THESE FORUMS NOW CLOSED (read only)
Fun Stuff => ENJOY => Topic started by: halley on 28 Feb 2007, 06:28
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300... it's gotten a 100% on Rotten Tomatos http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/300/ (http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/300/)
It's based on a Frank Miller comic.
Which is awesome.
And it comes out on March 9th, my day of birth.
Is this not awesome?
What are you guys's expectations from the movie? Will you see it opening night?
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I saw previews for it and it looked pretty awesome. I plan to see it when I get a chance, but the nearest theater that doesn't suck balls to me is about an hour away.
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I plan on seeing it, most likely opening night too. I mean, it just looks so flippin' awesome, how could you not want to see it?
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It looks amazing. I'm sure I won't make it to the theater but I'll rent it asap.
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all prepped for imax openning night.
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Seeing it in IMAX would be fantastic. I know that theater that it's coming to in my area has one room with a giant screen, but I don't know if they'll have 300 in that one.
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I'll definately be seeing this opening week, but not the day it comes out. I hate going to the theater on Friday nights. The movie looks amazing though!
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This movie had me at "Madness blesses Sparta!"
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One hundred percent.
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I probably won't see it opening night but I will see it sometime soon. It looks like the type of movie that wouldn't be done justice on a small screen (i.e. my television).
Joey, do you like movies about gladiators?
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I'll see it, but not opening night, because I don't like having to get there early and then waiting around. I'll see it a few days later, though, hopefully on IMAX, because it looks like it needs to be seen on the very big screen.
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I've been anxiously awaiting this movie for some time.
I'm going the day before it opens actually, since I work at the ghetto movie theater on our college campus.
It'll be teh shit.
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I shall certainly see it, but not opening night as I will probably be stuck in traffic somewhere in New York state.
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I am going to see it, maybe opening night if I can get tickets. This movie looks terrific.
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So I just found out that my local theaters aren't getting it for the midnight showing, which means I won't be able to see it until after spring break is over. I am going on a trip. Dang them all.
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my friend that goes to U of M gets to see it the Tuesday before it comes out.
I am jealous of him
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This movie is going to destroy all in it's wake.
IMAX ready for Friday night. =D
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Now, don't get me wrong, this movie looks utterly delightful.
But, correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the Spartans have a little help from conquered peoples at the Battle of Thermopylae?
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I think there were another 700 volunteers at the last stand SilentJ.
But yes. The movie looks extremely good. I may actually hate all of you who have IMAX :)
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Grr, March 30th.
Sheridan IMAX? Cinema is a large format 2D and 3D cinema
The cinema has 419 seats
The cinema has a 12 000 watt digital surround sound system coming from over 40 speakers
IMAX? is the most sophisticated and powerful motion-picture projection system in the world
The screen is 19m high and 25m wide. The screen is higher than 4 double-decker buses. The IMAX? projector is much bigger than a 35mm projector
The IMAX? projector is the size of a small car and weighs 2000 kg
When 3D films are shown, two projection systems are used: one for each eye!
It would take more than 12 000 buckets of popcorn to fill up the Sheridan IMAX? Cinema Screen
The screen is painted with aluminium and perforated with millions of small holes to let the sound through to the audience
The projector costs ?1.4 million
One roll of film weighs 91 kg and is 6100m long
Large format film 1570 is 10 times larger than 35mm film used in standard cinemas
The projector advances super-sized 70mm film images horizontally through the projector at 24 frames. 1.7m of film per second
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I'm probably going to leave school a little early (because I'm a senior and in college and sick of high school anyway) on opening day to see a matinee. That way I get to see the movie the day it comes out without bothering with the annoyances of a friday night movie theater. The movie, however, looks cool beyond belief and I cannot wait to see it.
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I saw a poster for it, and looked for Miller's name. He's just a producer.
Needless to say, I'm not going to see it.
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A cookie to anyone who can name the song in the trailer.
Plus, it looks amazing. I can't wait until it opens so I can procrastinate going to the atrocity of my local theaters in order to viddy its lovely face.
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I'm seeing it in IMAX!
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Now, don't get me wrong, this movie looks utterly delightful.
But, correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the Spartans have a little help from conquered peoples at the Battle of Thermopylae?
the numbers are romanced, the legit numbers were closer to 1000 v 100,000. but that's still so absurdly stacked that their 22 day stand was phenominal.
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The numbers were 10,000 vs. anywhere between 120,000 and 2 million. 6,000 of the 10,000 didn't show up until the fighting had started. All 300 Spartans and all 700 volunteers died, along with 80,000 Persians, at which point the Persians gave up. Frank Miller chose to emphasize the Spartans, who quite obviously killed a large chunk of those Persians. He also set the Persian army at 1 million men, half of their highest enlisted total, while still romanticizing the whole underdog thing to a great degree. For an 80:1 kill/death ratio, changing a few numbers doesn't really seem to matter. Those corpses must've reached Conan the Barbarian-esque proportions.
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No one REALLY knows how many people were in this battle.
All you need to know is that the Spartans killed a shitload of people and the contrast was all out of whack.
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They do know that by the end of fighting, there had been 10,000 greeks present, and at least 120,000 spartans present, but they think it might have been higher. And they do know that the Persians ran after losing 80,000 men. Those are the certainties.
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I think people should get dressed up to go see this like they do for Star Wars. Except dress more like the charecters in the book. Nothing like spartan dresscode on a cold March night/day!
