
- scarlett said...
- Posted on Mar 24 2008 00:24 This 'film' was truely awful, it's saving grace was that it was fairly short. I would rather go to the dentist than sit through this again
- Report as inappropriate
-
- mark said...
- Posted on Mar 23 2008 19:12 i have not actualy seen this film yet, was planning to but after reading above may rethink. The trailer looked well funny....
- Report as inappropriate
-
- stu said...... said...
- Posted on Mar 23 2008 18:26 The funny bits were too far apart. This was a tired effort in a tired format, with more of the same old same old. If your not quite an adult you'll find this a funny film, if you've made it to adulthood, give this one a miss, wait for the DVD. Parents - if you are thinking of taking your kids to see this - the 12A rating is fairly relaxed. Language and frequent adult themed references may offend
- Report as inappropriate
-
- Priya said...
- Posted on Mar 23 2008 16:48 I saw this film today, and to be honest it was quite a waste of time. Why the hell was it shown on screen one?! It was so stupidly not funny that it was funny. By the way, you will only understand this film if you have seen 300. Arghh i wish i saw something else instead!! There's so many good movies out there...
- Report as inappropriate
-
- sdf said...
- Posted on Mar 23 2008 15:01 this film realy rocked and i found it was worth watching BEST BIT "IM NOT GAY" *kick* Funny as hell i even got my group to lern the dance for our gcse group !
- Report as inappropriate
-
- ecky said...
- Posted on Mar 23 2008 12:26 This has got to be the worst film I've ever seen. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE Don't waste your money on this trash!!!!
- Report as inappropriate
-
- jason said...
- Posted on Mar 22 2008 22:31 i love all scary movies, hot shots and all spoof films but as the end titles came up for this tonight i wanted to cry not with laughter but the shock i have just wasted my money goign to see this and even worse dragged a doubtful group with me. My partner has not stopped moaning at me for hours after. Not one for the women, Not one if you are expecting another great spoof film not one for anyone really. Also its rated 12a and took my 12 year old wiht me as well and not really suited to under 15 in my opionion. At least you get to hear all the movie as not a single person laughed in the whole film at my local ciniworld showing. AVOID AVOID AVOID!!!!
- Report as inappropriate
-
- Mario said...
- Posted on Mar 22 2008 19:19 I took my girlfriend to see this film yesterday... she's going to be punishing me for it for another 3/4 weeks yet.. Possibly the least funny film I've ever seen.. massive pauses after gags which aren't funny so people can laugh.. jesus it just made it sad when there was only 1 person in the whole cinema who was laughing (i think she noticed after a while and stopped).
- Report as inappropriate
-
- Dolly said...
-
Posted on Mar 22 2008 15:59
Oh my goodness PLEASE get your grammar correct if you are going to call people stupid! Dear God.
And the film was very funny :) - Report as inappropriate
-
- me said...
- Posted on Mar 22 2008 11:09 your all stupid!
- Report as inappropriate
-
- Jak said...
- Posted on Mar 19 2008 19:26 Awww man yet another one of these films you just have to see if you have an humor at all no matter how good or bad it is. The fact it is using morden events mixed with the old is really inspiring.
- Report as inappropriate
-
- Charl said...
- Posted on Mar 19 2008 18:09 Taking the P*** a bit out of good films but its really runny
- Report as inappropriate
Cast & crew
Director: Jason Friedberg, Aaron Seltzer
Cast: Sean Maguire, Carmen Electra, Ken Davitian, Kevin Sorbo, Diedrich Bader, Method Man, Jim Piddock, Nicole Parker, Ike Barinholtz, Crista Flanagan, Jareb Dauplaise, Travis Van Winkle full cast
Rated: 12A
Duration: 83 mins
UK Release: Mar 21 2008
US Release: Jan 25 2008
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Review: Penélope Cruz more raunchy than ever in 'Nine'
Dave Calhoun reports on Rob Marshall's Oscar-touted musical with Daniel Day-Lewis playing a troubled director
Time Out's 101 Films of the Decade
Ten years, thousands of movies and millions of dollars in international box office, and it all boils down to this
Jim Jarmusch on 'The Limits of Control'
Jim Jarmusch has followed ‘Broken Flowers’ with an esoteric crime mystery. Dave Calhoun speaks to him from his New York office
Richard Linklater on 'Me and Orson Welles'
Dave Calhoun meets the 49-year-old, Houston-born filmmaker Richard Linklater to discuss his new comedy
Our verdict on Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones
Peter Jackson ends a triumphant decade with a sentimental misfire with this lush Alice Sebold adaptation
On the set of Ken Loach's 'Route Irish'
Dave Calhoun meets Ken Loach on the set of his forthcoming Iraq war movie
Is 'Paranormal Activity' the new 'Blair Witch'?
How does a film go from DIY experiment to box-office smash? 'Paranormal Activity' director Oren Peli explains
A gateway to all things 'New Moon'
In anticipation of 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon', Time Out is offering the chance to pick up a limited edition pack with three exclusive magazines and a free poster.
The films that deserve a TV spin-off
With Roland Emmerich suggesting he'd like to make a '2012' TV spin-off, we propose some more movie-to-TV serialisations
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations
What do you think?
Post your review now