'300' Movie Slammed by Liberal Reviewer (Bush Reference)

Box Office Mojo ^ | March 9, 2007 | Scott Holleran

[Dr._Joseph_Warren]

Like watching a blood-drunk barbarian on a rampage, 300, like its title, drops the pretense of history—it purports to dramatize the ancient battle of Thermopylae between Spartans and Persians—and offers what can only be described as a mongrel mix of audio-visual fury. 300 is History hijacked by Horror.

A band of Spartan men go to war led by a king (Gerard Butler) married to a queen (Lena Headey) who insulted the enemy that marches upon their civilization, which is depicted as a haven for hateful half-savages. It's easier to follow who's who and what's what than one might expect, yet everything is hyper-exaggerated. 300 is submerged in style over substance.

The king kills the insolent enemy messenger, consults deformed mystics and their undulating nymph slave, mounts his wife every which way and sets out with his grunting group of soldiers to take a stand against the oncoming Persian zombies. It takes almost an hour before the bloodletting begins. The script is filled with words—tyranny, freedom, reason—that go completely unsupported and have no meaning. The Spartans, portrayed as snarling animals seeking hostility for its own sake, claim superiority over mysticism, but cartoonish mystics inflict real damage, thereby negating the power of reason over faith.

But with a military philosophy—the Spartan king regrets that he has so few lives to sacrifice—resembling the Bush administration's foreign policy, the mighty Spartans lack the mind to match the muscle.

If sacrifice is noble, why bother to fight—why not hurry up and die? And why—oh, never mind, this latest message of Doomsday nihilism, which sidesteps history, serves one purpose: to validate chronic fear.

[dinasour]

> Molon Labe!

Reminds me a bit of "Bring it on".

I wish I had the old Leonidas back.

[Rummyfan]

From a VDH review at

http://www.victorhanson.com/articles/hanson101106.html

Again, purists must remember that 300 seeks to bring a comic book, not Herodotus, to the screen. Yet, despite the need to adhere to the conventions of Frank Miller’s graphics and plot — every bit as formalized as the protocols of classical Athenian drama or Japanese Kabuki theater — the main story from our ancient Greek historians is still there: Leonidas, against domestic opposition, insists on sending an immediate advance party northward on a suicide mission to rouse the Greeks and allow them time to unite a defense. Once at Thermopylae, he adopts the defenses to the narrow pass between high cliffs and the sea far below. The Greeks fight both en masse in the phalanx and at times range beyond as solo warriors. They are finally betrayed by Ephialtes, forcing Leonidas to dismiss his allies — and leaving his own 300 to the fate of dying under a sea of arrows.

But most importantly, 300 preserves the spirit of the Thermopylae story. The Spartans, quoting lines known from Herodotus and themes from the lyric poets, profess unswerving loyalty to a free Greece. They will never kow-tow to the Persians, preferring to die on their feet than live on their knees.

If critics think that 300 reduces and simplifies the meaning of Thermopylae into freedom versus tyranny, they should reread carefully ancient accounts and then blame Herodotus, Plutarch, and Diodorus — who long ago boasted that Greek freedom was on trial against Persian autocracy, free men in superior fashion dying for their liberty, their enslaved enemies being whipped to enslave others.

[Rummyfan]

Then, some leftist-feminist reviewed the movie for either Salon or Slate. She called it "Crypto-fascist War Porn."

LOL! I feel sorry for her - it must be hell seeing all of life through such lenses.

[BenLurkin]

Reminds me of this...

[jonno]

chuckles... 8^)

[Maven]

You liked the integration of live and animated action and the use of desaturated color to achieve a look akin to the Frank Miller graphic novel? Or you liked the Spartan's buff bodies and spare clothing?

Yes.

Maven

[BenLurkin]

But then wouldn't he like 'gladiator movies'?...

[Maven]

Because the Spartans were buying time for the rest of Greece to prepare their defenses. The time bought by the sacrifice of the 300 Spartans saved Western Civilization.

People like the author can only survive as free men in this World because men like those Spartans have made sacrifices for him.

Exactly.

