300 Review

[pitfallharry]

Well, I went and saw 300 tonight. The place was pretty packed and I got there fairly early. I don't know if it was the hype surrounding the film or because it's a Friday night.

The storyline is pretty cut and dry. There really isn't much to it. Which I knew that going in. So if your looking for something complicated then skip this. About 90% of the film is fighting and bloody fighting it is. I think even some came out of the screen and got on my popcorn.

The visuals in this movie are stunning and the fight scenes are really well done. I don't think I've ever seen battle scenes quite like this. The film walks a tight line between real life and some mythical legend. All the characters are larger than life and the bad guys are over the top. I'm big on visuals and I love what they did with this film. They really capture the look of the graphic novel it was based on.

This film is really aimed at the guys. I don't think the ladies would really find this movie entertaining....unless they want to stare at all of the half naked guys. Then they'll enjoy it.

This film reminded me a lot of Ridley Scott's Gladiator and has a similar outcome.

I really liked the film and anyone that's looking for literally a "Bloody Good Time" should go see this.

I'm not sure with the R-rating how well this will do at the box-office but I think it will be considered a classic years from now. It's not something I think people will forget.

[GCR]

Thanks for the review Harry!

I was talking to my girlfriend about going to see this movie over the weekend, and she made a comment about how the movie is probably 90% "building the story" (i.e. talking and talking and more talking) and 10% (the last 10 minutes, she was guessing) would be the actual battle. Glad I can tell her that's not the case (in fact, it seems to be the exact opposite... ;D )

I think I'll check this one out as soon as I can...

-GCR

[Havana]

I think Hollywood needs to realize that an R rating is not box office poison. They water down so many movies to a PG-13 because they're afraid of the R. I went with some friends to see Alien vs. Predator and we just walked away when we found out it was PG-13. I think most R movies do poorly because most of them are crap like lame horror movies or sex comedies. Whatever happened to the R rated action movies that were so common in the 80's? Anyway, 300's openinng weekend take of $70.8 million, according to Yahoo, is great by anybody's standards. Good for them and good for the creator Frank Miller. He's a great visual story teller who never compromises his vision. His Wolverine, Batman, and Sin City comics are some of the best examples of visual storytelling out there.

[Kt. Templar]

I saw this at the weekend. It's rare these days that I get put to see a movie, they seem to turn up on video only a few weeks later, but this seemed kind of special.

Tne verdict? I LOVED it! Rarely do you get such a ballsy, macho, totally un PC film with stunning visuals and not even a hint at rying to get a PG/PG13 style rating. No retreat! No surrender! No compromise!

The visuals are beautiful, every scene crafted and coloured to perfection to fit the mood. One moment you think you're watching a black and white movie the next your eyes are assaulted with vivid saturated colours.

What's it like? The matchbook synopsis would be Lord of the Rings crossed with Gladiator without the boring bits.

I approve! lol.