So Tuesday night I caught an early screening of 300, the upcoming sword-and-sandal-and-CGI action flick loosely based on the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C., in which 300 Spartan soldiers battled an onslaught force of millions of Persian warriors. It’s based on the Frank Miller graphic novel of the same name, and much like the adaptation of Miller’s Sin City, the movie was filmed mostly with live-actors against green-screens that were later painted over with an onslaught force of millions of computer-generated pixels to represent the Grecian battlefield.
I’ll reserve sharing my personal opinion of the film lest I steal the thunder of EW’s film critics, but suffice it to say I’m really curious about how successful this movie will be when it opens on March 9. Other than the Star Wars prequels, very few almost-entirely-green-screened films have broken the $100 million mark at the U.S. box-office. (Sin City took home $74 mil; Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, just $34 mil.) There are no movie stars in the flick, except for maybe Gerald Butler (The Phantom of the Opera) as King Leonidas, leader of the Spartan soldiers, but he’s barely recognizable behind a giant, regal beard. Also, there’s the whole ancient history lesson thing; "Battle of Thermopylae" doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue.
On the other hand, it’s saturated with stylized, video-gamesque violence and fanboy geek-out visuals. Not to mention that it has both half-naked, uber-buffed-out men and half-naked, lithe women (nipples all around!)—in other words, something for everyone. Then again, will the adolescent and twentysomething straight guys this film seems to be targeting be comfortable with the movie’s unmistakable male body worship?
No, seriously, I’m asking: Are you keen to see this film? Are your friends talking about it? Does its lack of stars and its ab-tastic, mostly male cast bode well for its success or portend a box-office bloodbath?
The visuals look awesome and the movie itself looks okay, but the appearance of Dominic West (aka Jimmy McNulty from The Wire) ensures that I will be seeing it somewhere down the line, if not in theaters.
I am a 25-year-old female, and I, for one, cannot wait.
I just saw the trailer, and that was enough for me. I’ll probably end up seeing it on DVD, when it’s my husbands turn to pick the movie.
Both my wife and I are psyched for this release – if nothing else it looks visually mind-blowing, plus we’re both suckers for sword-and-sandals epics.
it is one of my favorite graphic novels, i will definetely go see it.
I’ll probably go see it. I’m not dying to, but I know one of my friends will suggest it for a movie outing. Oh and thanks to 300, now we can put that many photos on Myspace…haha. Great advertising right there.
Two words – Gerald Butler. Heck yes I’ll be seeing this movie.
Action. Yes. I’m there.
Brazilian actor Rodrigo Santoro (currently in the cast of Lost) plays Xerxes, the Persian king who threatens the Greeks. He’s a fine actor and a big TV and movie star in Brazil. I think he’ll do an amazing job in 300.
I’ve been dying to see this film since I first heard about it months ago. The new trailers just make me more excited (and yes, I’m a 27 year old female). Action, history (I’m an archaeologist, what can I say?), the graphics and the violence…I’m there. Now when are they going to make a God of War movie?
THIS IS SPARTA!!!!!! There seemed to be a lot of yelling in the trailer for it.
for what ive seen….at least visually, its “the matrix” of all roman/greek era movies!!!!and yes! im in!!!
Ummm… yeah. Best trailer ever. Showed it to my wife and SHE marked it on the calendar, too. So yeah.
Me and all of the guys here in college have been talking about this movie for months. This film is headed for a $40-50,000,000+ opening weekend.
When my girlfriend and I went to see Pan’s Labyrinth, 300 trailored and we simultaneously looked at each other and said “Yes please”. This could very well be a hit.