300 Battle Scene

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lW9gw5TwxE&mode=related&search= ^

[Max01]

Click on link. Note clip is not suitable for

[Perdogg]

Awesome!!!!

[WBL 1952]

Too bad they never tried to accuracy in this movie. It would have been actually worth seeing.

The real Spartans had significant heavy armor including a beautiful full 10 pound helmet, body armor of brass, leather, and silk, and formidable but heavy shields.

They fought in the dredded Phalanx form; rows of soldiers protected by shields with stabbing spears striking out from under and over the shields; moving slowly forward for 20 to 30 seconds before falling back and regrouping just to move forward again. I guess such historical accuracy would be boring to the neanderthal kids that think this is real.

[ClearCase_guy]

I know what you're saying. However, Victor Davis Hanson wrote a nice piece defending these artistic decisions. He points out (for instance) that battle scenes on Greek red-figure vase paintings often left off armor, in order to showcase the physiques of the warriors. So the movie is true to this aesthetic sensibility. There are other areas that Hanson thought were reasonable divergences. The movie isn't trying to be "accurate". It's trying to be "illustrative" of certain aspects of Greek culture.

Hanson specifically points out Oliver Stone's "Alexander" movie as an attempt to be "accurate" which failed miserably because it did a poor job at what it was trying to do. The more stylized movie -- The 300 -- is more in keeping with the highly stylized Greek Drama, and seems to do it well.

[Grimmy]

In the first fight scene they do a very good job at showing hoplite battle form. The colision, the push, etc. This is later in the fight.

Also, the movie isn't meant as a historical docudrama. It's done in the old "heroic myth" style of story telling.

Many folk, like myself, are able to enjoy it for what it is and was meant to be, rather than pick at it for not being something it was never intended to be.

I really did enjoy the movie and plan on seeing it again in a week or so.

[DBrow]

This is actual footage from a major movie release? It looks about as attractive as screen caps from an Xbox game or possibly even as good as the movie Final Fantasy: The Enemy Within.

[Screamname]

Looks like the video game I bought my 4 year old daughter. "Daddy, I silenced another liberal!"

[new cruelty]

I guess such historical accuracy would be boring to the neanderthal kids that think this is real.

Yeah. I guess. Anyway, it was a really cool movie.

[Max01]

Tjis is the Movie. I saw it today.

[new cruelty]

"Daddy, I silenced another liberal!"

ROTFLOL!

[WBL 1952]

and according to neanderthal kids; the movie JFK was a documentary; but some would call it an artistic documentary.

[cripplecreek]

To me the accuracy of the battle scenes are less important than the message of doing battle against insurmountable odds rather than simply laying down in submission.

To me it's like the Patriot or Braveheart.

[livius]

I agree. I really liked it.

It's actually not that far off from the accounts of Herodotus and others, and its meaning, in any case, was symbolic. Spartan civilization was better than some around it, but Spartans still had slaves (the Helots), still engaged in a lot of practices that were not great (although better than many of those of other local peoples), and routinely practiced "post-birth abortion" eugenics.

But that wasn't the point of the movie. The point was simply strong, free people fighting back, led by the bravery of one man, and driving off a sort of mystical invader cult.

One of my favorite scenes was when the evil "anti-war" legislator was killed and found to have a stash of coins in his vest bearing the image of Xerxes.

Also, I may be in the minority, but I thought it was really beautiful. I loved the red capes against the sepia and half-tone backgrounds.

[Dallas59]

RACISM AGAIN!!!!

[Redbob]

"The point was simply strong, free people fighting back, led by the bravery of one man, and driving off a sort of mystical invader cult."

There was more than one brave man there, and the "mystical invader cult?" - Persians
Today they're called Iranians.

And no, I fear you're not at all in the minority in thinking this was a good movie...

[Trampled by Lambs]

I thought they movie was great, visually and otherwise. If I wanted factual history, I'd read a book. This was about fun, not historical accuracy.

It's the first movie I've seen in some time that left me with a desire to see it again.

[livius]

I'm thinking of seeing it again myself. And I have a notoriously short attention span, so that means it was really, really good..

[The Pack Knight]

It's done in the old "heroic myth" style of story telling.

That's how I explained all the monsters to the person I watched it with. The story was narrated by a survivor of the battle, and considering that these Greeks had likely never been more than a few dozen miles from home, the exotic people an animals from the far reaches of the Persian Empire might well have looked like aliens to them. Imagine seeing an elephant for the first time when you'd never even heard of one before!

I really did enjoy the movie and plan on seeing it again in a week or so.

I was going to see it again with some friends, this time at the IMAX. Unfortunately, the IMAX in Raleigh is part of the Exploris, a public museum "about the world", and they aren't showing it. They explained in an e-mail to my friend that they don't show movies rated R for graphic violence. Considering the strong pro-UN message Exploris has promoted in the past, I wonder if the political message some have found in 300 had something to do with it. The e-mail did point out that they also declined to show V for Vendetta, a film with overt leftist and anarchist sympathies, so maybe I'm just being paranoid.

[The Pack Knight]

If I wanted factual history, I'd read a book.

It's not totally factual, but I never miss a chance to plug Gates of Fire by Stephen Pressfield. If by some chance any of you haven't read it, I can't recommend it enough. Arguably my favorite novel ever (yes, I argue with myself sometimes, scary, huh?), and I've re-read it many times.

[quiet_reverie]

I saw it today too, and was one of two other women in the theatre (the rest were obviously men). I found it captivating and have added it to my list of favorites. My husband saw this in Iraq and the theatre was packed full of troops. They LOVED it, applauded and wanted to watch it over again.