300 the movie?

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

Well, at least it had Spartan girls wit hslits in their tunics....... :wink:

[Robert Vermaat]

Well, I think OT and this section are the proper sections to discuss the movie. The Greek section is the third where this movie is discussed, for now.

[K. A. Koskinen]

Well, I've seen this film twice and I just love it. I don't mind the fantasy elements, the looks of the Spartans and Persians, or the violence. The whole film is more like a myth and told only from a Spartan view. And if I were to told a similar story over 2000 years ago, I would have told it just like that. It is just like the ancient tales: everything is bigger and more peculiar than it really was. Note that when the Spartans encounter the Persian Immortals for the first time it is night: the darkness makes them deadlier and more frightening than what they would've been in broad daylight. And traitor's (Ephialtes) weakness is shown by his looks, as a contrast to bold, straight-hearted Spartan warriors and the Persian god-king just knows what attracts him to his side: giving him everything he desires. No true Spartan would have desired for women and a uniform: the sacrifice and looks of the 300 is a clear statement for that. And if someone would have told me about a Persian god-king, my imagination would have depicted him the way Xerxes is in this film: bigger than a man, being more than a puny mortal.

I think 300 is a great film and not to be taken too seriously. It's visual beauty and stunning choreographs alone make it worth while to watch.

[D B Campbell]

Review of 300 in The Guardian, by none other than Paul Cartledge.

[Narukami]

Thanks for the links DB.

I particularly liked the one to the Cambridge Faculty bios. Reconfirms in my own mind what an armature I really am -- but it is also good to have a reality check every now and then. :oops:

Thanks again. :wink:

Narukami

[Narukami]

More Iranian Fallout (pun intended) from the film The 300.

They take these films of ancient history more seriously than we do. :?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090301/ap_ ... Vccb9xFb8C

[size=150:2486xu3x]Iran angered over films 'The Wrestler' and '300'[/size]
By NASSER KARIMI, Associated Press Writer – Sun Mar 1, 10:04 am ET

TEHRAN, Iran – An adviser to Iran's president on Sunday demanded an apology from a team of visiting Hollywood actors and movie industry officials, including Annette Bening, saying films such as "300" and "The Wrestler" were "insulting" to Iranians.

Without an apology, members of Iran's film industry should refuse to meet with representatives from the nine-member team, said Javad Shamaqdari, the art and cinema adviser to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

"In my viewpoint, it is a failure to have an official meeting with one who is insulting," Shamaqdari told The Associated Press.

The film "300," portrays the battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C., in which a force of 300 Spartans held off a massive Persian army at a mountain pass in Greece for three days. It angered many Iranians for the way Persians are depicted as decadent, sexually flamboyant and evil in contrast to the noble Greeks.

Iranians also criticized "The Wrestler" starring Mickey Rourke as a rundown professional wrestler who is preparing for a rematch with his old nemesis, "The Ayatollah." During a fight scene, "The Ayatollah" tries to choke Rourke with an Iranian flag before Rourke pulls the flagpole away, breaks it and throws it into the cheering crowd.

Neither movie was shown in Iran.

While American actors such as Sean Penn have traveled to Iran, it is rare for such a large group to visit. In February, Iran denied visas to a U.S. women's badminton team that had been invited to compete in a tournament in Iran.

The group includes the President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Sid Ganis; actors Bening, and Alfre Woodard; producer William Horberg; AMPAS Special Events Programmer and Exhibitions Curator Ellen Harrington; and Tom Pollock, the former Universal Pictures chairman.

According to the Web site of Iran's Cinema Association, the group arrived Friday in Iran. They met a group of Iranian artists on Saturday, and will be holding educational seminars in directing, screenwriting, acting, producing, marketing and film distribution.

Shamaqdari says Iranians will warmly host the visiting Americans "but it will not stop Iranians from demanding an apology."

The visits come as President Barack Obama has indicated a new willingness to open up relations with Iran.

Relations between the two countries have been strained over concerns in the West that Iran is trying to develop a nuclear weapons program, something Tehran denies. The U.S. has also alleged that overwhelmingly Shiite Iran supports Shiite militias in Iraq, which Iran says is not true.

The two countries have not had diplomatic relations since the 1979 Islamic Revolution and the hostage-taking at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.


Saying that the film The 300 "portrays the Battle of Thermopylae" is like saying Gladiator portrays ancient Rome and the death of the Emperor Commodus. hock:

Say...I'm still waiting for an apology for that one. :|

:wink:

Narukami

[Magnus]

Does anyone really care what Iran thinks? I love how self-important some people are...as if they are simply "owed" an apology for trivial matters. I suppose Canada should blame the South Park guys as well, and demand an apology for their movie.

[john m roberts]

This is way late, but here are some of my observations on "300". I was amazed not by how much it got wrong, which is to be expected in a movie, but the unexpected things that it got right: the way a spear wobbles in flight: the fact that the Greeks fought primarily as spearmen, resorting to the sword when the spear was lost or impracticable: the importance of the shield. Usually the shield is used as a sort of counterweight, held to the rear while the fighters bang their swords together. Just these three things justified the whole film as far as I was concerned. The Iranians needn't be concerned. Not one American in a hundred has any idea that ancient Persia was modern Iran. Most of them couldn't locate America on a map.

[Martin Kealey]

When I first saw coming attractions for '300' I was pretty appalled by the idea of leather speedo sporting Spartans, but then I saw that it had been based off a Frank Miller graphic novel. Having loved his work in 'The Dark Knight Returns', 'Batman: Year One', and 'Sin City'; I decided to read 300, and make my decision to see the movie based on the book. The more I read it, the more apparent it became that it was written as a 'heroic' distortion from the Spartan point of view. Naturally, the Spartans become the great saviours while the Persians are depicted like the Germans were in the First World War and the Japanese in WWII. (I still remember seeing a poster showing a fanged and slavering gorilla wearing a pickle-haub helmet, carrying a club in one hand, and a savaged woman in the other; as well as the way the monkey-like invaders from Saturn in 'Buck Rogers in the 25th Century' were depicted as being originally from Japan, complete with buck teeth and slanted eyes.) Accepting that the story was about as accurate as the official Soviet Union history of WWII, I saw the film and found it quite enjoyable. Certainly better than a pretentious mess like 'Gladiator' or (even worse!) 'Cleopatra'.

[taira1180]

I liked the movie. It's not a history movie, that's obvious, it's a story of heroes against evil invaders, like many other movies.

[Gäiten]

It is like a gay softporno directed by Leni Riefenstahl.

Just my 2 cents.

[M. Demetrius]

or (even worse!) 'Cleopatra'

Hey, don't diss a young Elizabeth Taylor soaking in a milk bath. hock: :lol:

[Narukami]

It is like a gay softporno directed by Leni Riefenstahl.

Just my 2 cents.

hock: :lol: :wink:

That response is worth a dollar at least

:wink:

Narukami

[john m roberts]

Oh, one more thing "300" got right: After a fight, if you're still in control of the field, you go over the field and kill the enemy wounded. I don't think I've ever seen the good guys doing that before. In any case, it's certainly no mercy to leave them alive.