I saw a screening of 300 today. My (spoiler-free) reaction...

A loose depiction of the Battle of Thermopylae, which saw a wildly outnumbered Spartan force defending their land against an enormous invading Persian army, is presented in 300, a visual extravaganza which more than lives up to its deafening pre-release hype.

From beginning to end, the moviegoer is presented ferocious, gory action overflowing with visual pageantry, including grotesque creatures transplanted from a vivid nightmare and fighting styles glorious in their bone-crunching power. Not to be outdone, the sequences set off the battlefield offer a potent blend of political intrigue and sexual tension.

As Leonidas, the brave Spartan ruler whose men would follow him anywhere, Gerard Butler once again proves his worth as a movie star on the rise, delivering a commanding performance and holding his own against the spectacle. Lena Headey matches, if not exceeds his intensity as Queen Gorgo, Leonidas' headstrong, loving wife, while Rodrigo Santoro gives the small, yet integral role of Xerxes, King of the Persians, an exotic flair.

300 is a unique experience, driven by a fine cast and incredible, award-caliber technical credits, and one of the coolest, most intense historical action epics ever. Moviegoers, prepare for glory! A.

I want to see it but it looks way to violent...
so how violent is it??

It's violent, but not in the grisly, realistic way, say, Hostel was. The violence is very stylized.

B-

Lots of style, not enough substance

Def entertaining and something new to watch. A pop corn flick I guess on par with Troy. Visuals as expected are stunning and the story is actually quite engaging. But something was missing. Perhaps better dialogue and a better lead? I also think they didn't really push the R rating too what it could have been. But again, there's enough good to recommend it. A solid B/B+.

It's certainly no Sin City stylistically, violently, or entertainment wise. The fighting was pretty good and the dialogue wasnt as bad as some people on here made me think it would be. Knowing the entire story and not reading the comic, Im somewhat disappointed, as I feel there were some awesome true parts of the story not even addressed,

But its in no way great. B

Sorry for the copy and paste, but oh well.

It's one of those films where you get almost exactly what you're promised, and for that reason I don't see many disappointments...if you go to the theater having hated the trailers, you'll probably hate the film...but that's your fault for wasting your time and money. On the other hand, if you saw the trailer and thought, as I did, "OMG, this will be the baddest-assed film ever made and it looks (visually) amazing to boot", you should leave happy.

Because the fact is, this movie is absolutely 2 hours of the trailer. To be fair, there really is some good melodrama and a couple scenes of non-murderous emotion. But basically, it's just really fucking cool, to a degree very few 'cool' films could ever hope to reach. There's a scene in, I think, Troy, where one of the main characters does some fancy matrix-slomo jump to stab someone in the shoulder. Remember that? Take that, and multiply it by like, seven-teen thousand, and you're coming close to this. Chock full of flying limbs and heads, pierced necks and biceps, roaring men whose skin is stretched so tightly over their beautiful muscles, you doubt it can be broken by the very large spears and swords they wield. It's 100%, nonstop fun and awesome.

If it were only all of that but shot in the bright lights and golden sands of normal similar sword epics, it would still be fun and fantastical. But the visual style (see the trailer) is so great that it makes those types look like home video. Yes, its a lot of cgi, and a lot of it isn't too great (there's a little wolf backstory that looks almost pen-and-inked onto the screen), but for the most part its gritty and beautiful, right off the comic pages and really made me kinda explode with happiness (visuals are pretty much #1 or 2 in my 'what-to-look-for' list).

Finally, besides the visuals and cool factor, both of which are obviously tops, there really is a pretty solid story backing it all. Apparently this war was pretty interesting, but fact is, its probably been three years since I'd heard the word 'Sparta' (outside of art history and this movie's trailer) so I didn't exactly know much about it. It's actually a fascinating take on wartime leadership, politics and family. Obviously that's not the focus -- the latter two of those three themes take up maybe twenty minutes of screen time -- but what is there is pretty strong and certainly worth paying attention to. But there's really no real acting to speak of. Outside of a couple standout scenes, it is, again, roaring men and monsters cutting each other up.

Yes, it has moments of cheesiness. Yes, it's definitely style over substance. Yes, objectively it might not be well made or written or acted. But if you find me a film more attractive to look at, more fascinating to follow and more downright fun and cool to experience, all at the same time...well, you just won't.

If you can get over some silly moments (the effeminate King for example), 300 delivers some high quality action and visual splendour. There's really not much story holding things together here, but it's enough to get the Spartans to the battlefield and commence the ass-kickery. And I loved the way the action was filmed in this movie. No shaky-cam garbage, instead Snyder uses a nice slow-mo/normal motion cut back and forth to show the dazzling moves and outrageous carnage. I was awed at the continuous shot of Leonidas carving his way through Persians. Bloody poetry in motion. As with Sin City I am once again amazed at the visual artists that are responsible for the stunning canvases in which all this footage is placed. There are a few overly noticeable seems here and there, but for the most part it's a stunning collage. Insane blood and gore effects too. And you know, Gerard Butler was outstanding in the lead role. Huge charisma and command of both the tender moments and the boisterous speeches. If 300 were a more serious take on the battle, I think he would be Oscar worthy. Oh, and nice nod to Braveheart at the end there. I was anticipating a spear being chucked out onto the battlefield and having the movie end on a close-up of it .

