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Posted: Fri Jan 19, 2007 8:44 pm
by GORDON
Paul wrote:GORDON wrote:300 actual Marines wouldn't have lost.
They sure as hell would have if they only had their Mameluke swords.
Bullshit. We've dealt with Charlie inside our wire plenty of times.
Hell, sometimes we let him in on purpose.
Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2007 11:32 am
by Vince
The comparison to the marines really struck me as I watched this. Think Marines x10.
Great visual delight. The battle scenes were just incredible.
I've noticed too much recently that battle scenes cut back and forth too quickly to be able to tell what's really happening. I think this is done to mask poor choreography and poor execution. I was struck as to how many shots in the film went along a pretty good length of time without cutting away.
I think there should be more movies that use this as a template on how to film a battle.
Some complained about all the slow-mo and speeding up, but I think they did it well. Very artistic. Never detracted from what I was seeing for me.
All in all, one of the better films I've seen in a long while.
Plus, it had boobies.
Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2007 11:50 pm
by GORDON
Vince wrote:I've noticed too much recently that battle scenes cut back and forth too quickly to be able to tell what's really happening. I think this is done to mask poor choreography and poor execution. I was struck as to how many shots in the film went along a pretty good length of time without cutting away.
Seriously. Unitl this movie, when was the last time you saw an ass-kicking warrior glide himself across a field of battle, killing 25 men in the process... all without a single camera cut?
I loved this flick.
"May you live a long life." God. What a curse.
Posted: Sun Mar 18, 2007 11:34 pm
by Leisher
If you haven't seen this movie yet, you should. It's easily the best movie I've seen in a long, long time.
I also just heard that Frank Millar has pitched a sequel.
While I'm sure Millar could come up with something that would be worth putting on film, I hope they turn him down. The story for 300 has been told, move on to something else.
Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 8:58 am
by Paul
Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 9:52 am
by Leisher
I was reading an article about 300 and the studio had zero faith in it. Needless to say they're stunned at how well it did. They expected a 30 million opening despite some insiders saying it could be 50 million if things go perfectly. Of course it ended up being 70 million. Biggest March opening ever. Third highest opening for an R movie. There was one more record it holds, but I don't remember what.
Expect to start seeing more movies made the same way (mostly green screen) and hyped the same way (via the web).
Also, according to the article, some ancient book (I'll have to look it up when I get home) actually attributes "Tonight we dine in hell!" to King Leonidas.
Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 12:04 pm
by Paul
The History Chanel aired an excellent documentary about the 300. They covered the Persian kings, how what they did, etc. It talked about the revolt that Athens helped with, that made Persia put them on their hit list.
(Persia wasn't all that bad. Well, compared to other conquerers.)
It also covered how an Athenian tricked his people into building a navy, and covered how that navy was critical to finally defeating the Persians. (Despite having a navy, they were originally outmatched 10 to 1)
It's worth watching.
Edited By Paul on 1174338480
Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 7:50 pm
by Vince
Bonus #1. George Clooney had bought the rights to Gates of Fire. He's pretty much screwed on that now.
Bonus #2) Iranians HATE this movie.
Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 7:52 pm
by GORDON
Yeah, I'm seeing generally bad reviews from media critics... since it's generally pro-western civilization and anti-eastern, and the "enlightened" ones all pretty much have death wishes.
Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 9:07 pm
by Vince
I think it's even simpler than that. I think the critics (metrosexuals) hate seeing what real men are supposed to look like.
That tends to be the divide among both men and women that I'm seeing. Like metro... hate the movie.
Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 9:09 pm
by GORDON
Maybe metros skew liberal?
Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 10:12 pm
by TheCatt
GORDON wrote:Maybe metros skew liberal?
Maybe?
Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 10:23 pm
by Leisher
Yeah, I'm seeing generally bad reviews from media critics... since it's generally pro-western civilization and anti-eastern, and the "enlightened" ones all pretty much have death wishes.
It's a C+ average on imdb I think and a B on Yahoo for the "professional" critics. User reviews are higher.
Several things are pissing the media off about the film.
I've heard it being called "pro-war." You've got men acting like men. Warriors as the heros and solving a problem through violence rather than politics. Women are in a backseat role despite the expanded role of the queen as opposed to the graphic novel. etc. etc.
