Posted on 03/08/2007 5:45:58 AM PST by JohnSheppard
Movie Rating: (R) | Grade: B-
The abs are steel, the pecs titanium and the glutes bronze, and if they gave Academy Awards for cutting a fine figure of a near-naked man, Gerard Butler’s King Leonidas would win pants-down.
“300,” an adaptation of Frank Miller’s (“Sin City”) critically acclaimed 1999 graphic novel directed by Zack Snyder (“Dawn of the Dead”), is a fan-boy beefcake lollapalooza.
A retelling of the Greek story of the 300 Spartans who held off a vast Persian army at a pass in Thermopylae known as the Hot Gates in 480 B.C., the film is remarkably faithful to Miller’s visuals and worth seeing for that reason alone.
This is homoerotic eye candy on steroids, complete with a sibyl from Scores who prophesies as she strips. “300” is a much more stylized retelling of this story than the otherwise good, 1962 sword-and-sandal effort “The 300 Spartans.”
In the vision of these new filmmakers, Sparta is a total military culture. At age 7, boys are taken from their mothers and sent to gladiatorial school. Every Spartan is a citizen-soldier first and foremost. Athenians, according to one Spartan authority, are a bunch of “philosophers and boy lovers.”
Young Leonidas’ first test of manhood occurs when he is left in a blizzard with a loincloth and a spear. The boy encounters a giant, famished wolf and lures the creature into a crevasse, where he kills it.
Forty years later, Leonidas (Butler) is king of Sparta. The queen (sexy Lena Headey), his wife, is almost as tough as he is. When a much-pierced Persian messenger insults the queen and threatens Leonidas, the die is cast, and so is the messenger, into a bottomless well.
(Excerpt) Read more at theedge.bostonherald.com ...
Sounds like the author of this review may be projecting a bit.
Eroticism is the reaction, and therefore the purview of the beholder. (Sexually explicit images notwithstanding, of course)
So tell me Jimmy, do you like gladiator movies?
I think some of these reviewers are a bit nervous about some of what the themes in this movie may come across as. Free men standing against impossible odds fighting for freedom. Refusing to lie down and accept slavery. Killing their oppressors rather than trying to "compromise".
Very "unPC" and the kind of thing Hollywood really doesn't like getting out into the population unscathed.
I, for one, can hardly wait to see it.
Lena Heady, who plays Gorgo, is smokin' hot in this one. She gives a seriously cool speech to the Greek council.
*sniff* Reminds me of my wife.
Uh, this was not an invention of the filmmakers.
This article sounds funny...Like he's trying to paint the movie with the HOMO brush before it becomes too successful.
The negative reviews by the liberal media is because this movie is about brave warriors of the West standing against the hoards of rich Persians to defend themselves and their country --- all while soft liberals and turncoats aid the Persians for their self-interests.
The liberal reviewers can't stand it because history is repeating itself.
I know... the movie is about Thermopylae. The review led to my comment... not the topic.
Just a tad.
Also I think he is jealous that he doesn't look nearly that good.
Just saw the film. Wow! Not gay at all. Pretty intense, very artistically presented, lots of blood, inspiring bravery, courage and strength. It reminded me of Braveheart quite a bit in its message of standing for freedom and submitting to no one. Did I mention that it had lots of blood? Yes. Lots of it. I mean that. Holy cow. I would watch it again and recommend it to those who like this kind of thing. Not for the kids though. Not even close.
I second that - just got back from the movie...friggin' great! I would definitely rank it up there as one of my top 10. Note to all FReepers: If you enjoy a good war movie that truly captures the warrior spirit - see this movie!
This is a stylized movie of Thermopylae by a director who specializes in this style of film (Sin City). The author is the one who needs to get a grip of his manhood, figuratively speaking, that is.
The movie was not great as Robert Rodriguez's Sin City or Ridley Scott's Gladiator.
The time went by quickly, but the film could have been better.
It isn't in my top ten favorites of all time which includes Citizen Kane and The Godfather.
I don't know what it is these days with calling movies "homoerotic."
In Return of the King, that cry came out. Could it be that two best friends (of the non-human hobbit race) could share a bond after being through hell and back? Nope. Must be homoerotic.
There wasn't the slightest bit of anything in 300 other than the fact that the Spartans didn't wear much. That didn't seem to have much effect on any men in the theater (though the woman certainly loved it). Though in all honesty, if I'm watching a movie about heroic warriors fighting against impossible odds, I'd rather they look like men and not androgenous waif boys. (I'm actually surprised they were able to assemble a cast involving that many masculine-looking men.)
I don't know who to blame for this, but it seems as though a man can't have a close friendship with another man (as a brother or a friend) without being labeled as something. So many military movies are labeled this way, ignoring the fact that soldiers bond during and after the hardships they face.
For a supposedly "tolerant" and "open-minded" group of people, they (liberals, critics, and liberal critics) sure seem to bring up homosexuality an awful lot - where it does and doesn't belong - and act quite strange about it.
He is upset that scholars are revealing that the 1960's sexual agenda crowd intentionally confused MENTOR with lover.
IOW: by their definition Obi Wan was not a teacher/mentor to Luke Skywalker. (I know fiction but it is just an example)
SEVERE projecting by the boston glob.
He probably hates the fact the main character Leonidas loved his wife and she loved him.
There were no metrosexuals at Thermopylae
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.