MovieChat Forums > 300 (2007) Discussion > It's no Citizen Kane - but that doesn't ...

It's no Citizen Kane - but that doesn't make it brainless

posted 9 years ago by Hunter_Logan
5 replies | jump to latest

This is one of those few movies that I watch purely to have fun. I saw it for the first time back when it came out, and it has since provided many recurring jokes in my household (there was a time for an entire summer when "This is Sparta!" was said probably twice a day, complete with my brother kicking me in the chest). It's extremely stylized - perhaps to a fault - and there's more action and slow-mo than any other film I've seen about ANCIENT GREECE, for God's sake. But that being said, it's actually a lot smarter than most people make it out to be. I re-watched it the day after I took an exam on Greece, and the film is surprisingly historically accurate. The warrior society, how Sparta treated their women, and the battle of Thermopylae are all portrayed very well. While they do take quite a few other liberties - most egregiously, making Persians black - a lot of other things are very faithful and insightful. The movie could have made the climax a triumphant, historically-inaccurate Spartan win, but instead they kept it faithful to history and let Leonidas die, using the drive for vengeance as the catalyst for Sparta amassing a larger army. It made the movie much more effective, emotionally and historically. The film, while it does have its overly-manly, sometimes homoerotic tendencies, is still an insanely fun experience. Its scenes are gorgeous, and it made Leonidas into such a badass that he's now about as well-known as Alexander the Great. Don't let the many ripoffs (like the bland "Immortals") make you think any differently: 300 was a unique and fantastic film that is much smarter than its visuals lead you to believe.

Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the war room!

[–] vojkan087 9 years ago

It is refreshing to read a positive review of this movie that actually goes beyond ''It's fun, and that is all that matters'' phrase that is supposed to make film instantly immune to criticism.

However, I can't agree with either historical accuracy or complexity hypothesis.

The narrative of 300 is noticeably following Herodotus, and several Roman era authors such as Plutarch and Pausanias (especially in Spartan society part and several catchy one liners from the final battle part). But unfortunately Miller's and Snyder's (mis-)usage of historical material, only makes matters worse, as it confuses us, and impairs our ability to differ obvious fantasy (monsters, superhero jumps and throws...) and more subtle 'artistic license' (almost everything you see on screen) from historical fact (there was an agoge, a Sparta, kings named Leonidas and Xerxes, a battle of Thermopylae...Athenians, Thebans, a traitor, a hail of arrows, a narrow pass (though a completely different kind of narrow pass actually), an epitaph). On top of that, exaggerating already exaggerated Roman era mythology about Sparta is bound to produce something that is far removed from reality and doesn't have any historical significance.

I will be happy to go through each and every one of what you say are accurate representations: the society, women and the battle itself. All of them are wrong to a point of ridiculousness. What is even worse is that none of the liberties taken with historical facts, or even with the comic book itself, can be said to have improved the film in any way. On the contrary.

So, your post, however creative compared to usual FUN! comments, demonstrates how damaging this film truly is, and how, despite the fact most of you/us can identify and dismiss monsters and speedo as artistic license, there are a lot of pseudo historical nonsense you/we do take as a historical fact.

The most dangerous part of the movie isn't its cosmetic inaccuracy seen in uniforms or skin colour, but its fundamental misunderstanding and misinterpretation, as well as crude simplification of ancient societies, their ethos and their inner and outer relations.

[–] doubl3 9 years ago

Critics are such morons. Look at the meta score for this in the 50s. Not all movies are supposed to be dramas and organized crime movies. People are really ridiculous today in how low they rate certain movies. For what this movie was SUPPOSED to be, it doesn't fail in many ways at all.

[–] 9 years ago

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[–] chamohlamb 9 years ago

How is it ridiculous to rate this movie low if I hate it. I hate watching this movie. It is not fun to sit through. It's ugly to look at. I rate it a 3 out of 10.

I'm glad you have fun watching it though. Just don't think someone disliking the movie is unjustified.

[–] electrictroy 8 years ago

NO the battle is not portrayed well. The Spartans fought in an organized formation, which is what made them so hard to defeat, not one-to-one combat (which makes a soldier easy to kill). What was shown on screen was nonsense. This could easily be retitled "Lord of the Rings: Legend of the 300" since it's 99% fantasy anyway.