300

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300

Postby Tiberius Dionysius Draco on Mon Mar 12, 2007 9:43 pm

Salvete omnes,

Anybody gone and see it yet? I doubt it's accurate historically speaking, but it might just nudge some people into reading up on Greek culture.

For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about (apart from a shame on you); click here.

Valete bene,
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Postby Quintus Servilius Priscus on Tue Mar 13, 2007 7:54 am

I saw it on Friday. I thought it was way to heavy on the CGI. The History Channel had a two hour special on Thursday night on the 300 Spartans that was real interesting. The producers took too many liberties(i.e. a mutated Rhino, three elephants,and the double samurai sword wielding Immortal's) with history. And the Persian Emperor looking like he was from another world(a bald head, piercings, chains all over the body and 8 feet tall). Of course it is supposed to be escapist entertainment.

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Postby Tiberius Dionysius Draco on Sun Apr 22, 2007 12:38 pm

Salvete,

My views on 300:

There are several things that I didn't like about it. One of them was the constant introducing of new monsters. I could stand one behemoth fighting them, but then there was a rhino, the Immortal and some weird guy who had blades for arms. And what was the deal with those mutated monks? A bit too much for my taste.

It also lacked story. Of course, it doesn't portay itself as having much of a storyline but I found that the fighting got quite tedious from time to time.

Things I did like about 300: Well, the fighting scenes were exhilarating at times and I liked the overall style of the movie.

In the end, I'd give it 7/10. My advice would be to just watch the movie for what it is: a highly stylized action packed movie.
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Et Gladiator too!

Postby Aldus Marius on Sun Apr 22, 2007 7:09 pm

Avete, amici Romani!

That's basically what I did with Gladiator; I knew it wasn't going to be "accurate", so I just enjoyed it as a tale of alternate history and might-have-been--and on that scale, it was a cracking good story that captured the feel of Ancient Rome for me better than anything else ever produced! It's all in the mindset.

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Alius conspectus de "Trecentibus"

Postby Valerius Claudius Iohanes on Mon Jun 04, 2007 10:17 pm

Salvete, sodales omnes -

Tiberius Dionysius Draco wrote: There are several things that I didn't like about it. One of them was the constant introducing of new monsters. I could stand one behemoth fighting them, but then there was a rhino, the Immortal and some weird guy who had blades for arms. And what was the deal with those mutated monks? A bit too much for my taste.
It also lacked story. Of course, it doesn't portay itself as having much of a storyline but I found that the fighting got quite tedious from time to time.
Things I did like about 300: Well, the fighting scenes were exhilarating at times and I liked the overall style of the movie.
In the end, I'd give it 7/10. My advice would be to just watch the movie for what it is: a highly stylized action packed movie.


I myself went to "300" not sure what I would see, but expecting to be disappointed and frustrated, as we often are by Hollywood's retellings of stories. But, despite their MTV-meets-LOTR treatment, I came away in the end surprisingly satisfied; that is to say, by the end of the film, I felt for the heroes, was moved by their courage.

On the other hand, as Draco noster in effect pointed out, What were they thinking? A giant, alien Xerxes? Quasimodo as Ephialtes? An executioner Orc? The gratuitous rough sex between Gorgo and Theron? More trolls and monsters? And why were the Ephors turned into Palpatine-style lepers? Most disresepctful to Sparta, I'd say. Phew.

And yet, for me, the movie actually succeeded. And I see why: Their fantasy theater version was built on the MTYH of Thermopylae, rather than its history or our received lore of it. And that makes structural sense since, after all, they were starting from Frank Miller's graphic fantasy to begin with. And in the end it doesn't blunt the point: They dared and they died.

So there is still a good, dramatic, historical version of the story waiting to be made, if there's ever a market for it and a vision to realize that film. But in the meantime, I will certainly take time to see 300 again.

Valete.
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Go tell the Spartans ...

Postby Formosus Viriustus on Thu Mar 05, 2009 7:12 pm

Salve omnes,


If you are also interested in Sparta and don't know it yet, here is a good site :

http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~sparta/index.html I especially liked the poetry section. Certainly worth having a look at if you are not already familiar with that. And it seems like there are some good discussions going on in the forum too and some interesting links maybe (?)


