300: Rise of an Empire (2014)

Greek general Themistokles leads the charge against invading Persian forces led by mortal-turned-god Xerxes and Artemisia, vengeful commander of the Persian navy.

Director:

Noam Murro

Writers:

Zack Snyder (screenplay), Kurt Johnstad (screenplay)

Stars:

Sullivan Stapleton, Eva Green, Lena Headey

2 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sullivan Stapleton	...	Themistokles
Eva Green	...	Artemisia
Lena Headey	...	Queen Gorgo
Hans Matheson	...	Aeskylos
Callan Mulvey	...	Scyllias
David Wenham	...	Dilios
Rodrigo Santoro	...	Xerxes
Jack O'Connell	...	Calisto
Andrew Tiernan	...	Ephialtes
Igal Naor	...	King Darius
Andrew Pleavin	...	Daxos
Peter Mensah	...	Persian Emissary
Ben Turner	...	General Artaphernes
Ashraf Barhom	...	General Bandari
Christopher Sciueref	...	General Kashani

Storyline

After its victory over Leonidas' 300, the Persian Army under the command of Xerxes marches towards the major Greek city-states. The Democratic city of Athens, first on the path of Xerxes' army, bases its strength on its fleet, led by admiral Themistocles. Themistocles is forced to an unwilling alliance with the traditional rival of Athens, oligarchic Sparta whose might lies with its superior infantry troops. But Xerxes still reigns supreme in numbers over sea and land.

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Plot Keywords:

greek | army | navy | antiquity | 5th century b.c. | 

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Taglines:

The battle of glory continues

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Genres:

Action | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong sustained sequences of stylized bloody violence throughout, a sex scene, nudity and some language

Did You Know?

Trivia

The original script featured King Leonidas from 300 (2006), but he was ultimately cut out. This was due to Gerard Butler, who turned down to reprise his role as Leonidas, since it "wasn't really [his] thing".

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Goofs

(at around 57 mins) When Themistokles returns from the ship of Artemisia telling the others that "The next time that we face her, she's going to bring all of hell with her." he looks to the side and in a close-up his contact lenses are clearly visible.

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Quotes

Artemisia: You fight much harder than you fuck.

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Crazy Credits

The Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures logos are seen on doors that open up to reveal the mural of Leonidas and the 300 Spartans.

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Connections

Edited from 300 (2006)

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Soundtracks

War Pigs
Written by Ozzy Osbourne (as John Osbourne), Bill Ward (as William Ward), Geezer Butler (as Terence Butler) and Tony Iommi
Performed by Black Sabbath
Courtesy of Downlane Limited

User Reviews

Vulgarity vs. Romance.

"300: Rise of an Empire" will be no surprise in delivery other than it is possibly better than the first? There will, still, be fight scenes reminiscent of flawless dance moves, and the great choreography is what lends the film to being a great 'dance' movie (hello Step-Up 3hundred). The difference in approach comparatively between the two films would be the perverse nature of the second's delivery of the story at hand. The first had a far more romantic predisposition.

The story is more or less the same - Persians are descending onto Greece and taking over. The epicenter for the second take on the Persian take over is Athens and its people. The men are not as perfectly ripped as the Spartans. The soldiers are made up of various sized men (but there's still a great amount of shiny muscle) and not nearly as romantic in appearance as the perfect Spartans.

The sex scene is more sadomasochistic and less love making. The passion between "King Leonidas" and his queen in "300" is filled with affection and attachment whereas the scene in "300: Rise of an Empire" is riddled with force, power and control. The sexual tension in both scenes are similar in sexual tension but both portray a very different tone, one more romantic than the other.

The lighting is impeccable and the story lent well to the way in which the 3D was utilized. Instead of aspects 'popping' out at you they seemed to go deep. The landscapes had so much depth that it was hard not to make the correlation between the depth "300: Rise of an Empire" was reaching to in terms of the Persian take over. As it was not the next installment of "300" but more insight into the original story, as the story goes deeper than Sparta and the army of 300.

Eva Green is outrageously good and compelling to watch and to some degree is the "Leonidas" of "Rise of an Empire". Not to say that Sullivan Stapelton was overshadowed but his role was more meticulous and thought out, very much like the Queen in "300". The two pull the opposite sides of a war story firmly together. Not to mention how smoking hot both of them are.

Like the first, "Rise of an Empire" is undoubtedly clothed in beauty, from the moonlighting to the muscled bodies, the supple breasts to the eloquent sprays of blood, the film is about an aesthetic which is part of the story. Is it masking a lack of story? definitely not, it is the story.

"300" was ground breaking at the time of release, "Rise of an Empire" merely perfects that first step into a world of a different, and maybe more enigmatic, way of story telling. 7.5/10

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 March 2014 (USA)

Also Known As:

Untitled 300 Sequel

Filming Locations:

New Boyana Film Studios, Sofia, Bulgaria

Box Office

Budget:

$110,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$45,038,460, 9 March 2014

Gross USA:

$106,580,051

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$337,580,051

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., Legendary Entertainment, Cruel & Unusual Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Datasat Dolby Digital Dolby Atmos Dolby Surround 7.1

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1