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Here in Slippery Rock, where we take all our history with a rather large grain of salt, the prevailing theory (at least between my roomie and I) is that the battle at Thermopylae there were exactly 300 Spartans and 1000000 Persians, with each Spartan killing roughly 3333 Persians.
And dressing up like a Hoplite would rule.
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A cookie to anyone who can name the song in the trailer.
It's "Just Like You Imagined" by Nine Inch Nails, and I damn near pooped `em when I heard it in the trailer the first time. So good.
I'm seeing this and I'm probably going to end up getting all pumped up and yelling at the screen
SPAAAAARRRRRRTTTTAAAAAAAAA~!
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Yer gonna get more than a cookie for being as excited about it as I was.
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Just a note for all future historical crack-addicts.
This movie isn't based on the actual events in history. It's solely based on Frank Miller's graphic novel. So when they say a "1000 nations of the Persian Empire" and "300 against 1 Million", they seriously mean that in his novel, that's pretty much how it goes.
Besides, I don't want to see what really happened. I want Frank Miller to tell me how it happened. I want a million soldiers from a massive empire to try and fight against 300 of the finest soldiers in the world. I want to hear about the mythos of the Spartans. History can take a back seat on this one.
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If you want history in your movie, The 300 Spartans is probably a lot closer, though not nearly the truth since it's still a movie and the actual truth will never be known, since the Greeks loved mixing their history with their mythology.
I will not be seeing 300 for history.
I will be seeing 300 to watch 300 Kratoses severely rain hell down upon a shitload of Persian dudes. That is my idea of the perfect movie right there.
This week I will be playing God of War nonstop.
Then watching 300.
Then the week after, playing God of War 2 nonstop.
Fuckin' good month for Spartans, man.
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I'm not seeing it for history either, I'm seeing it because it looks badass and got a 100% at rotten tomatoes. But the history behind the whole thing is fucking awesome anyways.
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If somehow this movie is horrible, it would be the straw the broke the camel's back in my world. I wouldn't be able to go on.
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So some of my coworkers and I might get together and see this on Friday night, apparently.
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Hadnt actually heard of this film before reading this post.....just watched the trailers and read into the film a bit and have to admit it looks really good!
Will probably have to wait a bit longer for it to be released in the UK thou :-(
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yeah this looks pretty cool, will definitely see it
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Man, fucking "you-need-to-be-17-to-buy-this-game" rule about God of War. I'd so be beating it before 300 comes out if I could.
Now I suppose I can just run up to the theatre, go "SPAAAAAAARTAAAAAAA" and stab somebody, then run before the cops come. Good enough?
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Not sure why folks are so excited about 100% at Rotten Tomatoes. That's from a grand total of 7 reviews. Let's see what happens when the folks who weren't excited enough to review it more than a week early start in.
Not that I'm not seriously geeked about the movie, of course. "Haven't ye noticed, we've been sharin' our culture with you all mornin'!"
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If this movie has the same effect as cutting my kidneys open then I can't wait to see it.
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I actually pissed myself during the trailer.
Real actual piss came out.
I emptied my bladder all over the place.
Granted, I was standing infront of a urinal at the time, and only caught the end of the trailer, but I still think that it's pretty impressive.
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All over the place? o.o
>.> Anyways I'll probably be seeing it this weekend. -crosses fingers-
I'm still waiting for that one person.. cause there's always that one person.. who's going to post here and tell us all that it looks ghey or something.
Or at least they'll say it just because I posted this.
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I saw a poster for it, and looked for Miller's name. He's just a producer.
Needless to say, I'm not going to see it.
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I honestly doubt I would see a movie of 300 where Frank Miller was the actual writer or director. No real desire to have Leonidas say "What are you, retarded or something? I'm a goddamn Spartan."
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Seriously. I see nothing but good coming from having Frank Miller not be deeply involved.
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They should pay him to come up with ideas and nothing else. They should pay him extra for not getting involved.
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Not sure why folks are so excited about 100% at Rotten Tomatoes. That's from a grand total of 7 reviews. Let's see what happens when the folks who weren't excited enough to review it more than a week early start in.
And I am prescient. Now standing at 60%.
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I am seriously considering taking my 3 free periods of that Friday and going to see it. That would kick ten kinds of ass.
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I honestly doubt I would see a movie of 300 where Frank Miller was the actual writer or director. No real desire to have Leonidas say "What are you, retarded or something? I'm a goddamn Spartan."
SIG'D!
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Definitely seeing this one in the IMax. Can't wait.
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TOMORROW
HUGHLAALHGHLGLHGUHGLALLLALAHGHG
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Underwhelming, but we all knew it would be.
What was the purpose of that pit?
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My friend has a 5 hour at the theater the night it comes out. Would not want to be him right now. I think he is either doing tickets or concession.
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Underwhelming, but we all knew it would be.
What was the purpose of that pit?
Throwing Xerxes messenger down a well was in Heroditus, IIRC.
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My friend has a 5 hour at the theater the night it comes out. Would not want to be him right now. I think he is either doing tickets or concession.
I just sold tickets for 5 hours. Yay.
I invented a new word for the happenings of this movie. "Badassery"
As in, "This movie was all badassery."
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Holy crap! This movie was beyond awesome. It is indeed the very definition of "badass" in every single way. Will I see it again? Hell yeah. It's by far the best action movie I've seen in a long time.
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Yup, it's knocked Conan the Barbarian off the top of my "Favorite Movies Ever" list.
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It was pretty Sparta. Sorry, did I Sparta that? I just Sparta'd the Sparta Sparta Sparta.
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I saw it opening night. This movie was definitely not all I hoped for.
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Also, It currently has a 61% rating.