Vale,


PS See, Marius ? I told you a six year old can do it .
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Re: 300

Postby Gnaeus Dionysius Draco on Fri Apr 17, 2009 3:51 pm

Salvete,

Late to the party here, but hey.

My main gripe with "300" was not so much its historical inaccuracy or the fantasy element, which I can understand as a director's creative approach.

My main problem was that Spartan society and violence are glorified to the extreme. We see endless rows of glistening, muscular, male bodies fighting to the death. All villains are physically deformed or suggest a ludicrous otherness. Leonidas is depicted as a rogue cop from an 80s action movie (also a subgenre known for its fascist overtones) who knows what's best and takes matters into his own hands against external and internal enemies. Those who do not fight are invariably shown as decadent or morally corrupted. While this may have partly been the vision of the actual ancient Sparta, "300" is still a modern movie for a modern audience, and especially its intermittent roars of "freedom!!" rung very hollow and reminiscent of extreme right-wing ideologies.

That said, I did enjoy the energy Butler put into his performance as Leonidas, and I also had to smirk at the campy performance of the guy who played Xerxes (I can't be bothered to look up his name right now, I'm at work).

All in all, "300" was rather enjoyable, but not a movie I'd like to see twice, if only for its sour political aftertaste.

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Re: 300

Postby UrsusofUNRV on Fri Apr 17, 2009 4:01 pm

"300" was made for the comic book crowd. If you shut off your brain you can enjoy it for what it is, but I agree it is a movie I don't care to see twice.
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Re: 300

Postby Gnaeus Dionysius Draco on Fri Apr 17, 2009 4:54 pm

True, but as far as I know Frank Miller is also quite known for his reactionary political views.
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Re: 300

Postby Valerius Claudius Iohanes on Fri Apr 24, 2009 10:23 pm

Salvete, Amici -

A good point, Draco. The Persian enemy was always either marked by non-European racial characteristics, or some sort of "deformation", or was made anonymous (in the case of the troops) by being masked. These 'markings' effectively reduce the Persians to the status not only of Strangers, but of Terribly Alien Strangers. :evil: While this is conventional enough and understandable as a macho fantasy, it remains troublingly akin to real-world political propaganda techniques, cf WWII propaganda art aimed against the Japanese, or current views of radicalized Islam. Someone could certainly argue that '300' takes a basically racist approach In this regard. I think the old, old '300 Spartans' movie from the 1960s, for all its melodramatic irreality, takes a more humane approach to imagining "the Persians" - although I'm sure PC critics and others could still go on and on about the old film's Eurocentricism or other alleged defects. :?

They're only movies, but they're popular and they operate at several levels. While '300' has these other themes and baggage -the demonization of the alien people, their masked soul-less-ness, etc. - the essential theme is still Courage, and I think that survives the questionable elements. >({|:-)

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Sieg Heil Sparte ! [HUMOR ALERT]

Postby Formosus Viriustus on Wed Apr 29, 2009 12:20 pm

Salvete Omnes !

I haven't seen that film yet, and I'm not going to either : I know someone who has watched that movie just 3 times and now he has turned into a goose-stepping nazi and he wants to invade Poland.

Can't be too careful with all that subliminal extreme-right propaganda. And it is everywhere : action movies, historical movies, whatever. Best not to read a book or watch a movie at all anymore. They pretend it is just entertainment, but we should know better : they are trying to brainwash us and turn us into mindless murdering machines and use us to realise their goal of absolute world dominance.

Come to think of it, I am beginning to find this excessive 'interest' in Roman and Greek history very suspicious : wasn't Mussolini also very interested in Roman history ? Didn't he want to 'revive' the Roman Republic ? We all know the Romans were the arch-fascists. Brutally subjecting half the known world, slaughtering millions of innocent people, enslaving millions of others, suppressing women, and on and on. And they were Europeans (white ones), lets not forget that. Anybody who admires that kind of people, well, I think that says enough, really.

Valete Optime !
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Re: 300

Postby Valerius Claudius Iohanes on Wed Apr 29, 2009 7:01 pm

Aren't politics and theory and violence and 'the examined life' just oodles of fun? :(
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