Sin City feel to it. Definately a movie im going to see.

http://300themovie.warnerbros.com/

This looks exactly like my kind of movie. It can't be a historical depiction.... looks more like they threw in a fantasy element. I will probably go see this one at the theater.

It's Hollywood, every history film is fantasy :rolleyes:

It might not having any historical merit to it, but I love Spartan History and I love movies with huge fights, Hell I loved the Troy Movie. All and All its going to be fun

Hells yea, I cant wait for this one to come to the theatres. Woo WOo!

Sin City feel to it.
Both are by Frank Miller.

And yeah, I'm there.

For what it's worth, this military historian liked the movie...

http://www.victorhanson.com/articles/hanson101106.html

But most importantly, 300 preserves the spirit of the Thermopylae story. The Spartans, quoting lines known from Herodotus and themes from the lyric poets, profess unswerving loyalty to a free Greece. They will never kow-tow to the Persians, preferring to die on their feet than live on their knees.

If critics think that 300 reduces and simplifies the meaning of Thermopylae into freedom versus tyranny, they should reread carefully ancient accounts and then blame Herodotus, Plutarch, and Diodorus — who long ago boasted that Greek freedom was on trial against Persian autocracy, free men in superior fashion dying for their liberty, their enslaved enemies being whipped to enslave others.

And if you want to read a good (fictional) book about the 300...
http://www.amazon.com/Gates-Fire-Novel-Battle-Thermopylae/dp/0553580531/sr=8-1/qid=1169671538/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-4776075-1636961?ie=UTF8&s=books

See now I am getting more intrigued, I just figured it was a fictional story by Frank Miller, are you people saying that the story behind 300 is some ancient myth or something thats been around for awhile? I've never heard about it, and I am a avid History channel watcher.

The Battle of Thermopylae (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Thermopylae)

I just wish it didn't have the "Sin City" look to it...slow motion fight scenes and dark colors...blah to me which is strange because I like just about everything.

Im there.

See now I am getting more intrigued, I just figured it was a fictional story by Frank Miller, are you people saying that the story behind 300 is some ancient myth or something thats been around for awhile? I've never heard about it, and I am a avid History channel watcher.


The Spartans were a martial race of people. Trained from birth to be soldiers. I read somewhere that the average Spartan was 5'6'' and weighed about 150lbs. They wore armor that was close to 100lbs.

Pretty impressive.

Spartan's were a pretty unique group of people throughout history. Fascinating to some, endlessly grotesque to others.

Allow me, as not only do I grasp any opportunity around here to spout off about history, but also I just did a paper on the Perisan Wars that netted me an 82. Oh yeah, who's the daddy?

Sparta was a pretty insignificant town in the Peloponnese, which is the southern part of the Greek penninsula. The Spartans were Dorians, an ethnic group that came, along with the Ionians, to Greece from the North around 1200BC, if my memory isn't all that rubbish.
Around the rise of the Mede and then the Persian (about 700-500BC), the Spartan's revolutionized their social, political, and military order. Their annexation of the neighbouring Greek towns of Messenia allowed them to enslaved the entire population, perhaps one of the most brutal episodes of slavery in history, being utterly subjected to the Spartan's for centuries. They did all the domestic, agricultural, economic and labouring business, leaving Spartan's free to concentrate on weilding a military machine unlike anything before, or since (save, perhaps, the Hun). Babies deemed strong and capable enough were taken in to training at a young age, the others left exposed on the local mountain side.
Spartan mentality was for fitness, comradeship (homosexuality not only being accepted, but encouraged in an effort to foster healthy relations between soldiers) and fearless courage.
At the age of seven their began their training, and were often sent off in to the surrounding, wild countryside with nothing except their clothes, to live and survive for a week. When they reached 13, a rite of passage was to again be let loose with just their wits and skill, and bring back to camp the head of a helot, who they had to track, stalk, and then kill with nothing but their bare hands. You could imagine the absolute terror of a Helot's life in ancient Sparta.
Clad in bronze armour, armed with a long shield and 12 foot pike, shed of any domestic or labouring duties of the ancient world, the Spartan hoplite allowed the city to spread its dominance across the Peloponnese, forming a league of allies and defeated foes in which it took the leadership. With all of Lacomedia bound to it, the Spartans remained safe behind their isthmus barrier, and rarely ventured out in to the wider Greek, or Asian, world (though they did ocassionally lead their allies to support oligarchic regimes in other parts of Greece, but only if the result was a foregone conclusion).
Aristotle once called the Helot "a wolf, held by the neck", ready to tear their Spartan masters apart at any chance. Rebellion was a common feature, and once almost succeeded when an earthquake had given them their best chance. A paradox of the Spartan society was that, in time, they came to depend completely upon their slaves, while at the smae time living in a state of paranoid fear over an uprising that may succeed. Makes you wonder whether the Helot, or the Spartan, was really enslaved.
Nonetheless, fear of the subject population shaped Spartan foreign policy, and they rarely did anything that would require even half of their resources to be mobilized for war, as the more that was used, the less was available to crush any potential uprisings at home. That is why the Corinthians would later have such a hard time in forcing the Spartan's in to war against Athens, despite an endless barage of provocation. They knew that if they committed themselves to total war, they would be left vulnerable at home.
Their political system, like their social system, was unique. The state was led by two kings, but neither had much power, and they were elected, usually nothing more than figureheads, but leaders in times of war. Sparta, then, wasn't a kingship or monarchy, but an oligarchy, the state being controlled by a small group of citizens. Indeed, this small citizen group constitued a small percentage in their total population of Sparta, which is why their armies were always chronically small, and manpower was always more desperate than money.