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/300/
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Exactly was I was hoping for. This movie drives into the realm of intensity and never looks back. It's well worth watching.
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Do you want to know a trick for enjoying this film? I call it the Frank Miller Bar Lowering.
Accept that it's by Frank Miller and therefore it will be rather one dimensional. Suddenly the film seems a whole lot better!
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If you go into the film thinking it's going to be something different than a graphic novel in movie format, you're silly.
I enjoyed the movie because that's what I was expecting, and was rewarded with.
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Basically I am expecting insane amounts of violence, lots of extremely chiselled abs, and probably a whole lot of man-butt, if its anything like the comic.
I can't really say I am looking forward to this now, without sounding a little gay, but shit I am looking forward to this
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I enjoyed this movie. There were a bunch of douche bags behind us constantly talking though, so it was terribly difficult to really immerse myself in the more politically heavy scenes. But they seemed really dry to me.
I really loved how much it was like a graphic novel. The entire wolf scene with the narrator and when he's kneeling at the end just hit home to me. I was almost expecting to see it written in a little box in the upper corners of the screen. And the blood looked SO much like comic book blood yet not too fake. It was impressive. I'll probably but the DVD just to see some of the special features and have a testosterone fest if I feel the need.
As I said to my friend on the phone leaving the theater,
"I saw 300, I'm going to go jack off and eat steak now. SPARTA!"
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Underwhelming, but we all knew it would be.
What was the purpose of that pit?
Throwing Xerxes messenger down a well was in Heroditus, IIRC.
I'm pretty sure it was something like the messenger said he was coming to take their land and water, and the dude kicked him down the well and was like "you will find plenty of water and land down there." Even if that's not what it was, that is just BAD ASS.
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"I saw 300, I'm going to go jack off and eat steak now. SPARTA!"
I did 2/3s of that. Unfortunately, no pleasuring myself that night. I must say though, 300 was glorious.
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Just say this last night, and I have to say it was absolutely breathtaking to watch. Yes, it is very much like a graphic novel, but that's why it wokrs so well. I am thinking that I will have to watch this movie again when it comes out on DVD and see if it transfers well to the small screen. I am hoping that I can still be as impressed as I was last night.
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I think my local IMAX has closed because it showed shit that no-one wanted to see.
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My local IMAX webpage has the following:
PLEASE NOTE: 300: The IMAX Experience will not be opening at this location on March 9th. We currently do not have plans to open this feature in the near future.
For other IMAX locations playing this film, please visit www.imax.com
The Kramer IMAX Theatre is one of only 250 IMAX Theatres in the world!
Watch your favourite Hollywood movie or take an adventure to a foreign land or even outer space on our eye-popping five-story high IMAX screen.
Now Playing:
Magnificent Desolation - Only 12 have walked on the moon...you're next ! - Sponsored by CUETS
Deep Sea - Sea life in a whole new way
Ride around the World - Opens March 2nd, 2007 - Sponsored by Scotiabank
Awesome.
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That sucks, is the movie really that lame? Or are there other circumstances?
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Dude this movie was kick ass! Really though, if you go into the movie expecting it to be a drama oriented movie (like LOTR) then you'll be very displeased. IMAX probably doesn't want to play it because they know that their ginormos screens would only produce one thing... GINORMOUS BOOBS. Which is dumb on their part because this would probably be a major selling point.
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The "other circumstances" are IMAX plays odious shit 9/10ths of the time.
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Woah, woah, woah Johnny. IMAX played a 3-D movie about the galpagos islands. That's pretty ace; you thought you could touch the tortoises.
Sadly, you could not; it was an illusion
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This movie was the fucking shit. Oh man.
OH MAN.
The Phantom is SO ripped.
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Finally saw it! I have nothing of note to contribute except that I loved it. Also Xerxes looked like he ate babies for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Which means he's kinda creepy, now that I think about it... it could just have been his gigantically long fingers that creeped me out more than anything else.
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Okay, one thing that really, really annoyed me as a production guy whenever I saw Pan's Labrynth was the GODFUCKAWFUL effects they used on a lot of the vocals. The vocal effect that was used for Xerxes was damn near perfect...not too overdone, but just a subtle hint of FX processing that made him sound fucking majestic...it worked into the role of "a king that thought he was a god" quite well.
Other than that bit of professional nerdery, I loved this movie. It wasn't the greatest thing I've ever scene, but it was some badass motherfuckery for sure.
I also really, really loved Gerard Butler's accent in this movie. I can't place what it is exactly, but the way he enunciated his words was pretty slick.
Yeah, I really do pick up on weird shit like that.
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I saw this movie on Friday night, and oh my goodness it was gorgeous. Maybe not the most complex movie of all time, but just plain pretty to look at.
And goddamn, it was just fucking badass. (I wanted to see how much I could swear in that sentence. How'd I do?)
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Okay, one thing that really, really annoyed me as a production guy whenever I saw Pan's Labrynth was the GODFUCKAWFUL effects they used on a lot of the vocals. The vocal effect that was used for Xerxes was damn near perfect...not too overdone, but just a subtle hint of FX processing that made him sound fucking majestic...it worked into the role of "a king that thought he was a god" quite well.
Man that is a really good point. They just deepened his voice to an extent where it was unsettling and slightly monstrous whereas yeah, Pan's Labyrinth had some silly sound-related parts. The overall sound of 300 was really great, though, and it really complimented the overall look and feel of the film; I guess that although its writing may not have been sterling, as an aesthetic experience it was an almost overwhelming film.
