'300' is the way action dramas should be
Khaled Okla
Issue date: 3/23/07 Section: The Edge
The work in front of the blue screen is what makes the film. What brings "300" such majesty and power is its beautiful screen work. With this technology, we can see miles and miles of fields, mountains as far as the sky can reach and colors that could not be seen contrasted in the light of day in the real world. It's a sense of mythology.
Movies like this are not supposed to depict realism, but glory. The slow-motion segments of the film show the power and ugliness of war and at the same time show the detail that can be shown with this way of producing a movie. To my knowledge, there hasn't been a greater achievement in film work - not so much in the story, but the new way of showing the story.
While the leading character, Leonidas, is not performed by such a well known actor, as neither are any other characters. Despite that, the acting in the film is fantastic. It's amazing that a movie with no-name actors is acted better than a movie with the overrated Tom Cruise or the typecast Samuel L. Jackson (ie: Snakes on a Plane). Gerard Butler (Leonidas) brings you into the world of pride that he indulges himself in as the leader and protector of Sparta without being cheesy or sounding forced.
While the story of the 300 Spartans is historically factual (to some extent), the storyline of the film was developed by Frank Miller in his novel. Many things in the story were inaccurate, such as the armor worn by the Spartans, their military formations and the image of Xerxes (Xerxes had a beard). The inspiration of Miller's novel was the film "The 300 Spartans" circa 1962. The books were loosely based on the story from that film, but made more epic in the style of Miller.
For the rest of the year, other films will fail to live up to the experimental spirit of "300." Any action movie made in the last 25 years could have been one hundred percent better with this films producer and director, and their new ideas. Should this be the way all action dramas are made? In my humble opinion, yes, they definitely should.
Movies like this are not supposed to depict realism, but glory. The slow-motion segments of the film show the power and ugliness of war and at the same time show the detail that can be shown with this way of producing a movie. To my knowledge, there hasn't been a greater achievement in film work - not so much in the story, but the new way of showing the story.
While the leading character, Leonidas, is not performed by such a well known actor, as neither are any other characters. Despite that, the acting in the film is fantastic. It's amazing that a movie with no-name actors is acted better than a movie with the overrated Tom Cruise or the typecast Samuel L. Jackson (ie: Snakes on a Plane). Gerard Butler (Leonidas) brings you into the world of pride that he indulges himself in as the leader and protector of Sparta without being cheesy or sounding forced.
While the story of the 300 Spartans is historically factual (to some extent), the storyline of the film was developed by Frank Miller in his novel. Many things in the story were inaccurate, such as the armor worn by the Spartans, their military formations and the image of Xerxes (Xerxes had a beard). The inspiration of Miller's novel was the film "The 300 Spartans" circa 1962. The books were loosely based on the story from that film, but made more epic in the style of Miller.
For the rest of the year, other films will fail to live up to the experimental spirit of "300." Any action movie made in the last 25 years could have been one hundred percent better with this films producer and director, and their new ideas. Should this be the way all action dramas are made? In my humble opinion, yes, they definitely should.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
Julie Terstriep
posted 3/23/07 @ 4:31 PM EST
Nice review of "300", but I think the Persians numbered in the 100,000-500,000 range instead of 20 million Persian soldiers.
The 300 were battling overwhelming odds, just not quite that overwhelming!
AngelD
posted 3/24/07 @ 2:13 AM EST
Yes, the movie was awesome. I loved every second of it. I'm usually not a big fan of the action genre, but this one was a huge exception. Even as someone with a degree in history, I didn't care that it wasn't totally historically accurate, and usually that really ticks me off about a movie that's based on a historical event. (Continued…)
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