300 (2006)

Director:

Zack Snyder

Writers (WGA):

Zack Snyder (screenplay) &
Kurt Johnstad (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

9 March 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Fantasy | War

Tagline:

Feel the wrath in IMAX

Plot:

King Leonidas and a force of 300 men fight the Persians at Thermopylae in 480 B.C.

Plot Keywords:

Persian | Xerxes | Army | King | Spartan

Awards:

9 wins & 27 nominations

Cast

Gerard Butler	...	King Leonidas
Lena Headey	...	Queen Gorgo
Dominic West	...	Theron
David Wenham	...	Dilios
Vincent Regan	...	Captain
Michael Fassbender	...	Stelios
Tom Wisdom	...	Astinos
Andrew Pleavin	...	Daxos
Andrew Tiernan	...	Ephialtes
Rodrigo Santoro	...	Xerxes
Giovani Cimmino	...	Pleistarchos (as Giovani Antonio Cimmino)
Stephen McHattie	...	Loyalist
Greg Kramer	...	Ephor #1
Alex Ivanovici	...	Ephor #2
Kelly Craig	...	Oracle Girl

Also Known As:

300: The IMAX Experience (USA) (IMAX version)

MPAA:

Rated R for graphic battle sequences throughout, some sexuality and nudity.

Runtime:

117 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Sonics-DDP (IMAX version) | DTS | SDDS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

UK:15 | Ireland:15A | Netherlands:16 | Finland:K-15 | Singapore:M18 | South Korea:18 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:18A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | Germany:16 | Philippines:R-13 (MTRCB) | Australia:MA | Hong Kong:IIB | Norway:15 | Malaysia:18PL (original rating) | USA:R (certificate #42864) | Malaysia:18PL | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Iran:(Banned) | France:-12 | Portugal:M/16 | Argentina:13 | Brazil:16 | Italy:T | New Zealand:R16 | Japan:R-15 | Sweden:15 | Peru:14 | India:A | Iceland:16 | Taiwan:R-12

Filming Locations:

Icestorm Studios, Montréal, Québec, Canada

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

In an effort to get the studio executives to commit to making the movie, Zack Snyder and his team scanned every image from Frank Miller's graphic novel into a computer. They then removed all of the dialogue and descriptive prose, and added simple animation to each frame (such as burning fire, moving clouds, sparkling eyes etc.). They then edited these shots together into what amounted to an animated comic strip, and Snyder hired his friend Scott Glenn to record a voice-over narration for the piece. Snyder brought the film to Warner Bros., but they said they needed more to convince them that the movie could work. As such, he decided to shoot a live-action 'test' - a 90-second 360-degree continuous shot featuring a single Spartan killing several Persians. The combination of the animated comic images and the test convinced Warner Bros. that Snyder and his team were capable of making the movie. An extract from the animation as well as the entire test can be found as an Easter egg on disc 1 of the 2-Disc special edition DVD of the film.

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: Dilios is telling the story to the new soldiers he is commanding before battle. Yet he leaves before King Leonidas and his men execute their final attack. So he wouldn't have known what they did exactly but he is telling the men everything until the point of Leonidas's death as if he was still there for it. However, the character of Dilios, according to director Zack Snyder in the documentary The 300: Fact or Fiction? (2007) (V) on the 2-Disc Special Edition DVD, is not a man to allow truth get in the way of a good story and is narrating in an effort to invigorate his men before a later battle.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Dilios: When the boy was born, like all Spartans, he was inspected.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "Robot Chicken: Moesha Poppins (#3.10)" (2007)

Despite Several Flaws A Very Memorable Movie

Hearing that 300 is based upon a " graphic novel " which is a pseudo intellectual phrase used to describe a comic book I didn't go out of my way to watch this because the present Hollywood movie making factory spends too much time and money bringing these type of stories to the screen . Also I was very unimpressed with director Zack Snyder's previous film the remake of DAWN OF THE DEAD which is a pale imitation of a superior movie . Sometimes prejudice can get in the way of judging a film of its own merits because 300 is one of the more memorable movie moments from last year and one that seems unforgivably ignored at the more prestigious film award ceremonies

Being based upon a comic book you could say in all honesty that the visuals mirror those of a graphic novel , but I would claim it goes far , far beyond that and say it's like watching a painting come to life . The battle scenes are entirely different from those seen in LORD OF THE RINGS or KINGDOM OF HEAVEN but are no less impressive and some of the battle sequences , most notably the ones featuring the immortals are terrifying . Did I say this film is like a painting come to life ? In some sequences it looks like a nightmare come to life and this stylish formalist type of cinema will send a chill down your spine . This is cinema strictly for adults only

Fans of ancient history and classical studies will find a lot to criticise because it's not an accurate depiction of ancient Greece but you should always make the legend according to John Ford . Unfortunately by concentrating on the visuals there's other aspects lacking . The Spartans don't really come across as real characters from ancient times , more of a crowd of wise cracking macho cyphers and let's be honest here , with the exception of voice over the dialogue is rather poor . It often reminded me of something present day Scottish folk hero John Smeaton might say : " Dinnae come tae Sparta , we'll set aboot ya up here "

But despite these very noticeable flaws this is a truly memorable movie down to the jaw dropping visuals and it's the visuals the film will be rightly remembered for . It's a pity that the Oscar voters have ignored 300 because certainly make up , cinematography , editing and possibly best supporting actor for Andrew Tiernan as Ephialtes should have been nominated at least and this film will be highly regarded in years to come