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I didn't like Xerxes' voice. It reminded me way too much of Chapelle's show, his Prince impression to be specific.
Who's with me?
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The New York Times paned 300. I thought their review was awful, nitpicky, and took the movie far too seriously. I mean, they pointed out how all the enemies were brown skinned while all the good guys were white. Um....they're fucking PERSIANS you stupid fucks. Persians are arabs. Arabs have dark skin. Not to mention the fact that many of the enemies were monsters to begin with. Anyway, they said one thing that I did agree with: They refered to Xerxes as 'fey' and I couldn't agree more. Everything about that guy just bothered me, and not in a good "that guy is evil and psychotic way." His manner of speaking, his voice, his physical stance- it all annoyed me more than anything.
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Absolutely loved this flick. Everything about it was epic. If people are getting their panties in a knot over the historical inaccuracies, they really need to reevaluate the origin of the movie's depiction. Movie's are art after all.
(http://img490.imageshack.us/img490/2549/1173490650175xa4.png)
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Well the thing that a bunch of critics don't seem to be getting is that it's not based on the actual events, but rather on the graphic novel.
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Wut?
I though Xerxes really was an eight foot tall contrabass wearing bodyglitter who had a penchant for hiring giant gray mongaloids to do his bidding.
Oh gosh. I'm ruined. Totally crushed.
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To be a Persian god-king, you've gotta dress accordingly. Even if that means wearing nothing but some rings and a gold codpiece.
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Sadly, wearing some rings and a gold codpiece doesnt actually make you a Persian god-king, I checked.
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Sadly, wearing some rings and a gold codpiece doesnt actually make you a Persian god-king, I checked.
SIG'D
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I also really, really loved Gerard Butler's accent in this movie. I can't place what it is exactly, but the way he enunciated his words was pretty slick.
Gerard Butler is scottish, and his accent would slip through from time to time. It made me quite amused.
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"Slip through?"
The entire thing was a whole pile of Scottish.
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Gerard Butler, who was also the phantom in the Phantom of the Opera with Emmy Rossum, and the stooge in Timeline. So he can sing, travel through time, AND fight.
Very multi-talented guy.
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Man Timeline was awful
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Hrm.
I guess they're giving Snyder Watchmen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watchmen_%28film%29). I hope he does well with it.
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That movie was hard. I loved it.
Also.. who would Gerard Butler play in Watchmen? I can kind of see him doing Comedian or Dr. Manhattan... moreso with Comedian.
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I've always rationalized the movie as such: it's a mythological retelling of the story, filtered through how oral tradition would have changed the story.
300 is to the Battle of Thermopylae as the Odyssey is to that fuck Odysseus getting lost at sea.
Then I saw it last night.
It was significantly more badass than that rationalization. Also, Xerxes is a Goa'uld. It was sweet.
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The New York Times paned 300. I thought their review was awful, nitpicky, and took the movie far too seriously. I mean, they pointed out how all the enemies were brown skinned while all the good guys were white. Um....they're fucking PERSIANS you stupid fucks. Persians are arabs. Arabs have dark skin.
Ugh, if you're going criticize the review, get your facts right. Persians are not Arabs, they're not even a Semitic people. Persians are an ethnic group unto themselves, descended from the Aryan peoples of Central Asia (who also would settle the subcontinent). They can be found in many places other than Iran (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_people#Sub-groups).
Ethnic Persians can also be found outside of Iran and include the Tajiks and Farsiwan who can be found in Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and the Xinjiang province of China. Another group called the Tats lives mainly in the Caucasus region concentrated in Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Russian Dagestan. The Parsis, a small community in India, are also largely descended from Persian Zoroastrian refugees who fled from Persia following the Arab conquests."
Johnny, that argument doesn't hold water with me, because we have Herodotus' account of the battle. This movie slanders not only Iranian history, but Athenian and Thespian history as well, [/url=http://www.livescience.com/history/070312_300_movie.html]while idealizing Sparta[/url].
300's Persians are ahistorical monsters and freaks. Xerxes is eight feet tall, clad chiefly in body piercings and garishly made up, but not disfigured. No need ? it is strongly implied Xerxes is homosexual which, in the moral universe of 300, qualifies him for special freakhood. This is ironic given that pederasty was an obligatory part of a Spartan's education. This was a frequent target of Athenian comedy, wherein the verb "to Spartanize" meant "to bugger." In 300, Greek pederasty is, naturally, Athenian.
This touches on 300's most noteworthy abuse of history: the Persians are turned into monsters, but the non-Spartan Greeks are simply all too human. According to Herodotus, Leonidas led an army of perhaps 7,000 Greeks. These Greeks took turns rotating to the front of the phalanx stationed at Thermoplyae where, fighting in disciplined hoplite fashion, they held the narrow pass for two days. All told, some 4,000 Greeks perished there. In 300 the fighting is not in the hoplite fashion, and the Spartans do all of it, except for a brief interlude in which Leonidas allows a handful of untrained Greeks to taste the action, and they make a hash of it. When it becomes apparent they are surrounded, this contingent flees. In Herodotus' time there were various accounts of what transpired, but we know 700 hoplites from Thespiae remained, fighting beside the Spartans, they, too, dying to the last man.
No mention is made in 300 of the fact that at the same time a vastly outnumbered fleet led by Athenians was holding off the Persians in the straits adjacent to Thermopylae, or that Athenians would soon save all of Greece by destroying the Persian fleet at Salamis. This would wreck 300's vision, in which Greek ideals are selectively embodied in their only worthy champions, the Spartans.
