"Then we will fight in the shade."
When his kingdom is threatened by the Persians, King Leonidas (Butler) kills the messenger (literally) and takes matters into his own hands. Despite opposition from the council, Leonidas recruits the 300 best soldiers from Sparta. Knowing the terrain they force the massive army of Persia into a tight situation, allowing the Spartans to have the upper hand despite the millions of Persians they face (and their various "monsters"). Also on hand is Xeres (Santoro) king / god of Persia trying to get the Spartans to surrender, but he underestimates the spirit of the men who are up to the challenge and even find time to joke during/after battle.
While the 300 Spartans (and friends from Athens) face death, Queen Gorgo (Headey) faces her own battle at home as she takes on Theron (West) who controls the council and is against Leonidas and the war with Persia.
Not for the faint of heart...there is lots of blood and death (apparently there are 585 deaths in the film), at times the blood even splatters on the screen. The film is based on the graphic novel of the same name by Frank Miller (who also wrote "Sin City"), and is visually stunning. The backgrounds and some of the battles look like they came straight out of a graphic novel (which is the look the filmmakers are trying to achieve). The battle sequences are impressive, if you can handle the carnage, and are broken up by the banter between Stelios (Fassbender) and Astinos (Wisdom). Besides the blood and violence, the film also features gratuitous nudity/sex (which isn't surprising considering this is a Frank Miller story). The story is good, and makes the most of the narration by Dilios (Wenham) who is telling the story to his troops at the end of the film. Xeres and his Persians are disgusting...and the Spartan men are ripped. I enjoyed parts of the film, and can appreciate it for what it is, but the battle scenes get long and I found myself looking at the time and hoping the whole thing would end soon. The nudity is completely unnecessary and the random sex scene between the king and queen stops the action/story. I can not recommend this film, although I do recommend Gerard Butler (he is a beautiful man).
300 (2007) 117 minutes
Rating: R for graphic battle sequences throughout, some sexuality and nudity.
Director: Zack Snyder
Starring: Gerard Butler as King Leonidas
Lena Headey as Queen Gorgo
Dominic West as Theron
David Wenham as Dilios
Vincent Regan as Captain
Michael Fassbender as Stelios
Tom Wisdom as Astinos
Andrew Plavin as Daxos
Andrew Tiernan as Ephialtes
Rodrigo Santoro as Xeres
While the 300 Spartans (and friends from Athens) face death, Queen Gorgo (Headey) faces her own battle at home as she takes on Theron (West) who controls the council and is against Leonidas and the war with Persia.
Not for the faint of heart...there is lots of blood and death (apparently there are 585 deaths in the film), at times the blood even splatters on the screen. The film is based on the graphic novel of the same name by Frank Miller (who also wrote "Sin City"), and is visually stunning. The backgrounds and some of the battles look like they came straight out of a graphic novel (which is the look the filmmakers are trying to achieve). The battle sequences are impressive, if you can handle the carnage, and are broken up by the banter between Stelios (Fassbender) and Astinos (Wisdom). Besides the blood and violence, the film also features gratuitous nudity/sex (which isn't surprising considering this is a Frank Miller story). The story is good, and makes the most of the narration by Dilios (Wenham) who is telling the story to his troops at the end of the film. Xeres and his Persians are disgusting...and the Spartan men are ripped. I enjoyed parts of the film, and can appreciate it for what it is, but the battle scenes get long and I found myself looking at the time and hoping the whole thing would end soon. The nudity is completely unnecessary and the random sex scene between the king and queen stops the action/story. I can not recommend this film, although I do recommend Gerard Butler (he is a beautiful man).
300 (2007) 117 minutes
Rating: R for graphic battle sequences throughout, some sexuality and nudity.
Director: Zack Snyder
Starring: Gerard Butler as King Leonidas
Lena Headey as Queen Gorgo
Dominic West as Theron
David Wenham as Dilios
Vincent Regan as Captain
Michael Fassbender as Stelios
Tom Wisdom as Astinos
Andrew Plavin as Daxos
Andrew Tiernan as Ephialtes
Rodrigo Santoro as Xeres
This is quite a good film on account of the visual effects - computer generated scenes, almost animated in places. What i really liked about this film though was that it aroused my curiousity about whether it was based on any kind of factual historic event. To my amazement when I researched oon the internet i found that indeed such a man and his army of 300 DID exist and DID hold off an army of, was it 30000, by using various tatics as shown in the film. The characters did actually exists and there are sufficient documents from that time to confirm this. The end is also true. Amazing that a film director actually got some history right and actually didnt need to make up events to try and make it more interesting. As to the nudity, Heck I dont even remember that, but what were you expecting, another pretty disney movie?
ReplyDeleteI found this a humorous film and an original subject as well. I enjoyed it and of course its total fantasy, but heck why not. Its worth seeing just for some light entertainment
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