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I watched it the night it came out and the next day, it.. was.. awesome! Although it isn't the best movie ever, the action was over the top. The special effects were really good. My favorite part of the movie was the first scene of the war, when the spartans were in the formations, in the small passage, fighting the first wave of men. 9.5/10
Maybe 300 wasn't completely accurate on the historical aspect, but I loved the movie! It has inspired me to research the true historical story. Very few movie portrayals stick to the facts because they must sensationalize the story to keep the viewers interested. A history buff wants to watch the movies because they love history. Unfortuneately a movie can't make billions off of history buffs alone. They have to appeal to the rest of society as well.
OK maybe I am missing something but I just watched err.. I TRIED to watch 300 and I found it extremely BORING. I couldn't even get to the end of the movie. I mean it was BORING really BORING.
My husband, son, and I just came back, from watching "300". I would recommend it to anyone who likes ancient history. Although it was a bit fanciful in places, (after all, it's not a documentary), it was fairly accurate, historically speaking, such as the training of the Spartan boys/men, their weapons, tactics, and the basic battle itself, in the pass of Thermopylae, (sorry, probably didn't spell that right. ). For the ladies, lots of eye candy! I haven't seen that many six-packs, in one place, in a long time! For you men, my son tells me that Frank Miller, who wrote "Sin City", also did the graphic novel, for this movie. I've watched "Sin City", but I have to say, I liked this movie better, since I like history, ( and movies like this always cause me to start looking up the "real story"). Besides, I like Gerard Butler!
I can appreciate your interest in the historical aspect of this story but I have to politely disagree on your description of the film as "fairly accurate." What you describe was well portrayed but there's a lot more to the story.
A sampling:
1. Leonidas did not go to battle against the Persians by himself with 300 of his men. Leonidas was chosen to lead by his fellow Greeks and then chose his own soldiers.
2. The land battle at Thermopylae was part of a bigger battle a united Greek navy (led by the Themisticles, an Athenian politician) led against the Persian Navy. The army and navy working together forced Xerxes to retreat.
3. There were several hundred soldiers from Thespiae (Thespians) and slaves who stayed behind with the 300 Spartans to fight to the last man.
4. Xerxes wanted revenge because his father (Darius) had failed to conquer the Greeks but lost at the Battle of Marathon. Powerful motive but very absent from the movie.
5. It's quite humorous that the movie portrays Sparta as a freedom loving society when it was actually ruled by a small, select group. Sparta was a military state, almost fascist really in that serving the state was the ultimate and most worthy goal to pursue.
I'm a fan of Frank Miller going back to when Daredevil 181 came out (Death of Elektra). Have read most of his graphic novel work. But I was worried I might be disappointed in the movie of 300. Sometimes what works in one medium does not work in another. I ended up holding off on seeing in the theater based on mixed reviews.
Finally saw it last week on DVD. I was really impressed. Very enjoyable action movie. Amazed that they were able to capture the look and feel of the GN so well. I was worried it might be too heavy on the battle scenes, and was pleasantly surprised to see a good balance of story to action.
Just saw 300 last night for the first time. I have seen this movie referred to as a 'Two Hour Homo-Erotic Video Game'. I would have to say I would agree with that and also add that it was horribly done story wise. I guess they spent so much money on the special effects and the actors salaries, the forgot to hire one very important position(s). The writers. Oh... My... God.. talk about poor dialogue, poor acting, poor everything. This is a horrible movie. It barely reflects on the actual historical events. How about actually making a movie that accurately depicts what happened? The true story of what happened at Thermopylae is far far better and more interesting that this waste of two hours shows.
I can appreciate your interest in the historical aspect of this story but I have to politely disagree on your description of the film as "fairly accurate." What you describe was well portrayed but there's a lot more to the story.
A sampling:
1. Leonidas did not go to battle against the Persians by himself with 300 of his men. Leonidas was chosen to lead by his fellow Greeks and then chose his own soldiers.
2. The land battle at Thermopylae was part of a bigger battle a united Greek navy (led by the Themisticles, an Athenian politician) led against the Persian Navy. The army and navy working together forced Xerxes to retreat.
3. There were several hundred soldiers from Thespiae (Thespians) and slaves who stayed behind with the 300 Spartans to fight to the last man.
4. Xerxes wanted revenge because his father (Darius) had failed to conquer the Greeks but lost at the Battle of Marathon. Powerful motive but very absent from the movie.
5. It's quite humorous that the movie portrays Sparta as a freedom loving society when it was actually ruled by a small, select group. Sparta was a military state, almost fascist really in that serving the state was the ultimate and most worthy goal to pursue.
100% Spot on my good sir. The only thing I noticed that was historically accurate was yes, there was a guy named Leonidas and yes there was a guy named Xerxes. Other than that, its soooooooo far off the mark its embarrassing.
When they showed a Spartan mother distressed, upset and being held back while her son was carted off at the age of 8 years old to begin training was a complete misrepresentation of how Spartan women were. Spartan women were just as proud as Spartan fathers sending their sons of to be warriors. In fact, if you were a Spartan man and you wanted another mans wife, well not only would you have to go through the man to get the wife, you would have to face the wife as well. These were not timid women by no means. Their women shared the same warrior type spirit as did the men. Basically this entire movie was absolutely a slap in the face to the actual men who were there and to Herodotus. Poor poor Herodotus, he would be seeking revenge for the portrayal of this movie.
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(after all, it's not a documentary), it was fairly accurate, historically speaking, such as the training of the Spartan boys/men, their weapons, tactics, and the basic battle itself, in the pass of Thermopylae, (sorry, probably didn't spell that right.
). For the ladies, lots of eye candy! I haven't seen that many six-packs, in one place, in a long time!
For you men, my son tells me that Frank Miller, who wrote "Sin City", also did the graphic novel, for this movie. I've watched "Sin City", but I have to say, I liked this movie better, since I like history, ( and movies like this always cause me to start looking up the "real story"). Besides, I like Gerard Butler!
