300

The missing color of the palette of historical movie varieties has been put in its place. Thanks to Frank Miller’s imagination we can see the reflection of times so distant for us that we know about them only from myths. But it would be incorrect to call 300 a historical movie. It really would. It is more of an attempt at balancing a fantasy and a story based on true events. This was exactly what Snyder realized and he was able to capture that balance that thanks to the technology he used. With a huge support of the cast, mainly the flawless Gerard Butler and the excellent to gigantic Rodrigo Santoro. I was so looking forward to it and I wasn’t disappointed one bit. Tell them in Lacedaemon, passerby: carrying out their orders, here we lie. I’ll never forget how I felt when leaving the movie theater after seeing 300. (04/06/2007)

Snyder is here to entertain! An elegant recycler of the classic sandal adventure and heroic epic wrapped in a beautifully re-styled audiovisual package that has very little to do with history itself, and the search for historical context can hardly be called viewer ignorance. The vast majority of current productions are in the same boat, so why nitpick here when it's clear from the start that the pathetic phrase will be part of every Leonidas (Gerard Butler, the most charismatic leader of the screen a few years back, scores points!) monologue, the purely macho speech of every dialogue, and that the battle will be nothing but visual gluttony of the finest quality? I enjoyed 300 for its relative originality, down to the last drop of digitally redacted blood the characters shed, and I’m certainly not worried about the future of other Hollywood productions. There have already been several similar booms, and in a few years, young angry teens will find their new cult. It is rather surprising how many people, after seeing 300, suddenly crave pure awesomeness, which has survived (and will survive) everything. (04/29/2007)

Thanks to the fact that I didn't let myself get overly hyped despite the excellent trailers, I was able to watch 300 as an unbiased viewer, expecting a quality spectacle with good action - and to my great surprise, I got much more. An amazing film with one of the best visual aspects in recent years. The moment Gerard Butler appeared as the fierce Leonidas, even I, an old cynic, fell in love with Sparta and rooted for them as much as I could, even though I knew how it would probably end, thanks to history and logical thinking. Of course, I have to agree with all the criticisms regarding the overall fascist tone of the story about a "strong, unyielding nation," but for me, the tale of unbreakable warrior discipline remains a story of heroism and determination. As for the visuals, 300 proved that slow-motion shots of blood and warriors can be captivating, even if we've seen a similar scene in a film countless times before. Both battles with the Immortals, the iconic fall into the gorge, and the final spear throw and arrow rain are unforgettable and, as cinematography showed, in their own way, unbeatable. (04/05/2007)

I would like to paraphrase a sentence uttered in the film itself: "My eyes saw a grotesque spectacle summoned from the darkest corners of Miller's strange soul." The rape of history under the guise of a comic adaptation (under which everything is tolerated nowadays, perhaps even if someone made Němcová's Grandmother a dominatrix in a S&M parlour), the fanatically stubborn (though undeniably charismatic) Leonidas, who reminded me of another fanatic, Hoferik from Signum Laudis, so I certainly wouldn't want him as a king, and the slow-motion shots in the second half with their increasing frequency bored me to death. If, given the high box office returns, this empty and narcissistic affair will set the course for the future of the film industry, then we have no choice but to shout "Gott mit uns!" I'm not sure if sentences like "...I felt like smashing someone's face in after the movie was over..." is the right emotion to take away from a film, but I have no doubt that for angry young teens, this will be the best movie of their short lives so far :) (04/07/2007)

Oops. This is no mega epic. 300 is a modest experiment based on a ten-page screenplay and with nice blue-screen backgrounds. The dialogue pretends to be so serious and cool that it’s laughable. The story recycles what we’ve already been told by Braveheart and Gladiator, only shortened and focusing exclusively on the visual aspect. It’s nice to look at and the battle scenes are well done, but everything else is bland. If not for the slow-motion shots, 300 would barely run 60 minutes. It’s fine for what it is, but I hope it doesn’t herald the start of a new film subgenre. (03/13/2007)