YABS Movie Meter, Week 3: 300

[Hurricane]

Not much response for last week's movie, 3:10 to Yuma. You can still place votes on all of the previously rated movies by clicking the links below. And also, remember you can nominate a movie to be rated if you have one you'd like to see. Just let me know what it is and I'll make it the movie of the week. Starting this week, the five ratings will be:
1. Epic Win
2. Liked
3. Mediocre
4. Disliked
5. Epic Fail

This week's movie:

http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/pic/PYR/GPP51015~300-Posters.jpg

The epic graphic novel by Frank Miller (Sin City) assaults the screen with the blood, thunder, and awe of its ferocious visual style faithfully recreated in an intense blend of live-action and CGI animation. Retelling the ancient Battle of Thermopylae, it depicts the titanic clash in which King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) and 300 Spartans fought to the death against Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) and his massive Persian army. Experience history at swordpoint. And moviemaking with a cutting edge.



Previously rated movies (remember, you can still vote and add reviews!):

Iron Man: :biggrin: 100% Fresh Rating*: (http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?t=226742)
3:10 to Yuma: :smile: 50% Liked Rating (http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?t=227702)



* At the time of this rating, there were only two choices: Fresh or Rotten. The rating system has since changed.

[Ben Morgan]

It's been a long time since I saw that, I think I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[TCJohnson]

I am ashamed to say I have not yet seen it.

[Bill Thompson]

300 succeeds on all fronts. Sure, the story isn't great, nor is the acting really, but that's fine because they aren't central to this particular movie. 300 is at its core and image movie, it's all about the visceral imagery, the cinematography, the ideas as just ideas rather than fleshed out stories. In all those aspects it succeeds while still delivering emotion and action, it's a very good movie.

[Corrina]

It's a big macho fairy tale and historically inaccurate (for one, the Spartans wore chest armor and, two, a large group of Thespians also held the line at the pass) but I enjoyed the hell out of it, anyway.

[Infra-Man]

I thought the battle scenes were pretty keen, but it's not something I feel the need to re-watch or own. I think one of my (perhaps superficial) issues with the movie is the overuse of slow motion. If there was no slow mo, the movie would probably be about half as long--the same thing would happen if you nixed the musical montages from Rocky IV.

I don't know if the political elements were in the original comic (still haven't read it), but those scenes kind of lagged for me given the contrast between slow mo blood letting and slow mo exposition. Though I did like much of the look of the movie, a lot of it just felt like I was watching a bunch of video game cut scenes. I was waiting for my barbarian (or, in this case, Spartan) to become playable again so I could use my bash combat skill and up my axe mastery.

A friend of mine said he thought 300 worked better as the seed for various internet memes rather than as an actual movie, and I mostly agree with him.

So I while I didn't like it, I didn't hate it, and maybe I'll watch a few minutes if it's on cable.

[Hurricane]

the Spartans wore chest armor

Yeah, but if they'd been wearing armor in 300, Meet the Spartans would have been about an hour shorter.

[section 8]

It's a big macho fairy tale and historically inaccurate (for one, the Spartans wore chest armor and, two, a large group of Thespians also held the line at the pass) but I enjoyed the hell out of it, anyway.

First time i ever heard the words "macho" and "Fairy tale" in the same sentence.

[Erik Burnham]

In the words of Mr. Horse: No sir, I don't like it.

[Pink Bat Maxine]

First time i ever heard the words "macho" and "Fairy tale" in the same sentence.

Well, it DID come across as incredibly homoerotic.... maybe that's what she meant? :biggrin:

[section 8]

Well, it DID come across as incredibly homoerotic.... maybe that's what she meant? :biggrin:

well they WERE greek

[WhiteRose]

Two words: Lena Hedley.

Is there a movie that woman can not make more awesome just by being in?

[Bill Thompson]

I thought she was easily the weak link in the cast, and has been the weak link in The Sarah Connor Chronicles, so she really doesn't add anything for me to any of her films.

[NickThompson]

Epic win. I had a lot of fun with this.

[WhiteRose]

I thought she was easily the weak link in the cast, and has been the weak link in The Sarah Connor Chronicles, so she really doesn't add anything for me to any of her films.

Really? Maybe it's just me then. I love The Sarah Connor Chronicles, and I think she brings this quiet strength to the roles I've seen her in.

[Pink Bat Maxine]

well they WERE greek

Well buffed seminude musclemen running at each other in large numbers....

http://www.thejetsblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/airplane.jpg

'Son, do you like movies about.... Spartans?'

