300 (Zack Snyder, 2007)
- Fletch F. Fletch
- Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 3:54 pm
- Location: Provo, Utah
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As soon as I heard Miller's 300 was being made into a film by Snyder (dawn of the dead remake was one of my favorites in 04), my ass was in the seat.
That trailer has got me really excited. I cant wait to see some trailers in HD.
That trailer has got me really excited. I cant wait to see some trailers in HD.
- Fletch F. Fletch
- Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 3:54 pm
- Location: Provo, Utah
- Mr Sausage
- Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 9:02 pm
- Location: Canada
Kind of amusing to see the movie (as far as I can tell by the trailer) making the battle between the Greeks and the Persians about Freedom, when in fact Sparta was a rigidly controlled and ruled polis--as opposed to, say, their allies the Athenians--and so makes a difficult subject for political allegory. And while it's not too politically correct to make a movie about preserving the nobility of one's nationality against a barbarian "other," it's certainly more historically interesting than the more simplistic idea of maintaining freedom.
It seems they're also really pumping up Sparta's military-obsession into mythic heights; so while historical accuracy is doubtful, I welcome the approach, since Sparta would have encouraged this herself, and anyway tales about ancient Greece, and Thermopylae itself, beg for such handling.
But, yeah, a lot of yelling: this looks to be a very teeth gnashing, testosterone driven epic. Might be a lot of fun, if handled carefully. I'm certainly seeing it.
It seems they're also really pumping up Sparta's military-obsession into mythic heights; so while historical accuracy is doubtful, I welcome the approach, since Sparta would have encouraged this herself, and anyway tales about ancient Greece, and Thermopylae itself, beg for such handling.
But, yeah, a lot of yelling: this looks to be a very teeth gnashing, testosterone driven epic. Might be a lot of fun, if handled carefully. I'm certainly seeing it.
- Via_Chicago
- Joined: Fri Aug 11, 2006 12:03 pm
- Mr Sausage
- Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 9:02 pm
- Location: Canada
I thought it might have been a deformed person. Sure, the trailer tells us right off that Sparta exposed all ill-formed babies to the elements, but the thing looked like it was wearing hoplite armour, and it's certainly less ridiculous than a random ogre. Maybe he grows up in secret and in his heroism shows the worth of the misshapen?Via_Chicago wrote: I think that giant ogre should have been the tip off.
- Fletch F. Fletch
- Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 3:54 pm
- Location: Provo, Utah
The official trailer is online.
- Antoine Doinel
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- Fletch F. Fletch
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- lord_clyde
- Joined: Thu Dec 23, 2004 4:22 am
- Location: Ogden, UT
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Pretty much every line in that trailer is delivered melodramatically. Hope the movie is a little more subdued.
The comic is good, but compared to other accounts/stories it is very over-the-top (and probably less powerful because of it). So I guess the movie is in keeping.
I don't think he would use salt though. Just kill the cow, drink the blood and eat it raw.
The comic is good, but compared to other accounts/stories it is very over-the-top (and probably less powerful because of it). So I guess the movie is in keeping.
I don't think he would use salt though. Just kill the cow, drink the blood and eat it raw.
- Fletch F. Fletch
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A Q&A with Snyder and Miller, here.
- Antoine Doinel
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- Mr Sausage
- Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 9:02 pm
- Location: Canada
Now more than ever this movie appears to be a strange fantasy rather than an historical epic, what with the repeated shots of ogres, and weird explosions, among other things. It's pretty hilarious, tho', the way these Spartans keep speaking in modern terms of "freedom," ect., when historically their whole society revolved around an enormous scale of slavery. Essentially, they captured the neighbouring polis of Messenia and converted the entire population into a new social stratum called helots, who were slaves that performed all the menial tasks in the city so everyone else could train to become warriors.
Still might be good fun, but I can't help but wish there were a real historical movie on the battle of Thermopylae.
Still might be good fun, but I can't help but wish there were a real historical movie on the battle of Thermopylae.
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- Joined: Tue Jul 09, 2013 12:43 am
Excellent trailer. April is going to be amazing, Rodriguez/Tarantino's Grindhouse and The 300 within a few weeks of eachother. How Ironic that a Miller property would be competing against his box office brotha' from anotha' motha'.Antoine Doinel wrote:New trailer
- solaris72
- Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 3:03 pm
- Location: Baltimore, MD
Early review:
Wiley Wiggins wrote:This adaptation of Frank Miller's historically dubious, nationalistic, bloodbath-comic consists of pretty much one big slow motion battle scene. I think the title is the number of slowed-down spear impalings in the movie. You may not have known this, but the Persian king Xerxes I was evidently an 8 foot tall effeminate bald man of indeterminate, dusky ethnicity who was really into facial piercings. Also, the Persian army filled its ranks with giant troll-monsters and partied with anthropomorphic goats.
