300 - Best movie ever made?

[kes]

Just saw another preview of this. Xerxes sounds like he is Go'uld.

Does he still look hot? Or does he look like a monster? Cos that would be a shame. Rodrigo is so freaking hot lol

[Boxytheboxed]

just saying Spartians would throw their childred\n off cliffs if they looked funny, were ahndicsped, or were not strong enough

[FoolishPleasure]

"300" is an account of Battle of Thermopylae where 300 Spartans held off the Persian army of over 100,000 long enough for the city of Athens to build up enough forces to repel the invading Persians.

It is a true event, not based on a comic book.

[Randy_Watson]

"300" is an account of Battle of Thermopylae where 300 Spartans held off the Persian army of over 100,000 long enough for the city of Athens to build up enough forces to repel the invading Persians.

It is a true event, not based on a comic book.

Not sure what you mean, the movie most definately is based on a comic book. The comic book is based on the historic event.

[cowpants]

"300" is an account of Battle of Thermopylae where 300 Spartans held off the Persian army of over 100,000 long enough for the city of Athens to build up enough forces to repel the invading Persians.

It is a true event, not based on a comic book.

The movie is based on the comic book by Frank Miller, who also did Sin City.

Now I hate to sound like mister smarty-pants, but I feel somewhat obligated to give a bit more info about Thermopylae. There were 300 Spartans, about 700 Thespians, and an original army of about 4000 assorted Greeks. This number is highly debated. They defended the Pass of Thermopylae against a large number of Persians. This number has ranged from the absolute lowest of about 100,000 to the absolute highest of about 6,000,000. The original account puts it at about 2.5 million people, including many ships that were coming to invade Greece.

The Persians came and tried to whip the Greeks, but the Greeks totally whipped the Persians. This continued for a couple of days until a Greek traitor told Xerxes of an alternate route around Thermopylae which Xerxes used to surround the Greek forces. Leonidas found out and, knowing that in this position they'd all die, sent the bulk of his forces back to Greece to help out there. Leonidas remained with his 300 Spartans and 700 Thespian volunteers to buy enough time that the Greek army could get back to Greece.

Umm. Yeah. Random history lesson. Sorry. I think this movie looks very artistic. It won't follow the actual history, but it will make a compelling story.

[unowhoandwhy]

I am definitely going to make the effort to drive 60 miles round trip to see this in the theater, especially after reading this article:

From WMUR

'300' Role Glorious For Spartan King Butler

Actor Commands Screen In Adaptation Of Graphic Novel

Before he prepared for the glory of "300," Gerard Butler had a bit of dilemma on his hands: He was merely aware of the works of the acclaimed graphic novelist Frank Miller, but not necessarily versed in them.

"I knew of Frank Miller, his credibility and the respect that he had. But I hadn't been a comic book reader," Butler recalled in a recent @ The Movies interview. "In fact, it wasn't until 'Sin City' that I started to take a little more interest."

But it didn't take long before the seasoned Scottish actor -- who played the title role in the film adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's stage musical "The Phantom of the Opera" -- to get excited about trading in his Phantom half-mask for the battle helmet of the venerable king of Sparta, Leonidas.

"After I sat down and read '300,' I just thought, 'What have I been missing?' This world of comic books is insane. His comic books, his graphic novels are just wicked," Butler enthused. "I didn't realize that you could get quite so dark and masculine and formidable just through drawings and dialogue on a page."

Based on Miller's graphic novel with artistic partner Lynn Varley, "300" chronicles the epic Battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C., as King Leonidas and his 300 Spartan warriors unflinchingly head off an invasion by Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) and his massive Persian army -- and inspire Greece to rise up because of their valor and sacrifice.

The film, which also stars Lena Headey, Dominic West and David Wenham, opens in theaters and on IMAX screens Friday nationwide.

Mounting The Battle

While it's Miller's name that most people associate with the graphic novel, Butler would have been remiss not to boast about Varley, who brought the author's story to life through her artwork. And even more amazing, Butler said, is how director Zack Snyder channeled their work and realized their collaborative vision on the big screen.

"For Zack to take it as far as he did -- it's almost like Stephen Hawking coming along and working on the ideas of Albert Einstein," Butler mused. "It's one genius after another taking a process and sending it even more beautifully into the world of flowering and dark imagination."

But even with the talent behind the project, Butler knew that he had his end of the deal to hold up, too, by representing King Leonidas a larger-than-life figure that would resonate with audiences. The amazing thing is, when you see Butler command the screen with his burning charisma throughout the entire film, it's hard to believe that in the back of his mind he's always worrying about not disappointing Miller.

"I would be lying if I didn't say that one of my big motivating factors is fear and paranoia, and not wanting to f--- things up," Butler said with a laugh. "That's a great way to give you more a generalized power and motivation. But when you get specific, that's the point where you need to let go and take risks. You'll never take any risks if your only fear is of failing, because then what you'll try to do is answer all the questions of everybody else."

And while Butler is far from being a failure in this role, he does admit failing isn't always a bad thing if it allows you to build character. But that's not to say Butler tries to fail intentionally ...

