We're in for one wild night.*
Mar. 28th, 2007 01:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bending_sickleI greatly enjoyed watching 300. All throughout I had the biggest shit-eating grin on my face at the pure beauty of it. And no, I don't mean the luscious bits of man-flesh - although they were luscious - but rather the colours and lighting of the film. Gorgeous. The camera work was impressive, especially in the battle scenes. The choreography wasn't the usual hack-and-slash. Rather, it was all about slow-motion, changes of perspective and freeze-frames. Blood didn't so much splatter as float towards in the camera in a vacuum. It never felt gritty and violent.
Story-wise, it was equally moving. I got interested in the character's stories and when they were abandoned or betrayed, I was a step away from hissing curses at the guilty bastard(s).
The only time I wasn't smiling was at the near-end, when for one brief moment I stared in bewilderment and disappointment at Leonidas. "But...but... You can't, you're a Spartan. Stand up!" But then, oh, then, my dears, I cheered. Because that is one indominatable warrior King. (But man did that one moment hurt to watch.) I also loved how cocky and coy Leonidas was, and Butler's delivery of the lines was great.
For example, this spoilerish line, spoken after Xerxes offered to make Leonidas Warlord of his Empire, if he would only kneel before him:
Wow. That is generous. But you see, there is a problem. After slaughtering so many of your men today, I've got an awful cramp in my leg [stretches] and thus kneeling will be difficult.
I was a bit downcast at the short-lived but oft-heard (and indeed, parodied, as The Bunny Comic notes) "THIS! IS! SPARTA!" moment. Downcast only because it so over-hyped in popular culture when in reality it was set early on in the film during a pretty calm moment (relatively speaking). It was *diplomacy* *walkabout* *bitchslap* *Sparta!!!* *coy comment*. I thought it'd be followed by a heap more up-close-and-personal bloodshed, but oy.
I didn't recognize any of the actors, though the lovely narrator, David Wenham, was remarkably reminiscent of Sean Bean aka Boromir (but better). Michael Fassbender was lovely to look at. You know, the guy who says "Then we shall fight in the shade" in the trailer. Gerard Butler was impressive. That's is really all I can say about him. Me = 0.0 (I also should have recognized him, since I did watch Dracula 2000 and he was in the lead role - but I seem to have no memories of the film al all) Lena Headey was magnificent in her role of Queen.
The Wiki on the film provides a load of interesting stuff on the reception and criticism of the film:
While it received a standing ovation at the public premiere,[60] it was reportedly panned at a press screening hours earlier, where many attendees left during the showing and those who remained booed at the end.
[...]
The film's director Zack Snyder states that "The events are 90 percent accurate. It's just in the visualization that it's crazy... I've shown this movie to world-class historians who have said it's amazing. They can't believe it's as accurate as it is." He continues that the film is "an opera, not a documentary". Snyder describes the film's narrator, Dilios, as "a guy who knows how not to wreck a good story with truth."
[...]
However, Touraj Daryaee, associate professor of Ancient History at California State University, Fullerton, criticizes the central theme of the movie, that of "free" and "democracy loving" Spartans against "slave" Persians. Daryaee states that the Achaemenid (Persian) empire hired and paid people regardless of their sex or ethnicity, whereas in fifth-century Greece "less than 14%" of the population participated in democratic government, and "nearly 37%" of the population were slaves. He further states that Sparta "was a military monarchy, not a democracy," and adds that Sparta collectively owned an entire enslaved population (the Helots).
300 has webpage on imdb which gives us interesting answers to FAQ and provides us with trivia, including:
The film was shot in 60 days.
The film was shot on blue and green screen in Montreal.
Post production took almost a year.
Footage from the film was shown at Comic-Con in July, 2006. Stunned by the clip, comic fans requested to view it three times.
According to an interview with IGN.com, Director Zack Snyder says that fighting styles and formations (particularly the Spartan's phalanx) were purposefully changed - making them historically inaccurate - so they'd "look cool" and work better for movie purposes.
The movie never claims to be historically correct. It is based almost entirely on Frank Miller's 1998 comic book mini-series. Changes from history were made by Miller and Snyder so as to appeal to a wider audience and create a more exciting and visually stunning action movie, rather than a typical historical epic.
YourGeekNews has an in-depth feature, with exclusive scenes and interviews with Gerard Butler and Frank Miller.
Wiki gives us information on the Battle of Thermopylae (Hotgates) and references of said battle in popular culture.
Battle of the Manly Men: Blood Bath With a Message movie review by A.O.Scott Needless to say, I completely disagree with this review.
