300 — Reviews thread
 

Figured a separate thread for reviews wouldn't be such a bad idea. Spoilers abound.

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Just got back from seeing this and I can say that it went a lot better than I had feared. At worst, I was expecting an action movie version of The Cell. At best, I was hoping for a cinematic revelation. Neither happened.

Stylistically, all the tricks are shown in the trailer. Sure, there's scenes you haven't seen but almost every iconic shot has been shown before — which was a bit of a letdown.

However, the action was justifiably intense and it was delivered exceedingly quickly after a very brief setup, which was a relief to a crowd which had been seated and waiting for the movie to start for a good hour.

Imagine a 2-hour version of the hallway scene in The Matrix. Then add to that some of your favorite battle sequences from Lord of the Rings. Cinematically, that's the result, although it carries neither the sense of wonder of the former or the emotional weight of the latter.

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But, damn, it's fun. If you can catch it in IMAX, go see it. Also, did someone count the number of decapitations? This movie sets a new standard for amount and quality in detail.

Some of the small comic relief scenes were great (the scene while biting the apple). I wasn't too hip on the animal cruelty bit but hey, the elephants were just CGI.

So, what are you waiting for? Go see it. This is what the theatre was made for.

Oh, also... nice to see RuPaul getting work.

Saw the midnight showing, so I was inclined to want to like the film a lot.

I'd offer the 1st act is a little shaky once we get to Leonidas as the adult king of Sparta. Some of the dialogue delivered by Gerard Butler seemed like he was trying to fight a lisp while delivering the words with the accent he choose for Leonidas.

The mid-section of the film is the visually fun part of the film, with the crew of 300 Spartans doing what they do best, but scenes back in Sparta play woefully flat and uninteresting, it was like they dropped in some soap opera set in this time period, and the direction in Sparta was underwhelming. Director Zack Snyder is good visually with the backdrops, but not so good with actors and the dialogue delivery. That being said, some of the comic relief feels a little too contemporary, but it was still welcomed given all the carnage on display in this film.

The last act fell a little flat to me too, there's this missed opportunity in the resolution that should have been much more inspirational in light of the odds faced by the 300, but it just doesn't quite hit the right notes for me.

So overall, it could have been great, but it's okay. Visually, it's sort of appealing, but there's just not enough foundation of a real world to support the veneer of Sparta or the chosen place of battle by the Spartans. I never felt like I was transported to this world, but merely was a passive viewer of the events that unfolded. Definitely check it out for a matinee price, or if you have one of those moviecash tickets from the Best Buy-300 promo last week.

I give it 2.75 stars, or a grade of B-.

I'm curious to see this, but have to admit I find 300 one of Miller's weakest works (and I'm a fan of almost everything else he's done). Still, this ought to be worth it just for the visuals.

Interesting how a lot of the early reviews really were glowing, just talking about how it was an amazing film, etc...

And the reviews once it come out aren't glowing. They say it's pretty and nifty to look at, but empty when it comes to the story.

Makes me wonder if people at the sneak previews are just so excited to see a sneak preview for a highly anticipated film that they seem to gloss over the negative aspects of it without realizing it.

The kansas City Star did an article on the number of violent acts in the film and here are the numbers.



I can't wait to see it tonight, unfortunately I will have to wait a week to see it on the imax.

Hmmm I actually expected more.

I caught it in IMAX today and liked it. It was about what I expected. I loved the trailer and I thought the film delivered. The action sequences were great. Costumes looked great. FX were done well. I wasn't expecting tons of dramatic, detailed storyline. It's a film about a battle and you get some character development surrounding those involved.

The end of the 300 spartans definitely seemed anti climactic, I mean, all of a sudden nobody is using shields to block arrows? WTF? What seemed an invincible crew fell to something they had easily handled earlier. And with the amount of opportunistic killings and maimings taken by Leonidas, why not kill Xerxes when he first had the chance? And why did it take a year for the hordes to travel the rest of the way to Sparta?

I'd recommend it for anyone who enjoyed the trailer. If you're looking for something more, or some sort of historical education, this isn't the place.

I was looking forward to it, and am now going to skip it entirely because I'm tired of movies designed to make me feel shitty about being gay. I mean, the real Spartans were every bit as much a gang of "boy-lovers" as the Athenians. And the only reason they've made Xerxes so fem is to trigger disgust... I'm done with films that use gay-baiting as shorthand to rouse the audience's distrust or hatred. It's neither accurate or necessary here, just cheap and thoughtless.

uh...

Art?

I heard that there is a sequel in the works

anyone that knows history would assume that this is just a little hard to pull off. I mean whats next, Titanic 2?

Re : IMAX - does the film take up the whole screen. I saw it in IMAX today, and it looked the same as if I saw it in a regular theater. In the beginning, they showed a little IMAX promo, and it filled the whole screen, yet during the movie, the bottom and top were like a regular movie house. Did I get hosed?

adam I can understand your feelings. However, I don't think Xerxes is so much effeminate as he is vain. He wore what seemed to be Egyptian-style eye makeup (didn't the Pharaohs proclaim themselves gods?) and a lot of jewelry. But he lived in a tent full of nasty women. And I mean nasty in the way rap artists do.

They show IMAX version in the proper aspect ratio as the regular theatrical version, they simply letterbox the IMAX version (like 2.35:1 or 1.85 aspect ratio film that are letterboxed on the 4:3 TVs to maintain the proper aspect ratio).

Well that was two hours of bloody goodness.

The spiderman 3 trailer before the movie was a +

I'm going to the late show tonight..can't wait.

Tried to catch a late afternoon showing but the shit was sold out until 11pm. Ahwell... hope to catch it on a DLP screen this weekend (early!)

I enjoyed this movie from start to finish. Yes, I agree that the story needed a bit more structure but all in all, it is a great film.

I have to agree with you there, the end was odd the 300 died in a couple seconds they should have put up more of a fight.

It took them a year to get to Sparta because their fleet lost the Battle of Salamis which severaly hampered their supply lines. I believe they wintered and Xerxes left his army with somebody else and he went home and the new commander was not as aggressive with the Greeks as Xerxes and eventually was defeated at the Battle of Plataea.

Anyway the film as AWSOME! I expected a lot from this movie and it met or passed my expectations on every level. Yeah it may not be historically accurate or things may be a bit overdone but it was very entertaining. The only part I did not like was the ending, King Leonidas was not the last Spartan standing his 300 pushed back the Persians 4 times trying to recover his body and finally they all fell; that would have made a much better ending!

I also find out the Xerxes is mentioned by his Hebrew name in the Bible, he marries Ester which has her own book in the Bible.

This film is not to be missed on the big screen!

Here's a list of theaters showing 300 in IMAX DMR.

Yeah more story, passage of time, and build-up before the various battles would have helped greatly. Sure, it was still a fun movie... coming from the brew pub I laughed pretty hard three or four times at moments and lines which I assume were meant to be serous.

"It's just an eye.." had us rolling!

grade: B

Enjoyed it very much. Looking forward to whatever these folks do next.

I have not seen 300 or read its comics, but I have seen the cell and am really puzzled about why you thought that movie would be anything like 300.

I have a feeling this is going to do better than expected. Every showing, at three theaters, was sold out tonight.