Highly Recommended Viewing: 300

Filed by: Darren on March 26, 2007 at 7:57
Filed In: Movies

Jo and I went to see 300 on Saturday afternoon. At the Manchester Odeon IMAX. Screen the size of an 8-storey building, half a gazillion watts of stereo sound; all of that. It was undoubtedly the most intense cinematic experience of my life.

'Our arrows shall blot out the sun!' 'Then we shall fight in the shade.'

I'm delighted to report that the movie was everything I'd hoped it would be. Visually stunning, deeply visceral, an incredibly faithful re-envisioning of the original Frank Miller graphic novel and an intensely cathartic storyline that was complemented throughout by a quite superb musical score (which I must get hold of on CD).

It took me right back to the first time I read Legend, or the first time I read the Battle of Helm's Deep in The Lord of the Rings. Heroic last stands, undaunted courage in the face of insurmountable odds, a fight to the death to defend your homeland and loved ones... I think that sort of thing speaks to something deep in the psyche of most fantasy fiction fans. I'm not enough of a psychologist to say what, exactly, it might be, but it's probably something to do with chivalry, with honour, with doing the right thing, even if it means you won't necessarily live to reap the rewards.

I know; a bit old-fashioned in this day and age, perhaps. But you show me a fantasy fan who tells you they're not just a bit old-fashioned, and I'll show you someone who's fooling themselves ;)

Needless to say, I'll be buying the DVD as soon as it appears. And quite possibly a bigger TV screen to play it on. Don't think Jo would let me install an IMAX - we'd probably have trouble with the planning permission - but hell, you need something huge to really do the movie justice. If you're thinking of seeing 300 at any point, don't wait for it to come out in a small-screen format. Shell out the cash, go to the cinema, sit back, relax, enjoy the spectacle. You'll be glad you did.

Quick Edit: There's an interview with art director and effects designer Grant Freckleton over at the CG Society website if you're interested in how they came up with those aforementioned stunning visuals...

Quick Edit II: Film mag Empire Online has a set of video interviews with Zack Snyder, Gerard Butler, Lena Headey and Rodrigo Santoro.

Quick Edit III: I re-read the graphic novel this lunchtime. Apart from the addition of the side-plot with the slimy politico back in Sparta (there to give Queen Gorgo some more screen time, I reckon) the movie is an incredibly faithful adaptation of the original. I mean, right down to some of the frame layouts, the dialogue, the posture of Xerxes as he lounges on his throne and sneers down at the remnants of the Spartan force... everything... superb.

Filed on: March 26, 2007
Filed under: Movies
Tagged with: 300 | Frank-Miller |

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7 Responses to 'Highly Recommended Viewing: 300'

Ludwik on March 26th, 2007 11:56 am

I saw this movie in standard cinema (not IMAX) and I'm pretty satisfied with it. Not betther than Sin City but propably one of the best movies in 2007.

Anyway, comparing it to LOTRs Hemls Deep fight? Awesome! I didn't thought about it in this way...
Ariel on March 26th, 2007 12:06 pm

Hi Ludwik - I think I would have gone to see the movie in any large-screen format, to be honest. I loved Sin City as well, although I made the mistake of waiting for the DVD that time around...
mhayinde on March 26th, 2007 3:30 pm

Yup, this is a brilliant movie. I also saw it in a standard cinema and it's definitely one to watch on the big screen first!
Brian Ruckley on March 27th, 2007 12:16 pm

Just to be very mildly dissenting: saw it last night, and liked it quite a bit, but was not entirely blown away. It has fantastic moments in it, and in terms of design and action it's stunning, but felt a bit more like a (very successful and accomplished) technical exercise than a complete movie. The extra stuff back in Sparta with Leonidas' wife just didn't work for me. Like all of Frank Miller's stuff, the whole thing is glorious but a little bit hollow.

Heard an interesting interview with the director on the radio the other day where he said 300 is the ultimate Miller story, where he finally gets to take his standard character (Dark Night, Marv in Sin City, Leonidas here) to the logical conclusion of his character arc. In hindsight, the Spartans are certainly entirely natural territory for Frank Miller ... his entire output, all the way back to Daredevil, seems to be about what would happen to a Spartan in the modern world.
Ariel on March 27th, 2007 12:26 pm

That's definitely an interesting way of looking at the Miller version of the Eternal Hero archetype. Someone should ask him that in an interview or something, see what he thinks.

And I think you're right: it's not a complete movie in the traditional 'three act', linear narrative sense, but then I don't think it's really meant to be.

That reminds me, though: on the way out of the cinema, someone behind us on the escalator was saying, in all seriousness: "You know, I really thought they were going to win..." and their friend replied "I've heard they might be making a sequel where the Spartans are the bad guys..." which maybe goes to show how deeply ingrained the 'standard' conception - of the sort of stories a movie should and shouldn't tell - is these days.
John Berlyne on March 30th, 2007 4:05 pm

Well, I owe you a pint Ariel! After reading your thoughts on the film, I nipped into the Manchester Imax on Wednesday and had my senses assualted by this film. It was my first time seeing a movie in that theatre and what an experience! The screen is actually wider and taller than one's field of vision and coupled with the thunderous sound, and the various beheading, dismemberings and disembowlings, it really is an intense couple of hours... although there is something hallucinogenic about having a breasts the size of double decker buses flashed up before your eyes. All a bit freudian, I thought! But ewell worth the ticket price!
Ariel on March 30th, 2007 4:17 pm

Ah... my work here is done... :)

Cheers John! Mine's usually a Guinness... :)