Three times the homoeroticism!

Yeah, this movie is gayer than... I can't think of anything to compare it to. I DON'T CARE. I am going to be seeing this opening night.

/Go, and to the listening Spartans tell
//that here, obediant to their laws, we fell.

This movie makes me wish I was gay.

300 looks terrible. "Spartans, tonight we dine in hell"? A farking rhino?

Seriously, if they are going to spend that little effort on making a movie about the ancient Greeks, why even bother? This movie will represent the time period as accurately as Kull the Conqueror.

Why do ancient Spartans and Romans and the like always have British accents?

perhaps it's because i'm a video editor and by looking at it i'm aware of what kind of work this movie took, but it looks simple amazing. and i'm familiar with the story as well.
i can't wait to see it

Droog8912

The movie's not based on history, it's based on Frank Miller's dramatization of the battle of Thermopylae. Which was 10 pounds of badass in a five pound bag.

My whole crew's gonna watch this opening night. It'll probably make us all gay, but it'll be worth it.

Heh. Like watching all three TMNT movies at the same time.

Minion - I'm with you.

This movie is the worst piece of crap ever. The real events of history can never be outdone.

ichiban: Heh. Like watching all three TMNT movies at the same time.

There was a third one?

PC LOAD LETTER: This movie is the worst piece of crap ever. The real events of history can never be outdone.

Frank Miller's surprisingly good at outdoing things. He's also pretty good at being completely batshiat when he's not spot-on. Fortunately, Sin City really encourages me that 300 should kick a whole lot of ass.

Also,

Don't whine about fictionalizing history.

That's silly.

Bloody William

Oh! Come on! That comic is just unfair!

I mean there's... uh...

errr...

Shut up. Just shut up.

Has anyone noticed that they only scream in the commercials?

My take:

- Awesome cinematography
- Cool fights
- Terrible/Cheesy dialogue
- Boring plot

SBA_JKred: - Terrible/Cheesy dialogue

Yeah, but the "our arrows will blot out the sun"/"then we will dine in the shade" exchange actually happened. Well, according to the accounts it did, so it may as well have.

SBA_JKred
Terrible/Cheesy dialouge
Boring plot

It's the story of 300 men against 1,000,000 men. And the 300 men not being butchered in 5 seconds. It's about one of the greatest acts of badass to happen in history and a lot of the dialouge from the trailer was things that were supposed to have been said by the people involved.

I understand that it is a Miller comic, so I expect liberties to be taken. I don't particularly mind the rhino or rampant swordplay and whatnot. It is based off a comic, and comics always make things more grandiose than neccessary, but parts of the movie such as "tonight we dine in hell" are just atrociously inept attempts at writing. Why exactly would Spartans talk about dining somehere that they don't believe in, or have ever heard of?

Personally, I don't understand the fascination with butchering interesting historical stories and interjecting flashier (and crappier) revisions (I'm looking at you, Alexander). The source material has far more interesting events that are ignored (the entirety of Alexander comes to mind).

historical accuracy? This! Is! Sparta!

but seriously, the important thing is killing lots of Persians...

might be very interesting timing.

Bloody William: Embarrassingly, for a comic book nut, I am not super-familiar with Frank Miller's work.

I've read DKR (no whores in that one), Daredevil (no prostitutes I can remember), Ronin (ditto), Robocop (ditto), and Sin City (plenty of loose women, but that's what it's about).

I dunno, that comic implies Miller is fixated on whores, but I don't see it as a major theme of his work. Care to enlighten me?

And while we're enlightening me, I put a general question to all: exactly why is this movie gay? I don't understand that at all. It's visually stunning, high on the cheese, but it'll probably be a battle movie to rival Braveheart or Gladiator. Are those "gay" too?

Arbitrator: And while we're enlightening me, I put a general question to all: exactly why is this movie gay? I don't understand that at all. It's visually stunning, high on the cheese, but it'll probably be a battle movie to rival Braveheart or Gladiator. Are those "gay" too?

The ancient Greeks were notorious for being gay. Especially since, for the most part, we see these guys running around in loin clothes (and even less in the original graphic novel).

But yeah, who cares about that. This movie will kick ass.

