Rate 300

[Brogarn]

I loved it. The rousing speech at the end left me with way too much testosterone and I needed a bad guy to kill, but other than that, loved it.

Someone above mentioned the narration, but I rather liked it. It kept reminding you that this was a version of the story laid out by the storyteller rather than a factual recount of the fight. Turning Xerxes into an effeminate freak of nature to make him into a wuss and ratchet down the fear of the guy. Turning the traitor into a mishapen, deformed, spiritually corrupt wannabe. It was all part of the manipulation to get the Greeks off their ass to fight back the Persians. And the narration reminded you of this manipulation. What we saw was the visualization of the storyteller's version of the "facts". Good stuff in my opinion.

 

[werk]

I gave it an 8. High 8.

Great, fun movie, and an amazing piece of art.

I mark it down for the melodrama, too much cheese for me...very breaveheart at some points. It was a little too simple, and by the end began to be repetitious. My wife and friends agree that the movie could have actually been helped by a little less story and more action...because the action was so amazing, so inspiring and riveting, why give it anything to completely overshadow?

As for the music critique, I thought the music was spot on. There was the typical operatic choirs and classical orchestrations that made your hair stand up and only cha-gung cha-gung metal chords in two places that I noticed and both fit really well IMNSHO.


The sepia filter towards the end, when they were close up on Leonidas' eyes, was a little watery and squirmy and a couple of his echo-y proclamations were a little too echo-y and over-produced in IMAX...other than that I really liked the feel and production of this film very much. Much better than Sin City.

The IMAX was sold out (preorder online) when we went and we got great seats because we got in line 45 mins before start. I would hate to spend that much money and sit in the first row in the corner.

 

[Dire Bare]

The horribly anachonistic view of Greeks as one people is another huge problem. And since when did the ancient peoples care about freedom? Concepts such as nationalism and universal freedom did not exist until well after the Renaissance.

Point 1: Regarding, "FOR SPARTA!" etc, etc . . . they were patriotic! I've seen similar outbursts amongst some of my patriotic peers here in the US.

Point 2: Uh, the movie DIDN'T portray the Greeks as a single united people. In fact, part of the whole point that Sparta was alone in the battle, with a few Acadians along for the ride . . . and they were portrayed quite differently from the Spartans.

Point 3: This is a adventure movie based on a comic book based on a myth based on a distant historical event, and was portrayed in high mythic style. And you're complaining about historical inaccuracy?? Give me a break!

 

[Particle_Man]

Point 3: This is a adventure movie based on a comic book *based on another movie* based on a myth based on a distant historical event, and was portrayed in high mythic style. And you're complaining about historical inaccuracy?? Give me a break!

Fixed it for you.

 

[sckeener]

The movie made it a point to portray Xerxes as a hyper-effeminate Goa'uld, and mention that other Greeks were "boy-lovers", unlike, say, the proud men of Sparta, who were like a well-oiled, mostly naked branch of the Promise Keepers...

The script didn't have to go there... but it did... and I can't help but find that telling.

(I still haven't seen it.)

that is very depressing.

I remember my western civ class with Professor Holt at the University of Houston talking about Sparta. Some of the more sensational bits were the men and women were separated. Wives on their wedding night had their hair cut in a boyish fashion and put on boyish clothes so as to make the wedding night easier. Husbands weren't supposed to spend time with their wives. They had to sneak away to do it and if they were caught they were beaten (for getting caught.) Sex with other men in your group was ok because it was a bonding team building exercise .

That said women had more rights under sparta than elsewhere in the greek cities. Equal rights in divorce and the right to have other lovers besides their husbands. The women's goal was to produce tons of kids. If their husband was producing duds, then they could take other lovers.

 

[Mallus]

Which is pederasty.

Which is something the Spartans institutionalized in their military training program for young boys...

 

[Rystil Arden]

(I still haven't seen it.)

that is very depressing.