This moral universe would have appeared as bizarre to ancient Greeks as it does to modern historians. Most Greeks would have traded their homes in Athens for hovels in Sparta about as willingly as I would trade my apartment in Toronto for a condo in Pyongyang.
In any historical context the movie is laughable, at best. If you regard it as a wholly fictional work, then it's a fun movie, the problem is, the film itself doesn't treat itself like that.
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By the film's very existence it treats itself like that. If there's people out there who think half-a-ton executioners with blades for arms are part of a historically accurate movie, they should be culled from the Earth. It takes itself seriously within the context of the movie because within the context of the movie, whether the Persians are monsters or men, it's still serious. Whether Odysseus fought a 20-foot tall cyclops or a 5 foot man who lost an eye to a fishing accident, it's still serious.
I maintain that the movie wasn't a "Hollywoodized" version of history because it went far, far beyond Hollywood. It went into mythological territory. If Homer had told the story of Thermopylae, it would be closer to Miller/Snyder's version than Herodotus's.
It doesn't slanderize Athenians or Thespians or Iranians(seriously? Iranians?) any more than Spartans would have done so themselves. And it doesn't glorify Sparta any more than Herodotus does himself. If you want a fair and balanced(TM) look at the Greco-Persian wars, that's what the History Channel is for.
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I was expecting the executioner guy to show up more than once. I was dissappointed. Also, I saw the movie Friday and had the oppurtunity to see it again today. I loved it. The first time was extremely enjoyable, and I could not stop giggling with glee throughout most of the movie.
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Okay, so I'm going to try and put some things in perspective.
This is a MOVIE
Based off a GRAPHIC NOVEL
That was inspired by ANOTHER MOVIE
That was inspired by a TOTALLY SUBJECTIVE ACCOUNT
Of TRUE EVENTS.
And people here are arguing about its historical context?
Holy compacted anal cavities. Settle down.
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I didn't much bother to read the whole thread. Though I can guess that debates are probably raging about how historically innacurate and over the top it was. To which I'll point out:
Frank Miller wrote freakin' Sin City. It's going to be over the top.
Anyway, on to what I really want to say. I didn't think 300 was that super-duper amazing, actually. After hearing stuff from my friends like "It's better than all of the best movies combined! It's better than that!" Or y'know, crazy stuff like that. Then I go and watch it, and it's like. An above average but not great movie. And the pacing was kind of weird...
Now... Watchmen... That's gonna be super. Can I getta amen?
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In any historical context the movie is laughable, at best. If you regard it as a wholly fictional work, then it's a fun movie, the problem is, the film itself doesn't treat itself like that.
Okay there are some minor spoilers if you read this.
There is a hunchback who is grossly and unrealistically deformed.
Wolves look really fucking weird.
Xerxes is eight feet tall, easily, and from the scenes which he appears on clifftops in he's apparently capable of teleportation.
There are a bunch of inbred priests who somehow live up on a mountain with naked oracles and are able to eat.
There are bizarrely-equipped war elephants and rhinoceri.
A twelve-foot tall ogre is part of the Persian army.
There is a tree of dead bodies.
There is a fat man with blades for arms.
Xerxes has a portable fleet of deformed lesbians, and an additional fleet of deformed super-warriors, but somehow their deformities which are identical to the priests' turn them into fighting machines rather than weird monsters.
Everyone can jump about twenty feet in the air.
Arrows actually blot out the sun.
If you pause for one moment to actually think about the movie the "it treats itself as history" argument falls apart under the sheer weight of the completely absurd contents of the film. Snyder treats it as history but that's because if you read any interviews with him he actually doesn't understand self-awareness as it relates to filmmaking.
If you want to make a complaint about it possibly misrepresenting a culture then you need to address the problem that our society has with media literacy and interpretation. For God's sake, Norbit was a popular movie. Our culture endorses and popularizes mindless crap because it's easy and because it's pushed on us. That Borat was a success is a decent sign although it was distressing to hear people behind me in the theatre not fucking know where Georgia is.
If you understand that 300 is an absolute flight of fancy based on actual events, like about 70% of war movies and 100% of movies about the Alamo, then the movie doesn't create a problem. Anybody who comes out of that movie feeling that they've sat through a course on Spartan history and are feeling wiser about it are illustrative more of a social issue than a problem with a film based on a graphic novel by Frank Fucking Miller, who has given us such wonderful concepts as a Batman who says, "What are you, dense? Are you retarded or something? I'm the goddamn Batman." He's responsible for an upcoming graphic novel entitled Holy Terror, Batman! He wrote the entirety of Sin City, which is absolutely laden with completely ridiculous events. The man's had an entire career of coming up with awesome concepts that also contain nothing but absolute ridiculousness*.
And at the moment? At the moment we're over-analyzing a film which features even more ridiculous and stupid elements than this and treating it as a dangerous weapon, as a ticking time bomb. It's not. If there are any politics, the politics are against expansion and invasion and imperialism - which if you consider Iran's perspective as a small country which has refused to back down to U.S. and Coalition demands, even with a completely insane but rather brave leader, suddenly becomes a fascinating element. To tell the truth, if we talk about the politics of this movie which is big and dumb and about heroes and villains and really nothing bigger than good versus evil and freedom versus slavery and blah blah blah they shoulda shot it in black and white, then honestly I'm going to keep arguing from that perspective. I can even start culling some lines from Xerxes and the rest of the Persians.