Anywho, I digress. By the fifth century BC, Sparta was not just a local power, but a world power. By that I don't mean to suggest that she had possessions across the Mediterranean, but she was recognized more and more as a force to be reckoned with. Indeed, when the Greek cities of Ionia (on the West coast of modern Turkey, in the Aegean sea) rose in rebellion against their Persian masters, Sparta was one of many Greek city states that sent help. After a good nine years, or so, the rebellion had finally been squashed, and the Ionians, along with their Greek mainland allies, defeated at Lade in a huge naval battle (the success, however, had more to do with Greek tretchery than Persian skill).

Though defeated, the Persian King of Kings did not forget the aid Sparta, Athens, and many other Greek states, sent to their Ionian kin. When Athens and her Ionian allies marched inland during the revolt and burnt Sarda, the local Persian provincial capital, to the ground, the King of Kings was said to have shot a gold arrow in the air and shouted "Athens!"

It wasn't long before Darius I had assembled a large fleet and sailed through the Aegean, burning and demanding submission as it went (which often consisted of the fairly easy tokens of Earth and Water in a ceremony, which resulted in to that city becoming a client of the Perisan Empire). When it landed in Attica, the penninsula in which Athens ruled, at a place called Marathon, the army was severely defeated by the Athenians, however. The absence of Perisan cavalry (their best asset) and the match of cotton and silk Persian armour to the bronze clad Greek arms sealed the deal, and thousands of Persians were killed or chased in to the swamps and the sea (the Athenians were said to have charged for over a mile before they crashed in to the Persian line, but it's somewhat debateable today as to whether a human could actually run for a mile in a suit of bronze armour). A Spartan army that was promised arrived belatedly, some days later, only to return home, mistrusted by its Greek allies for arriving so late.

That may have ended Darius' plans for Greece, but it certainly didn't dampen Xerxes - his successor - plans. After crushing rebellions in Cyprus and Egypt (both of which were assisted by the Greeks), Xerxes assembled an army 250,000 strong at the Helespont, built magnificent bridges and, shadowed by his 1000 strong armarda, crossed from Asia in to Europe, the first battle of East v West.

Everything crumbled before Xerxes. Thrace, Macedonia, Thessaly, all gave tokens of Earth and Water in a gesture of peace and submission. It had taken only a few weeks and Xerxes had reached, unopposed, the Hot Gates (accurately translated, Thermopylae never meant 'the Gates of Fire', as so many Hollywood and popular writers have wished. It was named the Hot Gates after the hot springs nearby a narrow valley washed by the sea on one side, and hemmed in by a mountain barrier on the other. A perfect defensive site).

The Greeks, led by Sparta and Athens, had, against all the odds, formed a military union against the oncoming invasion. Not all, of course, for every Greek city that joined, two did not, wishing to submit or to remain neutral (or in the case of Spartan's enternal enemy, Argos, to take advantage of the situation and actually claim descent from Persia, which by Greek law allowd them to wriggle free of any obligation to fight). But by and large, the Greeks had done the amazing and united, for the first and last time. They knew, however, that as ideal as Thermopylae was for a defense, it could not be held indefeinately against an enemy so large. If the Persians did not succeed in a frontal assault, they would eventually flank Thermopylae, or move pass once the Perisan fleet had turned the position if they succeeded in defeating the tiny, 300 strong, Greek fleet.

