300 (2006)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Zack Snyder

Writers (WGA):

Zack Snyder (screenplay) &
Kurt Johnstad (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

9 March 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Action | History | War

Tagline:

Feel the wrath in IMAX

Plot:

King Leonidas and a force of 300 men fight the Persians at Thermopylae in 480 B.C.

Plot Keywords:

Persian | King | Xerxes | Battle | Army

Awards:

9 wins & 27 nominations

Cast

Gerard Butler	...	King Leonidas
Lena Headey	...	Queen Gorgo
Dominic West	...	Theron
David Wenham	...	Dilios
Vincent Regan	...	Captain
Michael Fassbender	...	Stelios
Tom Wisdom	...	Astinos
Andrew Pleavin	...	Daxos
Andrew Tiernan	...	Ephialtes
Rodrigo Santoro	...	Xerxes
Giovani Cimmino	...	Pleistarchos (as Giovani Antonio Cimmino)
Stephen McHattie	...	Loyalist
Greg Kramer	...	Ephor #1
Alex Ivanovici	...	Ephor #2
Kelly Craig	...	Oracle Girl

Also Known As:

300: The IMAX Experience (USA) (IMAX version)

MPAA:

Rated R for graphic battle sequences throughout, some sexuality and nudity.

Runtime:

117 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Sonics-DDP (IMAX version) | DTS | SDDS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

UK:15 | Ireland:15A | Netherlands:16 | Finland:K-15 | Singapore:M18 | South Korea:18 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:18A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | Germany:16 | Philippines:R-13 (MTRCB) | Australia:MA | Hong Kong:IIB | Norway:15 | Malaysia:18PL (original rating) | USA:R (certificate #42864) | Malaysia:18PL | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | Iran:(Banned) | France:-12 | Portugal:M/16 | Argentina:13 | Brazil:16 | Italy:T | New Zealand:R16 | Japan:R-15 | Sweden:15 | Peru:14 | India:A | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Icestorm Studios, Montréal, Québec, Canada

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Shortly after the film was released, there was considerable controversy as regards Tyler Bates's score. It was pointed out that Bates' music heavily borrowed from Elliot Goldenthal's score for Titus (1999). In particular, Bates' "Remember Us" is identical in parts to Goldenthal's "Finale", and "Returns a King" is very similar to "Victorius Titus". There was talk of an impending lawsuit, however, on 3rd August 2007, Warner Bros. Pictures acknowledged on the film's official website, "a number of the music cues for the score of 300 were, without our knowledge or participation, derived from music composed by Academy Award winning composer Elliot Goldenthal for the motion picture Titus. Warner Bros. Pictures has great respect for Elliot, our longtime collaborator, and is pleased to have amicably resolved this matter."

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: Dilios is telling the story to the new soldiers he is commanding before battle. Yet he leaves before King Leonidas and his men execute their final attack. So he wouldn't have known what they did exactly but he is telling the men everything until the point of Leonidas's death as if he was still there for it. However, the character of Dilios, according to director Zack Snyder in the documentary The 300: Fact or Fiction? (2007) (V) on the 2-Disc Special Edition DVD, is not a man to allow truth get in the way of a good story and is narrating in an effort to invigorate his men before a later battle.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Dilios: When the boy was born, like all Spartans, he was inspected.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "South Park: Fantastic Easter Special (#11.5)" (2007)

A two-sided piece of art

This film isn't for all people. That's to say about a lot of movies in general of course, but this one in particular brings up a big clashing point between critics; What do we want to see in our movies? What is more important, to portray a fictional setting for the sake of giving people a mind blowing visual experience or to amuse and amaze them with clever plot twists and intelligent dialogs?

First lets analyze what exactly this film is made of. Basically, the whole thing is just one epic fighting scene after another. Most noticeably is the camera work and the visual effects. Every shot seems like it was intended to be a work of art. The colors, the characters, the costumes, the backgrounds... every little detail has been given so much attention. During the big fights you'll also instantly notice the unique editing. There are a lot of "time slowdowns" throughout the battles which show what exactly is happening. Fatal wounds that slowly leak blood spatters in the air, decapitated heads traveling in slow-motion across the screen... it's all there.

The story on the other hand isn't very complicated, in the sense that the whole movie could probably be described in a sentence or two. The dialogs are simple and most often talk about moral values like freedom and honor. If you would look at the script, it would probably look like another movie that has nothing more to offer then idealistic visions of how life should be.

Reviewers of this title seem to be split up in two groups. They either love it with passion calling it an epic movie of the 21th century, or hate it even more and throw it off like a piece of garbage consisting of mindless action and silly cliché phrases. I feel reluctant to take a position in this argument. Normally it's tolerable to weigh out both sides of this matter to result in a fair judgment about a movie. Not in this one. On the one hand the visual are surely among the best to be witnessed in a movie. Every detail, every background, every special effect set to the scenes are so mindblowingly stunning. On the other hand the plot and dialogs are of the most simplistic and quite frankly dumb kind. "I fight for freedom! I'd rather die in honor then live in shame!" Sounds familiar?

Of course it could be debated that this movie was never intended in the first place to have a unique plot that makes your head spin. But from an objective point of view it's still lacking in this department, so it should be noted.

Now that's fine and all, but does that all make of the film? Is it worth watching or what? I think it is. For me the good outweighs the bad by miles. From the second the movie started it grabbed me and didn't let go. Every battle, every scene of the movie had me at the tip of my chair. Everything from the strong acting to the wondrous visuals to the war-shouts of the soldiers was just so stunning... it was truly a wonderful experience.

I did not one single moment felt like the movie lacked anything. But I could imagine why other people did.

So here's the deal.

If you are easily impressed by beautiful landscapes, wonderful camera-work and editing and powerful acting then go see this. Right. Now. You'll be missing out if you don't. There is so much to see, so much power in the way this comic is translated to the big screen... It'll leave you in awe.

However, you are looking for a good story, clever plot twists, some innovating to the world of the movies then skip this. 300 contains nothing of this, nor does it wants to give you this.

I enjoyed this movie so much, but I know there will be people that will pass of as rubbish, and that's understandable. Just be sure to make up your mind about what you want to see when you go to the theater yourself instead of being drawn into bias by the tons of reviews this site has to offer.