Oh and uh that article nicely skirts the Spartan-led Battle Of Plataea which drove the Persians back out of Greece but that's alright I guess, can't expect an article about history to mention everything I suppose. And as an afterthought regarding the pederasty thing, it's the word of ancient Greek comedians - these are the dudes who required dudes in their comedies to have giant prop phalluses, remember - versus Plutarch and Cicero, for God's sake. That's a history lesson from Carlos Mencia.
Phew! I think I've said enough serious things about the completely silly movie. I wish people would just treat silly movies as silly movies! I don't understand why everyone feels a need to do otherwise when there are quite enough movies which aren't silly already that they can choose from.
*except for the "goddamn batman" bit, that's just stupid and not entertaining at all
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Johnny, for all it is supposed to be, I enjoy it.
The problem I have is with the director making claims about how this is the battle as it would have been re-told right afterwards (as Ozy said as well). We have Heredotus for that, whose histories are rife enough with ridiculous claims that would have made sense in his world, and don't in ours. I just don't buy it. I take issue with Zack Snyder making claims like that and turning the movie into something it shouldn't be.
As for the Battle of Plataea, the Spartans made up only perhaps 10-20% of the total Greek force of one hundred thousand, and I wouldn't claim that they lead, the Athenians and Teagans played as big a role as they did. The Spartans did kill Mardonius, but their obstinacy regarding things like de-camping without a fight because the Persians had cut off the water supply could very well have cost them the battle had smarter voices not interceded.
I'm also thoroughly annoyed at how the right wing in this country is making it out to be some analogy about the west confronting Islam.
The analogy between the war on terror and the death struggle of ancient Greece with Persia has not been lost on some high administration officials either, especially Vice President Dick Cheney. (A White House spokesman declined to comment about the film.) In the months after 9/11, a classics scholar named Victor Davis Hanson wrote a series of powerful pieces for the National Review Online, later collected and published as a book, "An Autumn of War." Moved by Hanson's evocative essays, Cheney invited Hanson to dine with him and talk about the wars the Greeks waged against the Asian hordes, in defense of justice and reason, two and a half millennia ago.
The movie is a cartoon, based very loosely on historical fact. The Persians are depicted as either effeminate or vicious abusers of women, while the Greeks are manly men. The bad guys in "300" also include corrupt Spartan politicians who refuse to send more troops to the battle. Some right-wing bloggers have likened them to liberal Democrats voting against the surge in Iraq. Moviegoers may be a little confused by other cultural echoes in the film. The Spartan heroes seem to be in love with what one of them calls "a beautiful death." Just like, er, Islamic suicide bombers.
That's for another day.
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I take issue with Zack Snyder making claims like that and turning the movie into something it shouldn't be.
See this is completely fair. A quote from him describes the movie as "90% accurate." Apparently he's shown it to some "scholars"* who consider it such. That's a ridiculous and untrue claim, unless they are Frank Miller scholars.
Also seriously the movie looks more like a decrying of Western imperialism than it does an anti-Islamic tirade. Hell, Xerxes is a god-king and the Spartans are polytheists so there aren't even analagous religions in the movie. But taking a movie with the line "ONLY THE HARD. ONLY THE STRONG." as if it was making a political statement is almost as silly as the movie.
*hobos
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The movie is a cartoon, based very loosely on historical fact. The Persians are depicted as either effeminate or vicious abusers of women, while the Greeks are manly men. The bad guys in "300" also include corrupt Spartan politicians who refuse to send more troops to the battle. Some right-wing bloggers have likened them to liberal Democrats voting against the surge in Iraq. Moviegoers may be a little confused by other cultural echoes in the film. The Spartan heroes seem to be in love with what one of them calls "a beautiful death." Just like, er, Islamic suicide bombers.
So, if I'm getting this right, the liberal Democrats are voting against sending manly Islamic suicide bombers to battle feminine terrorists? (I kid)
300 would have rocked harder if it had the moving qualities of Braveheart.
That said, I still think 300 rocked.
>.> Maybe someone else will make a different movie about it?
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>.> Maybe someone else will make a different movie about it?
There is another movie about it. It's called The 300 Spartans I do believe.
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That's his point. 300 is a movie based off a graphic novel that was based off a movie. Might as well make a movie based of a movie that was based off a graphic novel that was based off a movie, right?
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Are we trying to prove the point of the telephone game with this argument?
Honestly, everyone should be familiar with the idea that just because someone tells a story in a certain way, doesn't make that version the same as the original nor does it have much weight when held up as truth. To me it misses the point to quibble over the historical inaccuracies in an obviously fictional film. It was fun and I enjoyed it. I did not, however, walk out of the theatre thinking, "Wow, those Spartans sure were paragons of freedom and democracy!" I'm not talking so much about the discussion you guys are having here, I'm more refering to the crazy politco's who are trying to make this out to be an endorsement of Bush policy and an alegory for attacking Iran and throwing a big stink about it.
p.s. Zack Snyder is a dousche who better not ruin Watchmen.
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I think Snyder has a lot of talent and style as a director.
I think that talent and style is not appropriate for Watchmen and he needs to back off.
He'd make a good Halo mvoie, though.
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Just in case there are people on these here forums who have no idea what the hell we're talking about, or who just haven't seen the movie yet and would really like to but can't 'cos you're not 17 or don't live close to a theatre or something,
Merry Christmas. (http://www.tv-links.co.uk/show.do/4/386)
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Outstanding movie. It completely revels in its comic book setting and doesn't shy away from being a little style over substance at times. That being said though the movie truley is a a complete joy to watch and listen to. The only point I would raise (and it's not even a point about the movie) is that I would love to see a movie which was an acurate (or as close to) representation of the events at Thermopylae. I'm a bit of a geek for ancient Greek History, with this particular battle being my favourite topic.