Therefore the Greeks voted to send a token army, small enough to defend the pass for some time, but not large enough to do so for ever. Its aim, everybody knew, was to sacrifice itself to allow the Greeks enough time to organize a better defence further down the Greek penninsula, perhaps around Attica or within the safetly of the Peloponnese itself, shielded by the Corinthian isthmus.

In the end, the army was quite sizeable. Contiginents came from across Greece, but mainly those cities that had the most to despair, being too far on the periphery of the Greek world to resist, or immediately in the line of Xerxes' invasion force. The Spartan's sent the largest contribution, and were given the command of all Greek land forces. With their king, Leonidas, the Spartan's marched North, to Thermopylae, to their death.

When the Persians arrived, the King of Kings sent his spies across the surrounding country, with bags full of gold. He wasn't soft, he knew how war worked. The Persian Empire was the first, and perhaps one of the most powerful, superpowers to have existed. From India to Greece, Russia to Ethopia, it spread out across the known world. Persia, not Rome, was the first power to make use of an advanced road structure. The Royal Road linked this mighty empire, with postal services and stable stops, for new horses, to gain information, or to rest for the night. Satraps (or provinces) were governed usually by members of the Royal family, and the entire thing was patched together by loyalty to Ahura Mazda's chosen on earth, Defender of Truth, slayer of the Lie, King of Kings. And that is what Xerxes, afterall, had promised to do, to bring the Light to Greece, to spread the word of Truth, perhaps the first religious war in history.
Military, it was unlike all other empires. Its armies consisted of troops from the Indus valley, conscripted Indians with bamboo bows and elephant transport. It included Afrcians from Ethiopa with slingers and javelines, Egyptian chariots and Mede cavalry, Anatolian foot soldiers and wild tribesemen from the Caucasus, and - the most significant of all - Greeks from Ionia and the North. This great mass of multi-cultural soldiers would have been in stark contrast to the simple, mysterious Dorians, living on the outskirts of the known world, in wild Europa, where they have forged their own, unique system of living, undisturbed and untouched by time and memory. The brief flare of Greek power had been witnessed in the age of Heroes, when Agamemnon had invaded the East in a reversal of fortunes and laid waste to the Trojans, with mighty figures such as Achilles. But all that had come crashing down with the migration of the Dorians and Ionians from the wilds of the North, a misplacement that ruptured the Greek world that consequently embarked on a Dark Age until, with the formation of the Persian Empire, it came once again to the forefront of recorded history.
[OK, OK, so my ambitions to be a narrative historian in a few years may be shinning a bit here, but fuggadaboutit, it's nice to practice, eh]

Where was I? Ah yes, Xerxes sat upon his throne on a hill-top in which he could see his vast army converge upon the Gates that held the key to Greece. His extensive and efficient spy network had fanned out across the countryside with bags of gold, reporting back anything it encountered. The locals seemed promising, but they needed time, and more money, before they could be of any use. Something, however, had been discovered. A small, seemingly tiny, army of Greeks, re-fortifying the passes of Thermopylae. I'm sure it brought nothing more than a smile to Xerxes face. Indeed, he was already ordering the dishes he would eat in Athens and Sparta. When his mighty army had crossed the Helespont in to Europe, his general had asked him whether they should stop the fleets of grain ships heading from the Black Sea and the Pontus, on thier way to Greece. "Nonesense. Why should we stop these fellows, who do us no harm in taking our grain for us to Athens? We shall make good use of it when we are there."

But the spies had something more curious to report. Upon closer inspection, the Greeks at Thermopylae had allowed them to approach, and indeed to wander around. To their amazement, the Greeks cared not a lick. They were exercising nakedly, and others were combing their hair laconically, while Xerxe's army of a quarter of a million men advanced mere miles away.

It was, of course, a tactic. These Greeks were Spartans, and they brushed their hair to show that they care not at all for the coming fight. Indeed, it was their business to fight, that is what they had trained for since they were small boys. "Come back with your shield" a Spartan mother told her son as he departed "or come back upon it." Honour was everything, to die in battle the apogee of a Spartan's career.