Remember Thermopylae.

Remember The Alamo.

Remember.

Maven

[Stand W]

Quick! Whem is San Jacinto day?

[Tijeras_Slim]

It was clarified to me that greek SOCIALISTS hate it. Which is extra cool.

[longtermmemmory]

Pictures from the Leonidas Memorial:

It has the famous "MOLON LABE" etched in the base and it has the long quote telling historians to make what they did on that spot for all to know about the dedication and courage of the Spartans.



The two specks at the base are people, it is a very large monument. (there is no monument to the persians)





Additional information from:http://people2.hsc.edu/drjclassics/lectures/history/PersianWars/persianwars.shtm

NOTE EMPHASIS underline and bold ADDED:

The Persians were so disheartened after the first day of
fighting that they had to be whipped into action (literally) the next day. With the help of a Greek
turncoat, the Persians were able to side-step Greek
(Phocian) precautionary measures and approach the actual
pass in force. The Spartan commander Leonides dismissed all allies present (from nearly every
Peloponnesian city) except the Thebans and his own band of
300 crack fighting men. The hand-to-hand combat grew so
bloody that it is said that Xerxes rose three times
from his throne in horror at the losses. Leonides and his
band fought to the last man, the surviving Thebans were captured, and the Persians resumed their advance on Athens.


This modern memorial to the men who died defending the pass at Thermopylae was erected in 1955 (and was funded by America!); the bronze statue of Leonides was
modeled after a fifth century marble statue presently
housed in the Sparta museum. The marble base of the
memorial is composed of reliefs showing scenes from the
battle and bronze plaques bearing famous epigrams inspired by this conflict.




Please note: the battle occured in northern Greece, the Spartans were from southern Greece.
These Spartans were far from home.




For those who don't know, the Leonidas memorial is roughly 1/2 between Athens and Thessaloniki and right along their National Highway Number 1

http://www.culture.gr/2/21/211/21114n/e211nn01.html For more information.


(ps: there was no mention of any afterlife or rewards other than the general knowledge that doing good was to help the living and their loved ones)

[BenLurkin]

April 21st?

[Anti-Bubba182]

That one was great.

[Theresawithanh]

It's definitely better in the theater, but at home I can enjoy an adult beverage and an occasional smoke break if I need to.

[BenLurkin]

The basic plot line was very similar to the current film but the older movie was directed in a 'dignified' pace.

I'm going to try to track down a copy to watch with along my son (if it can hold his attention) -- we had a lengthy discussion about the History channel special, "the 300" and "300 Spartans" over the weekend; Old Ben kept ranting about the short attention spans of modern moviegoers.

[roses of sharon]

Now wait a minute, some of us gals loved the "scenery", and will probably go again just to gawk at the "scenery", even tho it takes a while to get used to the stylized and narrated nature of the film, it was great.

BTW, did I tell you I loved the "scenery"?

[Ditto]

In the movie, the King says this is the birth of democracy and that democracy is not free, that it requires sacrifice.

Haven't seen the movie but if I recall my Greek history, the '300' were Spartans. Sparta was never a democracy --- not even close. It was a military dictatorship more closely akin to Imperial Japan than to Athens of Golden Age.

[Anti-Bubba182]

The History Channel special was very good also. It covered many details well.

[Redleg Duke]

What a whiny pantie-waist of a critic!

[Ben Mugged]

The result of these battles was that Athens became the most powerful city in the Greek sphere. Pericles then organized the "Delian League" to unite the Greek city-states against the common enemy, Persia. However, in time this degraded into an authoritative Athenian empire and led to the thirty year Peloponnesian war and the final victory of Sparta over Athens.

These facts are important for our narrative because they set the stage for one of the most important clashes in the history of philosophy. The clash between the individual and society. One underlying assumption in any democratic system is that every citizen is equally capable of legislating for the whole, that every citizen is a born politician. But it is not one very many citizens take seriously.

Democracy may have made Athens successful, but it was the reforms of the dictators Peisistratus and Cleisthenes that made democracy possible.

It was the Spartans stand at Thermopylae that saved Athens and democracy.