300. Just got back from Midnight opening...

[Presto2112]

My girl friend is making me watch Wild Hogs tonight.. So i'm not sure who has it worse, you or I.

LOL, he and Mom saw that last week. they haven't seen a movie at a theatre in eleven years (Twister), and they follow it up with two real gems!

BTW, I don't have it bad. It's not like they're making me go. They live four provinces west of me.

 

[Wormwood]

Saw it.

Loved it.

Seeing it again tomorrow.

ps. Mrs. Wormwood loved it also. It's not every day you can have a conversation with your wife where the word "thews" comes up.

 

[Alaric_Prympax]

I just saw it and enjoyed it. I'll be getting the DVD once this comes out. The crowd applauded when...


[sblock] the Spartan Queen killed the traitor.[/sblock]

 

[Kaodi]

I have almost no interest in seeing that film... I can do with historical innacuracies, really, but when you make rampant single combat be the basis of fighting, in a situation where we all know that fighting as a group is the only way to pull off what they did, that just kills it for me. The awesomeness of unit combat, even heroic unit combat, is what I would want to see about any film about the three hundred Spartans. If you can't give me what made the real battle so amazingly cool, then I'll pass, I'm not interested.

 

[Mistwell]

I have almost no interest in seeing that film... I can do with historical innacuracies, really, but when you make rampant single combat be the basis of fighting, in a situation where we all know that fighting as a group is the only way to pull off what they did, that just kills it for me. The awesomeness of unit combat, even heroic unit combat, is what I would want to see about any film about the three hundred Spartans. If you can't give me what made the real battle so amazingly cool, then I'll pass, I'm not interested.

They fight in a Phalanx. They make a big deal out of it. They break phalanx sometimes when the situation seems to call for it, like when they are setting a trap or when someone loses their temper and runs ahead. But the Phalanx plays a prominent role in this film, and you shouldn't let a 30 second scene here or there persuade you otherwise.

 

[cignus_pfaccari]

They fight in a Phalanx. They make a big deal out of it. They break phalanx sometimes when the situation seems to call for it, like when they are setting a trap or when someone loses their temper and runs ahead. But the Phalanx plays a prominent role in this film, and you shouldn't let a 30 second scene here or there persuade you otherwise.

Yep. They do pay at least lip service to the need for the phalanx.

And if they wore the full hoplite regalia, they couldn't flex as much, and the armor check penalty would kill those nifty acrobatics.

Personally, I'm surprised that no one else has commented yet on Xerxes being a Goa'uld.

Brad (who did enjoy it, make no bones about it)

 

[paradox42]

I was going to comment to that effect, but you beat me to it. Xerxes was one screwed-up dude, and I wondered how his voice was being distorted (I'm assuming those gold collars he was wearing had something to do with it) every time he had a line.

The historical inaccuracies were a little jarring to me, but not so much that I didn't appreciate the action sequences for their own sake, and not enough to really detract from my enjoyment of the movie. Honestly, from the previews and scenes I watched before seeing it (particularly the MTV clip), I was surprised they paid as much attention to the tactics and formations as they did- the phalanx fighting was near-constant considering the chaos of battle, and their strategic planning was clearly put forth on screen and logical to boot.

I also wondered how many people in the audience realized that Leonidas was offering the most vile curse imaginable when he told Ephialtes (the hunchback) "

Spoiler

May you live forever.

" You could certainly see it on Ephialtes's face, that he knew...

So yes, damn good movie. Not Lord of the Rings caliber, and it won't win Best Picture either, but it's unquestionably the best thing on screens right now IMO. My first favorite movie of the year. I'll be going to an IMAX screening as soon as I can get a ticket. That, of course, is the hard part on opening weekend.

 

[Hammerhead]

Personally, I'm surprised that no one else has commented yet on Xerxes being a Goa'uld.

Heh, my friends and I joked about that exact same thing. I was expecting his eyes to start glowing any minute.

It's too bad that the Spartans hadn't invented the shirt yet for that movie, much less armor.

 

[Krug]

Can't say I enjoyed it as much as Sin City, though I did like the visuals. Rest of the story just came across as macho posturing, with the masculinity of the Spartans in start contrast to the effeminate Xerxes. Someone described it as 'war porn'; guess I have to agree.

 

[Priest_Sidran]

I already plan on getting a copy for every one of my players, and hopefully a directors cut or some other such copy for myself, I loved it. The movie was a quality mix of graphic novel and historical (well psuedo-historical) accuracy.

After watching it I read the Osprey book that deals with Thermopylae, and while it did not deal with the real issues of that battle in any historical way, it was still an awesome war movie and it did not detract from my enjoyment.

Other than the gratuitous use of nudity in the earlier scenes of the movie I enjoyed all of the movie thoroughly.