AC/AL 2007 116m ENG 65m SV/N CAST: Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, Dominic West, David Wenham, Vincent Regan, Michael Fassbender, Tom Wisdom, Andrew Pleavin, Andrew Tiernan & Rodrigo Santoro CREDITS: Director: Zack Snyder; Screenwriters: Zack Snyder/Kurt Johnstad & Michael B. Gordon; Producers: Mark Canton/ Bernie Goldman/Gianni Nunnari/Jeffrey Silver; Director Of Photography: Larry Fong; Production Designer: James D. Bissell; Editor: William Hoy; Costume Designer: Michael Wilkinson; Music Composer: Tyler Bates THE SYNOPSIS The year is 480 B.C. The mighty Persian Empire has waged war on the Federation of Greek City-States for over a decade. Led by the decadent and narcissistic King Xerxes (Santoro), the sprawling Persian armies storm across Greece, conquering the land… …except for the powerful City-State of Sparta, whose denizens are fearless warriors and the strong-willed women who breed them (whether mother, wife, sister or daughter —they’re tough too!). Their battle-hardened monarch, King Leonidas (Butler), incites direct conflict by defying the Oracle & its priests—in actuality, a bunch of old men bribed by Xerxes—and killing the Persian Emissary and his troops. His loving wife Queen Gorgo (Headey) hands him his shield, sword and spear; so do several hundred other women to their men, sons, fathers. Leonidas selects 300 of his bravest and most-loyal men to head off the Persian Army at the narrow, mountainous strait known as Thermopylae (“The Hot Gates” in Greek). Joining Leonidas and his Spartans are several fierce Arcadians and a few other Greeks. They prepare the Pass for battle and take arms in defense. A deformed Spartan named Ephialtes volunteers, but is rejected by Leonidas for safety reasons. Xerxes leads his troops (about 1,000,000 strong) to the pass and battles are waged. The Spartans and their rag-tag allies hold off the massive army for a few days. These men are tough bastards! Back in Sparta, Queen Gorgo is fighting another battle as she tries to rally support for her husband and the troops. She even grants the scheming, lecherous yet powerful Councilman Theron (West) sexual favors so that he may sway the powers-that-be to come to Leonidas’ aid. Well, it turns out that Theron is on the take as well, but Gorgo puts an abrupt end to that scheme as she slays him. The Council votes to beef up the troop numbers and reaches out to the other City-States of Greece. At Thermopylae, Ephialtes (the scorned Spartan) cozies up to Xerxes and shows his army a secret trail that will splinter the 300 Spartans’ defense strategy. Knowing that the end is near, Leonidas sends his injured, yet valiant right-hand man, Dilios (Wenham), back to Sparta to raise another army. The brave Spartans go down fighting. However, all is not for naught! One year later, Dilios leads a new army of 40,000 united Greeks to take on Xerxes and his legions. The Greeks eventually defeat the Persian Army and unite their nation as one! THE CRITIQUE Whip out the red meat and ale: 300 is officially a MAN’s movie! (Commence chest-beating and male peacocking now) The $65,000,000 live-action version of Frank Miller’s exciting 1998 graphic novel is a slam-bang adventure/fantasy splattered with varying degrees of historical accuracy—or inaccuracy, depending on what scholar you refer to. For my money, I really enjoyed this hyper-stylized, modern retelling that Miller himself was quoted as being inspired by the CinemaScope classic The 300 Spartans (1962)— which he saw as a child. Well, that makes 2 of us; for I am a fan of the Rudolph Maté film as well! Since there is so much to say about this movie, I shall break down my comments into categories: Acting Headlined by Scottish actor (and Glasgow University law school graduate) Gerard Butler, the cast is comprised of talented thespians—with nary an American one in all of Sparta. What the hell were they feeding this troupe? Steroid-flavored red meat? The “Spartans” look like extras in Pumping Iron! Seriously, the 6’2” Butler’s cachet as a sex symbol shot up a few points, thanks to a regimented workout that he and the other “Spartans” had to endure. Additionally, he’s a good actor, rising through the ranks of Hollywood status quo in such movies as Dracula 2000 (2000), Timeline (2003) & Joel Schumacher’s big-budget bore, The Phantom Of The Opera (2004). It takes an actor with a straight face to yell constantly into the camera—and all the while, Butler’s jaw seems to extend downwards as he bellows. It’s quite amusing, actually. The other “Spartans” are mostly British actors who have appeared in all sorts of movies. Lead actress Lena Headey is certifiably hot (which is not surprising; she’s from Bermuda)—but also does a solid job of portraying the essence of a Spartan woman: tough, independent-minded and protective of her family. The real mystery is the character of Persian Monarch Xerxes, as played by Brazilian actor/model Rodrigo Santoro (a Lost player). I know that Miller took liberties with historical characters, but I do know that the real Xerxes looked more like a Hasidic rabbi than a blinged-out party diva from an S&M disco club! Rounding out the cast, British thesp and The Wire principal Dominic West brings about the right amount of menace and cunning to be a politician who has both hands in many cookie jars. Direction/Screenplay Working off of a chest-beating screenplay that he co-wrote, director Zack Snyder brings to the Spartan table an assured handling of the 300 material—backed up by an equally-stimulating visual mosaic and tempo that entertains as much as thrills. He did the same with the 2004 Dawn Of The Dead remake—another movie that worked thanks to a similar hyper-kinetic and hyper-stylized approach. The script itself (co-written by newbies Kurt Johnstad & Michael Gordon) is minimalist at best yet brimming with some deliciously-corny one-liners that carry on into the wind long after the projector has stopped spinning. Seriously, how can Butler’s lines THIS…IS…SPARTA!! & TONIGHT…WE DINE…IN HELL!! not be repeated ad nauseum by us men? Nowadays, whenever I get angry, I shout out diatribes like THIS…IS…JERSEY!! and my personal favorite, TONIGHT…WE DINE…IN APPLEBEE’S!!