Heading no warning from his Greek advisers, Xerxes sent his first wave of infantry in a frontal assault upon the pass. Back then, it was no more than a few hundred yards across. The mountains made an almost impenetrable barrier to the West, while the sea ensured security to the East. It had often been used in battle, and the Spartans were working hastily as the Persians advanced, rebuilding the walls and fortifying the abandoned settlement. They sent a thousand Greeks to guard the mountain passes above, to ensure they could not be scaled and taken in the rear by suprise. As the Persians came in to view, they were ready.

The first days fighting was gritty. Greeks fought in thin phalanx lines, veterns in the rear, novices in front to win their spurs. As one line became exhausted, it moved to the rear as the next stepped up. Greek superiority in arms and armour ensured light casualties on their side, and the fighting was, suprisingly, simple and easy. The Persians, however, clad in cotton garments with small spears, javelins, and short swords, came off the far worse. Against 12 foot pikes and bronze armour, they were massacred in their hundreds. The short pass allowed few to walk abreast, and as long as the pike remained aloft, the Persians could not even reach the Greek line. By the end of the day, several thousand had died.

Xerxes, however, was not to be deterred.

The following day's fighting was much the same. Xerxe's brought up his infamous Immortal Guard, 10,000 strong. They failed, however, all the same. Aparantly, seeing the continuous defeat by the small Greek force, Xerxes jumped up three times in frustration. The day ended, with the Greeks again victorious, having sustained light casualties, but the Persians being driven back, having lost thousands.

That night, however, the King of King's gold had done its work. A Greek local revealed a pass that led over the mountains and down behind Thermopylae. Dispatching a force under one of his generals, Xerxes was confident of victory the following day. The 1000 strong Greek guard that had been posted at the pass, however, believed the Persian force that night to be the enitre army, and fled in to the hills. The rear had been left dangerously exposed, and the Persian force made its descent, hidden by the peaks of the mountains, dissapearing in to the night.

The next morning, as successful as the Greeks had been, the Spartan king Leonidas nevertheless decided that an indefinite defence was useless. Greek troops could be used else where, and thus only a small force should be left behind to continue to the defence, which anyway seemed to be doing the job. About 1,500 stayed behind, obviously conscious of their faith. The core of this army were the 300 Spartans, under their king, that took the front line after 2 solid days of fighting.

The fighting resumed that day, almost identical to the previous days. The revolving Spartan phalanx held off the Persians with little trouble, as Xerxes conintued his frontal assaults. However, by the afternoon, the smaller force was beaing worn down. Pikes were breaking, shields crushed, men exhausted. Perisan arrows and limitless numbers were starting to do their job. However, the Persian force that had taken the mountain pass had finally descended behind the Spartan line. Their fate had, effectively, been sealed. Unable to fight on both sides for long, the Spartan army stood back to back. When the wall was overrun, they retreated deeper in to the pass. When their spears were broken, they fought with their nails and teeth. Their Greeks allies fought equally as brave, but eventually, they perished under the might of the Persian horde.

The sacrifice, however, had done its job. Athenians had been given the time needed to evacuate their homes, and take to their ships. Spartans had fortified the isthmus and mustered their Peloponnesian League as never before. Defeat at Artemesius and Salamis was to break the Persian fleet, and Xerxes critical departure back across to Asia to prevent rebellion in the empire allowed the Greeks to defeat the much reduced Persian army upon the plains of Thebes the following year.

Only a small, simple sign marks the greatest sacrifice the Greek world had ever known. At the pass of Thermopylae, reads:

"Go tell the Spartans, stranger passing by,
that here, obedient to their laws, we lie"

Hacked to pieces, and his head placed upon a pike, Leonidas and his Spartans gave to Greece ample time to implement their grand strategy. The Spartans would have their revenge at the battle of Plataea, when they surrounded Mardonious and beat him to death, Xerxes greatest general and confidant, symbol of the Persian yoke.

From then on, the Persians were on the defensive, and the war was taken to the Persian heartland.

Oh my... I'm supposed to be researching Alexander II's Great Reforms of the post-Crimean period, and here I am typing up useless essays. Anyway, hope you enjoyed it. Screw you guys, I'm going home.