At least now though those who have seen the movie can grasp the significance of my username....
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I think Snyder has a lot of talent and style as a director.
I think that talent and style is not appropriate for Watchmen and he needs to back off.
I think he should do pretty good. So far he's done two good, appropriate adaptations. And I think if he continues to stick closely to the source material, then Watchmen should be alright.
Everything else is up to the screenwriter. That's the most difficult part of a Watchmen adaptation. I think.
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Perhaps Snyder should have the experience of coming up with an original idea before tackling another adapted work. Certainly attempting to present his own uncompromised vision would give him insight into the desire of the artist to have his or her message put across faithfully, and that is something which is entirely neccessary in order to present Watchmen properly.
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Now, it's probably a given that I'm not the target audience for this film, but seeing as how I like to be contrary . . .
. . . guys, I saw a trailer for 300 last night for the first time and it looked bad. Really bad. Bad like one of bad those car ads where the car goes through a landscape that's meant to look tough and intimidating because 95% of the colour has been removed in post-production, and the car's getting rocks and lightning and shit thrown at it and people are shouting at it and its dodging and weaving around everything and there's some really atrocious generic hard rock soundtrack . . . the trailer looked like that, only without the car.
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You wouldn't believe how much fun an hour and a half of that is to watch.
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Now, it's probably a given that I'm not the target audience for this film, but seeing as how I like to be contrary . . .
. . . guys, I saw a trailer for 300 last night for the first time and it looked bad. Really bad. Bad like one of bad those car ads where the car goes through a landscape that's meant to look tough and intimidating because 95% of the colour has been removed in post-production, and the car's getting rocks and lightning and shit thrown at it and people are shouting at it and its dodging and weaving around everything and there's some really atrocious generic hard rock soundtrack . . . the trailer looked like that, only without the car.
Then you probably won't like the whole movie. Multiply what you saw by an hour and a half, and you've got yourself 300.
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Then I probably won't go and see it! Not to mention my moral issues surrounding the depiction of gratuitous violence in the service of entertainment . . .
Just a quick question: is the whole film in slow motion, or did they just do that to make the trailer look dramatic?
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I have a strange feeling that that should be a crime. "Crimes against tommyism" maybe?
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Just a quick question: is the whole film in slow motion, or did they just do that to make the trailer look dramatic?
Pretty much the whole film.
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I saw the movie last night, and even in Imax, I found it underwhelming. It was visually stunning, yes, but the writting just seemed very weak. It felt very much like they left behind any idea of decent acting or ideas in order to make the movie look good. It was entertaining, but I still left sorely disapointed. The fact that one of my friends I saw it with has seen it three times, and thinks it's a piece of cinematic genius, the best movie he's seen in years, annoys me a fair bit.
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Saw the movie tonight. I thought it was a lavish monument to tedium.
If all of the movie ran in normal time, it would be half as long.
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as posted by Gemmwah (http://www.exbyte.net/media/videos/5510/300_For_Kids.html)
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That wasn't what I was expecting when I clicked on it! I was expecting the film with all violence and sex cut out, and therefore very shortened.
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As was I. Well done though. They've got a billion well done parodies over at YTMND too.
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I saw the movie when it opened on Thursday.
It fucking SLEW.
SCHWING SCHWING BONG SLICE AAARGH BLEED BLEED SLICE BANG LEG-SEVER
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Merry Christmas. (http://www.tv-links.co.uk/show.do/4/386)
I know I'm running the risk of not only sounding like an angry prick but also being a huge dumbass and quoting myself, but to those of you who keep asking questions about the film, I would merely like to point out that the above link is to a place where you can watch the film from the warmth of your own compooter.
Just sayin'.
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It fucking SLEW.
SCHWING SCHWING BONG SLICE AAARGH BLEED BLEED SLICE BANG LEG-SEVER
This is an excellent description of the movie except it works better if you read it in slow motion with every fourth word read suddenly at normal speed.
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I'm amazed at the boring comments. The movie was a lot of things, but boring never popped into my head as a possibility.
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I love history. I can't get enough of it. Reading about all the things that have gone on from now since the beginning of recorded history is slick. So watching 300 for me was like sitting on the sidelines, watching one of the greatest military showdowns of all time was pretty cool. Historical accuracy didn't entirely matter, because I'm sure the real battle was awesome, but we can't go back in time and watch it.
If special effects and kickass fight scenes are what it takes to get people to enjoy history more, than so be it.
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I saw this movie tonight! I was actually expecting it to be somewhat historically accurate. I had no idea it was based on a comic. Still, it was a great movie! I had not been in a movie theater since Die Another Day, but I am glad I saw this.
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(http://photos-508.ak.facebook.com/ip002/v72/81/1/25300764/n25300764_31174508_2310.jpg)
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I'll see, and raise.....
(http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l187/WinterKnight1/redsauce.gif)
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saw the movie today! i get extra credit for art history.
overall - pretty much exactly what i expected. there were some good things in it, and i understand the appeal, but it didn't really do much for me.
tommy, how'd you fall asleep during the sex scenes? they were really really short. (i had to restrain myself from giggling in the first one though. oh, the cheese.)
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i had to restrain myself from giggling in the first one though
Why? I didn't.
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My plan for this movie basically involves getting ridiculously stoned. I get the feeling it is going to be one of those movies I will find tedious if I don't.
As my plan stands, I will probably walk out of the cinema saying "that was INCREDIBLE!!" or something similar to Khars reaction.
