300

Starring: Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, David Wenham, Dominic West, Vincent Regan

Directed by: Zack Snyder

RS: 3of 4 Stars Average User Rating: 3.5of 4 Stars

2007 Warner Bros. Pictures Drama

The ads tell you to "prepare for glory" as 300 Spartans go to war against an army of Persians, numbering 250,000, in the film version of Frank Miller's graphic novel about the 480 B.C. Battle of Thermopylae. My advice is to prepare your eyes for popping -- hell, they just might fly out of their sockets -- in the face of such turbocharged visuals. Those who saw Robert Rodriguez's 2005 film of Miller's Sin City, will have some idea of what's in store: Actors perform against blank screens on which backgrounds are drawn to represent the panels Miller created for Dark Horse Comics in 1998. There are times when the process, however stunning, can suck the air out of a scene and make the viewer feel boxed in. But director Zack Snyder, who did a bang-up job on the remake of Dawn of the Dead, keeps the action roaring. Spears, swords and other handy phallic symbols pierce skin with startling regularity, causing great gushes of cartoon blood that make it really sticky for guys to walk in sandals.

And what guys! Decked out like gladiators in a gay fashion layout, the soldiers from the Greek city-state of Sparta look gym-ready for battle in crotch-squeezing ensembles that expose as much flesh as an R rating will allow. Manliest of all is The Phantom of the Opera's Gerard Butler as Leonidas, the king with no patience for the cowards and boy-lovers on the Greek council. Dominic West plays Theron, a sleazy politician keen on stopping Leonidas from inciting war against the Persians. Theron denigrates the theory that the Persians intend to dominate the world and unleash their weapons of mass destruction, including mutant rhinos, elephants and a masked army called the Immortals. That leaves Leonidas no choice, after a short break to refresh the missus, Queen Gorgo (Lena Headey), but to round up 300 of his bravest bodyguards and embark on a doomed mission against the Persians. The king does everything but sing Bruce Springsteen's "No Surrender" to rally the troops. The trick is to bottle up the pesky Persians in a narrow mountain pass.

As you might guess, 300 dazzles as spectacle, but as history it's dodgy. The film's queer eye focuses hard on Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro), the Persian king who fancies himself a god and keeps insisting that Leonidas get on his knees before him. Leonidas has more than a touch of Mel Gibson in him, and he will not comply. This causes Xerxes to pout and add more jewelry to his body armor. Meanwhile, back home in Sparta, Queen Gorgo tries to persuade Theron to rally the council to help her husband by submitting to Theron's S&M sexual desires. He backs her against a wall, lifts her toga and drills away with a few murmurs about how "this will not be over quickly, and you will not enjoy it." But since we're in Miller territory, you can bet Gorgo will make Theron gag on his words.

The rest is all battle, all the time. And fanboys will thrill to the carnage and presumably forgive the puffed-up dialogue and regrettable lack of characterization. 300 is a movie blood-drunk on its own artful excess. Guys of all ages and sexes won't be able to resist it.

PETER TRAVERS

(Posted: Mar 7, 2007)

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Give us your review of
300

Review 1 of 46

Not Rated

Just watched the movie again, this time on DVD. Yeah... it definitely is an Aryan fantasy movie. You can't deny this. I mean come on.. a bunch of Playgirl centerfold models fighting so honorably in the face of the dark-skinned masses? Really? But hey, I guess that what Aryans like to see. Aryan Superiority Porn. Gotta love it. Screw historical accuracy. Aryans don't want to hear about how we're actually more alike than different. Forget the fact that ancient Persians actually alloted more freedom and rights to others than ancient Greeks. They just like getting hard-ons over seeing themselves as big buff defenders of the "pure race." Seig Heil.

Mar 9, 2008 23:16:03

Review 2 of 46

4of 4 Stars

saw the movie at wrestling. As a straight guy i have t osay it was the best movie ever. I thought the Oracle scene was insane and the queen was hot. Thought the battles were insane (especialy the imortal battle) It was great.