[Pink Bat Maxine]

[doublepost]

[Pink Bat Maxine]

[treblepost]

[Pink Bat Maxine]

[Quadruplepost]

[Pink Bat Maxine]

[Quintuple post]

[Pink Bat Maxine]

[Sex.... *snicker* SEXTUPLE post!]

[Pink Bat Maxine]

[Septuple post!]

[Pink Bat Maxine]

[Oct......... oh, hell, 8 posts!]

[Pink Bat Maxine]

[Nine of them, lord have mercy!]

[Pink Bat Maxine]

[What was I ON last night? TEN!]

[Pink Bat Maxine]

[Okay, now this is getting REALLY stupid.....]

[Pink Bat Maxine]

[Do I have any more....?]

[Pink Bat Maxine]

[Yep! A few!]

[Pink Bat Maxine]

[*twiddles thumbs*]

[Pink Bat Maxine]

[Can this really be the end? Do I get, like, an award for most repeated posts? And if I do, what would it look like? :confused:]]

[Pink Bat Maxine]

well they WERE greek

Well buffed seminude musclemen running at each other in large numbers....

http://www.thejetsblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/airplane.jpg

'Son, do you like movies about.... Spartans?'

Now I know what Frank Miller's wet dreams are. Not sure I needed to know that.......

[Pink Bat Maxine]

well they WERE greek

Well buffed seminude musclemen running at each other in large numbers....

http://www.thejetsblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/airplane.jpg

'Son, do you like movies about.... Spartans?'

Now I know what Frank Miller's wet dreams are. Not sure I needed to know that.......

[Pink Bat Maxine]

well they WERE greek

Well buffed seminude musclemen running at each other in large numbers....

http://www.thejetsblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/airplane.jpg

'Son, do you like movies about.... Spartans?'

Now I know what Frank Miller's wet dreams are. Not sure I needed to know that.......

[Pink Bat Maxine]

well they WERE greek

Well buffed seminude musclemen running at each other in large numbers....

http://www.thejetsblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/airplane.jpg

'Son, do you like movies about.... Spartans?'

Now I know what Frank Miller's wet dreams are. Not sure I needed to know that.......

[cedardryad]

I loved it, mainly for the action. The movie is a good re watch if you have the rifftrax for it.

[Hurricane]

Well buffed seminude musclemen running at each other in large numbers....

http://www.thejetsblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/airplane.jpg

'Son, do you like movies about.... Spartans?'

Now I know what Frank Miller's wet dreams are. Not sure I needed to know that.......

As funny as that is, did you really need to say it 15 times? :wink:

[Bill Thompson]

Really? Maybe it's just me then. I love The Sarah Connor Chronicles, and I think she brings this quiet strength to the roles I've seen her in.

Maybe, different strokes for different folks and all that.

[Hurricane]

I think something is wrong with this thread. The reply count is WAY off and for some reason, I can't see the last few posts that were made. Can anyone see this?

[Infra-Man]

Something weird has happened. Seems like the last two replies are in limbo.

[Tyr]

Well, it DID come across as incredibly homoerotic.... maybe that's what she meant? :biggrin:

I vew this movie the same way I see God of War, that is its to afraid to come out of the closet, when it really should. It would feel better about itself.

I liked the action, but I wasn't really impressed with anything else, like most of Frank Millers work, I found my self laughing more often then not. But that might be the point.

[Hurricane]

I think Pink Bat Maxine broke the thread. :(

EDIT: It's a miracle! It's FIXED!

[section 8]

I vew this movie the same way I see God of War, that is its to afraid to come out of the closet, when it really should. It would feel better about itself.

I liked the action, but I wasn't really impressed with anything else, like most of Frank Millers work, I found my self laughing more often then not. But that might be the point.

Beowulf was pretty homoerotic,
the scene in the dining hall where the blonde was throwing herself at him, hen he takes his clothes off, walks into a room full of guys and tells them to sing.

Then he fights the male monster bare assed, but when he faces Angelina Jolie, he has pants on.

Personally it would be reversed for me i'd face the Jolie-Monster naked, with both my hands to the side, and pointing.

[section 8]

I vew this movie the same way I see God of War, that is its to afraid to come out of the closet, when it really should. It would feel better about itself.

I liked the action, but I wasn't really impressed with anything else, like most of Frank Millers work, I found my self laughing more often then not. But that might be the point.

Beowulf was pretty homoerotic,
the scene in the dining hall where the blonde was throwing herself at him, hen he takes his clothes off, walks into a room full of guys and tells them to sing.