To be fair, the director (who was on hand for an early morning Q&A) explained the deviation from historical fact by saying the film was like a 'Spartan fever dream'- that it was a mythologized version of the battle that might be retold to children to rouse them to fight themselves, and in fact the movie closes with the narration wrapping up as the end of a pre-battle speech. But this is really side stepping the truth, that the story is really Frank Miller's fever dream. One that exalts a completely militarized culture that practices eugenics, condescends neighboring Athenians as 'philosophers and boy lovers' and demonizes an enemy so alien and 'other' that some of them seem to actually be devolving into half-human half-animal bogeymen (and ninjas!).
While I thought Gerard Butler has a very screen worthy presence in the film, no one is given much to say other than he-man posturing and cliche platitudes. The Spartan queen actually challenges us with the line "Freedom isn't Free" at one point, and you would have to be pretty dim not to see what Miller is getting at, especially with Persians as the enemy. I'll be interested to see how much director Snyder has internalized the politics of this movie when he starts filming Watchmen, the landmark Alan Moore comic from the 80's that couldn't be more polar opposite in either its politics or in the sublety of its execution. It's hard to predict, because what I remember of the comic version of 300 didn't go so far as to present the Persians as actual monsters, but I may have to re-read it.
The audience whooped and cried for joy at this movie. Maybe it will convince them to join the army. The only thing I liked about the film was its color palette. Oh, and the fact that the Toxic Avenger has a role as the genetically inferior Spartan who escaped from being thrown off a cliff at birth to betray the king. They should have given him his mop though, instead of a spear.
- Antoine Doinel
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- jbeall
- Joined: Sat Aug 12, 2006 9:22 am
- Location: Atlanta-ish
Oh, how relevant!! A film about how we've got to suppress democracy and the rule of law in order to protect it from some swarthy invaders out of the Middle East!!!
I thought the comic was good, but that everything was a bit too 'black vs. white' in terms of characterization. At the time, it didn't bother me too much because, well, it's a comic. I'm a little less thrilled about audiences flocking to see such a wooden worldview presented on the big screen, although it looks beautifully shot.
I thought the comic was good, but that everything was a bit too 'black vs. white' in terms of characterization. At the time, it didn't bother me too much because, well, it's a comic. I'm a little less thrilled about audiences flocking to see such a wooden worldview presented on the big screen, although it looks beautifully shot.
- sevenarts
- Joined: Tue May 09, 2006 7:22 pm
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That trailer looks like some horrendous, ridiculous shit, and this from someone who actually liked Sin City. Miller was once a great artist and an interesting writer, but his worldview is seriously one-dimensional and it seems to have taken him over to the extent that most of the stuff he's done in the last 5-10 years has been extremely dubious. If you ask me, he's the VERY rare case of a comics artist whose work on big company titles (Batman, Daredevil) has generally been much stronger than his creator-owned work (Sin City, 300).
Anyone curious to see where the politics behind 300 are coming from, just listen to Miller on NPR (about 30 minutes in), commenting inanely on the current war and American politics.
Anyone curious to see where the politics behind 300 are coming from, just listen to Miller on NPR (about 30 minutes in), commenting inanely on the current war and American politics.
- exte
- Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 4:27 pm
- Location: NJ
Inanely? Fine, then explain the Taliban. Start with the Buddhas of Bamyan...sevenarts wrote:Anyone curious to see where the politics behind 300 are coming from, just listen to Miller on NPR (about 30 minutes in), commenting inanely on the current war and American politics.
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- sevenarts
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- exte
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Well Miller was saying how he's sitting in front of a microphone which their culture couldn't have ever produced. I don't necessarily agree with all he said, but I don't see how it was entirely foolish or inane either. He may have a point or two when it comes to folks like the Taliban. I listened to the recording you mentioned, so I responded...
- toiletduck!
- Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 5:43 pm
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And more importantly, violence and sex that looks really neat! I'm with you on this one, Mnky. Whether or not I will enjoy it remains to be seen, but I can guaran-fucking-tee that the politics of the film won't be the dealbreaker.SncDthMnky wrote:You know, I'm all for sweeping epics that are attempting to break stereotypes and quiet, emotionally impacting films with heart wrenching stories of the triumph of the human spirit, but sometimes I just want to see 2 hours of colorful raucous violence and sex.
-Toilet Dcuk