The ancient Greeks were notorious for being gay


they are notorious now for being gay but there wasn't a concept of gay at the time... people weren't classified by their sexuality like they are now. people then thought more in terms of masculine and feminine than homo and hetero...

and as for dining in Hell, the Greeks had a concept of various after-worlds and underworlds from which Christian literature probably derived some of it ideas...

ATostig: Why do ancient Spartans and Romans and the like always have British accents?

So you know that an Ancient Greek's accent wasn't similar to today's British?

LograyX: It's the story of 300 men against 1,000,000 men

Well not really more like 1500 versus about between 60 - 120, 000 (if you believe Wikipedia). Still an interesting story though. I'll definitely watch the movie

Droog8912, the greeks didn't believe in hell? WTF is Hades then?

/might have been cooler if they actually said 'tonight we dine in Hades'

I can't believe Forrest Gump, it was so historically inaccurate. It was almost as historically inaccurate as Apocalypse Now. Dialog like 'The horror' pffft, no-one said that in Vietnam, so inaccurate.

/I'm very sorry your image of the 300 spartans will be tarnished. Kindly STFU now, I'm going to get plastered and watch some death on the big screen in the form of swords thru faces.

Jedi_Templar: The ancient Greeks were notorious for being gay.

Ah. I'd known that - and, if memory serves, the Spartans were actually encouraged to have homosexual relationships with their fellow soldiers to encourage brotherhood. I don't know if that's a myth or not.

But I don't see why their sexuality is being mentioned so often, unless it's a satire on the typical knee-jerk homophobia of America... Or just plain old homophobia.

It was a part of the culture back then. In fact, I respect that a lot more than our "manly" men, who will feel threatened and demeaned if a man hits on them. At least the Greeks didn't let others define their sexuality for them.

For the record, I'm not gay. I just consider it a non-issue and I'm annoyed that people bring it up in the most irrelevant circumstances. Not a dig at you, Jedi.

Hindmost

Hades would be the Greek god of the underworld (which is given the same name). It is the destination of all mortals upon death. Saying "tonight we dine in hell" makes as much sense in this movie as saying "tonight we dine in valhalla." As you said, it would have been much better if they simply rewrote the line with Hades involved.

catatonicsrus
Wow, how astute. Your sarcastic prick of a response sure put me in my place. How dare I ever question poor filmmaking and lazy writing. In fact, I'm going to mail an envelope to Frank Miller now for the price of a ticket.

FTFA:Using hyper-real renderings similar to Miller's own graphically stylized illustrations, the film tells the true story of 300 elite Spartan warriors led by their fearless king Leonidas

Forest Gump wasn't claiming to be the true story of the Vietnam War, while this film tries to give that immpression. Despite that, "I understand that it is a Miller comic, so I expect liberties to be taken."

But hey, ignore me and just enjoy the film, I wouldn't want to ruin all the swordplay and car (chariot) chases for you by interjecting plot or background, afterall.

Droog8912: The comic was not intended to be anything more than a liberal retelling of the battle. The article says "true story," but the journalist is misinformed.

Looking at the Dark Horse solicitation for the hardcover, they don't call it a "true story" anywhere in the text. And since "true story" often adds an immediate sales boost, the fact that they did not use that phrase is telling.

A fansite also mentions that the GN takes "great liberties" with the true story.

You can call it lazy writing, but it seems that being historically accurate was never Miller's intention. Anyone who says the movie is going for accuracy is wrong.

I worked on this movie.

So I am really getting a kick out of most of these replies. Some of you guys are very good at making it sound like you know what you are talking about. But trust me.... You don't.

I think you just want to make yourself sound smart, when in reality you don't know what you are talking about. This is how bad info gets passed around. If you don't know about the topic....Don't make yourself sound like you do.

Cos some gladiator-film lovers believe anything they hear.



/what. ever.

Finally a prequel to "The Warriors"!

/Waaaaaaariooooooooors come out too plaaaaaaaaaaaay.

Paperclipse

Errr... not to step on your cliche, but gladiators were Roman, not Spartan or Persian. ^^;

Arbitrator said:
I've read DKR (no whores in that one), Daredevil (no prostitutes I can remember), Ronin (ditto), Robocop (ditto), and Sin City (plenty of loose women, but that's what it's about).