I remember my western civ class with Professor Holt at the University of Houston talking about Sparta. Some of the more sensational bits were the men and women were separated. Wives on their wedding night had their hair cut in a boyish fashion and put on boyish clothes so as to make the wedding night easier. Husbands weren't supposed to spend time with their wives. They had to sneak away to do it and if they were caught they were beaten (for getting caught.) Sex with other men in your group was ok because it was a bonding team building exercise .

That said women had more rights under sparta than elsewhere in the greek cities. Equal rights in divorce and the right to have other lovers besides their husbands. The women's goal was to produce tons of kids. If their husband was producing duds, then they could take other lovers.

This is more-or-less correct and I was going to post something to the same effect when I got the chance. Women masquerading as boys so the men would have an easier time doing them? True. Seeing wives made difficult and usually illegal to give it that element of danger and make it seem more appealing? Also true. My only quibble would be that the Spartiate did not want to mass-produce too many babies because they relied on the fact that the size of the Spartiate maintained more-or-less constant when it came to the fact that each member was given a land-grant that was equiportioned, almost communist actually (and also reminiscent of communism, they ate their meals communally with their meal-buddies, and getting extra food was illegal, though there was never enough, which encouraged them to learn how to sneak the rest of it) so if they kept expanding in number, everyone's land grant would shrink to an untenably small amount.

 

[Mallus]

that is very depressing.

Like I said before, it was annoying. I'll wager that if the film treated Spartan sexual mores just a little more honestly, the film's box office numbers would be much lower...

It's fine to paint the bad guys (and weak allies) as pederasts and un-masculine deviants, because, you know, they're bad. But the good guys have to be straight men with hot wives. Despite their tendency to strut into battle half-naked and hold each others hands when they died.

I'll reiterate, the filmmakers didn't have to go there, and the fact that they did introduced a little ugly prejudice into what otherwise would have a been a kinda-fine, ahistorical gore-fest.

 

[Dire Bare]

What about the portrayal of the villain as a gay freak, and the ultimately unworthy gay-ish "allies" of the Spartans did you find un-homophobic?

Hmmm, while watching the movie, and afterwards, I never thought that the filmmakers added a homophobic element to the movie.

The bad-guy Persians were very effeminate and debauched, but were not actually portrayed as gay, for good or bad. I think too many people in our society equate effeminate traits with gay men, but it doesn't hold up to reality.

I have a pal who is VERY effeminate, and VERY straight . . . but everyone DOES assume he is gay after meeting him the first time. His brother is this EXTREMELY macho, buff cowboy who IS gay . . . and noone who doesn't know him well believes that. These two guys I know aren't alone in not conforming to gay stereotypes.

I strongly believe that American gay stereotypes are just that, false stereotypes. And I think a lot of folks are reading these stereotypes into the movie when they just aren't there. I have a gay pal going to see the movie next weekend, I'll have to ask his opinion after he sees the film.

Also, as pointed out before, the Spartans tease their Athenian rivals for being PEDERASTS and do not tease them for being GAY. Very big difference.

While in historically it may be true that both Athenians and Spartans condoned homosexuality and pederasty, the movie doesn't go there. And the movie doesn't go there simply because American audiences, as a whole, are not ready for that level of candor.

It IS historically inaccurate for the Spartans to deride the Athenians for being "boy-lovers" when that was also a part of their own culture. But this is not, and was never intended to be, a historically accurate movie.

When people see anti-gay or homophobic themes in this movie, I just think they are looking for something to be offended about that really isn't even there.

I will have to ask some of my gay friends what they think of all of this, but most of them are going simply to see all the half-naked ripped Spartans!!!

 

[Dire Bare]

Fixed it for you.

Heh, thanks for the fix! I didn't know Frank Miller's comic was based on an earlier film. Heck, I haven't even had a chance to read the comic yet! What film is it based on?

Although, really, this just further proves my point. It's a movie based on a comic based on a movie based on a myth based on history. Quite a bit removed from a "historical drama" type of film!