Jan 11, 2008 10:32:56

Review 3 of 46

2of 4 Stars

As a gay man, I was all atitter about seeing all these beefed-up scantily clad actors prancing around the plasma screen. I'm a fan of the action flick, especially the sword-and-sandal epic, but this movie is just bad. All the ab-shading makeup in the world couldn't save this drudging fightfest. Way too much of the film is just endless slicing and dicing; I mean, how many slow motion shots of a head severing do you need? This movie packs as much of an emotional punch as a reading of the Book of Numbers. I'm willing to grant a lot of leeway in my action-filled, hot-guy adventure movies, but this dud deserves to stay on the shelf.

Dec 31, 2007 19:55:59

Review 4 of 46

4of 4 Stars

You are an idiot if you believe that 300 is racists. You only want it to be racists so you look past the story and meaning of the film to try and pick it apart. Enjoy the film, and let it sink in and try not to be one sided.

Dec 21, 2007 21:33:53

Review 5 of 46

3of 4 Stars

The "300" will give you a major jolt and you'll discover yourself in a new world. Just like Adam and Eve stepping outside the "Garden of Eden."

Aug 28, 2007 15:08:39

Review 6 of 46

Not Rated

enigma

Aug 15, 2007 06:58:22

Review 7 of 46

4of 4 Stars

People who gave reviews saying that 300 was racist and one-sided are looking past the real message of the picture and clearly trying to diverge from the movie's real meaning. Snyder's job is to entertain people and frankly I was entertained for the almost 2 hours that I was in the theater. This was the first movie I went to see twice since X-men came out in 2000. It is beautiful to look at and the acting is believable and pure. Producers, Snyder, and Frank Miller also decided against a movie star to play Leonidas. Good Move!! The movie would have come off as much less than a Troy or Kingdom of Heaven knock-off. Furthermore by desaturating the picture of any harsh blues, greens and violets gives the weathered and old look. This also gives an uplifting feeling to the end of the movie, even though the spartans technically lose. Most people side against the spartan clothing in this film calling it gay or what have you, but this was a bold move that pays off in the end. I feel that in films such as "Lord of the Rings" that I spend too much time looking at the clothes, architecture and weapon design. Do these type of details add to a film? Yes. Can they also take away from the film? Absolutely. The clothing chosen for the Spartan warriors to wear is more accurately portrayed than some other movies that don't stack up, such as Kingdom of Heaven. What can be done with blue screen these days is incredible. This movie was superimposed into every background which were all CG animated. This is an amazing feat seeing as though I had to tell all my friends this fact. They seemed shocked and when thought about for a while makes sense. They can't have a hundred actors standing atop 200 foot cliffs. Nevertheless the backgrounds are vast while still creating depth. My favorite aspect of the movie was the underlying motif of the equality of women. It did more justice to women's right than I have ever seen in a movie this mainstream. The only reason I was sad leaving the theater is that it ended. A powerful and groundbreaking piece for the ages. If you haven't seen this movie in the IMAX theaters of on blu-ray disc you are truly missing out.

Aug 7, 2007 14:43:04

Review 8 of 46

3of 4 Stars

I have just seen the film and if you take it for face value then it’s a decent stylistic, violent action film. But I felt guilty for enjoying it because it is easily the most racist film I've seen in modern times.

When a filmmaker makes a film they are very aware of the underlining message of the film and I didn't like the message I was getting from 300. The message I got was that the white guys are strong and good and that Black, Asian, Arabs and disabled people are cowards, stupid, untrust worthy, weak, evil, gay and not worth as much. The times in the UK said the movie would not look at of place in 1930 Germany as a part of Nazi propaganda.

The Spartans were meant to be Greek, but in the film they all had blue eyes and blond hair a look that is more Anglo-Saxon than Greek. That is not the only historical incorrect thing in the film. Persians where the good guys in the real life and the Spartans were the ones with slaves and homosexual tendencies, but the film portrayed this the other way around.

It is not racist to have ethnic people die in movies, but the sheer amount and the ease that these blond Greeks killed the Black, Asian and Arab soldiers and the superiority this suggested worried me. I half expected a bunch of Jewish or Latin soldiers to turn up to be slaughtered by the Spartans so we had the full set.

It is like the bad old days Hollywood where anybody of colour was betrayed badly in films.

Good film, but too much of a bigoted fantasy adventure. I may study the directors other work and the work of the author to see where the underlining fascist message is stemming from. Nazi groups now have a film to pay homage to.

Well I at least I don’t fill as guilty as I could have been because I downloaded the film ;-)

May 21, 2007 09:46:51

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