Catwoman in DKR ran an escort agency, the Joker was getting her hookers to use mind control lipstick on politicians. Catwoman was a an ex hooker and was a hooker in Year One. In Born Again, Karen the woman who gave up Daredevils identity was a junkie hooker. Sin City? Plenty of loose women you say?

LOL, Whores as far as the eye can see.

Did you actually read it or any of his books?

landmantx: So you know that an Ancient Greek's accent wasn't similar to today's British?

Nope. But I don't know that they were, either. Were they? Can you point me to something that says they were? I'm seriously asking.

The gay and hell bits aside, is the part about Spartans talking about fighting for freedom because "this is Sparta" suppose to be ironic?

As a helot I'm really... nm

geez it's a frickin movie you uptight history bastards.

I can't farking wait to see this.

I don't think it's going to be historically accurate, and I don't really care.

There isn't much a movie can do to accurately reflect the badassedness of the Spartans.

The cinematography looks spectacular, and there's just enough homoeroticism to give it that authentic Spartan feel.

Travis_Bickle: Catwoman in DKR ran an escort agency, the Joker was getting her hookers to use mind control lipstick on politicians. Catwoman was a an ex hooker and was a hooker in Year One.

Sorry, I haven't read Year One. I own DKR, but I haven't read it in years and I'm embarrassed that such a major plot point slipped my mind. Shame on me. I was specifically thinking of Robin being a counterexample to the "women=whores" accusation levied toward his work.

In Born Again, Karen the woman who gave up Daredevils identity was a junkie hooker.

I don't think I read that arc. I read the one with Elektra's death and a few issues around it (I didn't particularly like them, so I never followed up).

Sin City? Plenty of loose women you say?

=) I didn't want to keep using the words "whores" and "prostitutes," so I tried changing up my vocabulary for readability.

Did you actually read it or any of his books?

Of course. That's why I asked my question. However, it appears that I didn't read the right things (and somehow forgot a major plot point of DKR), so that explains my confusion.

Like I said, I freely admit I'm not a big Miller expert or fan - it's just that what I've read doesn't seem to support the idea that he's obsessed with writing women as whores. I still don't think that accusation is as true as, say, Adam Hughes' penchant for big tits.

Jessica Alba was a stripper in Sin City, thank you very much. And Carla Gugino was a parole officer. Of course, she was labeled a "dyke" and was brutally murdered.

I think Paul Verhoeven should film some of Miller's work. It would be non-stop whore killing.

Errr... not to step on your cliche, but gladiators were Roman, not Spartan or Persian.

Yeah, but I think the "gladiator film" genre is defined mostly by sweaty, barrel-chested, loin-clothed men doing battle and sharing knowing glances. And cartoonish action-violence.



/Joey, do you like movies about gladiators?

SchlingFo: I can't farking wait to see this.

I don't think it's going to be historically accurate, and I don't really care.

There isn't much a movie can do to accurately reflect the badassedness of the Spartans.

The cinematography looks spectacular, and there's just enough homoeroticism to give it that authentic Spartan feel.

Completely agree. I'm not watching for historical accuracy, just like I wasn't with Gladiator. It's a farking movie, based on a farking comic book. (excuse me "graphic novel") by Frank Miller.

I'm watching it because it will kick ass.

I think it's sort of an homage to the real Spartans to make an exaggerated story about them. It's sort of like how real legends were made back in those times, as stories were passed down from generations and elaborated on.

I'm sure the real Spartans would be honored to have a real legend all these thousands of years later told about them.

What's so badass about this story is that the Spartans KNEW they would all die. Leonidas was a KING for chrissake and he willingly gave up his life so that the rest of the Greek city-states could get to Salamis and assemble a naval onslaught to fight the Persians. If the Spartans HADN'T stayed, the Persians would have overtaken the rest of Greece and we wouldn't be here. Democracy as we know it would never have evolved. As for the number 300, well, there were 300 Spartan hoplites, but each of them had a couple of men, so the numbers are fuzzy. It was still a wicked cool piece of history that actually made me want to learn in high school.

Things I learned from the commercial:

The Persians used cave trolls.

/Looks like a firm Tolkein rip-off, visually speaking.
//Don't care about teh ghey; not gonna see it.