"You'll never truly improve unless you fail first, that's the only way you learn," he said. "But I say that more as a life rope. I didn't really have the opportunity (on my films) to say, 'You know what? Let me fail and see if I learn from this.'"

A virtual pane-by-pane adaptation of the graphic novel, "300" is unique by Hollywood standards in that most of it was filmed in front of a blue screen. And while Butler and his co-stars had every confidence that Snyder would backfill the sprawling vistas, kingdoms, environments and weaponry of the ancient world with an impressive arsenal of computer-generated effects, the actor was still blown away by the completed project. "The adrenaline rush leaves you worn out but profoundly moved and inspired," Butler said. "I don't think any of us realized that it was going to turn out quite that amazing."

Getting Ripped

It doesn't take any more than a quick glimpse of Butler in a production still or movie clip to see that the actor underwent an amazing physical transformation for the film.

But the incredibly challenging regimen of building up his abs and fine toning other muscles wasn't just about expressing the physical manifestation of King Leonidas, but conditioning the actor's mind for the role.

"The training became important for many reasons and not just building the body, but in terms of proving myself as a leader. And not just a leader of others but a leader of myself, that I could take control and really be like a Spartan," Butler said. "I was so inspired in my research to find out what it took to become a Spartan and what endurance they had to go through. I used that motivation, but I also knew every way I pumped -- every extra 10 seconds that I held my body rigid on the rings -- was going to only enhance my performance."

And judging by his appearance in the film, the dedication to his physical being not only enhanced his performance -- it transcended it.

"When I stood up there, I felt all powerful like a lion, like an animal -- not just because of the way I felt I looked and the strength that I felt inside and what I felt capable of at that moment," Butler said. "It was not only about the physical side of things, but the control and power."

And his body wasn't the only thing to become strengthened by becoming Leonidas -- his vision was, too.

"It's a great role. It's the journey of the 300, but so much of it takes place through the mind and attitude of the king," Butler said. "It's a great to experience all of those Spartan dreams, but to have it be seen through the eyes of the king -- it was a big challenge to take on, but I love challenges."

[TheBigFlush]

I've got my ticket

[Beej]

I wouldn't go that far...best movie ever....but i am looking forward to it. Now i didn't read all the comments as, with every other thread here, people go off on tangents to get their quasi-intellectual food by picking fights....and good luck to them.

But, two points i'd like to add my considerably diminutive weight to are ::

- Portraying the middle east as backwards barbarians....we were all backwards barbarians back then and every movie needs bad guys and *tag* the persians are it.....(i won't mention that many english words actually have their origins in the middle east, or 1,2,3 etc also derived from the Middle East or.......)

- Over-acting.....this movie demands it. A method actor might have gone mad trying to evoke meaning and emotion on a paper-mache mountain overlooking an endless green screen. You've got to remember the background to this story....emotion doesn't come into it from a Spartans POV, and talking softly means nothing gets done....."I say ol' chap, be a good fellow and strike that gentlemen through the heart then parry the swordsman on your left so i can get through"......nup....its gotta be "Clear a path!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!...grrrrrr!!!"

I'm uber-keen to see this one.


Cheers


Beej

[TheBigFlush]

Saw a midnight screening last night (and I'm going again tonight!).

I wouldn't go so far as to call it the best movie ever made... but hot diggity, 'twas awesome! Everything about it was great. I don't want to go into detail, because I wouldn't want to spoil a single thing; but if you've seen the trailer and think it looks good, well you're sure to enjoy.

[SG-17]

Ive just seen it and wow. It is awesome.
I have known about the Battle of Thermopylae for a rather long time, as i am a history buff. and about the persians being portraid as "monsters" and the stuff in the second post, they are, because they were. they sent messangers to greek city states and demanded they surrender of be destroyed, and what they did before, to other countries in the ME and their own citizens, is horrible, Xerxes was a monster

[the fifth man]

I'll hopefully get to see this over the weekend.

[ToasterOnFire]

I just saw it. Completely and totally underwhelmed. Simplistic plot, bad dialog, scenes that just dragged forever, hell even the fight scenes weren't all that spectacular. I saw better battle scenes in LOTR. Very disappointing considering how much I enjoyed Sin City.

[Orion's Star]

I just got back from seeing it and I must say I was very impressed. Totally awesome and just about everything I had hoped for when watching the trailers.

Sex, frequent nudity, and gratuitous violence? Hell frakking yes.

My only criticisms of the movie is that the dialogue was a little...stilted at times, but for the most part, I didn't notice much problems. Also, I did think that they went a little overboard on the slow-mo effect, but I still think that the battle scenes were pretty cool. The scene where

Spoiler:

the Persian army first crashes against the Spartans in phalanx formation

is probably my favorite scene in the movie.

ETA: I think Leonidas' roar "This is Spartaaaa!" will forever be in my memory.

[jds1982]

Just saw another preview of this. Xerxes sounds like he is Go'uld.

Yes he did, I kept expecting his eyes to light up, he was very Goa'uldy right down to the kneel before your god bit.

[the fifth man]

Well, I got to see 300 today. And I must say, I was quite impressed with it. It definitely wasn't a let down at all considering how hyped up it was. I might just go see it again.