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Movie Review - 300 (2007)
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(What this rating means)
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| Director: |
Zack Snyder |
| Starring: |
Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, Dominic West, David Wenham, and Rodrigo Santoro |
| Rated: |
R (for graphic battle sequences throughout, some sexuality and nudity) |
| Length: |
117 minutes |
| Genre: |
Action/Adventure/War/Drama |
| Tagline: |
Prepare for glory! |
| Studio: |
Warner Bros. |
| Website: |
300 |
| Release: |
March 9, 2007 |
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PLOT
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Inspired by Frank Miller's graphic novel, 300 tells the story of the 480 B.C. Battle of Thermopylae
in which King Leonidas (Butler) and 300 Spartans fought to the death against Xerxes (Santoro) and his massive
Persian army. Facing insurmountable odds, their valor and sacrifice inspire all of Greece to unite against
their Persian enemy, drawing a line in the sand for democracy. A huge rise in Gerard Butler's career stock
ensues.
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JOHNNY'S TAKE
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Here's the deal - I can fill this opening paragraph with carefully crafted metaphors and enough adjectives to
make a thesaurus jealous, or I can cut through all the "How to Write an Effectively Pretentious Movie Review"
crap and get straight to the point. Allow me to get straight to the point...
THIS MOVIE FREAKIN' ROCKS!
Honestly, if you have any interest in 300 at all then it's a MUST SEE on the big screen. I don't dare
exaggerate. It's not often that I actually feel a sense of giddiness (yeah, I said it) when cheering on a
group of movie heroes, but folks, these Spartans kick some major backside!
I don't know if movies on the whole are getting progressively worse, or if my tastes are getting more
discriminating (probably a combination of the two), but going to the theater just doesn't seem to be as much
fun as it was when I was a teenager. Sometimes it feels like a chore. I think the problem is I sit through
so much more mediocrity these days than I did in ye days of olde that I've become somewhat jaded.
Well, I'm here to happily tell you that 300 is exactly the kind of film that has always made going to
the movies so much fun. If you've lost your movie-goin' smile then this will slap it back on for ya.
Combining wonderfully exciting action, a great historically-laced (although not entirely accurate) story,
stunning visuals and imagery, quotable dialogue, a sexy leading lady in Lena Headey, and an awesome hero in
Gerard Butler, 300 is sort of a highly-stylized, 21st Century version of Braveheart. A real
hulk of a film that's overflowing with testosterone and adrenaline that refuses to allow its actions or
characters to be hampered by the laws of physics or the laws of physical characteristics.
Getting back to Gerard Butler's awesomeness for a minute, his portrayal of Leonidas is what movie heroes
are all about - great voice, great look, an unwavering desire to stand up for his beliefs, and an
uncompromising execution of justice towards those who stand in his way. It's a career-making role. I only
hope he doesn't take a wrong turn and start doing romantic comedies.
Ladies, if your man asks you to see this with him then go ahead and oblige. If you're a girly girl then you
may squirm at some of the violence, but chances are you'll be highly impressed with all the musculature on
display. Seriously, this has to be the largest number of rock-hard six-pack stomachs ever assembled in one
movie. You could use Leonidas' as compartments for your shot glass collection.
Well, I think I've made my opinion fairly clear. If you're in the mood for a little style with your substance,
and you don't mind a severed limb or two, then leave the kids at home and get ready for a ride.
300 isn't just a movie; it's a theatrical experience. Lay your money down and experience it. This
one's actually worth it.
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ODDS & ENDS
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- Originally titled 6 because of all the six-pack stomachs on display.
- Johnny hasn't seen six-packs that well-defined since he looked in the mirror this morning.
- "The Spartans remain a mystery to everybody," says Frank Miller. "They are arguably unique in that
they are completely a battle culture, absolutely dedicated to warfare. They have a code of honor on what
it means to be Spartan, and out of that arises a heroic class like the world has never seen
before."
- Johnny's high school mascot was the Spartan.
- To illustrate 300, Miller synthesized his substantial research--which took him to the cliffs of
Thermopylae itself--with the trademark style he brought to such legendary graphic works as Sin City and
The Dark Knight Returns. He pared down the Spartans' uniform (roughly half his body weight in uniform and
weapons) down to its most essential and symbolic features and peppered the story of the historic 480 B.C.
battle of Thermopylae with elements of prior and subsequent clashes between Xerxes and the Greeks.
- You likely won't recognize Rodrigo Santoro as Xerxes. He's the new bearded castaway on Lost who
Sawyer referred to as "Zorro."
- "Frank took an actual event and turned it into mythology, as opposed to taking a mythological event and
turning it into reality," says Snyder.
- Snyder wanted to eschew the precepts of realistic filmmaking and instead find a way to "make it live on
screen," he explains. "I didn't want to make a film that looks like a photograph but, rather, to put you
inside the world Frank created in the graphic novel. This is not an historical drama. It's not a linear
story. Nor is it meant to be entirely historically accurate. Our goal was to create a true experience
unlike anything you've ever seen before."
- Snyder had the idea of manipulating the color balance to create a process that was ultimately
nicknamed "the crush." "Zack developed a recipe where you'd crush the black content of the image and
enhance the color saturation to change the contrast ratio of the film," Jeffrey Silver explains. "Every
image in this film went through a post-image processing. The crush is what gives this film its distinct
look and feel."
- To physically prepare the Spartan actors for the rigors of the demanding fight sequences, Snyder
enlisted the expertise of two people with whom he had trained over the years: Mark Twight, a former world
record-holding professional mountain climber, to train the actors and stuntmen in physical fitness
conditioning; and veteran stunt coordinator Damon Caro, to prepare them for the fight sequences.
- For eight weeks prior to the start of production, Twight challenged the men to go beyond their normal
limits. To support fight preparation the training emphasized athleticism by combining compound movements,
lifting, and throwing. Primitive tools - medicine balls, Kettlebells, rings - were used instead of
machines. Each session was competitive, with a penalty-reward system tied to performance and results posted
daily for all to see. "By sharing hardship together over a period of time, with team interplay where they
compete against each other, they come out as a fighting force that is believable on the screen. It changes
the way they move and how they behave as a unit," Twight offers.
- Terrain sets were abstracted so that they could be used for different scenes by changing camera angles
or adding elements. In this way, Leonidas and his army of 300 marched across Greece using only three
constructed sets. Sets for Sparta, the Hot Gates, and Xerxes's tent were also built on stage. "The Persian
messengers galloping toward camera is the only scene that we shot outdoors," says production designer James
Bissell.
- The movie contains 1300 visual effects shots.
- Gerard Butler was in The Phantom of the Opera with Minnie Driver who was in Slow Burn
with Josh Brolin who was in Hollow Man with Kevin Bacon.
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MAMA'S APPROVAL
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This one is just too rough around the edges for mama or the kids. There is no profanity, but there is nudity
and quite a bit of gore and violence. Nudity consists of a couple of topless women, Gerard Butler's butt, and
scantily-clad women dancing around. There's also a sex scene between Butler and Headey.
The battle scenes get pretty graphic with severed limbs and blood flying all around. Due to the film's visual
style, it's not very realistic looking, but if you're squeamish then you might not enjoy seeing swords go
through eyes and biceps.
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TRAILER COMPARISON
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If you're sold on what the trailer shows you then you should definitely enjoy the film.
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THE GIST
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300 is one of those rare films that I highly recommend paying money to see on the big screen. Waiting
for the DVD and watching it on a home theater system just can't do it justice. If you love epic war films and
you're not offended by the violence that expectedly accompanies the genre then 300 is a must see.
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