No, no myth to the battle... though the specifics in the movie I'm sure will be highly dramatized... but what production since before Shakespeare hasn't taken some liberty there?

Halo or some other historian here may have a better knowledge, but I think we know as much as we do about the battle because both sides were relatively civilized empires that kept accurate records of such things, ie. this wasn't the Romans against the barbarians where we only have the winner's side.

edit: And of course Halo beat me with his above post.

Wow I made it half way through will have to finish reading it later. Very informative Halo, thanks.

Wow Halo lol good read, you must of just copy and pasted your B- paper :P

B-?!?!

My boy, in the world of BA's, an 82 is known as 1:1, otherwise known as a First, or A+.
I'm not sitting my arse through this mature year to get B's, no sir.
It's a PhD all the way, mate.

Glad you enjoyed, I'm a sad bastard when it comes to history. My poor missus feet bled for 5 days straight in Venice, she just wanted a romantic gondola ride, but I couldn't fit it in our schedule between the ducal palace and Byzantine basilicas.

Oh well, promised her a trip to some beach holiday in the summer to make up for it. As long as it's got some kind of Roman ruins.

Cheers Ibudin :P

Encyclopedia Britannica FTW!!!!!!!!! Halo gets better and copy and paste +1.


No, just teasing it was a good read.

Are you coming on to me?!

That was captivating. You just climbed up a few rungs on the ladder halo! :p

:devil

The ladder? I built the fookin ladder round here mate.

And he's modest too ladies!

I'm really looking forward to this movie, Spartan culture has always intrigued me because they were basically born and bred for war the way horses are born and bred to their respective purposes.

Last Night at the 300 [Victor Davis Hanson]

I went to the Hollywood Premier of the "300" last night, and talked a bit with Director Zack Snyder, screenwriter Kurt Johnstad, and graphic novelist Frank Miller. There will be lots of controversy about this film—well aside from erroneous allegations that it is pro- or anti-Bush, when the movie has nothing to do with Iraq or contemporary events, at least in the direct sense. (Miller's graphic novel was written well before the "war against terror" commenced under President Bush).

I wrote an introduction for the accompanying book about the film when Kurt Johnstad came down to Selma to show me a CD advanced unedited version last October, but some additional reflections follow from last night.

There are four key things to remember about the film: it is not intended to be Herodotus Book 7.209-236, but rather is an adaptation from Frank Miller's graphic novel, which itself is an adaptation from secondary work on Thermopylai. Purists should remember that when they see elephants and a rhinoceros or scant mention of the role of those wonderful Thespians who died in greater numbers than the Spartans at Thermopylai.

Second, in an eerie way, the film captures the spirit of Greek fictive arts themselves. Snyder and Johnstad and Miller are Hellenic in this sense: red-figure vase painting especially idealized Greek hoplites through "heroic nudity". Such iconographic stylization meant sometimes that armor was not included in order to emphasize the male physique.

So too the 300 fight in the film bare-chested. In that sense, their oversized torsos resemble not only comic heroes, but something of the way that Greeks themselves saw their own warriors in pictures. And even the loose adaptation of events reminds me of Greek tragedy, in which an Electra, Iphigeneia or Helen in the hands of a Euripides is portrayed sometimes almost surrealistically, or at least far differently from the main narrative of the Trojan War, followed by the more standard Aeschylus, Sophocles and others.

Third, Snyder, Johnstad, and Miller have created a strange convention of digital backlot and computer animation, reminiscent of the comic book mix of Sin City. That too is sort of like the conventions of Attic tragedy in which myths were presented only through elaborate protocols that came at the expense of realism (three male actors on the stage, masks, dialogue in iambs, with elaborate choral meters, violence off stage, 1000-1600 lines long, etc.).

There is irony here. Oliver Stone's mega-production Alexander spent tens of millions in an effort to recapture the actual career of Alexander the Great, with top actors like Collin Farrel, Anthony Hopkins, and Angelina Joilie. But because this was a realist endeavor, we immediately were bothered by the Transylvanian accent of Olympias, Stone's predictable brushing aside of facts, along with the distortions, and the inordinate attention given to Alexander's supposed proclivities. But the "300" dispenses with realism at the very beginning, and thus shoulders no such burdens. If characters sometimes sound black-and-white as cut-out superheroes, it is not because they are badly-scripted Greeks, as was true in Stone's film, but because they reflect the parameters of the convention of graphic novels, comic books, and surrealistic cinematography. Also I liked the idea that Snyder et al. were more outsiders than Stone, and pulled something off far better with far less resources and connections. The acting proved excellent—again, ironic when the players are not marquee stars.

