Posted on 03/11/2007 1:53:24 PM PDT by freedom44
ATHENS – Greek critics have blasted "300," a Hollywood recreation of the 480 BC Battle of Thermopylae, where King Leonidas of Sparta held back a massive Persian military invasion, leading to its eventual defeat.
The movie – an adaptation of artist Frank Miller's graphic novel – opens in Greece on Friday and will show at 70 screens in greater Athens.
The popular Athinorama magazine described the film as a ``bloodlust videogame."
Daily Ta Nea newspaper gave Zack Snyder's "300" zero out of 10, with critic Dimitris Danikas claiming the film even carried a message about the U.S. war on terror.
"By ancient Persia, they refer to modern Iran – whose soldiers are portrayed as bloodthirsty, underdeveloped zombies," he wrote. ``They are stroking racist instincts in Europe and America."
Robby Eksiel at the daily Ethnos said moviegoers would be dazzled by the "digital action" but irritated by the "pompous interpretations and one-dimensional characters."
Greece's critics were similarly scathing about other recent movies depicting ancient battles, including Wolfgang Petersen's ``Troy" and Oliver Stone's "Alexander" in 2004.
It's a pattern that disappointed Panayiotis Timoyiannakis, the lone voice of support among Greek critics for "300"
"This is not a university lecture, it's a movie," he wrote in the daily Eleftheros Typos. "It's an adaptation of a comic to the big screen, and that's only how it should be judged . . . When seen this way, it gets high marks."
Your argument is like getting mad at Sophocles because the real Oedipus didn't have a chorus of people walking around behind him in real life.
"All the nations of the world lined against us"
Brave men not allowing a hunchback to join the battle formation, not to be "mean" but because his "weakness" endangered all of the unit...in other words no "preferences only performance".
Understanding that some men are willing to fight while others will sell you out back home in order to get power and gold...
Pride in men being "manly" and Athenians loving logic and "young boys"....bwahahahahah
No wonder the libs are running around holding their crotch and doing the "pee-pee" dance and hate it so..... I took my son to see it. Eyes covered for the nipple and gratuitous sex temptation scene, but otherwise no bloodier than Saving Private Ryan, Gladiator, Braveheart, or Black Hawk Down....
Men fighting and willing to die honorably for freedom against the murdering hordes from Persia.... priceless.
Sounds as though you are raising a good son and a
patriot. That, my friend, makes you - priceless.
Last night History channel had a special on the battle of Thermopylae. Fascinating the way the Persians engineered their invasion by crossing the sea with a type of caisson bridge.
The training techniques for the Spartan's make gladiators look like girls. Mothers gave up their boys at the age of seven for military training. The King's son had to prove himself by killing or lion ... or he was killed by the lion. Brutal.
It will be on again March 30th.
http://www.history.com/shows.do?action=detail&episodeId=214233
I hear the ............... are very xenophobic people.
About the only NON-XENOPHOBIC people around are .......
US!!!
Saw that - it was GREAT. I wish I had taped it.
I just wish they would stop giving Pressfield the coverage he gets. I read Gates of Fire and its an o.k. novel, but not history and Pressfield isn't an historian, as anyone who reads Gates of Fire would know. HE alos isn't a particularly good novelist - in my opinion.
"Men fighting and willing to die honorably for freedom against the murdering hordes from Persia.... priceless."
Men fighting and willing to die honorably for freedom against the murdering hordes from Islam.... priceless.
"Of all the Spartans and Thespians who fought so valiantly the most signal proof of courage was given by the Spartan Dienekes. It is said that before the battle he was told by a native of Trachis [a nearby town] that, when the Persians shot their arrows, there were so many of them that they hid the sun. Dienekes, however, quite unmoved by the thought of the strength of the Persian army, merely remarked: 'This is pleasant news that the stranger from Trachis brings us: if the Persians hide the sun, we shall have our battle in the shade.' - from Herodotus' The Histories, translation by Aubrey de Selincourt -
Considering the idealized portrayal of the Leonidas and the other Spartans in "300," the movie hardly seems like an insult to their sacrifice -- quite the opposite, really. Also, no offense to Herodotus or any other ancient source, but a battle as ancient as Thermopylae is already half-history and half-legend, so giving it a legendary treatment seems fitting.
By the reasoning of your post, wouldn't movies like "Sands of Iwo Jima," featuring John Wayne's fictionalized Sgt. Stryker, or any other cinematic version of a battle featuring idealized composite characters, be equally insulting? Were you outraged by the fictionalized version of D-Day presented in "Saving Private Ryan?" It also featured computer-generated carnage and reduced the D-Day experience to a handful of soldiers with stereotypical characteristics. Did that movie belittle the sacrifice of those who fought and died in the Battle of Normandy?
If you get a dozen Greeks together in one room, you can get at least two dozen opinions from them.
The movie – an adaptation of artist Frank Miller's graphic novel – opens in Greece on Friday and will show at 70 screens in greater Athens.
"This is not a university lecture, it's a movie," he wrote in the daily Eleftheros Typos. "It's an adaptation of a comic to the big screen, and that's only how it should be judged . . . When seen this way, it gets high marks."
A Persian amphibious operation against Laconia (lower Greece) was certainly possible, but I rather doubt that it would have had much of a chance. The coastline is probably too rugged to land a sufficiently large force quickly enough to avoid annihilation on the beach. If it were so easy to do amphibious, why didn't the Great King just land his army in Attica instead of bridging the distant Hellespont? The answer is that any landing has to be far enough from the enemy's center that you, the attacker, can reinforce faster than the defender. Xerxes didn't want a repeat of Marathon.
It's the same reason Eisenhower chose Normandy rather than Calais. The flipside is that a remote landing leaves the chance that the defender can bottle-up the attacker. The Germans tried this in the hedgerows just as the Spartans attempted it at Thermypolae.
You still haven't addressed the question as to why -- if the defense of Greece was paramount -- the Spartans sent only 300? The battle was eventually lost when the Persians flanked the Spartans through an unguarded pass. Even a few hundred more troops would have greatly enhanced the chances for a full repulse. Only 300. It's a riddle wouldn't you agree?
I know Iraqis are made up of alot of people but the majority are Arabs. Iranians are made up of alot of people as well actually alot more ethnic groups but the majority are Persian. That was my point I think there were misunderstanding on both sides.
Wow, that's some good stuff. I'd never read that before. Thanks.
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