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lafinjack is ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
metaquotesed giving us Sparta in 5 Seconds
Further links off Wiki:
300Official site
Official trailers
300 at Rotten Tomatoes
300 at Metacritic
Fact or fiction? Q&As on the historical aspects of the film.
Inside 300 by HowStuffWorks
* King Leonidas, 300
Story-wise, it was equally moving. I got interested in the character's stories and when they were abandoned or betrayed, I was a step away from hissing curses at the guilty bastard(s).
The only time I wasn't smiling was at the near-end, when for one brief moment I stared in bewilderment and disappointment at Leonidas. "But...but... You can't, you're a Spartan. Stand up!" But then, oh, then, my dears, I cheered. Because that is one indominatable warrior King. (But man did that one moment hurt to watch.) I also loved how cocky and coy Leonidas was, and Butler's delivery of the lines was great.
For example, this spoilerish line, spoken after Xerxes offered to make Leonidas Warlord of his Empire, if he would only kneel before him:
Wow. That is generous. But you see, there is a problem. After slaughtering so many of your men today, I've got an awful cramp in my leg [stretches] and thus kneeling will be difficult.
I was a bit downcast at the short-lived but oft-heard (and indeed, parodied, as The Bunny Comic notes) "THIS! IS! SPARTA!" moment. Downcast only because it so over-hyped in popular culture when in reality it was set early on in the film during a pretty calm moment (relatively speaking). It was *diplomacy* *walkabout* *bitchslap* *Sparta!!!* *coy comment*. I thought it'd be followed by a heap more up-close-and-personal bloodshed, but oy.
I didn't recognize any of the actors, though the lovely narrator, David Wenham, was remarkably reminiscent of Sean Bean aka Boromir (but better). Michael Fassbender was lovely to look at. You know, the guy who says "Then we shall fight in the shade" in the trailer. Gerard Butler was impressive. That's is really all I can say about him. Me = 0.0 (I also should have recognized him, since I did watch Dracula 2000 and he was in the lead role - but I seem to have no memories of the film al all) Lena Headey was magnificent in her role of Queen.
The Wiki on the film provides a load of interesting stuff on the reception and criticism of the film:
While it received a standing ovation at the public premiere,[60] it was reportedly panned at a press screening hours earlier, where many attendees left during the showing and those who remained booed at the end.
[...]
The film's director Zack Snyder states that "The events are 90 percent accurate. It's just in the visualization that it's crazy... I've shown this movie to world-class historians who have said it's amazing. They can't believe it's as accurate as it is." He continues that the film is "an opera, not a documentary". Snyder describes the film's narrator, Dilios, as "a guy who knows how not to wreck a good story with truth."
[...]
However, Touraj Daryaee, associate professor of Ancient History at California State University, Fullerton, criticizes the central theme of the movie, that of "free" and "democracy loving" Spartans against "slave" Persians. Daryaee states that the Achaemenid (Persian) empire hired and paid people regardless of their sex or ethnicity, whereas in fifth-century Greece "less than 14%" of the population participated in democratic government, and "nearly 37%" of the population were slaves. He further states that Sparta "was a military monarchy, not a democracy," and adds that Sparta collectively owned an entire enslaved population (the Helots).
300 has webpage on imdb which gives us interesting answers to FAQ and provides us with trivia, including:
The film was shot in 60 days.
The film was shot on blue and green screen in Montreal.
Post production took almost a year.
Footage from the film was shown at Comic-Con in July, 2006. Stunned by the clip, comic fans requested to view it three times.
According to an interview with IGN.com, Director Zack Snyder says that fighting styles and formations (particularly the Spartan's phalanx) were purposefully changed - making them historically inaccurate - so they'd "look cool" and work better for movie purposes.
The movie never claims to be historically correct. It is based almost entirely on Frank Miller's 1998 comic book mini-series. Changes from history were made by Miller and Snyder so as to appeal to a wider audience and create a more exciting and visually stunning action movie, rather than a typical historical epic.
YourGeekNews has an in-depth feature, with exclusive scenes and interviews with Gerard Butler and Frank Miller.
Wiki gives us information on the Battle of Thermopylae (Hotgates) and references of said battle in popular culture.
Battle of the Manly Men: Blood Bath With a Message movie review by A.O.Scott Needless to say, I completely disagree with this review.
lafinjack is metaquotesed giving us Sparta in 5 SecondsFurther links off Wiki:
300Official site
Official trailers
300 at Rotten Tomatoes
300 at Metacritic
Fact or fiction? Q&As on the historical aspects of the film.
Inside 300 by HowStuffWorks
* King Leonidas, 300