Fourth, but what was not conventionalized was the martial spirit of Sparta that comes through the film. Many of the most famous lines in the film come directly either from Herodotus or Plutarch's Moralia, and they capture well, in the historical sense, the collective Spartan martial ethic, honor, glory, and ancestor reverence (I say that as an admirer of democratic Thebes and its destruction of Sparta's system of Messenian helotage in 369 BC).

Why—beside the blood-spattering violence and often one-dimensional characterizations—will some critics not like this, despite the above caveats?

Ultimately the film takes a moral stance, Herodotean in nature: there is a difference, an unapologetic difference between free citizens who fight for eleutheria and imperial subjects who give obeisance. We are not left with the usual postmodern quandary 'who are the good guys' in a battle in which the lust for violence plagues both sides. In the end, the defending Spartans are better, not perfect, just better than the invading Persians, and that proves good enough in the end. And to suggest that ambiguously these days has perhaps become a revolutionary thing in itself.

I think he liked it.

Ugh.. they fight better because they are free men? I can feel Green et al rolling in their graves (if they were dead, that is).

The idea that Persian troops (or conscripts) fought any less because they were subjects, and not citizens, has been proved wrong endless times.

Plataea was almost lost due to the tenacity and bravery of the Persian infantry. Their inferior arms and armour meant that they incurred far more appaling casualties than did the Greeks. Not to mention that they were continuously at a disadvantage, mainly due to geography, in regards to their two most vital strengths: cavalry and numbers.

Being free or not had the least to do with it. But I guess it's a nice gimick for the modern age of terrorism and such. Which is a shame as I thought it was priding itself on being apart from such topics, while more in tune with the abstract nature of Greek art and ideals of the time.

At least that gives it a 'get-out-of-jail-free-card' in regards to historical inaccuracies. "No see it doesn't matter that we included elephants, we're being dramatic and inventive!"

Either way, a refreshing and brave approach to film making. Hopefully will make a good flick.

From what I recall, the Greeks worked to make the battle into a "slavery vs. freedom" thing too, with freedom being the overriding reason for the tactical victory (in terms of how the Spartans and Thespians bled out a sizeable portion of the Persin army), rather than you know...tactics. But oh well.

I plan to see this in iMAX this weekend assuming of course that things slow down here enough to let me since I'm oncall I would be pissed off if I got paged in the middle of the show :(

Best movie i have seen in a long time, i was giddy, yes i will homofy (new word) myself to say i was giddy at how well choreographed every fight seen was , and how much detail there was.

I will own this day of release. I will watch it repeatedly.


Also, they dont focus but for a couple moments on the whole free vs slaves thing. Sheer tactics wins, its utterly amazing.

I was in love with the movie to, all showings in my town were sold out at the maine three theatres.

When the dvd comes out for 300, if you dont have a hidef tv, a hidef dvd player (hd-dvd or Bluray) and surround sound. You are not doing this movie justice.

Damn fine narrative there, Halo!

From what I recall, the Greeks worked to make the battle into a "slavery vs. freedom" thing too, with freedom being the overriding reason for the tactical victory (in terms of how the Spartans and Thespians bled out a sizeable portion of the Persin army), rather than you know...tactics. But oh well.

The free vs. slave was the argument put forward by Herodotus. Despite Halo's dramatism, it is a matter of history that he said this. But, I do agree with Halo ( and just about every historian that didn't grow up in Ancient Greece ) that this argument is circumspect at best. It is really just another way in which the Greeks saw their culture as superior to all others and the historians used the free vs. slave as a method of supporting their superiority. Though slavery was practiced in Greece, the cultural view of slaves was very low, the word pais was used to mean both children and slaves ( those barred from political rights ).

This movie freakin rocked. Great action,great visuals,classic one liners.

the only problem I had is that you see all this blood flying all over as the bodies pile up,but the spartans don't have one drop of persian blood on them. They should have been soaked from head to toe.