B+

Overall a very good film. It was a great way to turn off ur mind for 2 hours and have a great time. The film in no way ranks up with the likes of Braveheart and Gladiator which had so much emotion behind it. The characters were paper thin and i felt there could have been a little more story. The story with the queen and the traitor was pointless at best. The acting was solid and the action was top notch. No way near as great as the perfection known as Sin City.

B+

Alright, now be honest: I'm sort of compelled to see this despite not having any familarity with the Frank Miller Graphic Novel and I loved "The Dark Knight Returns" back in 1989.. Is this something I should read before seeing or what??? I was over at CHUD awhile ago and it seems the consensus overall is mixed on this movie, more hype and sort of letdown after seeing it..

The Fall of Constantinople comic book style would be the ultimate CGI bloodfest. I mean the worlds biggest cannon, a massive steel chain across an ENTIRE water strait it would be Gold.

Not the most intellectually stimulating or subtle picture ever, but frankly, who cares? A dazzling, wildly entertaining visual spectacle. A-

300

I caught this flick this evening for 5.50$ at a decidely minority filled theatre and had the pleasure of sitting next to a 50s something black couple in which the wife hooted and hollared as if she'd never seen this type of film in her whole life or maybe that's how she acts at every film that involves fantastic swordplay and multiple dismemberments and that's not to disregard the black females just behind me who had multiple telephone calls nevertheless I wasn't overly bothered or distracted by that nonsense for once in a film which had my glued throughout. I definitely like and enjoyed this film and after seeing how integral a part green screen was in Sin City and how alot of those elements were used here along with the pumped up use of visual effects artists it almost makes film making seem extremely easy. I liked the rolling narrative as told by "faramir" how it just drops up right into Sparta and the story of leonides. This script must have been even thinner than KB but it flowed quickly in between the action sequences and I did not once get tired or bored of the speeches of which there are more than a couple. Obviously, the meat of the picture is the escalating combat that takes place with the 300 and the film delivers mightily. I don't normally like action that pauses and flows in a film but here it's seamless and allows to you to just take each choreographed movement in and devour it. I loved it. I liked the portayals of the 300 and Leonides and Xerxes. Leo's wife was almost a bit much in the beginning but got better as the film rolled along. I can't really think of anything that I didn't agree with in the film other than maybe a couple effects shots but overall this was a very good and entertaining picture that is definitely worth any moviegoers time and money.

I'll be using my free tickets tomorrow to see it again as I think this is actually repeat worthy as well, but this time I'll be heading to a more respectable theatre with moviegoers with better etiquette.

Grade - A

Stunning visuals and fantastic actions scenes made this one heck of an entertaining flick. If it had a little more to it, I think it could have been perfect. But oh well, fucking awesome nonetheless. A-

I didn't really like it.

For starters, putting all of the terrible acting and dialogue aside... I thought it was just kind of boring. Certainly not the total fest of awesome pop cinema the trailer had promised. The visuals are nice for a little bit, but eventually they just kind of wear out their welcome and the look becomes monotonous and kind of ugly. Sky Captain had the same issue. It's really difficult for me to appreciate the "artistry" of a visual when I know it has been completely digitally generated. It's clear that the director, Zack Snyder, wants his film to look like a painting, what with the choice of framing and lighting on display. Well, Stanley Kubrick was able to accomplish exactly that in freakin' 1975 with Barry Lyndon. And it looked ten times better than this film does, and was accomplished with actual skill and artistry. With 300, if Mr. Snyder wants a light, he clicks a mouse. Sin City, a film that used a similar approach in its filmmaking, wasn't nearly full of shit enough to try and pass itself off as high art. Unfortunately, 300 is.

I also found the action, the supposed big selling point of this movie, to be rather poorly shot and executed. I thought the technique of speeding up and slowing down the frame was just as amateurish as a shaky cam, if not more so. At least a shaky cam can be viewed as an integral part of what's occurring on screen. Here, a cheesy gimmick brings moments that should be stirring and stunning (the giant tracking shot of Leonidas in battle, for example) to a screeching halt.

There's some ridiculous, loosely stringed together plot that attempts to drive the character's motivation and make us care about anything that happens, but it's lost in a sea of shirtless He-Man studs high fiving each other while throwing lots of key words like freedom and liberty around. I find the criticism that this film is right-wing propaganda to be frankly absurd, because it's simply too dumb to make any kind of statement on anything at all. It's about as deep (and shiny) as a puddle.

There are some decent and interesting things to be found here. There is a five or ten minute stretch in the middle of the film that truly displays Frank Miller's brilliant and twisted imagination, but unfortunately it ends too soon and we're right back to glistening abs in the setting sun.

This is probably the very definition of a missed opportunity, and is certainly a case of the product not living up to the hype.