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hat that is probably a good idea actually.
johnny, it was incredibly theatrical and dramatic. i mean geez, the thrusts were in slow-motion.
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I mean, I didn't restrain myself from giggling. That was a silly scene in a ridiculous film.
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CGI != good film.
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Surely you jest.
"Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within", anyone?
CGI aside (which is truly astounding), the movie was pretty much rubbish in content.
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A thousand nations of the Persian empire descend upon you. Our arrows will blot out the sun!
Then we shall fight in the shade
If that isn't total badassery, I don't know what is.
I just saw it today. Fucking epic!
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No, badassery is casually eating an apple while your friends kill the wounded enemies.
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That kind of bothered me. Where did he even get the apple? It's like a throwback to the Pirates of the Caribbean apple rolling out of Barbossa's hand.
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Surely you jest.
"Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within", anyone?
CGI aside (which is truly astounding), the movie was pretty much rubbish in content.
Okay not to derail the thread but for the record I enjoyed and still enjoy the hell out of that movie! I haven't understood everybody's gripes about it.
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That kind of bothered me. Where did he even get the apple? It's like a throwback to the Pirates of the Caribbean apple rolling out of Barbossa's hand.
It would be kind of embarrassing if an army went to war and, instead of dying with honor in the heat of battle, they all died of starvation because they didn't bring any food with them.
Edit: I guess they could've killed some wolves or something and cooked it over the fire, but still.
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Still aint gotten round to seein this movie but from what I have seen of it generally the guys love it and the girls hate it!
Keep hearing people say stuff like...."the blood didnt look real"...."It wasnt at all realistic"
Then when you explain that its based on a grapic novel and aint supposed to be 100% realistic they shut up! Though when you see films where one man takes on a whole army with just a pistol and wins, you dont hear people complaining about realism!
Okay not to derail the thread but for the record I enjoyed and still enjoy the hell out of that movie! I haven't understood everybody's gripes about it.
I found FF:Spirits Within to not have much simular to the game, it had the whole spirit side to it but if you knew nothing about the game series i guess it wouldnt make sense! TBH the story could have been a bit more FF related and explained a bit more about it so those who dont know FF had a bit of a clue about things going on! Though CGI was amazing for the time!
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That kind of bothered me. Where did he even get the apple? It's like a throwback to the Pirates of the Caribbean apple rolling out of Barbossa's hand.
It would be kind of embarrassing if an army went to war and, instead of dying with honor in the heat of battle, they all died of starvation because they didn't bring any food with them.
Edit: I guess they could've killed some wolves or something and cooked it over the fire, but still.
But a fresh apple, being kept where the fighting/killing was being done. . .
IT'S JUST NOT PLAUSIBLE
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Do apples even grow in Greece in that time?
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Still aint gotten round to seein this movie but from what I have seen of it generally the guys love it and the girls hate it!
Hey, I'm a girl and I thought it kicked ass!
I went to see it a couple of weeks ago with my husband and some of our friends and we had a grand old time! The only things that even remotely bothered me were the mostly mediocre acting (ie, screaming every single line of the whole movie - but hey, it's hard to find a bunch of professional bodybuilders with solid acting credentials, and they were very nice to look at! :-D) and the two over-the-top cheeseball scenes (the love-making scene at the beginning that went on so long that even the boys I was with got tired of looking at the boobies, and the scene after dude's son died where he goes all crazy-eyed and apeshit about how he never told his son that he loved him). Those two scenes just felt really...out-of-place and unnecessary with the rest of the movie. I don't think I'd have missed anything if they'd been removed entirely, but that's just my opinion.
All in all, though, the movie was GORGEOUS and adrenaline-pumping and fantastic and everything I hoped it would be. I left the theater wishing I was a Spartan. Of course, then we came home and re-watched Sin City for the millionth time and blathered on about how awesome Frank Miller is.
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I'm a girl and I really enjoyed it. The cinematography was great and the story was pretty good. The only CGI I had a problem with was the wolf. The wolf was crap compared to the rest of it.
And badassery was when the wife stabbed the guy for calling her a whore. He had it coming.
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i loved the film!
everything about it was great; the CG, the acting, the story, the blood, the fight scene choreography and especially the Persian armies.
but still, i preferred Sin City to Millers last work. sin city had more depth, with the same amount of violence for the barbaric viewers out there.
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hat that is probably a good idea actually.
johnny, it was incredibly theatrical and dramatic. i mean geez, the thrusts were in slow-motion.
Was that the sex scene with the king and queen or the girl with the oracles?
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Queen.
The oracle's dance/whatever was pretty sweet. I like how she blended in with the smoke. I liked all the slow motion and then quick paced rhythm the dance and the fighting had. That was actually one of my favorite parts about it.
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I thought this was very much a comic book, even on the big screen. I haven't read the original but you could see that a lot of the set piece kind of shots were lifts straight from panels of the comic (pushing the persians to the cliffs, the shot from behind Leonidas right at the end). The camera has the same kind of over the top graphic novel melodrama that the writing and the acting have. That's not a criticism because it really works in the right kind of film, which is this kind.
It got kind of bogged down with the politics in the middle, and it felt a little like it was there just to give the film a sheen of legitimacy rather than being a montage of fights. All in all though B+ would watch again.
PS
If you are that way inclined you could read a more detailed dissection here (http://www.brutereason.blogspot.com)
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The best part about this movie is the wealth Youtube parody spinoffs.
Seriously, have you even seen 300 PG? (http://youtube.com/watch?v=gNqiSkd1M6k)