I noticed that also Selwen

The thing that really bugs me is many of the critics that I usualy read or listen to (more for fun instead of actual movie advice) are talking about the movie having a poor story and overall just being a gore fest. I disagree with this but even if I dont, what is so wrong with being able to go to a movie and relax and enjoying the amazing visuals once in awhile.

I thought it was pretty good. From the hype, I was expecting a notch higher on the pure-awesomeness-scale, but it was great anyway.

It's a shame that you're mostly reporting it as a gore fest. What happened to all that artistic, spiritual representation? Culture? Sounds like a graphics fest.

Oh well, will have to enjoy it as such. No bad thing I guess, haven't seen anything remotely decent since............

Hm.

Well, I guess it was just a matter of time until something stupid like this came up.

http://jurnalo.com/jurnalo/storyPage.do?story_id=22794

The funny part is that most of the people seeing the movie probably never would've made the connection between Persia and Iran (they don't even know where Iraq is, ffs), but now Iran will make sure everyone does associate them with the Persians in 300. Way to go, morons.

Well, how soon before some Sunni sees the movie and cites it as his reason, being a member of the smaller sect, for attempting to take out as many of his enemies (Shiite) as possible.

Folks needing justification will always grasp at anything, and when those folks are idiots as well, the grasping will be all that more idiotic.

the spartans don't have one drop of persian blood on them. They should have been soaked from head to toe.


its intentional i will try to find why. Frank Miller had purpose for that.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6455969.stm

- Heh.

Finally saw it. I enjoyed it and everyone I was with also enjoyed it. I could easily see it again.

Saw it today, well done. Parts of it seemed a bit over the top (like why have the oracle going nuts on the happy smoke? what did that really do for the movie?), but altogether it was a lot of fun.

oh for fucks sake.

*Sam Kinnison type rant ahead*


Hey Iranians, Its a movie based on a comic book! Its not supposed to be histrically accurate. It's a work of fiction.
You didnt see me getting all pissed off and screaming " Jihad! " when they butchered the Spiderman story line did ya? Like " oh my god , where the fuck is Gwen Stacey. The Green Goblin is supposed to kill her. Death to the Infidels at Marvel!"

Seriously, people need to lighten up.

.....talking about the movie having a poor story and overall just being a gore fest....what is so wrong with being able to go to a movie and relax and enjoying the amazing visuals once in awhile.

Gore fest? Poor story? For me....I think I can skip this one and pocket my 10 bucks and feel good about it. :)

Most surprising thing about this movie? My wife loved it. I was speechless as I was driving back home after forcing her to attend and she asked me if I wanted to go again next weekend...

Can I borrow her?

That movie was so hot. Those were some sexy bad asses, omg. I loved this movie. Bow to the King.

:devil

Enjoyed it thoroughly. I still don't know how Zack Snyder is going to pull off Watchmen, but he's earned the benefit of the doubt.

I thought the movie had way to much hype. It was...ok for me. Wife liked the 6 pack abs though.

Not take away from it still one of the best movies I seen in a long while, but personally as far as fight scenes go..Gladiator >.

Did anyone else laugh comparing the Iranian response to the Jewish one over passion of christ?

In any event I thought it was the best soft porn movie I've seen, though I could have done without the armless tranvestite grinding on the hunchback on his way to see King RuPaul. The decapitation of the dude's son by that LONE HORSEMEN 20 MINUTES AFTER THE CHARGE was also up there on guffaw provoking moments, but the rest of the combat choreography was great.

Wish me luck. Going to watch it tonight with the Lady, who I've tricked in to thinking it has a love story.

Ha.

Haha.

MUAHAHAHAHA!

I can only imagine how bad that'll end for you.

Well it is sort of a love story too :)

Well it is sort of a love story too :)

It's true. I love all those hard bodies!

:devil

Well of course it had a love story :rolleyes:

But over-all, good flick. Mucho action, great use of graphics.
All got a bit out of hand with the hunchback dude and the rhino, but a good action rom-com nonetheless.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v510/fireslayer1672/2wrhvsl.jpg

Thats about the same as hell.

There is a ton of things now with that exact picture being put in things. I love the internet.

yeah I have 5 or 6 different ones on my other computer. I will have to post them they are pretty funny

Mario (http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=231) or Chtulhu (http://www.macguff.fr/goomi/unspeakable/vault224.html)?

Terrorism (http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=457131) ends now!






















http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/1687/sanstitrebt5.png

United 300 .. lmao.. that was great :D