—quoted to my girlfriend when I am harassed about dinner plans when we’re together. However, my delivery is never as effective as Butler’s (must be all of those muscles and that thick, manly beard), since my girlfriend gets all Spartan on me as a result! Hey, who loves ya baby? Cinematography Contributing to 300’s visual tapestry his cinematographer, Larry Fong (Watchmen/TV’s Lost)—whose appropriately-widescreen lensing amplifies Miller’s source novel artwork (courtesy of his artist/wife, Lynne Varley) and provides the movie with an earth-toned visual palette. Though 90% of the movie was shot on blue/greenscreens, Fong did have much input with the VFX houses on things like color correction and other cinematographical terms that still apply to our ever-changing digital landscape. Regard-less of all of the chroma-compositing work done on this show, it’s nice to know that Snyder and company shot 300 on good old-fashioned 35mm film (as it should be!). Production Design/Locations No pun intended, but the movie’s production design is appropriately-Spartan! As it stands, veteran designer James D. Bissell (Good Night, And Good Luck/The Rocketeer/E.T.) lends his skills to creating ancient Sparta (at least on a CGI level). The bulk of 300 was shot on soundstages in Montreal, with a small portion of live-action photography performed in Los Angeles (approximately 2 days’ worth). Must be why the budget stayed within reason! Editing/Musical Score 300 exhibits some sharp cutting, thanks to veteran editor William Hoy (Watchmen/Fantastic Four series/Outbreak). Additionally, what’s nice about the editing is that it possesses a rather fluid & organic flow that moves the plot along and intensifies the action/battle sequences. Veteran composer Tyler Bates’ bombastic and sweeping score hearkens the sword & sandal movies of yore and their motifs of heroism & sacrifice. Definitely a score for those quiet Sunday afternoons with the family! By the way, Bates has also done the scores of such movies as Snyder’s Dawn Of The Dead and Watchmen (2009) as well as Rob Zombie’s Halloween (2007). Costumes I’ve heard much flack about the historical inaccuracies of the costumes worn by the personnel in the movie. OK…so the real Spartans wore body armor that basically covered the from head-to-toe. Is this accurate? Yes. Is it exciting? Hell no! Taking a cue from Snyder, costumer Michael Wilkinson (Watchmen/Babel/Dark Water) slaps on just enough material and plating on the cast to let them show off their glistening muscles for the camera. Hey, if I had to work out as often and as regimented as Butler & company, I’d show off my goods too! Chalk this section up to historical drama and creative license; believe me, the women in my audience were not complaining one bit! Sparta this, baby! VFX/SFX Thirteen VFX houses are credited with work done on 300. That’s a lot of computers running! Creating an artificial world is not easy; creating a real world that existed thousands of years ago is even harder. But those artisans involved did a bang-up job translating Miller & Varley’s graphic novel into a sprawling, visual CGI-mosaic. THE BOTTOM LINE 300 is a potent and entertaining potboiler that skews historical events with the sharp eye of graphic noveldom. Knowing that it was shot on blue/greenscreens does not diminish its physical look and powerful heartbeat (and a Spartan one at that, dammit!). With all of that said, is 300 a perfect movie? Of course not; but it sure as hell wasn’t boring or even pretentious. There’s action, war, blood, intrigue and plenty of skin—albeit muscular man-skin! Zack Snyder brings out his inner Sam Peckinpah/John Woo and lays out a movie that salutes a strong nation (Sparta) facing insurmountable odds--while leaving open the debate about a modern day equivalency of current events…Iraq, anyone? All in all, those involved have crafted a sword & sandal movie for the new millennium—and its audiences of ADD-riddled youngsters and thrill-seeking oldsters (read: mid-30s) like me--who just so happens to like sword & sandal epics; so bring on the swordfighting and lusty slavegirls! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filmhttp://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=300.htmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/300_%28comics%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adventure_filmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantasy_filmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CinemaScopehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Movie_camerahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screenplayhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_directorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screenwriterhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinematographerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Widescreenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinematographyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluescreenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_correctionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chroma_keyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/35_mm_filmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Production_designerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_stagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinematographyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_budgetinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_editinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_editing#Film_editorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_composerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_scorehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costume_designhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_effectshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer-generated_imageryshapeimage_2_link_0shapeimage_2_link_1shapeimage_2_link_2shapeimage_2_link_3shapeimage_2_link_4shapeimage_2_link_5shapeimage_2_link_6shapeimage_2_link_7shapeimage_2_link_8shapeimage_2_link_9shapeimage_2_link_10shapeimage_2_link_11shapeimage_2_link_12shapeimage_2_link_13shapeimage_2_link_14shapeimage_2_link_15shapeimage_2_link_16shapeimage_2_link_17shapeimage_2_link_18shapeimage_2_link_19shapeimage_2_link_20shapeimage_2_link_21shapeimage_2_link_22shapeimage_2_link_23shapeimage_2_link_24shapeimage_2_link_25shapeimage_2_link_26shapeimage_2_link_27shapeimage_2_link_28