One article I read even had a studio exec defending it from morons who thought it was a pro-Iraq war statement. You see, apparently, George Bush went back in time and helped turn the peaceful Spartans into war mongers. Then he convinced the peaceful Persian Empire to invade Sparta. Then he convinced Frank Millar to write his graphic novel "300" and make it pro-Iraq War years before the Iraq War would start.
I'm pretty sure Bush killed all the dinosaurs too.
Anyway, beyond all the political horseshit, there are also things that the typical Hollywood peeps aren't used to which is throwing them off. Some of the "enlightened" assholes that call themselves critics aren/t praising the "sterile" (green screen, not on location) backgrounds and the dialogue because it isn't art house fluff.
Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2007 9:51 am
by Paul
Leisher wrote:I'm pretty sure Bush killed all the dinosaurs too.
Naw, that was global warming.
Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2007 11:44 am
by Paul
I had the day off yesterday so I saw it.
1. I enjoyed the movie. It's worth seeing.
2. The last time I saw that many sweaty men dressed like that was when I browsed through the video collection that Vince keeps in a box in the back of his closet.
3. I regret watching the Last Stand of the Three Hundred documentary before watching the movie, because I kept comparing the movie to the historical events.
4. The oracle had four or so piercings in her ear, but no earrings.
5. I've never seen so many nipples in a movie. Unfortunately most were attached to men.
_
Documentary stuff:
Persia hated Sparta because Sparta aided a rebellion. This is the battle that the guy ran the 26 (or whatever) miles to Marathon and then died. This also happened a couple generations before the movie takes place.
Before eating any meal a servant whispered a reminder into the king's ear to remember Sparta.
The Persian king, as part of his training as a young man (or old child) was put in a kill or be killed scenario with a lion.
The idea that the Persian king didn't have a beard is laughable.
It's true that most of Sparta didn't believe that the Persians would attack. One general knew they would, and knew the importance of a navy to back the army, so he lied and said a nearby island was going to attack. They built 200 ships because of that, even though Persia had 1,000.
The Persian army marched to Sparta. They used thousands of small ships which they lashed together and put planks on, to make a huge bridge. That way they wouldn't have to march around the Black Sea. (When Sparta eventually won they dismantled this bridge, and used pieces of the rope as souvenirs)
When the 200 Spartan ships met the 1,000 Persian ships, the Spartans charged right in and fought. This surprised the Persians. The Spartans did it in the evening, so that the length of the battle would be pre-determined. They couldn't fight at night. Spartan ships took out something like 200 Persian ships.
Then Persia sent 200 ships around and island to flank the Spartan navy, but there was a huge storm and all 200 of those ships sunk. (The army wouldn't have been able to see this)
The Immortals fought with only a black cloth over their face. They could see though it, but they didn't have masks. They also fought silently. Meanwhile the Spartans had no code of silence, and would scream and curse and taunt.
Unfortunately for the Immortals, they had the same wicker shields as the rest of the Persians. Yes, I said wicker.
When Persians conquered a land, countries were allowed to keep their own gods and local governments. Persia mainly wanted taxes.
Another city/country was supposed to protect the hidden path but when the Persian army approached they ran home to defend their own lands even though Persia had no intention of going there.
Leonidas believed he was a descendant of Hercules, and he believed the Oracle's prediction that either he would die, or Sparta would fall. That's a bigger factor in his death than the movie made it out to be.
Before the final battle, the abandoned Spartans oiled themselves down and did their hair. Persian scouts mistook this for vanity. The Spartans were actually preparing to leave pretty corpses.
Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2007 3:37 pm
by GORDON
Posted: Thu May 24, 2007 9:15 pm
by Paul
The Last Stand of the 300 is on the History Channel now. It repeats at midnight. If you haven't seen it, it's worth watching.
Posted: Thu May 24, 2007 10:36 pm
by TheCatt
Thanks, Tivo'd to record at midnight.
Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 12:11 am
by Leisher
Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 12:13 am
by GORDON
I wish some of the giant robot fights in Transformers had been slow-mo like in 300.
