Mike70
14-Feb-2009, 02:50 AM
as i said in the shoutbox, i watched this yet again and while i think it is a piece of crap, it is a glorious piece of crap with some redeeming value.
first off - i understand it is based on a comic. i understand that frank miller wasn't trying to tell history but was attempting to tell a story about the west triumphing over the east (as it always must or else we are all fucked).
i still maintain that the events at thermopylae were heroic, epic and awe inspring enough. they don't need any embellishment. the thing that kills this movie for me in many places is when people open their mouths. the lines in the film are so overblown, so purple as to be almost embarrassing to listen to.
but the battle scenes are epic and like i said above i love the theme of the film. the idealism of the west trumping the totalitarianism and despotism of the east is an important concept and something that needs to be transmitted to people, no matter what the medium or manner.
i saw the film in a bit of new light. it is about the liberal ideas of greece (and later rome) winning out against all odds against tyranny and servitude to a tyrant. and yes, all you folks who fancy yourselves as conservatives but believe in things like freedom of speech, expression, civic militarism, the right of voting, the right of representation in govt., the idea that a citizen has certain rights that cannot be taken away from them; all these are LIBERAL ideas first formulated in the ancient world.
so while i enjoy the tone of the movie, you gotta rejoice that it isn't some 90s era piece of shit that is trying to make us all feel guilty because we are european, the writing leaves me less than impressed but the action is first rate.
my final bitch: why call dilios dilios? why not just call him aristodemus. that was the name of the spartan sent back by leonidas because he had an eye infection (not because he was wounded as in the movie). aristodemus was considered a coward by the spartans, even though he was sent back by leonidas. he later redeemed himself, somewhat, at the battle of plataea by his almost berserker like behavior.
the battle of plataea is where 300 ends, that charge of the entire spartan army with the whole allied greek army at its back. that was one of the biggest blood baths in history and is where the persians were driven from greece and the west forever, after the athenian navy had crushed the persians at salamis. the following numbers are modern estimates: 40,000 greeks (almost 10,000 spartans and 30,000 allied greek troops from athens, plataea, tegea, megara and corinth (the biggest contributors) totally and completely slaughtered a persian army that may have been as many as 120,000 men. from the historical sources we have the tegeans and spartans went completely blood mad during the battle and cut the persians to shreds without mercy.
the battle of plataea really needs its own movie. in fact a tetraology of flicks would be cool - marathon (where athens and plataea faced off alone with persia and kicked its ass), thermopylae, salamis and plataea.
first off - i understand it is based on a comic. i understand that frank miller wasn't trying to tell history but was attempting to tell a story about the west triumphing over the east (as it always must or else we are all fucked).
i still maintain that the events at thermopylae were heroic, epic and awe inspring enough. they don't need any embellishment. the thing that kills this movie for me in many places is when people open their mouths. the lines in the film are so overblown, so purple as to be almost embarrassing to listen to.
but the battle scenes are epic and like i said above i love the theme of the film. the idealism of the west trumping the totalitarianism and despotism of the east is an important concept and something that needs to be transmitted to people, no matter what the medium or manner.
i saw the film in a bit of new light. it is about the liberal ideas of greece (and later rome) winning out against all odds against tyranny and servitude to a tyrant. and yes, all you folks who fancy yourselves as conservatives but believe in things like freedom of speech, expression, civic militarism, the right of voting, the right of representation in govt., the idea that a citizen has certain rights that cannot be taken away from them; all these are LIBERAL ideas first formulated in the ancient world.
so while i enjoy the tone of the movie, you gotta rejoice that it isn't some 90s era piece of shit that is trying to make us all feel guilty because we are european, the writing leaves me less than impressed but the action is first rate.
my final bitch: why call dilios dilios? why not just call him aristodemus. that was the name of the spartan sent back by leonidas because he had an eye infection (not because he was wounded as in the movie). aristodemus was considered a coward by the spartans, even though he was sent back by leonidas. he later redeemed himself, somewhat, at the battle of plataea by his almost berserker like behavior.
the battle of plataea is where 300 ends, that charge of the entire spartan army with the whole allied greek army at its back. that was one of the biggest blood baths in history and is where the persians were driven from greece and the west forever, after the athenian navy had crushed the persians at salamis. the following numbers are modern estimates: 40,000 greeks (almost 10,000 spartans and 30,000 allied greek troops from athens, plataea, tegea, megara and corinth (the biggest contributors) totally and completely slaughtered a persian army that may have been as many as 120,000 men. from the historical sources we have the tegeans and spartans went completely blood mad during the battle and cut the persians to shreds without mercy.
the battle of plataea really needs its own movie. in fact a tetraology of flicks would be cool - marathon (where athens and plataea faced off alone with persia and kicked its ass), thermopylae, salamis and plataea.