So I finally saw 300
And I have to admit, it's not as "totally awesum!" as its defenders say or as horribly vile as its critics say. That said, it's not really a very great movie, being basically 2 hours of Spartan musclemen bejabbering vile, depraved, dark-skinned and inhuman Orcs Persians before they all die. Really, if you just remind yourself that this is a very wild heroic fantasy version of the battle it's okay. Kind of like real Egypt and Egypt from The Mummy. Just think of Xerxes as the depraved Stygian sorcerer (when you see the contents of his tent it won't be hard. Ye Gods, it looks like something from the movie Caligula!) with his horde of freaks, craven bandits, and monsters against the Noble Barbarians and I could watch it without chanting the MST3K Mantra.
There's a lot more here on Tv Tropes for those interested in a rare flame and troll-free entry: Tv Tropes: 300
I did see some things I found memorable:
1) The Wolf looked good. Okay, this was a D&D dire wolf from Hades and not a real animal, but it looked very well done and quite reminiscent of actual Grecian art I've seen. I did find myself thinking that the Spartans should have brought a few of them along to unleash on the Persians.
2) The War Rhino -- seriously? This is when I knew this film was simply being bughouse crazy for the sake of being bughouse crazy. But I admit, it did look cool in that 14-year-old-DM-goes-nuts way.
3) Why the heck did they make the Persians black? In Real Life the Persians/Iranians were Indo-European like the Greeks; they would have been about the same appearance-wise, though they'd have more likely worn trousers due to their tradition of horsemanship. And their cavalry would have been every bit as well-armored as the Greeks; these are the people who originated the idea of armored shock cavalry.
I'm not even going to touch the horde of freaks and mutants, beyond saying that this is obviously from the Warhammer 40K universe and Chaos had infected Persia. *sighs and starts rubbing forhead* MST3K, MST3K, MST3K...
4) Why did they have the Spartans constantly make speeches about rationalism (which wouldn't have even existed for another 24 centuries or so!) and FREEEEDOOOOMMM without ever showing a few helots?
For that matter, does Hollywood think that viewers are so dumb and parochial they can't understand that the guys fighting to defend their homes and families from an invading enemy are probably deserving of some sympathy without bringing in totally anachronistic ideals? I now eagerly await a WW2 film in which Stalin's Russians are described as fighting for FREEEEDOOOOMMM!!! right before they do the Katyn Woods massacre.
So again, if you're expecting a mindless pulp-fantasy action movie you'll probably like this. If you want a somewhat realistic view of the Battle of Thermopylae, you might want to look elsewhere.
There's a lot more here on Tv Tropes for those interested in a rare flame and troll-free entry: Tv Tropes: 300
I did see some things I found memorable:
1) The Wolf looked good. Okay, this was a D&D dire wolf from Hades and not a real animal, but it looked very well done and quite reminiscent of actual Grecian art I've seen. I did find myself thinking that the Spartans should have brought a few of them along to unleash on the Persians.
2) The War Rhino -- seriously? This is when I knew this film was simply being bughouse crazy for the sake of being bughouse crazy. But I admit, it did look cool in that 14-year-old-DM-goes-nuts way.
3) Why the heck did they make the Persians black? In Real Life the Persians/Iranians were Indo-European like the Greeks; they would have been about the same appearance-wise, though they'd have more likely worn trousers due to their tradition of horsemanship. And their cavalry would have been every bit as well-armored as the Greeks; these are the people who originated the idea of armored shock cavalry.
I'm not even going to touch the horde of freaks and mutants, beyond saying that this is obviously from the Warhammer 40K universe and Chaos had infected Persia. *sighs and starts rubbing forhead* MST3K, MST3K, MST3K...
4) Why did they have the Spartans constantly make speeches about rationalism (which wouldn't have even existed for another 24 centuries or so!) and FREEEEDOOOOMMM without ever showing a few helots?
For that matter, does Hollywood think that viewers are so dumb and parochial they can't understand that the guys fighting to defend their homes and families from an invading enemy are probably deserving of some sympathy without bringing in totally anachronistic ideals? I now eagerly await a WW2 film in which Stalin's Russians are described as fighting for FREEEEDOOOOMMM!!! right before they do the Katyn Woods massacre.
So again, if you're expecting a mindless pulp-fantasy action movie you'll probably like this. If you want a somewhat realistic view of the Battle of Thermopylae, you might want to look elsewhere.