Then he fights the male monster bare assed, but when he faces Angelina Jolie, he has pants on.

Personally it would be reversed for me i'd face the Jolie-Monster naked, with both my hands to the side, and pointing.

[scout1279]

300 had lots of hot, seminude men and gratuitous violence. Of course it was epic win.

[Hurricane]

Beowulf was pretty homoerotic,
the scene in the dining hall where the blonde was throwing herself at him, hen he takes his clothes off, walks into a room full of guys and tells them to sing.

Then he fights the male monster bare assed, but when he faces Angelina Jolie, he has pants on.

Personally it would be reversed for me i'd face the Jolie-Monster naked, with both my hands to the side, and pointing.

I agree with you.

And I'm glad you only posted that twice and not 15 times like Pink Bat. :)

j/k

I think this thread is broken.

[Ben Morgan]

I counted 19 for Pink Bat

[Hurricane]

I counted 19 for Pink Bat

I know. It started out with just 15. Then it went down to just three. Now there's 19 of them. Very strange. I think I need to ask SK to erase some of them if possible.

[Lester C.]

Pink Bat has an entire page of posts to herself. She lived the dream. My dream anyway.:frown:

[Hurricane]

In an effort to get this thread back on track...

I've noticed that 300 has almost twice as many votes as 3:10 to Yuma. Iron Man has even more than that. I wonder if it's because Iron Man and 300 are comic related and 3:10 isn't.

[Tyr]

Beowulf was pretty homoerotic,


Nonsense! Their weren't any fairies on our voyages, we were all butch!

In an effort to get this thread back on track...

I've noticed that 300 has almost twice as many votes as 3:10 to Yuma. Iron Man has even more than that. I wonder if it's because Iron Man and 300 are comic related and 3:10 isn't.

If Ironman got on a train at 3:10 going to Yuma and 300 Spartans got on another train at 3:10 leaving Yuma, and what point would the trains pass each other? :biggrin:

[Lester C.]

I hated this movie. It had the story telling structure of a video game. I get expecting the FMV to end and for control to revert to the player.

A second thing I hated was the acting. It was bad, but it's not the actors fault as the dialoug and plot were horrible. I'm sure they did the best they could with what they had but they didn't have much.

A third thing was that the action sucked. The battles were large in scale, but boring as hell.

Finally as shocking as this may be to all of you, I’m not gay. Yea, I surprised too. Serislosy though I got disgusted with all the mostly naked men running around.

[Ben Morgan]

Finally as shocking as this may be to all of you, I’m not gay. Yea, I surprised too.

I don't believe this. How else do you explain your love for ManFaye? :tongue:

[WhiteRose]

In an effort to get this thread back on track...

I've noticed that 300 has almost twice as many votes as 3:10 to Yuma. Iron Man has even more than that. I wonder if it's because Iron Man and 300 are comic related and 3:10 isn't.

Iron Man and 300? Hyped beyond all reason.

I didn't even know 3:10 to Yuma existed until that other thread. And then I perused a copy at JB Hi-Fi to get myself sorta up to speed today.

That's my excuse, anyway :biggrin:

[Hurricane]

Iron Man and 300? Hyped beyond all reason.

I didn't even know 3:10 to Yuma existed until that other thread. And then I perused a copy at JB Hi-Fi to get myself sorta up to speed today.

That's my excuse, anyway :biggrin:

Some of the best movies made are the least hyped.

By the way, don't forget you can still vote on previous movies :)

[Pink Bat Maxine]

I agree with you.

And I'm glad you only posted that twice and not 15 times like Pink Bat. :)

j/k

I think this thread is broken.

I totally meant to do that.

That's what happens when I have no hair to fly in. Now OFF WITH YOUR HATS, children!

Pink Bat has an entire page of posts to herself. She lived the dream. My dream anyway.:frown:

**bows**

[Tyr]

It's a big macho fairy tale and historically inaccurate (for one, the Spartans wore chest armor and, two, a large group of Thespians also held the line at the pass) but I enjoyed the hell out of it, anyway.

Actually the historical inaccuracy buggs me in this film...its not that the Spartans aren't wearing chest armor, or the pre-ninja ninjas that bugged me...it was trying to turn the Spartans into something they weren't.

The movie plays them like Braveheart, but the Sparta wasn't a democracy it was a pre-roman facist kingdom. Everything a Spartan did, everything he owned was controled and regulated by the state.

Also the fact that Athens was pretty much omitted from this film infuriates me. Especially since it was the Athenian navy that kept troops from landing behind the Spartans, which would have made the role the Spartans played irrelevant.