|
|
Rating:  - wish I'd known what to expect
I didn't know much of what to expect--just that it was a historical war movie.
I tell you this so you'll understand why I was underwhelmed for the first quarter of the movie. The monochromatic filming, mostly in sepia tones, but then occasionally in blues, got pretty irritating. And then there was the Heroic Music and the Ominous Music trying to get me all excited or worried about characters I didn't even know yet. And that was really irritating.
It starts off with voice-over narration and a little boy going off to be trained as a Spartan warrior. Complete with a weird-looking CGI wolf. I couldn't figure out why they couldn't use a real wolf. Lots of scrawny kid skulking around being shadowed by a goofy looking wolf with the dramatic music. In sepia.
Truthfully, I was tempted it to the males and go off to the computer or a book.
But it's a good thing I kept watching. Once the boy grew up, he became King Leonidas (Gerard Butler). Xerxes of Persia invades, and Leonidas goes to the Oracle to get... well, basically to get permission to repel the invasion. But the priests are paid off and they advise against it. So Leonidas takes 300 men for a walk.
There's intrigue back home as the Queen tries to send reinforcements, but mostly, it's battle scenes. The fighting did really remind me of the Alerans in Captain's Fury (Codex Alera, Book 4)--the shieldwall type of fighting and the disciplined soldiers were very familiar.
The cinematography continues, with the colored filters and a somewhat dizzying switching between slow motion and fast forward. Here's where knowing what I was getting into might have helped. I've since discovered that 300 is based on a graphic novel that's based on a movie that's based on history. And then it made sense--the cinematography gave it that stylish, surrealistic feel that fits with the graphic novel.
It also made the violence much easier to take for this squeamish viewer.
So, 4 stars, but if I'd known what to expect, I'd probably have enjoyed it a half-star more.
Rating:  - I loved this movie
I originally had to view this movie for a history class on history on film. This movie blew me away. You have to keep in mind that it is based on a comic book so the coloring and graphics are going to look exactly like a graphic novel, which is actually one of the best parts because it is so unique. The movie is a little gory but that's because it is depicting one of the most famous battles of Ancient Greece. The acting is amazing. Also, while you are watching it, you can see a lot of intentional parallels with America and its involvement in the war in Iraq. When the Spartan Queen goes before her "congress" she speaks about how the war is being fought for all the reasons America goes to war. So this movie is actually oddly relevant.
This movie will have you rooting for the 300 spartans and will have you on the edge of your seat. It is non-stop action and fairly historically accurate. It also follows the graphic novel to a "T". I highly recommend this for any history fans, graphic novel fans, and fans of war & actions movies. Word of warning, it is a little graphic and there is a scene where the King and Queen of Sparta are "intimate" so it is not for young viewers.
Rating:  - Great Visuals, Over-the-Top Performances
"300 - The Limited Collector's Edition" is a deluxe repackaging of the feature film with mountains of bonus extras. The plot focuses on the Battle of Thermopylae, when armies of the Persian Empire were hot to conquer Sparta. The macho Spartans have been indoctrinated since birth to never surrender, never retreat. King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) leads 300 of his bravest men to lure the Persians into a narrow gorge where the enemy's huge numbers will be of no advantage. However, traitors are working to undermine Sparta's attempt to maintain its independence.
Based on the graphic novel by Frank Miller ("Sin City"), "300" is a bloody movie filled with over-the-top, intense images and a stylized manner of acting in which performers are given to shout and bluster, delivering every line as if it were vitally significant. This tends to get tired pretty quickly. But the movie is fun, if only for the wild visuals combining live action and CGI animation and the film's muted color palette. In its clear demarcation between good and evil, "300" is hardly subtle and in many ways is a throwback to films of the 1950's when the audience knew from the get-go that the star was the one to root for. This is simple story-telling embellished with breathtaking visuals, the true attraction of the movie.
The Limited Collector's Edition contains the previously released two-disc Special Edition along with the new documentary, "To the Hot Gates: A Legend Retold," a look at the process the filmmakers followed to take a graphic novel's treatment of an ancient legend and realize it as a feature film. There are also a digital copy of the movie, a 52-page hardcover art book, a lucite display with motion film image, and six photo cards.
Rating:  - Lame lame lame
I went to this movie with few expectations. From the previews, I expected no more than a random, brutal, and stylized action flick, but it still didn't impress. The movie replaced half of the would-be action and violence with a steriotypical story about a soldier giving his life for his family. The movie shoulv'e at least mellowed out the overly-dramatic and soap-opera like emotional dialogue, because it didn't work out very well with the overall presentation of the film. As far as the stylized action goes, the computer-generated blood looks cool as swords impact flesh, but every drop of blood dissapears before it reaches the edge of the screen .Noone wasnts to see an awesome blood spurt fly through the air, and then quickly fade into nothing. This was just downright lame. All of the soldiers would come out of battle clean and blood-spatter free. This is in no way nearly as good as Sin City. Lastly, the movie doesn't feel either visceral nor intense, just clean and full of disapearing blood effects. The movie comes off as lame and cheesy. Rent it first.
Rating: - Great entertainment
Great movie fun, very imaginative, but the Spartans were heavy infantry soldiers and did not go into battle bare chested.
|
|