Erm, I voted F and now my vote isn't in the poll anymore. I'm not able to vote again either. Looks like someone is trying to distort the results. That grade's my honest opinion though and I didn't just vote that way for the sake of it or for mindlessly bashing the movie. It would be nice if it could be changed/corrected again. Here's my 300 review to back up my claim and opinion:

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300 (Zack Snyder, 2007)

Fulminant Action Cinema à la bonheur, splendid depictions of sanguinary battles of never seen before epic proportions and sheer brilliance, cinematic master strokes set against sceneries, which literally caress the inclined spectator's senses, an adequate realization of Frank Miller's opulent pictorial selection - alot has been augured, however nothing, absolutely nothing at all has been delivered by berserking noviate director Zack Snyder. His current faux pas of a movie is a swan song to good taste, the demise of Western Culture, the cessation of all artistic talent and creative work. Blustering, obscene, final.

Spartan King Leonidas (Gerard Butler), his body bedewed with virgin olive oil, covered with leafage and studded with a single mistletoe to obscure his puny pudendal area, raises his voice. What has risen advance to the position of a well-known saying among the fanatic, juvenile crowd world-wide within just a brief lapse of time is now belched, blazed out of the King's throat, hurled towards his bewildered adversary, before the audible, the verbal ejaculation is followed by the exaggeratedly stylized display of a kung fu kick. The film's key scene.

Because it is exactly this preposterous formula, that Zack Snyder, self-proclaimed associate of the film director's profession, employs for what feels like an approximated 387 minutes. Eruptions of torment, turned into fuming furiosity, which has evidently been dammed up for decades, are dished up to the marvelled youngling, 15 years of age, fashionable recitative admiring, multifariously clueless and now almost motionlessly persevering in his state of ecstasy, as he watches the described spectacle unfold, performed in a homoerotic manner by some the previously mentioned ptilosis sporting dance ensemble, their most outstanding characteristic being the egregiously low relevance on any level.

The opponent, cannon-fodder-like tripe, which first and foremost is supposed to impress us with its variety, partially though with the curious sight of its bizarreness, gets to be raped for hours in the most imbecile and technically inferior way imaginable, in order to guarantee the execution of the aforementioned pattern. The youngling rejoices, delights in the symbiosis of excessively slow-motioned, rapidly fatigueing violence and pungently pretentious seeming "coolness", trapped in his own confinedness, which is stamped and defined by devastating ignorance. The adult intellectual remains silent - agony, relentless agony, oh-so gladly would I escape from thee and be it into death.

And as though this rampant, wordless uproar, set against an, infact, miserably animated backdrop, was not enough of the paltriness already, Snyder empties yet another salt shaker into the bleeding heart of the cineaste, the art lover - dialogue lines, somewhere between delusion and abomination, between the medieval pageants of capuchin monkey John the Bellows, Riefenstahl concoctions and ludicrously manipulative cable television hokum, recited with maximally fervent pathos, on the one hand inspiring the boy, rejoicing his heart, on the other hand catapulting the mature into a crisis of faith, suicidal tendencies included. According to the former, these are ageless quotations, archetypal instant classics, according to the latter, we are dealing with the embodiment of the preliminary apex - or rather the nadir - of the intellectual, cultural, social decadence, which has afflicted us so sneakingly and, subsequently, has beaten us down in both an unsuspected and remorseless fashion.

And, thus, the only reasonable, the only remaining conclusion has to be a reference to the proverbially most imperishable of all emotions, the faithful companion in the darkest of hours, the deepest of forests, the bleakest of bungholes - hope. For I can only wonder what kind of alternative there could possibly be after reaching this absolute rock bottom.
On the same note, hope is all I have to offer to Zack Snyder, whom I would like to wish a successful and, most notably, a recreative future career, despite his more than impudent invidiousness I am reviewing right now.

Nevertheless, there's one thing that has to be put down in writing and be made perfectly clear in this recension once more: My palate has not been regaled by your meagre offering, Mr. Snyder.

My evaluation: 1/10 (= F)

I'm very curious what you thought of for a film like Wolf Crap, Hostel and even the Number 23 because I don't understand why you have to exaggerate your opinion this way. I'm assuming your not serious and this was put in out of jest.



I found this type of visual display to be more interesting and watching than "shaky cam" filmed action and that this allowed you to focus more on each action sequence. Also, I'm sorry you found this beneath you as a "adult intellectual."



Overall a very interesting read I must say but I do think the F is excessive. It's not like it's Scary Movie 4 or Number 23 level but apparently it was for you. Neat.

Did you have a thesaurus by your side when you wrote that Guybrush? My brain hurts now.

i couuld have successflly jerked off to this film

A+

Hmmm this implies unsuccessful jerk-off attempts, your failure is noted for my future amusement.

Who'da thunk that you of all people would come out before Loyal?

You decrepit languid ignauranus, only an omadawn hailing from Ireland could subsist so inefficient and doltish

This was one visually magnificent film. It had little substance to it, but in the end that was not a problem at all. I was entertained more than I have been in awhile and that's all that counts.

A-

I'd like to see someone come up with a better review