:
Larry "Warlock" Lam,
Paul Wu,
Mike Chute,
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Zack Snyder,
Zack Snyder
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: 
: Warner Home Video
: Action, Sword & Sandal, War
: 116 min.
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Sin City author Frank Miller's sweeping take on the historic Battle of Thermopylae comes to the screen courtesy of Dawn of the Dead director Zack Snyder. Gerard Butler stars as Spartan King Leonidas and Lena Headey plays Queen Gorgo. The massive army of the Persian Empire is sweeping across the globe, crushing every force that dares stand in its path. When a Persian envoy arrives in Sparta offering King Leonidas power over all of Greece if he will only bow to the will of the all powerful Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro), the strong-willed leader assembles a small army comprised of his empire's best fighters and marches off to battle. Though they have virtually no hope of defeating Xerxes' intimidating battalion, Leonidas' men soldier on, intent on letting it be known they will bow to no man but their king. Meanwhile, back in Sparta, the loyal Queen Gorgo attempts to convince both the skeptical council and the devious Theron (Dominic West) to send more troops despite the fact that many view Leonidas' unsanctioned war march as a serious transgression. As Xerxes' fearsome "immortals" draw near, a few noble Greeks vow to assist the Spartans on the battlefield. When King Leonidas and his 300 Spartan warriors fell to the overwhelming Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae, the fearless actions of the noble fighters inspired all of Greece to stand up against their Persian enemy and wage the battle that would ultimately give birth to the modern concept of democracy. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
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| Words cannot describe the badness
by CWellman
June 11, 2008 - 7:41 PM PDT
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1 out of 3 members found this review helpful
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This is a terrible movie. It might have been able to pass as a mindless action flick, if not for the glorification of nazi-style eugenics and the vilification of anyone who would negotiate rather than fight.
No matter how much you love swords and abs, it is very difficult to overlook this films flaws. |
| Don't Go Green (screen, that is)
by talltale
August 2, 2007 - 5:31 PM PDT
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4 out of 5 members found this review helpful
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Slow as molasses and approximately as bright, 300 may squeak by for a few intelligent viewers purely on abs and attitude. Spartans will stand for no nonsense (that's the attitude portion) and the abs are on display pretty much first scene thru last. If only intelligence had joined the fray. Early on, the Spartan King tells some Athenians who want to help in the battle that they are useless because they all have day jobs (farmers, blacksmiths, etc)., whereas his Spartans are warriors--and warriors only. This may initially sound smart until you wonder how Sparta manages to shoe its horses, build its buildings, grow its food, and so on. How do they eat, for goodness sake? (They order take-out from a neighboring town. Now, shut up and watch the carnage.)
When the opposing King appears, looking for all the world like Ru Paul on a very good day, things perk a bit. But then it's battle, battle, nasty dumb politics, and more battle. Ah, yes: and all that blood. 300 certainly wins the "non-stop spurting" award, if some such thing exists. To call the performances one-note is to do them great credit. But this is unlikely to be the actors' fault. We've seen them all before and to much better advantage. God knows, that much vaunted green screen saves a ton of money, production-wise, but it may still leave something to be desired. A specific, rather than generic sense of place, perhaps, which might give birth to a greater sense of character. (A better screenplay would have helped, too.) Not that this mattered to the movie-going public, who blessed 300 with about twice that many million dollars worldwide. To each his own.
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| THIS IS... not bad.
by Moriarty
July 30, 2007 - 8:20 AM PDT
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4 out of 7 members found this review helpful
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In my humble opinion this is the ultimate date movie. Let me tell you why. There is scene after scene of bone crushing action and violence for the guys. Enough for any hard core action junkie. And lets face it, I don't care how out of shape or doughy your physique, if you can't get lucky after your girl has just watched scene after scene of sweaty, adoniss adonises adonii??, whatever, dressed in leather loin cloths and capes, well then she really just wants to be friends. I mean, she's not thinking of you, but who cares right? Just yell out, "THIS IS SPARTA!" and jump on her in your tighty-whiteys and you're in.
To be honest though, I really liked this movie. It's not very deep, but it never really tries to be. At it's heart it's not anything more than a stylized action flick. But visually is where it really makes its mark. The visuals on this flick are really something to see. Almost every background is computer generated, but it's nearly impossible to tell. And they are incredible to see. 300 VERY loosely tells the story of the 300 Spartans that defended Thermopylae against the invading Persian army. The story takes many liberties, something freely admitted by both the writer and director. What you end up with is something that is not so much historically accurate as just a kick-ass action flick.
Bottom line, if you're in the mood for some action, violence, and a good movie night movie, I recommend this one. If you want historical accuracy then the Discovery channel did a great special on what really happened. Actually I enjoyed that too. |
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GreenCine Member Rating
(Average 6.43)
92 Votes
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